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| Alcoutim |
It feels like ages since my last blogpost, approximately three weeks ago, but so much happens when you are on the road; when it comes to writing it down, it's like meeting an old friend for the first time in years and not knowing what to say, because where do you start....
So, where do I start... let's go from where I finished off just after Nick's birthday at the beginning of December. For the most part, since then, we have been stationed in Alcoutim, an enforced stay due to waiting for post to arrive from England and also waiting for our new wing mirror, ordered online and coming from Bulgaria. It felt a little frustrating being confined to one place, but with no pressing commitments elsewhere we resigned ourselves to it and decided to make the most of it; Alcoutim is a pretty place and we found plenty to do and amuse ourselves with.
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| Suzie, Me and Nick |
As mentioned in previous posts, Portugal is the most friendly and hospitable country we have visited so far and it has continued to deliver in this respect. Not only did we meet new people, such a Thierry, a French guy, who coincidentally lives on our friend Suzie's land (for a very reasonable rent of a euro a day!); we also met a couple who by chance we shared a water taxi over the river to Spain with one day, who Nick incredulously knew from his festival working days in the UK, and who recently bought land along the river. We spent an enjoyable day tracking Steve, Vanessa and Thierry down, visiting their plots of land and listening to their stories about what led them to Alcoutim - of course, as is the Portuguese way, we left with armfuls of pomegranates, almonds and oranges.
On another afternoon we walked six miles along the Guardiana river in search of a guy Carl's home, who we met in a bar and enjoyed a drink with; looking for his place was a hair raising experience which involved climbing very steep hills and walking along narrow foot paths, with a hundred foot drop into the river below, and with signs of wild boar everywhere - we never did find his house and I have since looked up what to do if confronted with a wild boar, should the occasion arise! Later that night, back at the bus we got a takeaway curry (which was pretty terrible) and slept like logs.
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| View of the river from the ancient castle |
In between making new friends we engrossed ourselves with every cultural experience on offer in this small village. We visited two castles, the newer (medieval) one atop the hill in the village centre, which had a museum and an exhibition about ancient board games, displaying artefacts dug up in the area; more interesting to me, was the ancient castle ruins further out, along the river - here an archeological dig in the 1980s uncovered a Muslim castle, with many rooms dating back to the 8th century, situated in a much higher position with staggering views along the river.
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| Cute pigs! |
During the last fortnight we've walked every route in and around Alcoutim, often stopping at the river beach bar to enjoy a spot of lunch or a glass of wine; we've come across all manner of farms and orchards from tiny to large, always returning home with a rucksack of various fruits plundered along the way. Our regular route to the river beach took us past some adorable pigs and piglets, who sent Nina into a state of high excitement, as they all clamoured at the fence, squealing and snorting, whilst we threw them scraps of food.
We've experienced the local characters including a batty old lady who asks for money in every known language (who I was assured is perfectly well off) and the schizophrenic guy who wears a hat with a shark fin and is regularly found talking to his selves. The village shop closes for 3 hours at lunch each day so they lady who runs it can go and work in the restaurant next door, run by her husband. Things happen slowly on Portuguese time, you need to allocate a whole afternoon to visit to the post office just to buy stamps, the queues are long and the service slow, but no one seems overly irate about it.
The most memorable thing about Alcoutim for me, is not the place though, but the people - we definitely forged some long lasting friendships there. Firstly there's Suzie, mum' s friend and our initial reason for visiting Alcoutim. For the duration of our stay Suzie was just over the road from where we parked the Digibus, offering us: tea, coffee, wine, beer, the use of her washing machine, fridge and freezer; she provided use with water, gave us lifts to places, offered up local knowledge, introduced us to people and was always on hand for a good natter. Suzie treated us to a meal out in the village one night, and in return we welcomed her on the bus for supper one evening, our first ever dinner guest! Nick cooked a delicious poached salmon and broccoli tagliatelle, a recipe passed to him from Sara who we stayed with a few weeks earlier in Pedrogoa Grande. On the subject of cooking, I must say that Nick does the majority of it in our household, and despite the limited space and resources, such as a single oven and no fridge, he continues to turn out the most excellent dishes - so much so that yesterday evening, whilst cooking a curry, a chap knocked on the door to say the aromatic smells were drifting down the road and making hungry!
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| Having a social at Pereiro |
Other new friends include Matt and Sharon, a smashing couple currently on a five month trip in their motorhome; these two were totally our type, and unusually for motorhome travellers, our age! Since meeting them in a bar in Alcoutim we have met up at two other locations, had dinner together, played board games, supped a few drinks and had many good laughs. After meeting them in Alcoutim, where they stopped for just one night, they suggested we meet up at a place called Pereiro a week or so later, for a get together, where we could make use of the communal BBQs and facilities and enjoy the lakeside setting, so we agreed. It's great to get recommendations for places to go to, there are locations we simply would not have come across due to them not being on our (loose) route plan or radar; Mertola was another such example, being recommended to us by fellow travellers we met in Tomar.
