Ups and downs, but mainly ups!

It's been a serendipitous week of ups and downs, but overall the most enjoyable week of our travels so far...

view from Penamacor

We arrived in Portugal on Monday afternoon, after narrowly avoiding getting stuck in the mountains, again, and headed straight to a place I had looked up in advance which we liked the sound of, called Penamacor. We weren't disappointed and instantly warmed to the pretty town, nestled in the hills with its friendly inhabitants. We parked up in a beautiful square with stunning, panoramic views and then set off to explore the surrounding area.

Around 5.30 Nick popped to the shop just a hundred or so metres away to grab a few supplies, taking Nina and looping her lead over the bollard outside. Minutes later he returned frantic, bearing the sickening news that Nina was gone. Now, anyone that know us and knows Nina, is aware that she has a penchant for running off and we have lost her previously on a few occasions, most notably for a whole night last Christmas Eve. My biggest fear about travelling was 'what if we lose Nina?' and on Monday, having arrived at such a lovely place, the unimaginable happened. What followed was an amazing effort between friends and strangers resulting in a very happy ending.

Nina, pondering life's great mysteries,
or more likely, looking for cats!

Knowing from experience the power of social media in such situations I got on the wires immediately and put word out locally Nina was missing, then we went out searching and calling. I also rang the local police who unfortunately didn't speak English. A while later back at the bus, there was a knock on the door from a local resident offering to help look. A little later via Facebook I was notified Nina had been sighted,not far away, near the top of the town (where earlier in the day she had been excited to see a gathering of cats) so the three of us hot-footed it up there and split up to look, shouting her name. Within minutes a chap came out of a house saying 'bull terrier?' to Nick and led him to a courtyard where Nina lay, collar and lead still on, looking nonplussed. Flooded with relief we returned to the bus, vowing to never let her out of our sight again. I must add here, that the local people, on the ground and online, plus all my other friends jumped into action so fast and we are truly grateful for everyone's help getting Nina back (again!).

A bomb on the bus?

The following morning I lay in bed lazily catching up on Facebook, thanking people for their help the previous night. When I eventually got up, around 10am to put the kettle on I was alarmed to see the bus was cordoned off with red and white tape, with no other vehicles in our section of the square and several police and army vehicles the other side of the tape. My head began to race and in a panic I recalled ringing the police the night before and putting the phone down when they didn't understand me. What if they thought I had been reporting an incident and had located the English bus, thinking perhaps I'd been murdered? Or maybe there was a bomb in the area? Admittedly, I am prone to panicking, but it really did seem like a 'situation' was occurring. I hastily called Nick to alert him that something major was going on. Nick being far more measured and way less dramatic than me, looked out of the back windows of the bus and rationally assessed the situation, reporting that in actual fact they were erecting a stage in the square and had rather kindly let us be. So, without further ado we got dressed, secured down the bus, and had a quick coffee whilst they un-cordoned us to let us on our way.

Nick & nina

It was a real pity we had to move from the square, not only for the amazing views but also because the wifi signal was fantastic there and the next day I had virtual note taking assignment lined up which would require Skype for several hours. I am constantly aware of needing a decent signal in order to work efficiently as *shameless plug* www.flyingpa.co.uk, which thankfully so far I have been able to do effectively. So, off we went in search of a new park up.

First we drove to a smaller village a few miles away, but the wifi was terrible there so we headed back to Penamacor and eventually plotted up opposite the local football stadium, outside a small farm. In the afternoon we walked along some pretty country lanes and saw several 'for sale' signs for pieces of land, some with old stone ruins on, ruminating over what a pleasant place it would be to live. That evening there was junior football training followed by a barbecue at the stadium, and I hoped that the next day there would be no matches on to interrupt my work!

A traditional Portuguese Farmhouse 

On Wednesday I was able to work without any problems while Nick and Nina went out for a few hours. Later in the day we were visited by the farmer and his friend bearing gifts - some delicious home made wine. Antonio the farmer did not speak any English but his friend Emanual did, so between us we all managed to communicate fine. Next we had tour of the farm and left with carrier bags of pomegranates, pears, sharon fruit and grapes. Emanual told us that he too had a farm down the road and invited us to visit whenever we liked. We had not yet experienced such hospitality and generosity on our travels and it filled me with a warm glow.  On Wednesday evening we moved further out into the countryside, in part to get away from the flies, since outside Antonio's we were right alongside his pigs and sheep.

One of the lovely locals

Down the county lanes it is as tranquil as you can find, we heard nothing other than the distant rattling of sheep bells, birdsong and the rustle of wind in the cork trees, and the occasional passing tractor. We were surprised then, on Wednesday night to receive another knock on the door; this time it was two visitors, Julia (Brazilian) and Julian (Belgian) on bicycles from a commune down the road, inviting us to dinner or breakfast and to pop along to meet them and the others at the commune whenever we liked. Again we were delighted to be made to feel so welcome. In Penamacor there are many nationalities and it has incredibly good vibes; were it not already on our itinerary to visit some other people and places we'd be tempted to go no further!

On Thursday morning Nick got to see the commune as he was asked directions from someone delivering building materials to there, so he hopped in the van and took them along. On site they are building adobe eco homes and it is quite an impressive set up with many volunteers living and working together.

On Thursday we took Emanual up on his offer and spent an enjoyable few hours at his  farm, sipping fig liqueur, eating year-old cheese from Antonio's sheep on homemade bread. It was like stepping back in time. The farm was Emanual's grandfathers and has been beautifully maintained. They grow, melons, squash, nuts, plums, figs, potatoes, chillies, aubergines, oranges, lemons, vines and probably much more. We left absolutely laden with goods. We had intended to visit our new friend 'Figs', who helped us find Nina on Monday but with daylight fading we rain-checked it to Friday.

What a view!

On Friday we set off on the walk to Figs place, located a few kilometres up in the hills outside Penamacor. Me met him en route filling holes with gravel along the road to his. Figs had modestly said he 'kind of lived in tents', so we were absolutely blown away with what we found at his. In just 18 months he has created a haven in the hills, with lodges, bell tents and tipis, all completely off grid, solar powered. We were mightily impressed with what he has achieved and his vision doesn't stop there, as he plans to rebuild a ruin on the land and farm the many hectares he has - certainly man on a mission, and full of useful information for would- be 'off-gridders'. Whilst there he cooked us a lunch of steak and chips, to boot!

On Friday evening we headed off to the nearest city Castelo Branco (population c. 56,000) and parked up at outside a supermarket, where today, Saturday we need to get a bulb for one of the bus's headlights. After fixing that we are going to visit a friend of Nick's about an hour from here, who runs a women's retreat, focusing on yoga and nutrition called Nourish In Nature. We have been invited to spend the night in their spare room - what luxury - it will be our first night out of the bus in nine weeks!

Helping move an old banger on the farm

So all in all, it has been a pretty amazing week. Portugal has welcomed us with open arms. The weather is warm, the scenery beautiful. We have met the loveliest characters who shared their homes and delicious food with us. We have an interesting itinerary lined up and are looking forward to meeting up with friends old and new and experiencing more of this charming country.

On a final note, why serendipitous? because if we hadn't have lost Nina we wouldn't have met Figs; if we hadn't have had to move from the square we wouldn't have met Antonio and Emanuel. Isn't it funny how one things leads to another - it's enough to make you ponder life's deeper mysteries!