PNewL PNewS
Volume 27 Issue 5 “All the pnews that phits.” February
2020
Pork, Cork, Storks & Dorks: Our Travels in Portugal
I didn’t mean to be traipsing around Portugal in a
red-orange coat but I left my black jacket at Heathrow. That and a bit of rain
that managed to fall on me through the light fixtures in a posh pousada at 5:30 in the morning are the
only negatives on an otherwise close to perfect trip. Oh and a mishap with
language and gas vs. diesel but I’m not supposed to talk about that.
This was a bit of a different
trip—travelling with a group of people I know and/or have known earlier in
life. The cast of characters included Cousin Bill who I have traveled with
before who lives in Hamburg Germany; his sister and, not surprisingly, also my
cousin, Diane (Vermont); Bill’s very good friend and now also mine, Denis
(Paris), who is a frequent Osawa visitor and who has become known by me as the
Dip Master (see previous issue) and is my hero behind the wheel; and me. The
nice part of travelling this way is we rented a car and went where we wanted
when we wanted to. Time-savings all around. We did have destinations each day
and places to sleep. We called it the Reconnaissance Tour, which we mostly said
aloud because spelling it is tricky. (Online definition edited to fit our
situation: Tour to observe a region to ascertain strategic features.) This way
of travel might be familiar to many of you but it was new to me. (Mostly I have
travelled by myself or with strangers, or with a friend and a bunch of
strangers, either finding the best way to get from Point A to B on my own, or
being herded into the transport that was determined to be the best way.) And
thankfully this worked just fine—very well, great even!
Bill and I have been talking about moving
to Portugal for over a year, thus the need for this tour. I had never been
there which made it essential for me to visit and Bill had not been there
enough. He wants some place warmer. I want to be elsewhere in a more in-depth
way and as I have said before, there is something really charming about being
in a country that is not responsible for a lot of craziness that is going on in
the world. Plus the food is great, the people are friendly, many of them speak
English and something else I can’t remember right now.
Over our time driving around, we saw some
of the west coast, the southwesternmost point of Europe, the towns of Porto,
Evora, Vila Nova de Milfontes, Tavira, Ereceira, and some others we stopped in
briefly. After we offloaded the car, we explored Lisbon and its environs via
public transport and on foot. Before I went, I asked for suggestions and
everyone who had been there had them. After being there a few days, I came to
realize it’s hard to screw up in Portugal. Every town seems to have something
to offer. Granted we were there during low season and we lucked out with nice
weather, but I found travel pretty easy and keeping fed and watered and well
taken care of also easy and
satisfying.
So…what’s next? I think a return is in the
works. I have scaled back my plans to move permanently but I’m not sure about
Bill. We are talking about renting an apartment for a month in the winter. I am
not interested in being on the coast with all the surfers and package tourists during
high season. (I did not know that Portugal has some of the biggest waves in the
world!) Whatever happens, it’s fun to ponder.
P.S. Perhaps there needs to
be a bit of explanation of the title of this piece.
• Pork: We ate a fair amount
of ham plus some bacon and there may have been some pork belly along the way.
I had a tosta mixta/mista almost every day. It’s grilled
cheese and ham. And there’s some very tasty bread in them thar parts. And they
are cheap. And so am I.
• Cork: Portugal, in case you
didn’t know, is where more than 50% of the world’s cork comes from. Driving along,
we saw trees that have had their bark removed. It’s a sustainable practice and
according to the Internet (so it must be true), the bark/cork can be harvested
every nine years. And the trees are protected--you need a permit to cut a cork
tree down! You can buy just about anything made of cork, from bookmarks to
purses and shoes. Apparently even NASA has used it.
• Storks: White storks live
high above the roadside on telephone poles. Their nests are huge and they are
pretty big themselves so it was an impressive sight. We stopped several times
to say hello and take pictures.
• Dorks: Well, that would be
us. (I hope this is not considered to be an offensive term. When I looked it
up, the Internet [again] said it’s “a
contemptible, socially inept person.” The contemptible part is a bit harsh but
I think most tourists are at some point socially inept and I found most of the
people we ran into found us perhaps a bit socially inept but charming too.)
Things I am Learning & Miscellaneous Observations
• This silver hair part of my
life is doing surprisingly little for me. I expected doors opened, seats
offered, luggage lifted into overhead bins, apologies made as people smash into
me, but no. The entitled younger folk will have none of that.
