The journey home did seem easier than the journey there. On the way to Faro, Portugal I had a 5 hour layover at Heathrow and it went quickly but made the trip long and hard. It was just over 24 hours from the time I left my house until I walked out of customs and saw Cesar waiting. This will be the last year I have the United Premier Executive status which enables me to go into the lounges so I enjoy taking advantage of that perk! The international lounges are incredible and I will miss the luxury a lot when I don't have my same status by flying so many miles a year. They make a trip much more comfortable! They have nice places to sit and free internet in most cases, and amazingly good food and free drinks, well soft drinks and wine that is.
Heading home I left Faro in the late afternoon, arriving in Lisbon with just over an hour layover. When you land in Lisbon many times you are way out from the airport on a landing place and go down stairs and are transported by buses to the airport. That adds on quite a bit of time because the buses have to fill up before they head to the terminal. Thus making the connection time much shorter. And if the flight is leaving from the field it is the same way, you have to go very early to the gate to get on a bus that takes a big group of people out at a time. Traveling is quite a journey! So my layover on the way home from Lisbon, although it was supposed to be almost an hour and a half only left 15 minutes for me to enjoy the wonderful lounge in Lisbon. It is filled with different open faced small sandwiches, small quiches, snack items and traditional Portuguese pastries. I always take a bottle of water for the trip and enjoy my last taste of pasteis de nata, the small egg custard tarts that are so famous there.
I then boarded the flight that is almost 3 hours back to London Heathrow. Once you reach Heathrow it is about a mile walk to the customs/passport area, quite a trip! There are some moving walkways that help, but it is quite the distance! I arrived there after 10PM and spent the night at the airport hotel where I have been staying since I started my traveling. It is convenient and they used to upgrade me to a club room which basically meant I could go in the 'private club' room with drinks for free and some snacks and free internet. That has changed and I never am invited to do that anymore without a 35 GBP charge which is about $70, not worth it at all. However the 3 main concierge gentlemen always remember me and welcome me with open arms. That is the reason I go back, they are so kind to me. I got a taxi from the airport to the hotel and whenever I get in those cars I feel like I am in a movie! They are darling and it only takes me a minute now to relax with them driving on the wrong side of the road! The hotel was a welcome destination that night and thank goodness, the air conditioning worked so finally I had a cool night, even though I did miss my traveling companion.
The next morning I avoided the 17GBP breakfast at the hotel since it didn't come with the room and headed to Heathrow to get checked in and have a leisurly breakfast at the lounge. I got stopped in security, I had forgotten to take out the water bottle from Portugal. I travel with a great lavendar 'purse' a bag that expands to hold many things and it counts as a purse so it's nice to have. I would list what I always carry with me but the list would go on and on. Ever since my luggage was lost going from Lisbon to London I take all I can with me, just in case! So the very sweet security lady started emptying my purse and it was hilarious, more and more kept coming out. She was laughing and said she felt like she was checking Mary Poppins bag! Pretty funny! She finally got to the bottom and saw that the bottle was all I had so the purple purse was repacked and away I went, on my journey! I have to remember no matter how tired I am, to take out water bottles I travel with between security check stations! It just causes unnecessary delays.
I ate a bit of breakfast at the lounge and was glad that lunch was put out before I had to leave. They do serve a nice lunch, many different Indian foods I think it is, and many other choices including soups, sandwiches and salads. The ladies who work there are so friendly and it is a pleasant place to spend time. And before I knew it I was on my way to my plane for the 10 hr 18 minute flight home. Luckily I had been able to upgrade to business with miles and money and on this flight the business class had beds and individual screens for movies, so it was a pleasant flight home, and was just under 10 hours.
It was great to get home again. In customs with all of the people there I got a man I know from the kennel where I leave Bram. The customs dogs are housed there too and once in a while I see the customs agents who work with them. They know Bram more than they know me. So it was a nice thing to see a familiar face on arriving home. It was a very long way to go for such a short time but that is what life is about, taking advantage of all the opportunities that come your way! And so, one more trip to Europe is over safely and I'm inspired to get busy with my travel agent/cruise consultant training so I can book another international adventure!
Ciao y adeus mi amigos
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Grande Finale
All good things must come to an end. Sad but true. A short, fun filled interlude in southern Portugal is no exception. The foods, the companionship, the beauty, the laughter, the adventure...all are almost over when we wake up that last morning. Almost, but not quite...
We wake up to a beautiful sky, not a cloud to be seen! The sun is sparkling on the ocean and the red striped and green striped lighthouses stand out on the edge of land. Our balcony overlooks a tropical pool setting, surrounded with lounge chairs and green and flowering plants and palm trees. That is surrounded with large rattan lounges, sofas and chairs under canopies to escape from the sun. César wonders how the 2 people can be in the pool, to the Portuguese it is a cool morning with the breeze, but I know to many it is not too cold to enjoy the water. Or the beauty of the perfect day.
We get up and dress for breakfast, in clothes we will then wear to wander down to the beach. The beach is just past the pool, 'calling our names'. Finally, on the very last morning I wake up to a hotel with a beach right at our hotel. This has been my goal but now I know why we didn't have this until the last day...if we had found it sooner, I am slmost positive we might not have left the hotel! So we had seen the sights we could and now we had a morning in this perfect Portuguese paradise!
I didn't mention that we had to set the alarm each morning so that we would make it to breakfast. We missed it the first morning and decided that we had to make it the rest of the time even if we were tired enough to go back to sleep afterwards. Breakfasts are quite the experience, large buffets and as I mentioned some have more food choices than others, but all are delicious. There are always desserts at breakfast too, the first hotel had a full table of choices, but since then it has been a few cakes and puddings. Definitely not a meal to be missed! There are sparkling wines and champagne too. If there were Sangria, I might take up drinking at breakfast!
Breakfast ends at 10 or 10:30 at the hotels, way too early for us on holiday! So we usually get up around 9 or 9:30 to take our time getting there. It seems the nights are the best time for conversations and they last well into the early hours of the morning. So we are up and quiet, knowing it is our last lucious breakfast together. We walk into the restaurant and it is a wall of windows facing out to outside dining and the pool, absolutely beautiful! Such interesting people to look at too, César pointed a couple out and asked if I remembered what he had told me. I didn't know what he meant but he reminded me that if a lady is wearing sunglasses inside at breakfast she is Portuguese, and it appears he is right. The guests in the Algarve seem to be all Portuguese, British and German, at least at this time of year. We did not cross paths with one other American the entire trip, quite unusual for us.
We had expected the not as impressive breakfast that we had had the day before because the hotels were the same company. But we were in for a delightful surprise, it was fabulous! As always there was a table of "American Breakfast" items, the eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausages (although they don't look like ours, but more like little hot dogs) and baked beans. Baked beans aren't an American breakfast food that I know of but is served everywhere there. There were sauteed mushrooms and a few other items to choose from. There was a cooking station for omelets made to order or you could order eggs any other style. There were Portuguese pancakes which looked like crepes to me and when I asked César about them he said they were crepes, and there were different toppings for those. There were some bowls of fruit although it didn't look fresh cut like at some of the hotels. There was a table of breads and rolls and a toaster. There were baskets of jellies to choose from. And of course the meats and cheeses that are ever present at a European breakfast. I may have left out something, but you can tell it was a feast for the senses, all set up in lovely style.
