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: 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.

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!

Arriving in Portugal

We have been in Portugal for three days now and it has been fabulous minus one snafu.

Travel has never been smoother. We drove to Stansted airport Friday night with no traffic. We booked our hotel on one of those secret deals and expected parking to be offsite, but it was on hotel property. We could see our car from the emergency exit. The hotel has a shuttle to and from the airport and although it cost £2pp it was fast and easy.

When we arrived at the airport I had to check in because I travel on an American passport. We were convinced after waiting in line for about 15 minutes we would be told we did something wrong, but no, checked in with ticket stamped, good to go!

We were there so early we had tons of time to go through the lounge, have a leisurely breakfast, and play some games on the iPad before getting our gate assignment. We strolled to the gate with people running past us this time instead of us doing the running. When we reached our gate we determined it was well worth the £6pp/per flight to get priority boarding. We flew with Ryanair, which is first come seating. Worse than Southwest ever was, they don't even have boarding groups, just priority and everyone else. There were only about 4 people in front of us out of a full flight, money well spent.

When we landed, customs was a breeze. I have a new stamp in my passport and received it with a smile. I could even say "obrigado" upon return of my passport.

Upon arriving in Portugal we wanted a 3G sim card for my iPad. We saw a vodaphone kiosk and stopped. There were 2 people working, both with customers. My husband was ready to walk out based on our previous experiences (it took over an hour to get one going in the States and about 30 minutes in the UK). I am glad we stayed though because one employee finished with his customer, went to the computer for a second, asked if we needed help and 5 minutes and €14,90 later I was on 3G and walking to the car rental kiosk!

We picked up the car and made a few circles around the airport before getting on the correct motorway. Had a lovely drive down to the Silver Coast from Porto.

We arrived at the villa just before sunset. We easily got the key from the lock box and suitcase from the car to walk into our lovely, freezing villa. Bare in mind this is typically used in summer where heating is far from the issue. We are here in January because we have no bookings. It was however, warmer outside than it was inside. We looked at the guide for the underfloor heating, did exactly as the instructions indicated, and went out for some groceries and a meal. All indications were the house should warm up in about an hour so we figured it would be better when we returned about three hours later. We were wrong. We called our friend back in the UK who comes down at least once a season to make sure everything is running smoothly. He could only suggest resetting and then reiterated the instruction manual to us. So we did as we were told and went to bed under 3 duvets and several blankets, wearing numerous layers of clothes.

We woke up to not much better. However, today we are much more comfortable. We built a fire in the wood burner last night and i only needed one duvet and a blanket! We are still not quite as warm as we would hope (I am under two blankets as I write this, but that is fairly normal for me). We think the house was just so cold, it took a bit more to get it warmed up...

Loads of sights to see around here so more posts to come soon!

The photos are:
Our pool, don't think it will get used on this trip, but I might do some yoga on the deck if we are here on an afternoon

Some of the firewood we collected from the woods behind the house. A little bit of pine and some eucalyptus.

Our fire! We were nice and warm with that going. Should get one going again tomorrow night :)