• Speaking of hair, I have
been having a hard time settling on a haircutter here since Cathy retired over
a year ago. As I got ready to leave on this trip, I thought, I am going to have
to get my hair cut in Portugal or just be miserable. It wound up being great
fun—I will do it again. The woman who cut my hair did not speak English. We
communicated through another employee who had some English vocabulary. We
smiled and laughed and everyone in the shop was entertained and smiling by the
end and she let me know that I need to start using the shampoo that prevents
yellowing in my hair because I was looking blond—she knew that word!
• Grazing last night for a snack, I came across Brussels sprouts. Yum. When did they become a snack and yum?
• Grazing last night for a snack, I came across Brussels sprouts. Yum. When did they become a snack and yum?
• There are some pretty
common symbols representing Portugal in the tourist shops and on logos. It’s
not always obvious so I thought I’d give you a quick run down so should you go
there, you would be in the know. Roosters are available on everything. Short
story is a guy said, “If that guy is innocent this rooster on the grill will
come back to life to declare the innocence of a man set to be hanged,” and the
rooster came back to life, saving the man’s life. The crow represents the birds that guided
sailors through the fog into Lisbon harbor.
Swallows come back every year to the same nest,
which I guess is a nice consistent thing in an inconsistent world. Oh and
sardines are huge there, just cause. That’s what I learned. (I bought a refrigerator
magnet in the shape of a sardine, decorated with swallows, and made of cork. A
trifecta?)
• I don’t remember the
specifics but Bill said something in French and Denis said, but that doesn’t
mean anything, I thought huh. What does that sound like—a phrase that doesn’t
mean anything and I looked up and there was the orange juice container with a
banner in English that read, “Travel in this flavor!” and then later, I was at
lunch and I looked at my placemat where I was served my first and best tosta mixta--in huge letters it read,
“Surprise tastes well!” (Granted this restaurant was called Oh my Tasty!) Okay,
I get it.
• Whilst I was out
gallivanting, Gini was here holding down the fort and seeing how she liked
winter. Little did she know what she was in for! A few days into my time away,
Roger fell apart and required a lot of attention. For a while, he was paralyzed
and then he had to be carried out to go to the bathroom and through the care of
Gini and a team of neighbors and the good Dr. Lisa and acupuncture, he is up
and walking (like a drunken sailor). It is to my mind a miracle. I just had to
cancel an appointment for my health
because of an appointment for Roger, but I’m hoping at some point things will
right themselves. Meanwhile, I am ever so grateful to the village of people who
kept the faith and got him where he is today.
• In the fall, I joined the Social Justice Book Club that is held at the Leicester Library one month and Firestorm Bookstore, the radical cooperative bookstore, the next. It has been inspiring—each book I’ve read has captivated me. The first few books were on racism (I missed the first couple gatherings for I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown but I’ve read it and it’s good—interesting to hear from an African American Christian on Racism, and How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide by Crystal Marie Fleming is pretty great too—she doesn’t pull any punches. I would love to take a class from her. Then came The 57 Bus (Dashka Slater), a YA book that is the true story about two teenagers. It’s complicated—about gender and race--and SO smart and educational and cool. Highly recommend. We hit on homelessness (Evicted by Matthew Desmond---read it and be oh so grateful) and this month’s book is A Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantu. I’m most of the way through it and it is heart wrenching—a memoir of a former border patrol agent. I don’t know how anyone does that job. Anyway, the book club is an emotional rollercoaster but so worth it.
• My newest hobby is looking
at real estate in real life and online for and with Gini. It’s super fun when
it’s not my own where I am going to put my stuff life or money. Houses are
getting expensive. Decisions about housing in different areas have new
ramifications—moving into a gentrified area or onto former farm land? Um…
Moving into an over-50 community? Hmmm. It’s complicated. On the other hand,
it’s fun to be along for the ride!
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” Gary Snyder
(I read this quote on
Instagram from a socially responsible yarn dyer in Australia. She wrote about
the fires there, saying that we can’t ever go back to normal—that’s what got us
here in the first place. It has made me think…a lot.)
A few pretty Portugal pictures (Porto, the Alentejo Coast and the Pena Palace in Sintra)
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