American Suburbanite in Portugal: The legend of Barcelos

A rooster in Obidos

 

Go into any souvenir shop in Portugal and you will notice little brightly painted roosters.  Its like there is a "Beyonce, the giant metal chicken" for everyone!  After our third visit (if you count our port stop in Lisbon during our cruise) I finally decided to look into the meaning of these little cockerels.  We were in Lisbon on our next to the last day and we found the legend printed on a cork post card.  I didn't even read it at the time because I wasn't wearing my glasses. 

The next day was our last day and we kept ourselves very busy and tried to get to bed early for our 0415 check out to head to the airport for our 07~ flight.  So I don't think I actually read it until I was unpacking our luggage on the Monday.  

When I finally read the legend I was quite pleased it had nothing to do with cock fighting and machismo.  It dates back to the 13th century and comes from the village of Barcelos in northern Portugal.  A man was accused of stealing, in a time and place when theft was prosecuted and death by hanging was the penalty.  The man proclaimed his innocence, time and time again.  He requested a final meeting with the judge before his hanging.  As the judge was just getting served his supper, the man told the he was innocent and if he was killed, the cockerel on his plate would crow.  The judge was not convinced but the cockerel crowed and the man was immediately set free.  Talk about salmonella threat!  For a slightly more elegant telling of the legend, check out the Wikepedia or Cascais travel websites. 

Our Postcard made of Cork

Cats of Portugal

Cats are as important to the Portuguese as to the Egyptians or the Internet! While in Portugal cats can be found around every corner, in castles, on beaches, in towns or country villages, everywhere! I am hesitant to call them feral because some have homes to go to, most are friendly, and they all appear to be fed very well. Over the last year with three visits, I think we saw cats nearly every day.

I am sure in the country amongst the vineyards, orange groves, and olive trees they serve a very good purpose keeping rodents and birds away from precious crops. This does not account for the vast numbers of cats and cat paraphernalia found throughout the country. There are cat statues, crazy cat lady tiles, cat mugs...

Needless to say, I enjoyed interacting with these kitties while away from my own and took photos of most of them. I nearly tried to sneak one into my bag one day! The pride at home is large enough though and I was glad to come home to them!

But while I am in Portugal, I will continue to love their cats! Here's a few pictures!

Back in Portugal

Well, this has been one of my most adventurous trips yet! If I were planning surfing or mounting climbing I could not have planned a bigger rush! Weather has played havoc with our trip from the start. Our plane was an hour late in departing, not due to the snow in England, but I believe the "high disruption due to wind" on the Portuguese coast.

In air, our flight was fairly uneventful. We managed to get a few winks in here and there. When it came to landing however, we had quite the ride. The winds were blowing so forcefully the plane was bobbing and weaving like Mohammad Ali! Most passengers were not so sure we were going to continue to fly like a butterfly and were bracing for a sting. I was between my mother in law and husband, neither of whom took the bumpy ride very well. I was trying to get each of them to breathe a bit slower and relax. After one and a half attempts to land, the pilot let us know we were heading to Faro and we would reassess the situation from there.

After two hours on the tarmac we were told the weather in Lisbon "dramatically" improved and we would be taking off shortly. Most of the passengers would have rather been told they were bussing us back or we would spend the night in Faro, but we were in the air soon enough. The anxiety of the many passengers was laid to rest within an hour. We witnessed a lovely sunset and landed with gusto, but safely. The runway in Lisbon seemed quite short as he hit the brakes and we all slid forward in our seats, but the round of applause from the passengers showed that no one minded.

I had only one thing on my mind...chicken nuggets! I was brewing a migraine and it had been at least 6 hours since I had eaten anything. I was hoping like most airports a Burger King or McDonald's would be around. I was wrong. As we went about the typical airport activities we had no problems, luggage arrived promptly, SIM card for iPad very simple, and rental car, though a few in line ahead of us, easy peasy. However, no chicken nuggets.