We enjoyed our breakfast and then headed out to experience the beach. Yes, if we had found this hotel first, I doubt we would have ventured out much beyond the beach, it was ideal! We picked up towels as we passed the pool and came to a beach style bar and even though the hotel had advertised a 'private beach' it seemed that wasn't the case. César thinks that having a private beach in Portugal is illegal. There were large beach mattresses scattered about, along with some single ones and some beach beds, covered and so luxurious. It was still a bit early and being fall the beach was not crowded at all. The big comfy white mattresses were 10 euros a person and that included a drink. Usually the drinks were 10 euros in addition but since there were no towels there, it was a discount day. When I visited César at his hotel in Cascais I used to love to lounge in the canopied beach beds so I asked how much those would be and when I was told 100 euros, I decided the mattress would be fine. César thought I was crazy to pay for that, but it was my last day on a beach in the luxurious Algarve of Portugal and I thought it was a deal! We don't drink so we ordered our smoothies to be brought to us later when we requested them and settled down on an amazing mattress in the sun. The cool breeze made the day just perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. After lounging a bit I walked down to the water and saw that there were seashells along the beach. There hadn't been any when we were at the beach near Albufeira or where we had stopped in Salema so I did gather some to add to my collection and my memories. I had some from the beach in Ayamonte, Spain too, another nice addition to my collection. When we finally ordered our drinks they were delicious and only the 10 euro a drink price prevented us from ordering another.
The morning passed entirely too quickly and quite begrudgingly we packed up our things a bit after 1PM and left our comfy 'home' on the sand and headed back to the room to pack and get me to the airport. Yes, I can see why the Algarve is the perfect place to escape and relax although I am quite sure I would not enjoy it in the hot, crowded summer there at all! But the fall, yes I just might have to plan a return trip another fall!
The trip to the airport in Faro was uneventful, thank goodness! A bittersweet drive that was. The end of a grand experience, but the end none the less. And saying goodbye to a dear friend when we have no idea if and when we will see each other again is hard, but I know I was grateful for the incredible time we had. Who knows where in the world me may next meet...perhaps the Canary Islands?
Algarve and César...hasta proximo!
We wake up to a beautiful sky, not a cloud to be seen! The sun is sparkling on the ocean and the red striped and green striped lighthouses stand out on the edge of land. Our balcony overlooks a tropical pool setting, surrounded with lounge chairs and green and flowering plants and palm trees. That is surrounded with large rattan lounges, sofas and chairs under canopies to escape from the sun. César wonders how the 2 people can be in the pool, to the Portuguese it is a cool morning with the breeze, but I know to many it is not too cold to enjoy the water. Or the beauty of the perfect day.
We get up and dress for breakfast, in clothes we will then wear to wander down to the beach. The beach is just past the pool, 'calling our names'. Finally, on the very last morning I wake up to a hotel with a beach right at our hotel. This has been my goal but now I know why we didn't have this until the last day...if we had found it sooner, I am slmost positive we might not have left the hotel! So we had seen the sights we could and now we had a morning in this perfect Portuguese paradise!
I didn't mention that we had to set the alarm each morning so that we would make it to breakfast. We missed it the first morning and decided that we had to make it the rest of the time even if we were tired enough to go back to sleep afterwards. Breakfasts are quite the experience, large buffets and as I mentioned some have more food choices than others, but all are delicious. There are always desserts at breakfast too, the first hotel had a full table of choices, but since then it has been a few cakes and puddings. Definitely not a meal to be missed! There are sparkling wines and champagne too. If there were Sangria, I might take up drinking at breakfast!
Breakfast ends at 10 or 10:30 at the hotels, way too early for us on holiday! So we usually get up around 9 or 9:30 to take our time getting there. It seems the nights are the best time for conversations and they last well into the early hours of the morning. So we are up and quiet, knowing it is our last lucious breakfast together. We walk into the restaurant and it is a wall of windows facing out to outside dining and the pool, absolutely beautiful! Such interesting people to look at too, César pointed a couple out and asked if I remembered what he had told me. I didn't know what he meant but he reminded me that if a lady is wearing sunglasses inside at breakfast she is Portuguese, and it appears he is right. The guests in the Algarve seem to be all Portuguese, British and German, at least at this time of year. We did not cross paths with one other American the entire trip, quite unusual for us.
We had expected the not as impressive breakfast that we had had the day before because the hotels were the same company. But we were in for a delightful surprise, it was fabulous! As always there was a table of "American Breakfast" items, the eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausages (although they don't look like ours, but more like little hot dogs) and baked beans. Baked beans aren't an American breakfast food that I know of but is served everywhere there. There were sauteed mushrooms and a few other items to choose from. There was a cooking station for omelets made to order or you could order eggs any other style. There were Portuguese pancakes which looked like crepes to me and when I asked César about them he said they were crepes, and there were different toppings for those. There were some bowls of fruit although it didn't look fresh cut like at some of the hotels. There was a table of breads and rolls and a toaster. There were baskets of jellies to choose from. And of course the meats and cheeses that are ever present at a European breakfast. I may have left out something, but you can tell it was a feast for the senses, all set up in lovely style.
We enjoyed our breakfast and then headed out to experience the beach. Yes, if we had found this hotel first, I doubt we would have ventured out much beyond the beach, it was ideal! We picked up towels as we passed the pool and came to a beach style bar and even though the hotel had advertised a 'private beach' it seemed that wasn't the case. César thinks that having a private beach in Portugal is illegal. There were large beach mattresses scattered about, along with some single ones and some beach beds, covered and so luxurious. It was still a bit early and being fall the beach was not crowded at all. The big comfy white mattresses were 10 euros a person and that included a drink. Usually the drinks were 10 euros in addition but since there were no towels there, it was a discount day. When I visited César at his hotel in Cascais I used to love to lounge in the canopied beach beds so I asked how much those would be and when I was told 100 euros, I decided the mattress would be fine. César thought I was crazy to pay for that, but it was my last day on a beach in the luxurious Algarve of Portugal and I thought it was a deal! We don't drink so we ordered our smoothies to be brought to us later when we requested them and settled down on an amazing mattress in the sun. The cool breeze made the day just perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. After lounging a bit I walked down to the water and saw that there were seashells along the beach. There hadn't been any when we were at the beach near Albufeira or where we had stopped in Salema so I did gather some to add to my collection and my memories. I had some from the beach in Ayamonte, Spain too, another nice addition to my collection. When we finally ordered our drinks they were delicious and only the 10 euro a drink price prevented us from ordering another.
The morning passed entirely too quickly and quite begrudgingly we packed up our things a bit after 1PM and left our comfy 'home' on the sand and headed back to the room to pack and get me to the airport. Yes, I can see why the Algarve is the perfect place to escape and relax although I am quite sure I would not enjoy it in the hot, crowded summer there at all! But the fall, yes I just might have to plan a return trip another fall!
