Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Obidos to Lousa, day 4


Today we overslept… the alarm was set for 7am so we could be showered and packed and checked out by 9am. I woke at 640am. Somehow between then and the next time I opened my eyes at 830am the travel clock died and the alarm did not go off as planned. Needless to say it was a bit of a rush, never a good way to start a day. Leo got to breakfast before me and had a cup of coffee and some smoked salmon at my place as I passed through on the way to check out. What a boy!

We took off for Obidos, about an hour’s drive. Along the way Joana began to teach us a famous Fado song. Though it is hard to imagine we will ever learn the words at the speed required, we really are better on the 4th run through than the first. The plan is to make a recording at the end of the week … we’ll see!
Obidos is fantastic - a charming village of 200 within the ancient castle wall, a town given to Queen Isabel by her husband in 1282. We explored the tiny streets, so narrow they can hardly contain the people walking never mind the occasional car driving through. The views from the top of the hill are amazing, looking over farmland and orchards. Then we try a bit of the traditional cherry liqueur made here and served in a delicate cup made of dark chocolate….oh so delicious, and a well spent Euro! (You might wonder why we were doing this at 1130am, but if the guys at the bar can have a breakfast beer, why not us a small sip of liqueur?? Besides, it was *authentic*.

Then we had 30 minutes to shop - I popped into a little shop for s few things and used my credit card. The machine didn’t work right, it ate the paper that should have rolled out, and so the two sweet little Portuguese women – whose only English was “Very sorry! Very Sorry!” – ran around, dug through files, tore apart drawers of papers, wrung their hands and finally figured out how to duplicate the sale, (hopefully without duplicating the charge). It took the whole half hour but was a most interesting experience. I was late to the bus again.

Another hour’s drive took us to Nazare. I didn’t think I could love a place more than Obidos – I had all but decided I would return there and rent a room for a few months to learn Portuguese and sip espresso while the world walked by – but then came Nazare. A beach town, a fishing village –shops and restaurants running all along the street, across from an expansive beach with a blue blue ocean reaching out to the edge of the world, with cliffs towering above and houses hanging over the edges. We had lunch in a corner restaurant, a delicious seafood stew, then bought a soccer ball which the kids kicked all over the beach. Put my feet in the icy surf, then sat and watched. We drove up to the top of the cliffs, to the square with the church that holds the statue of the Virgin Mary associated to the miracle of Nazare, a story for another time… and here are the tiny Nazare women, sitting in the square with their carts of nuts and dried fruit, in their short skirts with the 7 petticoats (traditional fisher-wife clothing, short to the knee so they can slog through the water to help haul in the fish). I could spot from a distance the same woman who Jim had his photo taken with last year. With Joana our guide translating, we told her about the photo and how Jim has never forgotten her and I was instantly sorry I did not have it with me to give to her. It never occurred to me I would find the same woman, dancing and singing in the square. We told her it is on the internet – as I think it is on our website, on the Portugal page (go to http://www.familyadventures.com/ and click on Portugal!) … of course she does not understand at all what the internet is! So we bought pistachios and dried fruit and promised to get the photo to her as soon as possible. I will email it to Joana when I return, she says she is in that square once a week!

In Nazare I had another shop experience – this time the shopkeeper rang up 9.50 to show me how many Euros I owed, then forgot she had already typed in the numbers… so in the end the register showed I owed 95,0950 Euros! Oh they were very embarrassed and rushed around trying to undo it. In the end they gave me my .50 change and I left them in a tizzy. I am wondering if I need to stay clear of the shops.

It was a two hour drive to Lousa and most of us slept along the way. (I was compelled to finish a book I wasn’t much liking but needed to know the ending to…) The hotel here is an amazing manor house in a village setting with more tiny streets (how do they drive here??) The rooms are lovely shades of browns and greys, the gardens are pretty though the pool is under repair which is too bad. The hotel is arranging for us to use a nearby pool if we want, and there is also a river nearby the locals swim in so we will check that out too. Heading out to the gardens you go down a long narrow hallway from the reception area, and push through a narrow wooden door to a ramp of smooth worn cobblestone that you can just see and hear the horses trotting along… but I don’t think there are any horses here, it’s just a nice feeling.

Dinner was in the dining room, another delicious Portuguese steak that would have fed four people. There was good table conversation on everything from politics to life in Portugal vs life in the USA, and no arguing! We stayed up late playing scrabble and laughing – the group is melding nicely and the kids all get along.

2 comments:

KTK said...

Moo,
1. how narrow are the streets?
2. I can help you with the shopping question. The answer is YES.
The trip sounds fantastic.
xo
ktk

nerb said...

Is that the same lady selling cashews that Jim saw??