We got in the car and saw a Burger King but we were in the far lane and it would have been a challenge to get into. So we decided to pass it thinking we would see another one along the way. Again, we were wrong. 58 miles later we pulled off the motorway and turned towards the grocery store. As my husband and I were trying to remember where things were, I realized this was one of THOSE migraines. I told my husband I would wait near the car while they went into the shop, but we didn't make it that far. I had to make my husband pull over at a bus stop and i wasn't catching the bus. At least I felt better after my stop, but I couldn't get near the fish counter.

After getting a few necessities we headed to the villa only to find the windy winter storm had knocked the power out in the village. We had a bite to eat and got settled in by the light of iPhones and iPad and headed to bed hoping for improvements with the light of day.

American Suburbanite in Portugal: Food!

There were two things I had been looking forward to in Portugal, the fresh fruits and vegetables and seafood. I was not disappointed by either one.

We did shop in the regular grocery store when we first arrived, but the local market wouldn't be open for a couple of days and we needed a few staples to get through until then. But even in the grocery stores the fresh fruits and fish were abundant.

One of my favorite things I ate almost every day was oranges. We could see a small orange grove across the street from our villa and the trees were laden with bright orange fruits. In the mornings we could see the woman picking buckets of oranges and her husband driving off, presumably to the market in Caldas da Rãinha. Knowing from my time in Florida this was prime citrus season, I couldn't wait to taste some. They were so sweet and juicy, better than drinking a glass of orange juice! I have told my husband to look for portuguese oranges at the grocery store here in England in hopes to find some as tasty.

At almost every restaurant you are served olives and bread. Often it is brought to the table before ordering. Unlike olives you get on a pre made salad or pizza, these have a lovely firm texture. I like a flavorful extra virgin olive oil, so I am glad I have found olives I enjoy as well. My only fault in the olives was the extremely salty brine some of them had been stored in. It did help the wine go down a bit faster though!

Another delight was the bread. We snacked on bread more in Portugal than we did in Paris. Whether it was toast, a bacon sandwich, croissants, or the yummy chorizo stuffed mini loaves, we had tons of bread.

Finally, the fresh seafood was amazing. Anytime we ate out, seafood was our choice. I had a tiger prawn the size of a small lobster. We shared a whole sole between the two of us. We were a little nervous to see the bill when they brought it out to us, but managed the bill better than the fish. We had to ask for it to be wrapped in foil to take home.

In addition to sea bass and sole, fresh sardines are quite the specialty in Portugal. I have to admit, after years of serving sardines and herring to the marine animals I cared for, eating them myself has not been easy. It has more to do with making baby dolphin/whale formulas than the fish themselves. I know they are healthy and sustainable, but they take a conscious effort to eat for me, and I wish they didn't. However, they were so fresh in Portugal, I found myself stealing some from my husbands plate. If that doesn't say they were good, I don't know what else does!

I'll tell you about our favorite restaurant and some of the local beverages of Portugal soon.

Handy crafts of Portugal: Cork

Aside from tourism, the major industry of Portugal, is cork production. With 35% of the worlds cork oak trees, Portugal produces more than half of the worlds cork. For more statistics about Portuguese cork you can go to www.cork.pt. This post is not about the the production process or even how the Portuguese economy is feeling the switch to twist cap bottle tops.

Instead, this is about the unique products the artisans of Portugal make out of cork. So everyone knows about bottle corks and floor tiling. It is used as beverage coasters and place mats, but those are the mundane uses for cork. Artisans and craftsmen (and women) throughout Portugal have taken cork to another level. Jewelry, postcards, iPad cases, umbrellas, shoes/slippers have all been beautifully hand crafted from cork.

If you check websites such as http://www.corticeiraviking.pt/default.htm you will see examples of these products.

We brought back a couple of bracelets as gifts and sent ourselves a postcard.

Handy Crafts of Portugal: ceramics

My traveling style has been shaped greatly by my time Traveling with Clarence, my biology professor from Westminster College, during our J-term courses. Although J-term is no longer practiced at the school (a huge mistake on their part I believe) he continued traveling with students and alumni as long as the economy has allowed, in fact, we still discuss going to dive the Great Barrier Reef together.