The trip to the airport in Faro was uneventful, thank goodness! A bittersweet drive that was. The end of a grand experience, but the end none the less. And saying goodbye to a dear friend when we have no idea if and when we will see each other again is hard, but I know I was grateful for the incredible time we had. Who knows where in the world me may next meet...perhaps the Canary Islands?
Algarve and César...hasta proximo!
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Best of Plans (edited version)
Day 3 in the Algarve started out a little more restful. No great rush to anything scheduled and although we joked about taking another boat ride out to see the caves, neither of us had any intention of setting foot back on a boat! So we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel before packing up and moving on. The hotel had a lovely view of the top of a cliff and the sea in the distance. Unfortunately we weren't high enough to have much of a view so I was disappointed and made another note to self to always ask for a higher room with a view. The breakfast was quite spread out on different tables looking like much more than it was. Another disappointment that it wasn't as nice as the previous hotel's breakfast. But we ate enough anyway! Then we went to the room and gathered our things and packed the car for the next hotel in my quest to find the perfect Algarve hotel. Both of us were tired of packing and moving hotels, but no hotel had the beach access I'd wanted...so we were headed to one more for the last night there. We went to the Tivoli Vilamoura Marina. It was the first hotel I'd chosen after literally days of searching online originally, but Cesar had explained it was quite far from where he lived so we wouldn't be able to get to his 'house' for dinner at night. So I continued to look and booked another that was closer to start with. Vilamoura is a beautiful town, the whole town is like a large resort and the marina is almost as beautiful as the sea. The hotel was quite modern and elegant and we hoped we had found the best. I've decided this trip was the pursuit of the perfect Algarve hotel and it appeared as though we had found it. We had to wait a while to even get up to the check in desk and then were told our room was not ready. Cessar said that is because I requested the special things, high floor with an ocean view. Yes, I had learned that if you don't ask, you don't get it! We dropped off our luggage, well my luggage and his backpack, and headed towards Spain. It was a lovely drive, he took all the backroads rather than the highway and the sights were beautiful. Such a variety of things to look at along the way, old towns, new buiildings, flowers, trees, orange orchards and more. The beautiful pink bouganvilla drapped down the sides of the Portuguese style white houses was a sight to see!
Cesar's family always spent time in the Algarve in the summers when he grew up and they still do. He took me by the beautiful guest houses, like bungalows, in Tavira where they usually stayed, so nice I had to take pictures. It was one of the rare times I did get to take pictures because we turned into the lovely area, off the main road. It is illegal to stop along the highways or roads so I missed many beautiful pictures! Then he suggested we have lunch at a restaurant where his family always went. It was very good, he had the octopus pastry, which was very good but knowing it was octopus I just couldn't eat it. I had the fish filet which was good.
Driving through the villages is a delight because of the diversity of housing. I love seeing the traditional white buildings, so much like Spain, but so different too. And I love the homes that have the tile fronts, such an interesting concept. This trip I read that the azuelos (spelling?) are originally from the Moors influence there. Those are the tiles that are all over Portugal. Of course there are many old buildings that are homes, with paint peeling and very run down. One lady came out on the street to stare at us and the door to her 'home' was open and it was a tiny room with a bed and chair. What would it be like to live like that I wondered. But the people in Portugal make the best of a tough life. The economy has always been bad and now with the way things are it is even worse. That is hard to believe driving through some of the areas in the Algarve though. We saw some of the most gorgeous homes and I thought how much fun it would be to build a home here in the Portuguese style. Won't happen for me, but it is a fun dream. I wish I would have had time to take more pictures of the homes, so elegant and interesting!
Well, back to our journey to Spain...
There is a ferry to Spain but we weren't going to take any more boat rides, so we took the highway into Spain. We went into the small town of Ayamonte and first stopped at a gas station to get gas. I learned how to tell from the license plates where a car was from. All plates have the EU flag on them but under each is a letter for the country they are from. Cesar pointed out that the gas station across the border in Spain had a long line of cars with a P on them, the reason being the gas is between 12 and 20 euro cents a liter cheaper than Portugal, because of the way things are taxed. Very interesting. And the Spanish people go across the border to Portugal often for the delicious food he said. The different countries tax different items. Portugal is upset because they have just raised the taxes on many items. Foods that used to be the lowest taxed are now much more expensive. There are more tax categories and it is higher, now in a time of so much unemployment. After we got our car filled up with all the other Portuguese, saving about 10 euros at least, we found a close place to park by a beach. A beautiful day, a cool breeze and the sun made it a pleasant visit. We both wished we had towels to just sit and enjoy the beach although it was a bit cold for Cesar. For me it was perfect. Then we stopped at a little tapas bar near the beach and although we weren't hungry I wanted tapas. I ordered the Spanish potato salad and it wasn't very tasty so I didn't eat much.
We went back to the car to find a flat tire. Not good news as it turns out there is no where in Spain or Portugal on a Saturday or Sunday to get help or a new tire. Cesar had never changed a tire and of course i hadn't, I have AAA which is unheard of over there. The Spanish people were no help and I was shocked by their indifference at our problem. The lugnuts were so tight that Cesar couldn't get them off. I went up to a man who was in the park there and he called over a family member who did speak English and it turned out they were Portuguese and the man was able to jump on the lugwrench and get it to turn. He helped us so much! Amazing, we were in Spain and the only helpful people were the Portuguese. I have to say that I was quite disappointed at the fact that the Spanish people we talked to were so indifferent to our problem. I know it was only a few people in that small town that were around. We got the tire changed and I wasn't upset to see the big sign on the tire that we couldn't go over 50 miles an hour on it. Everyone drives so fast there and it was rather funny going so slow as cars flew past us! But I was qutie adamant that we follow the directions in big letters on the tire, it was there for a reason and we had a long way to go and if we lost that tire we were in big trouble! Although Cesar kept telling me if we got back across the border we would be okay. When we did, I noticed phones along the highway every couple of miles for emergencies. However I wasn't sure they would work if you need them, one of our jokes was that something in every hotel didn't work right, the upkeep is not what I am used to here. This was not the way we planned to spend the late afternoon and and evening, a long, quite leisurly drive back. It changed our plans for the evening. Chef Cesar was going to serve me his Portuguese pasta for dinner but by then we were too tired to drive all the way to his house so slowly so we opted for an alternative. The view was also beautiful from the highway. I fell asleep at one point and felt the car speed up. I opened my eyes and asked him to please drive the suggested speed and when he said 'go back to sleep' and I said I would as soon as he went back to 80km. And so we continued the very long drive to our hotel in