O Monte III

I miraculously managed to get Tammy up early enough for us to accompany Doreen to the farmers' market in the town of Olhao. The town depends on fishing, so we walked past a bunch of men in high rubber boots and fishing boats to get to the veggie stands. It was mostly a bunch of older Portuguese farmers selling whatever they grow on their farms...i.e. tomatoes, honey, cabbage, EGGS!, figs, dates, oranges, you know the drill. I also saw nets full of snails, all of which I called Gary.

We acted like tourists and took some pictures, while Doreen checked off some things on her shopping list.

Afterward, we all sat down for Doreen's favorite breakfast, and coincidentally my favorite childhood food, bread and butter.

Post breakfast, we took a nice stroll through the reason I stopped eating fish - a fish market. The dead things were staring at me wide-eyed and hauntingly. It was probably the last thing I wanted to see/smell after eating breakfast.

It finally stopped raining, so we weeded all day. We are getting pretty good at ripping those little suckers out of the ground.

By the way, Doreen is selling this place. She can't afford to keep it on her income from organic farming and renting out the guesthouse.


Farming Tip:

In the process of weeding somebody else's garden, don't pull out a grouping of flowers because they look like they could be wild. Because sometimes they were planted on purpose.

O Monte II

Today we painted the inside of the guesthouse. Because it was a very rainy winter, some of the walls had water marks and the paint was peeling. Many of the homes here are made of stone, which hold onto the moisture more than other building materials. One of Doreen’s friends told us that once she returned from a vacation, and since it had rained, there was a centimeter of mold on all of the comforters. She had to throw everything out.

Doreen said that many Portuguese paint their homes once a year with paint made from chalk because it’s cheaper. One would think that they would use good quality paint that costs more once, rather than cheap bad paint every year.

Farming Tips:

Another way to keep bugs away from crops without using pesticides is to plant another tree next to it that smells more attractive to the bugs. For example, planting lavender next to grapes will help keep the bugs away from the grapes.

If grapes have been sprayed with pesticides once, they adapt to being sprayed and will not grow to their full potential without the chemicals.

O Monte

We arrived by train to Faro, a 20 minute drive from the farm we were staying at in Portugal, but we had not heard from Doreen, the woman in charge. She was supposed to get us from the station, but she was not picking up her cell phone or her house phone. This could have potentially been the first bump in the road of our trip, but she finally responded to a text we sent.

Doreen picked us up and we hopped into her old, dusty station wagon. She was originally from Holland so her English is great. We talked on the drive to the farm about the corrupt Portuguese government, the apathetic population, and the lack of outputs produced by the country. I really didn’t know much about Portugal before I arrived, but the best way for the info to stick is to learn from the locals.

So we arrived at the farm, O Monte, and it was of course beautiful. Wild flowers were growing everywhere, the house was quaint, and the dogs came to greet us. The farm also acts as a guesthouse, but at the moment, there are no guests. So Tammy and I are staying in the apartment meant for paying customers. It has a full kitchen, bathroom, living room…the works.

Day two, we got a tour of the grounds and she showed us the olive, fig, almond, and carob trees. It is a small farm, but it’s a lot of work for one person to do alone.
The rest of the day, we weeded. Childhood memories of pulling up dandelions on 163 Flocktown Road flooded back to me. Since the harvest of the trees happens in the fall, we are going to be preparing the farm for summer, i.e. weeding, repainting, cleaning…

Farming Tips:

For a tree to grow strong, farmers do something called “graphing.” Like a skin graph, farmers take out a piece of bark of the new tree, and replace it with a piece of the good, flourishing tree. The new tree will adapt and act more like the successful tree. Voila! Great success.

Doreen also told us that avocado trees grow much better when there is a different type of fruit tree next to it. A lone avocado tree is not likely to produce any fruit.

Sintra

Fairytales do exist...at least in Sintra, Portugal.

We took an hour train ride from Lisbon to a little town called Sintra. Pulling into the station, we spotted a stone castle on top of the tallest mountain. We journeyed up to another castle on the opposite hilltop that was colored with pastels and tiled walls. We saw where the King and Queen slept, and where their servants made their meals.

We ate cinnamon and cheese pastries in town, danced with the animals, looked at the local art, and ate lunch overlooking the village below.



In all seriousness, it was unbelievable.

We were blown away by Quinta de Regaliera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The land was owned by this rich guy who seemed to be really bored, so he built all of these crazy things on his land. His house alone is enough to make jaws drop. The architect, Luigi Manini, spent 12 years meticulously planning, drawing, and building the mansion.

There was also an inside-out, underground tower that we walked down. The more steps we went down, the wetter the floor got and the darker it became. I kept flashing to scenes of Silence of the Lambs. Nevertheless, it was really cool.

Lisbon

Portuguese is supposed to be similar to Spanish, but they sound nothing alike. They pronounce the word Belem as "bleh." Even when people are being helpful and giving us directions, I can't find where they told us on a map because it sounds nothing like it's spelled.

Today I got a phone from this Indian man who was playing Punjabi music videos while I was waiting for his father to unlock it. I proceeded to write a text that cost me 2.50 Euros. So I have to fix that little problem tomorrow.

It seems that Tammy and I have a knack for getting lost on public transportation. It took us two loops on the tram to realize where we had to get off. The fastest walk we had was home from dinner because we only had to make one turn. Good thing we bought the Lisboa card (golden ticket) that gives us unlimited rides on transport.

Today we went to Alfama, charged the Castelo, drank Ginjinha (traditional Portuguese cherry liquor), rode a horizontal elevator, and ate dinner at a veggeterian restaurant.

By the way, the google works in Portuguese so I can't spell check anything. I apologize for any spelling errors!

Arrival to Lisbon

We took at six p.m. flight to Lisbon and barely anyone on the plane seemed to be American. I hardly slept when we arrived at 6:15 a.m. and started off our day by lugging our heavy suitcases over hilly cobbelstone streets to reach our couchsurfing destination at Ana's apartment. Our first meeting with our hosts was a sweaty one, portraying America in its rightful light. After catching our breath, we cleaned ourselves up and headed out to explore the city.

After visiting Macau last spring when I was in Hong Kong, I was familiar with the look of the place. Everything is very narrow - the streets, the doorways, the sidewalks. My dad's Ford Expedition would definitely have some problems. I didn't even think my suitcase was going to fit through the apartment door.

We saw a few castles, walked through the sickeningly cute streets of Lisbon, managed to get lost on the bus system, but had an amazing first day.

Getting all my ducks in a row. Trip commences in 5 days and counting. Long Valley is giving me some beautiful weather as a sending off present.