While I earned biology credits on my J-term courses, we gained a great deal of insight about the cultures of each location we visited. I have a number of treasured hand made items collected from each location and Portugal is no different.

I have already discussed the wall plaques my sister had and my quest to add to her collection. Pottery of all levels is an extremely popular handy craft. My husband brought a cat mug back from one of his first visits to Portugal. It is very cute and has a 3d cat inside the mug. Mr. G may be drinking from it as he reads this post!

Ceramic tiles are also widely used throughout the area. We picked up this little hand painted letter tile, I can't decide if I should frame it or make it into a Christmas ornament. Tile work is not reserved for bathrooms or kitchen. Our villas are tiled throughout. The portuguese take tile work one step further though. Here are a few examples of external tiles, and not just around the swimming pool!

American Suburbanite in Portugal: a souvenir for my sister

With our last full day in Portugal upon us, it was time to do some housekeeping. It was not as if we had big parties or anything, but when we weren't at the beach we were picking up firewood. We had lots of sand bark in the car, and well, lots of sand and bark everywhere! After we finished tidying up, I built one last fire in the wood burner (bliss in one match for us or the next guest) and even netted the leaves from the pool since the sun was out again.

When all was said and done we headed out to do a little shopping. I had a very distinct idea of what I wanted to buy, my sister has a couple of wall plaques from Portugal. They were in the first house she bought and she has brought them with her to her new house with her husband. I asked her to send me a picture, but it didn't come through before I used all the 3G on the sim card, so I was going by memory. I remembered one was a church and one a smaller building. I had checked a couple of shops in Obidos the day before, but nothing seemed quite right, so we headed to São Martinho do Porto. The only shop we noticed was closed until 2pm so, after taking a few pictures of the extremely low tide and crazy waves at the mouth of the bay, we headed back to Obidos.

If 3 visits isn't indication enough, I absolutely love Obidos. Even though not on the water and we visited out of season, I think I could say it is my favorite town/village on the Costa da Prata. We walked a slightly different path this time viewing the inside of a gate we saw whilst walking the walls on our first visit. The gates are so impressive, they are well worth stopping in as opposed to just walking through.

Ceramics/ pottery is one of the primary handicrafts of Portugal. Not surprising when you think of the amount of natural clay within the Portuguese soil. We found numerous shops with blue and white painted plates and tea sets, but we were looking for a slightly more rustic approach to the craft. We found several churches and a number of doors, but many were overly decorated with flowers or had Obidos written on them. They just appeared a little too touristy.

We finally found the right style and purchased a clock tower. They also had a church, but thought that might be too similar to what my sister already has.

After a bit more shopping, we went home, out for a meal. I carefully packed the clock tower into our hand luggage.

It safely made it back to England and when we got to a point where I could check my messages...I discovered her church is the clock tower with a cross. Oh well, we only got ourselves a cork postcard (I'll go into cork another time), so I guess we have our own souvenir.

As for my sister, she also has a painting of the Alto Vista Chapel (http://www.aruba-travelguide.com/discover/attractions-and-sights/Alto-Vista-Chapel.html) that she acquired during some of her travels. She thought a companion canvas would look nice. Her initial idea was to print a photo on canvas based on a picture I posted on instagram. I have decided I might give a go at painting a church in acrylic on canvas myself. Wish me luck!

American Suburbanite in Portugal: Chuva, Foz, and the rest of the walls in Obidos

This was the first (and only) morning the mist didn't burn off. Instead it lifted a bit, but returned as light "chuva" or rain showers later in the day. We did not let it stop us though, after all it had been chucking it down in England not to long before we left.

I had wanted to see the "foz" or estuary Lagoa de Obidos. Along the way we stopped briefly at a cliff-top overlook and took in the cadet blue skies wondering when it would rain and where were the rainbows? In Foz do Arelho, we parked in the large public lot at the beach. First impression was a bit bleak as big diggers and heavy machinery sat across the foz. There were no grassy marshes or trees lining the water and only a few seagulls were first spotted amongst the fisherman and trash.