Vilamoura. Vilamoura was closer to that side of Portugal so it turned out to be a good place for us to stay that night. I had read about a highly recommended restaurant that was in Faro by the train station. Cesar had said we wouldn't be there at dinner during the trip because we'd be eating at his place. Well we were so tired from our ordeal and the long drive, as we were passing Faro he asked if I would like to try the restaurant I'd heard so much about. We weren't going to his house and we weren't up for more sandwiches at the hotel. I was excited to try it, I love Portuguese food and this was supposed to be one of the best and most reasonably priced places. However I didn't have the name or exact directions, I only remembered it was on a street not far from the train station and had Adega in the name. We eventually found the train station, we couldn't ask for directions to get there because we WERE NOT lost! We just didn't know where we were! After the day we had had, I knew it was a good time to sit quietly and let him find his way. We did find the train station and he left me in the car to go in search of some restaurant that had the word Adega in the name. At the last minute I remembered it had the word Nova in it so off he went in search of the 'perfect' Portuguese restaurant which he had never heard of. He came back a few minutes later with good and bad news, he found it but there was no parking near it so we had a very slow walk the couple of blocks and found it well worth the search! It was charming inside! Elegant was the English word for Cesar's description of it. Most places we had eaten were plain and that was fine, but this had a lot of special touches. I'd read about the 'steak on a stone' and wanted to try cooking at my table on a stone. Quite an experience. While we were deciding what to order the man right next to me got that so we started talking about it. You get a hot stone and a tray of sliced beef seasoned and you put it on the stone and it cooks. I wanted to do that and Cesar ordered something I can't pronounce or spell. We were so hungry by then and enjoyed the traditional bread on the table. I think I mentioned that they serve things and you pay if you eat them. Some places in Europe are so expensive to have them but in Portugal it might be about 75 euro cents for the bread basket and 30 euro cents for the butter or spreads. The sardine spread that Cesar thinks is delicious was worth trying, but not so delicious to me. He had soup and I had salad and then the main course. Soon I was cooking my own dinner. It was fun but I didn't love the flavor of the meat, however the very strange looking thing Cesar ordered was delicious and since he didn't feel too good by then I enjoyed eating part of his too. Somewhere I had him write down the name, it was delicious and I will highly recommend anyone going to Portugal try it. However I did find out that just as in the US, different food items aren't necessarily found all over Portugal but rather in the regions we found them. Disappointing. Oh well, we enjoyed another lovely dinner and although we had gotten there probably around 7:30 and the restaurant was quite empty, by the time we were finishing there was a line into the street. Mostly 'foreigners' were there when we arrived, but the Portuguese who eat much later were there as we left. Cesar said that the restaurant was definitely an excellent authentic Portuguese restaurant and the prices were great. We both enjoyed this Portuguese experience. Finally we were headed back to our hotel and looked forward to sitting out by the beautiful pool, but by the time we got there the pool and beach access had closed for the night so we stayed in and spent a bit of time on our balcony with the gorgeous view, it pays to know what to ask for! Then we spent time on the hotel computers.
Unfortunately we found out, as perfect as the hotel seemed, that was not the truth. Our room was miserably hot. I couldn't sleep being that hot and miserable. By 2AM even Cesar was hot and we talked to the desk and they sent a maintenance man up and he seemed to fix it but in no time it was hot again. So hot that the chocolate caramel kisses melted right in the room! I'm not sure if it was a good thing or not that it wasn't one of my personal beach moments! At least those pass, but this night I continued to wake up miserable. We had gone out on the hotel balcony facing the marina and it was very cool and windy so I guess if we had been on that side we could have opened the balcony door and enjoyed the breeze, but that was not true on our side. I have a cute little purple hand fan that I bought in England, Terry appropriately calls it my 'hair tangler' because when I first used it I put it too close and it took a very long time to unwind my hair from it and quite a bit was just lost! Anyway, I had that and Cesar propped it up to blow on me but the batteries died sometime in the night. Next time...I take the small fan I bought for traveling! EVERYWHERE just in case! It was a long hot miserable night, but what a view we woke up to the next day!
And that was day 3 and night 4 in the Algarve!
Cesar's family always spent time in the Algarve in the summers when he grew up and they still do. He took me by the beautiful guest houses, like bungalows, in Tavira where they usually stayed, so nice I had to take pictures. It was one of the rare times I did get to take pictures because we turned into the lovely area, off the main road. It is illegal to stop along the highways or roads so I missed many beautiful pictures! Then he suggested we have lunch at a restaurant where his family always went. It was very good, he had the octopus pastry, which was very good but knowing it was octopus I just couldn't eat it. I had the fish filet which was good.
Driving through the villages is a delight because of the diversity of housing. I love seeing the traditional white buildings, so much like Spain, but so different too. And I love the homes that have the tile fronts, such an interesting concept. This trip I read that the azuelos (spelling?) are originally from the Moors influence there. Those are the tiles that are all over Portugal. Of course there are many old buildings that are homes, with paint peeling and very run down. One lady came out on the street to stare at us and the door to her 'home' was open and it was a tiny room with a bed and chair. What would it be like to live like that I wondered. But the people in Portugal make the best of a tough life. The economy has always been bad and now with the way things are it is even worse. That is hard to believe driving through some of the areas in the Algarve though. We saw some of the most gorgeous homes and I thought how much fun it would be to build a home here in the Portuguese style. Won't happen for me, but it is a fun dream. I wish I would have had time to take more pictures of the homes, so elegant and interesting!
Well, back to our journey to Spain...
There is a ferry to Spain but we weren't going to take any more boat rides, so we took the highway into Spain. We went into the small town of Ayamonte and first stopped at a gas station to get gas. I learned how to tell from the license plates where a car was from. All plates have the EU flag on them but under each is a letter for the country they are from. Cesar pointed out that the gas station across the border in Spain had a long line of cars with a P on them, the reason being the gas is between 12 and 20 euro cents a liter cheaper than Portugal, because of the way things are taxed. Very interesting. And the Spanish people go across the border to Portugal often for the delicious food he said. The different countries tax different items. Portugal is upset because they have just raised the taxes on many items. Foods that used to be the lowest taxed are now much more expensive. There are more tax categories and it is higher, now in a time of so much unemployment. After we got our car filled up with all the other Portuguese, saving about 10 euros at least, we found a close place to park by a beach. A beautiful day, a cool breeze and the sun made it a pleasant visit. We both wished we had towels to just sit and enjoy the beach although it was a bit cold for Cesar. For me it was perfect. Then we stopped at a little tapas bar near the beach and although we weren't hungry I wanted tapas. I ordered the Spanish potato salad and it wasn't very tasty so I didn't eat much.