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| Vila Real Santo Antonia |
In the meantime our post eventually arrived and so did the wing mirror, although unfortunately broken in transit! Thankfully we sourced another one at the nearest large town Vila Real Santo Antonio, AKA Vila Real or just VRSA to the locals, which we could collect after our weekend in Pereiro. We were happy to get going at last, feeling like we had well and truly done Alcoutim, lovely though it is, and move on to Pereiro a mere twenty minutes down the road, to meet up with Matt and Sharon.
We set off on the Friday afternoon and felt exhilarated to enter new territory, the landscape flattened out and we left the opposing hillsides of Alcoutim and Sanlucar de Guardiana behind us. The parking at Pereiro was free, like most places in Portugal at this time of year, and the facilities excellent. There were a handful of other vehicles on site but nicely spread out so no one was encroaching on anyone else's space. For once we could let Nina off the lead and she had a good gallivant around the dam, enjoying the plentiful fresh water to drink.
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| Nick & Matt busting some moves |
As we wandered about we spied a UK registration plate, and popped over to say hello. Remarkably, the Hymer residents Lee and Suzanne already knew of the Digibus, having passed us on their motorbike when we had the collision with the cement lorry the previous week. Lee and Suzanne turned out the be another top couple, again our age and our cup of tea, like us they are doing their best to 'live the dream' spending their time either travelling in their camper or doing house sits. Saturday saw the sun shining all day, and when Matt and Sharon arrived, the six of us had a fantastic time, eating, drinking, chatting, with even a little dancing thrown in from Matt and Nick. Later that night and the the following morning it poured with rain, which suited us fine as no one was in a hurry to get up. The weather cleared by lunchtime and we threw the remaining food on the barbie and again had another merry evening with our new pals, this time playing trivial pursuit (boys v girls).
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| I've gone short, short! |
During the course of the weekend, after admiring Suzanne's neat haircut, and discovering that Lee cut it for her, using clippers, I managed to coerce him into agreeing to do mine. So on Monday morning, I had an 11am appointment at the Hymer's 'Lee-dal Sassoon' hair salon. I'm not sure who was more nervous, him or me; he did a marvellous job and I now have a new look and hopefully manageable style. I will be buying myself clippers and Nick can take the baton on to keep it neat and tidy for me from now on.
Later on Monday Nick and I ventured out to a village called Silverio, about half an hour walk from Pereiro. What makes Silverio interesting is that it is an entirely abandoned and deserted village. I'm not sure exactly how long ago the last resident left, I'm guessing about fifty years from the condition of the buildings and grassy lanes. It had an eerie quality and was quite beautiful in some ways, seeing nature reclaim what was once man made.
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| Silverio |
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| The abandoned village |
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| Streets turned to grassy paths |
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| Nina, when she isn't running away! |
Monday night 'almost' ended in drama with escape artist Nina managing to slip away undetected, yet again!!! The six of us set out to search for her and after about an hour of calling and looking Suzanne found her trotting down a road in Pereiro village. I swear that dog must have been a stray in her previous life!
On Tuesday we headed off to Vila Real to collect our wing mirror and do some shopping. I really like this pretty town. It's not a major landmark, being only just inside the Algarve; it's here that the river Guardiana joins the Atlantic Ocean. It has an attractive marina and the town is the only one in Portugal to be laid out on the French grid system, having been largely destroyed by a tsunami, following an earthquake in 1755.
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| A traditoinal gypsy in VSRA |
During the 1800s its main industry was the production of cloth, which would explain the plethora of bed and table linen shops, lining the high street. Following a night stop over in the Intermarche supermarket car park our next move on Wednesday was to Manta Rota. Our friends Matt and Sharon are plotted up here for Christmas so we thought we'd pay them a visit as well as take a look at the beach, a gorgeous expanse of golden sand, and a chance for Nina to run off some steam in plain sight.
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| Santa Luiza |
After a night in Manta Rota and a catch up and dinner with friends, we decided to move on - the village is not particularly pretty or interesting, with no castles, ruins or points of interest other than the beach. It was highly populated with hundreds of motor homes and a bit crowded for our taste. So we shuffled twenty minutes along the coat to Santa Luiza, a charming fishing port with a lot more ambience and authenticity.
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| The Solstice sky |
Today we pootled a little further still, arriving at Torres De Aires, a very small place on the lagoon known as the Rio Formosa. We are parked up overlooking the lagoon and it feels like just the right place to be for tonight's winter solstice.
To my left I can see the full solstice moon high up in a pink sky which blends into blue and seeps in to the still water of the lagoon; to my right is an orange sun, low in the sky, as if setting the water below it on fire. In front is an uninterrupted view of a jetty with boats beyond and birds above. Behind me are some prickly pear trees and field of olives. Next to me is the one I love, cooking me dinner. I feel blessed.
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| Wishing everyone love and luck for 2019 |
So that wraps up our latest news, and all that remains is to wish my family and friends a blissful and peaceful Christmas xx
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