We walked along the shoreline of the lagoon and spotted some baitfish running as well as several different egrets and diving birds feeding upon them. More fisherman joined the coastline as well. The heavy machinery seemed to be laying some sort of pipeline down under the sand, hopefully they restore the water flow to the original inner shores of the lagoon.

As we came around the sand dune, along the inlet to the lagoon, and confronted the Atlantic ocean, the wind and waves picked up. Any warmth built up walking along the soft pack sand was blown away as we returned to the car. The weather was not without it's benefits as surfers were gathering amongst the waves. Once we returned to the car, we found a hillside perch upon which to park, eat a pear, and watch the surfers (6 now) from the warmth of our car.

Upon leaving Foz do Arelho, we headed to Obidos to finish walking the walls we started on Sunday. The rain held off thankfully, as the walls are very steep and narrow compared to York, and there are no handrails to make sure you don't fall off. I was also quite thankful to be wearing my Keens as opposed to my Sketchers for some extra grip and support. Although the views were not as picturesque in the overcast skies, I managed to take plenty of pictures, even a few of a black cat.

Since the weather was turning colder, we stopped in Rabaceira at our other holiday villa to sort the keys and return the electric heater (Mouraria was lovely and warm now after a few fires in the wood burner coupled with the underfloor heating). When our errands were completed, we headed back to Mouraria Vacation Villa, and indulged in a warm bubble bath before going out to dinner for the night.

The American Suburbanite in Portugal: Markets, Monasteries,and Fishing boats

Our first destination of the day was the market at Caldas da Rainha. It was mostly local produce with a couple of bread trucks, one meat and cheese vendor, and a flower stall. We made our way around stopping for bread, olives, and bacon. We also picked up some fruit, beautiful oranges, strawberries, and my obligatory bananas.

After dropping our shopping off at the villa, we set off for Alcobaça, and I drove us there! I only scared my husband a little. He said I drove too fast (pot calling kettle black) and he thought I was going to drive over one round about. I will admit it came up a bit fast, but I handled it just fine! I think my fear of downshifting comes into play if I slow down too much too fast. Ah well, no one got hurt!

Alcobaça is centered around a medieval Catholic Monastery. This anchor to the town is now a UNESCO World Heritage sight. Across the square from the monastery were cafes and shops,and even in January a number of people were sat outside enjoying their lunch. Lovely as it was, we did not go in or stay long because my husband recalled another monastery more grand than Alcobaça.

We returned to the car, and ate our chorizo breads we bought at the market. My husband now driving,we headed towards Batalha. As soon as you come into town the enormous monastery is visible. Batalha monastery is also a UNESCO world heritage sight. It was commissioned in 1385 in honor of the Portuguese victory in battle over the Castilians. It was a 200 year project with beautiful results.

We were unaware of its UNESCO status upon arriving and wandered into a side door. I was instantly in awe by the light inside. Most gothic churches I've entered have been dimly lit, but here the interior was bathed in light. Bright white stone decorated with the refracted light from the stain glass windows could make the lowliest of man feel spiritually uplifted. We did not spend much time inside, as we were whistle stop touring, however for €6 each we could have gone through gardens, chapels, and cloisters.

Our last stop of the day was Nazare. A coastal village known well by big surf riders thanks to rides like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd2jtwviyC8

Although on the day of our visit the surf didn't look quite that impressive, if he was towing in, he must have been near the mouth of the bay.

We stopped first at the cliff top looking down on the bay. The old men and women sat up there gossiping about the days events. I am sure my husbands shorts in January brought up a few comments about tourists as well, it would have in Florida at these temperatures! We drove along the top, past the Casa da Rosa (the B&B my husband stayed in before buying his first holiday villa on the Silver Coast) and a big hotel before turning around. We saw a few women walking through the recently cut pines collecting cones (for pignolia perhaps) and firewood. We decided to stop and collect a little wood as well before heading down to the beach.