We went back to the car to find a flat tire. Not good news as it turns out there is no where in Spain or Portugal on a Saturday or Sunday to get help or a new tire. Cesar had never changed a tire and of course i hadn't, I have AAA which is unheard of over there. The Spanish people were no help and I was shocked by their indifference at our problem. The lugnuts were so tight that Cesar couldn't get them off. I went up to a man who was in the park there and he called over a family member who did speak English and it turned out they were Portuguese and the man was able to jump on the lugwrench and get it to turn. He helped us so much! Amazing, we were in Spain and the only helpful people were the Portuguese. I have to say that I was quite disappointed at the fact that the Spanish people we talked to were so indifferent to our problem. I know it was only a few people in that small town that were around. We got the tire changed and I wasn't upset to see the big sign on the tire that we couldn't go over 50 miles an hour on it. Everyone drives so fast there and it was rather funny going so slow as cars flew past us! But I was qutie adamant that we follow the directions in big letters on the tire, it was there for a reason and we had a long way to go and if we lost that tire we were in big trouble! Although Cesar kept telling me if we got back across the border we would be okay. When we did, I noticed phones along the highway every couple of miles for emergencies. However I wasn't sure they would work if you need them, one of our jokes was that something in every hotel didn't work right, the upkeep is not what I am used to here. This was not the way we planned to spend the late afternoon and and evening, a long, quite leisurly drive back. It changed our plans for the evening. Chef Cesar was going to serve me his Portuguese pasta for dinner but by then we were too tired to drive all the way to his house so slowly so we opted for an alternative. The view was also beautiful from the highway. I fell asleep at one point and felt the car speed up. I opened my eyes and asked him to please drive the suggested speed and when he said 'go back to sleep' and I said I would as soon as he went back to 80km. And so we continued the very long drive to our hotel in Vilamoura. Vilamoura was closer to that side of Portugal so it turned out to be a good place for us to stay that night. I had read about a highly recommended restaurant that was in Faro by the train station. Cesar had said we wouldn't be there at dinner during the trip because we'd be eating at his place. Well we were so tired from our ordeal and the long drive, as we were passing Faro he asked if I would like to try the restaurant I'd heard so much about. We weren't going to his house and we weren't up for more sandwiches at the hotel. I was excited to try it, I love Portuguese food and this was supposed to be one of the best and most reasonably priced places. However I didn't have the name or exact directions, I only remembered it was on a street not far from the train station and had Adega in the name. We eventually found the train station, we couldn't ask for directions to get there because we WERE NOT lost! We just didn't know where we were! After the day we had had, I knew it was a good time to sit quietly and let him find his way. We did find the train station and he left me in the car to go in search of some restaurant that had the word Adega in the name. At the last minute I remembered it had the word Nova in it so off he went in search of the 'perfect' Portuguese restaurant which he had never heard of. He came back a few minutes later with good and bad news, he found it but there was no parking near it so we had a very slow walk the couple of blocks and found it well worth the search! It was charming inside! Elegant was the English word for Cesar's description of it. Most places we had eaten were plain and that was fine, but this had a lot of special touches. I'd read about the 'steak on a stone' and wanted to try cooking at my table on a stone. Quite an experience. While we were deciding what to order the man right next to me got that so we started talking about it. You get a hot stone and a tray of sliced beef seasoned and you put it on the stone and it cooks. I wanted to do that and Cesar ordered something I can't pronounce or spell. We were so hungry by then and enjoyed the traditional bread on the table. I think I mentioned that they serve things and you pay if you eat them. Some places in Europe are so expensive to have them but in Portugal it might be about 75 euro cents for the bread basket and 30 euro cents for the butter or spreads. The sardine spread that Cesar thinks is delicious was worth trying, but not so delicious to me. He had soup and I had salad and then the main course. Soon I was cooking my own dinner. It was fun but I didn't love the flavor of the meat, however the very strange looking thing Cesar ordered was delicious and since he didn't feel too good by then I enjoyed eating part of his too. Somewhere I had him write down the name, it was delicious and I will highly recommend anyone going to Portugal try it. However I did find out that just as in the US, different food items aren't necessarily found all over Portugal but rather in the regions we found them. Disappointing. Oh well, we enjoyed another lovely dinner and although we had gotten there probably around 7:30 and the restaurant was quite empty, by the time we were finishing there was a line into the street. Mostly 'foreigners' were there when we arrived, but the Portuguese who eat much later were there as we left. Cesar said that the restaurant was definitely an excellent authentic Portuguese restaurant and the prices were great. We both enjoyed this Portuguese experience. Finally we were headed back to our hotel and looked forward to sitting out by the beautiful pool, but by the time we got there the pool and beach access had closed for the night so we stayed in and spent a bit of time on our balcony with the gorgeous view, it pays to know what to ask for! Then we spent time on the hotel computers.
Unfortunately we found out, as perfect as the hotel seemed, that was not the truth. Our room was miserably hot. I couldn't sleep being that hot and miserable. By 2AM even Cesar was hot and we talked to the desk and they sent a maintenance man up and he seemed to fix it but in no time it was hot again. So hot that the chocolate caramel kisses melted right in the room! I'm not sure if it was a good thing or not that it wasn't one of my personal beach moments! At least those pass, but this night I continued to wake up miserable. We had gone out on the hotel balcony facing the marina and it was very cool and windy so I guess if we had been on that side we could have opened the balcony door and enjoyed the breeze, but that was not true on our side. I have a cute little purple hand fan that I bought in England, Terry appropriately calls it my 'hair tangler' because when I first used it I put it too close and it took a very long time to unwind my hair from it and quite a bit was just lost! Anyway, I had that and Cesar propped it up to blow on me but the batteries died sometime in the night. Next time...I take the small fan I bought for traveling! EVERYWHERE just in case! It was a long hot miserable night, but what a view we woke up to the next day!
And that was day 3 and night 4 in the Algarve!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Day 2 in the Algarve
It is the middle of the night in Portugal, but not so late according to my internal US clock so the business center at our hotel is empty and Cesar is fast asleep so it is a good time to think about my day. And what a day it was!
We started our day quite early. Had a lot to do before getting to our boat for a 9AM departure to see the caves and grottos of the Algarve. After a short night of sleep, we got up to have breakfast at our hotel. It was an amazing breakfast, the kind you come to expect in Europe. All of the European dishes including a large selection of meats and cheeses and breads. I was thrilled to see the pasteis de nata, the pastry that I love so much. Cesar told me it was not common in this part of portugal but not only did I have a few, the girl in the restaurant brought me cinnamon to put on top and they just may have been the best Iºve had yet! So in addition to that, there were eggs, bacon, and the American breakfast items, along with several desserts, including crepes with real chocolate. We ate and then checked out and headed to our new hotel. Yes it is crazy to keep changing hotels but I am hoping to find one that is walking distance to one of the incredibly beautiful beaches. So far ºsea viewº means a view of the ocean far away over rooftops but I have hope that the one we will go to tomorrow will come through and my last night will be spent really looking at the beach and ocean. We rushed to check into our new hotel and then rushed to Portamao where we were going to board the ºpirate shipº that would take up out to the caves. I was excited but we were late and it looked as if we would miss the boat. Oh how we both wish we would have!! The boat is late and we are there and I was my usual excited self at the thought of taking a boat through caves and grottos. Seeing the little fishing boats being pulled behind our boat was a little alarming, but what an adventure. Turns out I was the only American, the few other people on the boat were either Portuguese or German. The captain was German and I barely could understand his English which had to be said just for me. We sail away on very rough seas. I was pretty happy that I was feeling fine and when Cesar started feeling sick I reminded him of how he never had any sympathy for me when I would be seasick on the ship so it was his turn. Well, I never should have been so cocky. It wasnºt long before I got sick and I literally couldnºt lift my head off the bench. We finally got out to the magical place where we were supposed to board the little boat. the big boat was rocking beyond belief and I raised my head to see the little one bounce up on a wave way above the large one and I knew I wasnºt going anywhere! Cesar refused to go without me and he sat with me the entire trip, something Iºm not really used to, always being along through almost everything. The captain spent time talking to me and it is true that I was so sick I couldnºt even answer. He was worried about me because it was cold out and I was very hot to the touch. finally after what seemed like days, the little fishing boat returned and the captain announced we were heading directly back because Miss Colorado was so sick. He called me that the whole time and it really was funny, too bad I couldnºt say a word. Finally after 3 1-2 long hours at sea we arrived back at the dock. I made it! I know one day that will be funny, but today it was a nightmare. The only good thing was that I did make it and Cesar did stay with me throughout it all.
We decided to go on with the tour he had planned. If I could spell all the towns we visited I would share that because I know some of you would look up things. Since I canºt walk far with my damaged knee, most things were seen from the car window. We did drive to Lagos for lunch and ate at a restaurant he had heard about and it was amazing. We had a giant meal, complete with appetizers, tea and dessert and it came to 23 euros, that is about $35. We then headed to the town that is the southernmost point of land in Portugal and then on the way back visited the town of Salema where he hadnºt been before, but since Elaine had written about it I wanted to see it. Finally there we were able to get near enough to walk in the water. a lovely experience! The cold water felt wonderful! And I am sure I got some awesome pictures of the sun setting behind the cliffs.
Then we drove all the way back to our hotel for the night in Caroveiro (?). We got dressed to go out to dinner, first we were going back to his guest house because he wanted to cook dinner every night, then we decided to stay in this town then we decided we were too tired to go anywhere and settled on a fancy, cheap room service dinner of club sandwiches. A Portuguese club sandwich is about twice as big as the ones at home and we enjoyed that and then the night was over.
Tomorrow is our compromise day. I wanted to go into Spain and to Seville, he didnºt want to so we are going to Spain but not all the way to Seville. There are many more villages and towns to explore on the way and if we make it we will find the water fall that is supposed to be gorgeous. Lots of exploring, lots of new sights for him too and we can both guarantee there will be no more boat rides for a long, long time!
Again, bon nuite from the Algarve!
We started our day quite early. Had a lot to do before getting to our boat for a 9AM departure to see the caves and grottos of the Algarve. After a short night of sleep, we got up to have breakfast at our hotel. It was an amazing breakfast, the kind you come to expect in Europe. All of the European dishes including a large selection of meats and cheeses and breads. I was thrilled to see the pasteis de nata, the pastry that I love so much. Cesar told me it was not common in this part of portugal but not only did I have a few, the girl in the restaurant brought me cinnamon to put on top and they just may have been the best Iºve had yet! So in addition to that, there were eggs, bacon, and the American breakfast items, along with several desserts, including crepes with real chocolate. We ate and then checked out and headed to our new hotel. Yes it is crazy to keep changing hotels but I am hoping to find one that is walking distance to one of the incredibly beautiful beaches. So far ºsea viewº means a view of the ocean far away over rooftops but I have hope that the one we will go to tomorrow will come through and my last night will be spent really looking at the beach and ocean. We rushed to check into our new hotel and then rushed to Portamao where we were going to board the ºpirate shipº that would take up out to the caves. I was excited but we were late and it looked as if we would miss the boat. Oh how we both wish we would have!! The boat is late and we are there and I was my usual excited self at the thought of taking a boat through caves and grottos. Seeing the little fishing boats being pulled behind our boat was a little alarming, but what an adventure. Turns out I was the only American, the few other people on the boat were either Portuguese or German. The captain was German and I barely could understand his English which had to be said just for me. We sail away on very rough seas. I was pretty happy that I was feeling fine and when Cesar started feeling sick I reminded him of how he never had any sympathy for me when I would be seasick on the ship so it was his turn. Well, I never should have been so cocky. It wasnºt long before I got sick and I literally couldnºt lift my head off the bench. We finally got out to the magical place where we were supposed to board the little boat. the big boat was rocking beyond belief and I raised my head to see the little one bounce up on a wave way above the large one and I knew I wasnºt going anywhere! Cesar refused to go without me and he sat with me the entire trip, something Iºm not really used to, always being along through almost everything. The captain spent time talking to me and it is true that I was so sick I couldnºt even answer. He was worried about me because it was cold out and I was very hot to the touch. finally after what seemed like days, the little fishing boat returned and the captain announced we were heading directly back because Miss Colorado was so sick. He called me that the whole time and it really was funny, too bad I couldnºt say a word. Finally after 3 1-2 long hours at sea we arrived back at the dock. I made it! I know one day that will be funny, but today it was a nightmare. The only good thing was that I did make it and Cesar did stay with me throughout it all.
We decided to go on with the tour he had planned. If I could spell all the towns we visited I would share that because I know some of you would look up things. Since I canºt walk far with my damaged knee, most things were seen from the car window. We did drive to Lagos for lunch and ate at a restaurant he had heard about and it was amazing. We had a giant meal, complete with appetizers, tea and dessert and it came to 23 euros, that is about $35. We then headed to the town that is the southernmost point of land in Portugal and then on the way back visited the town of Salema where he hadnºt been before, but since Elaine had written about it I wanted to see it. Finally there we were able to get near enough to walk in the water. a lovely experience! The cold water felt wonderful! And I am sure I got some awesome pictures of the sun setting behind the cliffs.
Then we drove all the way back to our hotel for the night in Caroveiro (?). We got dressed to go out to dinner, first we were going back to his guest house because he wanted to cook dinner every night, then we decided to stay in this town then we decided we were too tired to go anywhere and settled on a fancy, cheap room service dinner of club sandwiches. A Portuguese club sandwich is about twice as big as the ones at home and we enjoyed that and then the night was over.
Tomorrow is our compromise day. I wanted to go into Spain and to Seville, he didnºt want to so we are going to Spain but not all the way to Seville. There are many more villages and towns to explore on the way and if we make it we will find the water fall that is supposed to be gorgeous. Lots of exploring, lots of new sights for him too and we can both guarantee there will be no more boat rides for a long, long time!
Again, bon nuite from the Algarve!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Greetings from the Algarvel
Yes, here I am, enjoying the Algave, the southern region of Portugal. You may not have heard of this part of Portugal, but it is a very popular summer destination for Europeans. And it seems that people also head here for the Christmas holidays. Now is a quiet time however still there are people enjoying the gorgeous beaches and for me, someone who hates heat, it is the perfect time to enjoy the beauty of the area. I've found myself in Portugal each fall and this is the fourth fall that I have visited Portugal, a beautiful time of year for me.
The trip here was long. And yes, flying this far with a few connections to spend four days with Cesar, my Portuguese friend, may be crazy, but what is life if you can't just do crazy things once in a while. My travels took twenty four hours from the time I left my house until I walked off the plane in Faro, Portugal. Actually a bit more because the last flight was late. The flight from London Heathrow to Lisbon was late because we couldnºt fly over French air space and had to detour over Spain. I was stressed that I would miss my next TAP Portugal flight from Lisbon to Faro but in true Portuguese style, everyone said "Don't worry", about 15 different times I heard that and they were right. Luckily the flight was also delayed and I did make it to the last portion of the trip, Lisbon to Faro for the 45 minute flight. Luckily we had winds in our favor because that trip turned out to be 30 minutes, a very good thing because ater all that traveling there was a lovely Finnish lady in the middle seat next to me with a screaming little girl, yes she screamed and kicked and hit for the entire flight. She was exhaused and so was I and if I could have gotten away with it, that might be just what I would have done too.