Nazare is as much a fishing village as Peniche must have been before becoming a commercial fishing port. Women in traditional dress sat next to large racks selling the fish their husbands presumably caught. A man fixed his fishing nets on the beach. Another man on a bench with his buddies, no longer fishing, but selling miniature nets to tourists. Loads of people walking up and down the promenade. All the sights and sounds of a village steeped in tradition yet trying to keep up with the modern world.

Although we have been up and down beaches along the Silver Coast, some boasting resident dolphins, we had minimal wildlife sightings at all, let alone cetaceans. I did get very excited at the end of the pier in Nazare though, I spotted a massive jellyfish very close to the concrete rick rack that protects the man made seawalls. It had to be as big as a basketball. It was do big it was able to swim against the waves which would have obliterated it against the concrete. As a marine biologist, plankton is equally as exciting as charismatic mega fauna!

Once again, after I upload a couple of pictures, they start to choose their own order... They are:

The fishing village of Nazare

The monastery at Alcobaça

Over looking Nazare

Inside the monastery at Batalha

The Caldas da Rainha market

Jellyfish

The monastery at Batalha

Where ever we may roam...

We let the day unfold with no big plans. Our initial though was to start at the market in Caldas da Rainha, however we had a very relaxing start to the day. We slept in a little, leisurely had breakfast, took showers, packed a bag for the day, and before we knew it, it was nearly noon. As we drive towards Caldas, I remembered a post from the blog "Emma's house in Portugal". She mentioned the market shuts down by mid day, so we redirected to Peniche.

My husband recalled Peniche as a little run down when he was here 5 years ago, but indulged my desire to go based on what little info I found on the internet. We were both pleasantly surprised as we drove into town. A large hotel is situated on the peninsula to have both bay and ocean views. The docks, probably heaving in summer were quiet on our visit. Kiosks for the boats out to the Berlenga, a small group of islands off the coast, we're unmanned but displayed lovely posters of the potential summertime sights. This is said to be the way to see dolphins off the Silver Coast.

We walked along the dock, then towards town via the walled seafront. This is not a sea wall to prevent erosion, it is a seawall to defend a nation. As the western most city in Europe, Peniche has played a valuable role in defense for hundreds of years. I found one of my favorite beaches within the walls of Peniche. It is only accessible at low tide, so we were very lucky to have stumbled upon it. Literally, I twisted my ankle slightly on the cobbled and weather worn steps down to the beach. I found myself sitting on the steps with my pride injured more than my body, but the beach was well worth it.

After walking through town and back to our car, we stopped on the Atlantic side to see if any surfers were out as Peniche is supposedly a surfers haven. Only one lone surfer braved the waves. He didn't catch any swells, just paddled about on his board. Better him than me, too cold for me to get much more than my toes accidentally wet!

After Peniche we decided to head towards Lisbon to Sintra. My husband recalled a UNESCO world heritage sight there and thought I would be interested. Once arriving in Sintra, you are immediately aware of the towering spires at the top of the mountain (I think it's a mountain not a hill). The silhouette of the massive walls against the sun left us no doubt of out destination. We wound up the narrow road, thankful my husband was driving, towards anything that looked like an entrance. Finally we came to a "Cabine de bilhete" (ticket booth), so we parked the car and looked at the map. We realized we needed to walk uphill a bit further to find an open ticket booth. We asked for the best views and the attendant recommended the Moorish Castle.

Not sure of what we were going to see, we took his word and went towards the Moorish Castle. Along the path to the castle there were a few signs regarding the history of the grounds but nothing to indicate what you were about to encounter. We passed large boulders, some scaffolding, a new archeological dig, and a chain link gate into the walls.

As we approached the walls and began to climb the steps we were in awe of what man had built in the 9th century. It's location is obviously a good place to see approaching foes. However, the leap from thinking to building an enormous fortress so high atop a mountain peak long before machines were available to move rocks, is beyond my imagination.