And after all that time, finally we landed and I was pleasantly surprised that my suitcase actually made it with me after that long journey. And finally I walked out of the secure area and there was Cesar, waiting patiently for my very late flight, I had arrived! How fun to see him and suddenly my exhaustion was gone. As we started driving to the hotel the fog got so thick that we could barely see the front of the car. I was so thankful that happened AFTER we had landed or who knows where I might have spent the night. It was midnight and I was hungry and Cesar had planned to cook dinner for me at his guest house. So we went there for dinner and about 2AM we were headed to the hotel that he was sure he could find. Well after many turns on the roundabouts we did indeed find the hotel I'd reserved. He unloaded me, my luggage and his things and parked the car. By the time he was walking up I was outside telling him we were at the wrong place!
No matter how much you travel I think there are always lessons to learn. My pattern is to find hotels recommended on trip advisor and then go to the websites to book directly with the hotels. I had done that, or so I thought. Well, after we repacked his car and drove to the other CS hotel it turns out I had booked through a booking agency even though it had the name of the hotel. Long story short..we were not going to be in a very good room. The man at the desk said he would give us a nice room after all and we walked and walked and walked to an end room, walked in to it, a tiny room with barely enough room to enter the bathroom. The balcony was beautiful but the ocean view over the rooftops was minimal. I was sad but exhausted and we decided to stay, the room was prepaid. And then we started talking and laughing and at 5:30AM we decided to stay awake until breakfast and then sleep and then we both fell asleep. We woke up at 9:55AM and since breakfast ended at 10 that was one missed meal. We ended up getting a nicer room, although I did have to pay more for it. It's a suite and much more comfortable.
We drove around and went to the Fiesa, the largest sand sculpture show in the world. It was fabulous! It's been there all summer and tomorrow is the last day. At that point Cesar said all the artists will go in and destroy the sculptures and next year there will be a new theme and new sculptures. Wonderful experience. We then went to a restaurant overlooking a beautiful beach in Albufiera. We don't drink but when I saw the most beautiful pitcher of sangria being delivered to the next table I asked for just one glass of that. Turns out they only make it by the pitcher but the man brought out a pitcher that was small that he made for me. It was the most delicious thing I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. I was only sorry I couldn't bring home all the fruit that was floating inside to enjoy later. We had a salad and then a monkfish/shrimp kabob that was also excellent! A delightful lunch overlooking the beach! Cesar knew one of the waiters so when we got our bill most of it had been given to us for free, a nice gift! I might just have to revisit that place for more sangria before I leave!
After that filling lunch we returned to our suite and slept for a few hours. Then we had the delightful experience of going to the grocery store and yes, I was taking pictures of that too. We left with 3 bags filled with snacks for our trip and the total was only 17 euros, such good prices! Then we returned to Cesar's guest house and he once again cooked me dinner, such a nice evening! And now we are sitting in the suite, enjoying a quiet evening.
Tomorrow we will make it to an early breakfast and then have reservations for a tour of the grottos and caves in the area. We will board a boat that will take us out and then we will climb down to little boats it is pulling to go into the grottos and caves. WHAT! I say to Cesar, we have to climb down the side of a boat to little ones and yes, I got the classic Portuguese answer, "Don't worry!" And so, being too tired to worry anyway, I guess I won't worry! A wonderful adventure awaits us tomorrow. In the afternoon we are going to find a famous waterfall and then on Saturday we will go into Spain to see the countryside and Sunday my visit will be coming to an end, with another long journey ahead. But I'm in Portugal so I won't worry and trust all will go well.
Bon nuite de Albufiera, the Algave, Portugal...
The trip here was long. And yes, flying this far with a few connections to spend four days with Cesar, my Portuguese friend, may be crazy, but what is life if you can't just do crazy things once in a while. My travels took twenty four hours from the time I left my house until I walked off the plane in Faro, Portugal. Actually a bit more because the last flight was late. The flight from London Heathrow to Lisbon was late because we couldnºt fly over French air space and had to detour over Spain. I was stressed that I would miss my next TAP Portugal flight from Lisbon to Faro but in true Portuguese style, everyone said "Don't worry", about 15 different times I heard that and they were right. Luckily the flight was also delayed and I did make it to the last portion of the trip, Lisbon to Faro for the 45 minute flight. Luckily we had winds in our favor because that trip turned out to be 30 minutes, a very good thing because ater all that traveling there was a lovely Finnish lady in the middle seat next to me with a screaming little girl, yes she screamed and kicked and hit for the entire flight. She was exhaused and so was I and if I could have gotten away with it, that might be just what I would have done too.
And after all that time, finally we landed and I was pleasantly surprised that my suitcase actually made it with me after that long journey. And finally I walked out of the secure area and there was Cesar, waiting patiently for my very late flight, I had arrived! How fun to see him and suddenly my exhaustion was gone. As we started driving to the hotel the fog got so thick that we could barely see the front of the car. I was so thankful that happened AFTER we had landed or who knows where I might have spent the night. It was midnight and I was hungry and Cesar had planned to cook dinner for me at his guest house. So we went there for dinner and about 2AM we were headed to the hotel that he was sure he could find. Well after many turns on the roundabouts we did indeed find the hotel I'd reserved. He unloaded me, my luggage and his things and parked the car. By the time he was walking up I was outside telling him we were at the wrong place!
No matter how much you travel I think there are always lessons to learn. My pattern is to find hotels recommended on trip advisor and then go to the websites to book directly with the hotels. I had done that, or so I thought. Well, after we repacked his car and drove to the other CS hotel it turns out I had booked through a booking agency even though it had the name of the hotel. Long story short..we were not going to be in a very good room. The man at the desk said he would give us a nice room after all and we walked and walked and walked to an end room, walked in to it, a tiny room with barely enough room to enter the bathroom. The balcony was beautiful but the ocean view over the rooftops was minimal. I was sad but exhausted and we decided to stay, the room was prepaid. And then we started talking and laughing and at 5:30AM we decided to stay awake until breakfast and then sleep and then we both fell asleep. We woke up at 9:55AM and since breakfast ended at 10 that was one missed meal. We ended up getting a nicer room, although I did have to pay more for it. It's a suite and much more comfortable.
We drove around and went to the Fiesa, the largest sand sculpture show in the world. It was fabulous! It's been there all summer and tomorrow is the last day. At that point Cesar said all the artists will go in and destroy the sculptures and next year there will be a new theme and new sculptures. Wonderful experience. We then went to a restaurant overlooking a beautiful beach in Albufiera. We don't drink but when I saw the most beautiful pitcher of sangria being delivered to the next table I asked for just one glass of that. Turns out they only make it by the pitcher but the man brought out a pitcher that was small that he made for me. It was the most delicious thing I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. I was only sorry I couldn't bring home all the fruit that was floating inside to enjoy later. We had a salad and then a monkfish/shrimp kabob that was also excellent! A delightful lunch overlooking the beach! Cesar knew one of the waiters so when we got our bill most of it had been given to us for free, a nice gift! I might just have to revisit that place for more sangria before I leave!
After that filling lunch we returned to our suite and slept for a few hours. Then we had the delightful experience of going to the grocery store and yes, I was taking pictures of that too. We left with 3 bags filled with snacks for our trip and the total was only 17 euros, such good prices! Then we returned to Cesar's guest house and he once again cooked me dinner, such a nice evening! And now we are sitting in the suite, enjoying a quiet evening.
Tomorrow we will make it to an early breakfast and then have reservations for a tour of the grottos and caves in the area. We will board a boat that will take us out and then we will climb down to little boats it is pulling to go into the grottos and caves. WHAT! I say to Cesar, we have to climb down the side of a boat to little ones and yes, I got the classic Portuguese answer, "Don't worry!" And so, being too tired to worry anyway, I guess I won't worry! A wonderful adventure awaits us tomorrow. In the afternoon we are going to find a famous waterfall and then on Saturday we will go into Spain to see the countryside and Sunday my visit will be coming to an end, with another long journey ahead. But I'm in Portugal so I won't worry and trust all will go well.
Bon nuite de Albufiera, the Algave, Portugal...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
A Trip - Down Memory Lane
Today I ventured out for a drive in the mountains to see the turning of the leaves. I haven't done this is quite some time. Since I started traveling to Europe 3 1/2 years ago, and since I got my job close to home, I rarely drive very far.
Yesterday I visited friends in Cheyenne and once I was on the road again, it felt good and the day was perfect so I decided to sightsee right in my own backyard. I decided that a trip up to Sunshine to check out the house where I lived when I was married was a perfect destination. The large 4 Mile forest fire was up there and had burned Sunshine and I wasn't sure what I would find. I started out early and missed a lot of the Sunday driving traffic so the trip to Boulder was nice and when I got to Boulder all kinds of memories came flooding back. So it was quite the trip down memory lane.
I visited Boulder in 1966 with my aunt and uncle and cousins and fell in love with it and decided that was the only college I wanted to go to. I studied more in high school and was admitted 41 years ago and my dream began. The "Journey to Mitzi" had quite a start in school in Boulder. Today I relived it, I passed places where I went with friends for ice cream in the winter, where I worked when I met some of the most important people in my life including my exhusband and my dear friend in Albuquerque. I passed all the places I used to play and work. I drove up Sunshine Canyon and the drive was beautiful and then around a bend everything was gone, black and bleak. There were places where the fire only was on one side of the road and places where it was on both. As I took the fork in the road to our small town of Sunshine there seemed to be little that had changed on that dirt road. And then I saw signs of the fire, but not whole empty fields, instead the ground was black and the trunks of trees were charred. Some were gone and it was different and then not so different. The house where I lived was still standing, but the ground up the mountain to it was black. I drove to the end of the road and it seemed the homes were okay but there were signs of damage to the trees and ground. I'm not sure how that happened. On one side road there was a sign that said "residents only, please no media or reporters". It is obvious that much is being done to return to life as before.
While driving through that 'memory' a very strange thing happened. I always have music on but really don't pay a lot of attention to it. Suddenly as I was driving past my house up the road to where my inlaws had lived I noticed that the song "Annie's Song" by John Denver was playing. This was quite significant, it is one of the 2 songs I got married to. I just couldn't walk down the aisle to "Here Comes the Bride", I guess I've always needed to be a bit different. So my songs were "Annie's Song" and "Evergreen" and there, back in my past, I was hearing our song. A coincidence? Perhaps...and perhaps not! My ex husband died 12 years ago, almost to this day from my memory. The day in my past was touching, healing and reaffirming to my present life.
The trees were magnificent! The colors beautiful and the day was cool. I drove up Boulder Canyon after my trip up Sunshine Canyon and it too was beautiful. A year ago César and I were in the fall leaves in Germany at Neuschwanstein Castle and I thought I would miss that. But being close to home and seeing 'my trees' and 'my streams' just an hour drive away, was delightful. Autumn is a beautiful time and I'm glad we got a taste of it in Colorado before winter arrives!
One doesn't need to fly across the world for a wonderful adventure!
Yesterday I visited friends in Cheyenne and once I was on the road again, it felt good and the day was perfect so I decided to sightsee right in my own backyard. I decided that a trip up to Sunshine to check out the house where I lived when I was married was a perfect destination. The large 4 Mile forest fire was up there and had burned Sunshine and I wasn't sure what I would find. I started out early and missed a lot of the Sunday driving traffic so the trip to Boulder was nice and when I got to Boulder all kinds of memories came flooding back. So it was quite the trip down memory lane.
I visited Boulder in 1966 with my aunt and uncle and cousins and fell in love with it and decided that was the only college I wanted to go to. I studied more in high school and was admitted 41 years ago and my dream began. The "Journey to Mitzi" had quite a start in school in Boulder. Today I relived it, I passed places where I went with friends for ice cream in the winter, where I worked when I met some of the most important people in my life including my exhusband and my dear friend in Albuquerque. I passed all the places I used to play and work. I drove up Sunshine Canyon and the drive was beautiful and then around a bend everything was gone, black and bleak. There were places where the fire only was on one side of the road and places where it was on both. As I took the fork in the road to our small town of Sunshine there seemed to be little that had changed on that dirt road. And then I saw signs of the fire, but not whole empty fields, instead the ground was black and the trunks of trees were charred. Some were gone and it was different and then not so different. The house where I lived was still standing, but the ground up the mountain to it was black. I drove to the end of the road and it seemed the homes were okay but there were signs of damage to the trees and ground. I'm not sure how that happened. On one side road there was a sign that said "residents only, please no media or reporters". It is obvious that much is being done to return to life as before.
While driving through that 'memory' a very strange thing happened. I always have music on but really don't pay a lot of attention to it. Suddenly as I was driving past my house up the road to where my inlaws had lived I noticed that the song "Annie's Song" by John Denver was playing. This was quite significant, it is one of the 2 songs I got married to. I just couldn't walk down the aisle to "Here Comes the Bride", I guess I've always needed to be a bit different. So my songs were "Annie's Song" and "Evergreen" and there, back in my past, I was hearing our song. A coincidence? Perhaps...and perhaps not! My ex husband died 12 years ago, almost to this day from my memory. The day in my past was touching, healing and reaffirming to my present life.
The trees were magnificent! The colors beautiful and the day was cool. I drove up Boulder Canyon after my trip up Sunshine Canyon and it too was beautiful. A year ago César and I were in the fall leaves in Germany at Neuschwanstein Castle and I thought I would miss that. But being close to home and seeing 'my trees' and 'my streams' just an hour drive away, was delightful. Autumn is a beautiful time and I'm glad we got a taste of it in Colorado before winter arrives!
One doesn't need to fly across the world for a wonderful adventure!
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