Completely happy with our purchase, we traversed the walls and gazed down on Sintra and up to the Pena Palace. The "Castelo do Mouros" is definitely one of the seven wonders of Portugal and well deserving of its World Heritage status. I would call it a must see for anyone visiting Portugal


As i am uploading the pictures from the mobile app, they do not seem to stay in order.
The first picture is the Atlantic side beach sign in Peniche.
The second and third are the Moorish Castle of Sintra.
The last two pictures are the walls of Peniche.

Our second day, Sao Martinho do Porto

We had grand plans to walk to the nearby beaches of Sao Martinho do Porto Monday morning. We checked weather and planed our route with google maps. On Sunday we appeared to find a route via some of the small farm roads that was only about a 5.2 km walk. We both thought that was extremely achievable and still have energy to enjoy our day at the beach. We dressed appropriately for a day with lots of physical activity, I packed our backpacks with water and snacks as well as extra layers of clothing and even flashlights encase we were later than expected getting back.

All ready to leave, we sat down with the iPad and google maps and suddenly it was a 7.6 km walk. Although equally as manageable, it just seemed like a lot to tackle when my husband should be relaxing and recharging. It also took us on the main road. Although it is not a superhighway by any stretch, we didn't want to face portugese drivers on foot. There is very little sidewalk between the village and the beach. We decided best to drive, and we were glad we did come time to head home.

We still managed to get some exercise in. We parked the car on the southern end of the bay and joined the boardwalk. We walked towards the "foz" or estuary, crossed a little bridge and stared up at the giant sand dune. My husband had climbed it 5 years ago and decided he would do it again. I looked up with hesitation, inclines are not my strong suite, and took a step. Then I took another step, and loads more, sliding backwards for every step up. Eventually, I made it to the top it was well worth it as the view from the top was breathtaking, or maybe that was just me out of breath from the climb!

We spent the entire day along the shore doing beachy things. We watched a cormorant hunt, collected sea shells, got our feet wet, had an enormous fresh fish lunch, and walked it off afterwards taking in more spectacular views.

Once the sun began to go down and the evening chill began to set in, we were again very glad we had the car to drive home. Our next day was unplanned, but turned out fabulous. Can't wait to tell you all about it tomorrow!

Out and about, Costa de Prata, the silver coast of Portugal

On Sunday we ventured to Obidos, a lovely town surrounded by fortification walls. The gates in and out of the walls are as ornate as any church alter. Speaking of churches we saw three as we walked through town! My camera battery died less than halfway through our walk :( very unprepared of me, but I got some good snaps before and had the iPad for a few more.

My big adventure on Sunday took place behind the wheel of our rental car. I drove! It is left hand drive, so much easier for me, but it is a manual transmission. Driving used to be such a relaxing activity but put me behind the wheel of a manual and my shoulders tense, my brow furrows, and my heart races.

I gave us good reason for all of that once. We were on a tiny road that happened to be an extremely steep hill. My husband tells me to rev it up, so I think he has the hand brake on and I am going to do hand brake start. WRONG. We suddenly start going backwards very quickly. It took me a second to break, thank heavens no one was behind us. Once we both regained our composure I once again put the car in first gear, managed the start stop technology, found the bite in the clutch and got us up the hill. All in all, I am driving manual much better, especially after driving automatic almost exclusively before moving to England. Start stop technology is probably giving me more hassle than shifting, I am getting myself out of predicaments that my instructor would have had to do in the past, and most importantly I have not given up yet. Now I just have to drive again while here...

At the top of that steep hill lies our other holiday villa in the village of Rabaceira. One of the reasons for coming to Portugal was to check up on the holiday villas, make sure everything seems in working order, and let our business partner know if there are any major concerns before the height of holiday season begins. The views at this villa are absolutely stunning. We walked around the village using what little portuguese we know "ola" and "obrigado". When we returned to the house I was again struck by the gorgeous views across the valley in front of the house. I promise pictures to come soon as we need to stop back at the house before leaving.

Next stop Sao Martinho do Porto, see you there!



All of the pictures were taken within the walls of Obidos, hope we have time to go back.