Lisbon, Batalha, Leiria, Portugal
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Hello Everybody. It has been a few days and I hope all is well back home. I feel so out of the loop. I really hope that people are getting a chance every once in a while to check this out because it feels like it is my only connection with the rest of the world. I miss everyone so much and I'm sorry mom for not keeping in touch these last couple of days. We haven't had access to Internet nor to a phone. We covered quite a bit of ground these last few days by train. Portugal is a land that longs for the prominence they had in the renaissance when they were scaling the sea and bringing home riches. They call this longing Saudade and it is in everyones mindset. They even have a genre of music, Fado, that is played by soloists on a guitar in a melancholic melody. It is a land where a large portion of their elderly population is illiterate because they were young in the days of Dictatorship in Portugal when education was disallowed from the fear of the masses. So many differences. Easily the furthest we have felt from home thus far on this trip
. As I said before we stayed with a Portuguese girl that we met in London with her family in a village by the name of Batalha. I say village because we literally met three fourths of the town. Every person we walked by, Carla ( our host) new. The home we stayed in was unlike any home weve stayed at previously. It was basically a farm. They had chickens, sheep, cats, dogs, a large variety of vegetables and fruits, and her mother had jars upon jars of concoctions. Not a word of English from anyone else in Carla's family (mother, father and sister). Meals were so jolly. Her mother would make a statement in Portuguese in burst with laughter, leaving us eager to hear, soon followed by a translation that got us laughing hysterically. Her mother was this big, strong Portuguese woman whose nickname was the lion. She made every thing from scratch. Sandwich spreads, cooked vegetables, tea, and yes, she cooked lamb that she had butchered earlier that year. To go with that, she had jars upon jars of Portuguese remedies that she concocted from her garden. I was given a spoonful of this awful tasting medicine that surprisingly had some effect on my cold. The photos are priceless so i hope i can post them. She even made her own liqueur. WE saw a beautiful Gothic Monastery that was constructed in the 12th century following the victory over the Spanish and an awe inspiring castle atop a hill in a nearby town, Leiria, that was constructed in the middle ages following the defeat of the Moors. We peered into the lives of the Portuguese, getting a chance to see the inside of an older home where they used to make wine and admiring the Portuguese's beautiful lawns that were filled with flowers and soil instead of the Suburbia lawn we are so used to seeing
.
But unfortunately with all good things, the bad sometimes shimmers through. Now I'm not saying the entire trip was ruined, but it was definitely tainted by a force that could no be escaped. Its probably not necessary to even comment about, but it is the reason that we left Portugal so fast. I'm not sure exactly where it was developed, but somewhere along the way this woman we were staying with, developed a passionate love for me. Literally she was doing and saying everything someone would say and do to one they loved. I think she is a great girl don't get me wrong. but in as few words as possible the whole situation was..... crazy. I cant think of a better word. She had beautiful artworks of paintings and prints and she even showed us the process of making prints and made some with us. But the entire trip was basically overwhelming and i need not say more.
So due to the circumstances we decided it be best we leave after only a 2 nights stay (we planned on at least double that because it was quite a distance from
Lisbon) and we made our way to Lisbon. Here we wandered the streets until nightfall where we had a night train, admiring the sunset over the water with city lights in the foreground and an array of colors in the back. Something that stuck me as interesting in
Lisbon was the fact that we were approached at least 3 times by drug dealers who were blatantly holding the drugs in their hands. We kindly rejected in case you were wondering. We had one of our famous supermarket meals on the steps of the city square (chocolate spread, bread, crackers, chips and a liter of fruit juice). And now, after another rough nights sleep on the night train, we are in none other than
Madrid! Using free Internet and enjoying free breakfast at our old hostel that we didn't check into because we are heading to
Valencia to soak up the sun.
This has been far too much writing, the last thing i want to say/ask is When is daylights savings time because the sun does not come out until 8 am over here. I hope to hear from some of you and i hope all is well. Until next time, Chow.
Comments
hey
i miss you lots
Thank you
so much for writing, I was worried. I am so glad you are safe and traveling. Sorry to hear you still have a cold, if you going to be someplace with an address you know of I can send you some medication. Please consider this. A few words about Carla, she isn't the first crazy girlfriend you have had an encounter with, and she won't be the last. Along the way there will be people who try to sway you to deter from your goals. You just have to be strong and mindful of your own beliefs and follow them steadfastedly. I hope the warm sun helps to heal your cold and your emotions.
I love you and miss you lots. Hope to get a call from you soon. How is the money holding out? Is your budget working? will you be able to stay the amount of time you planned?
duude!?
duuuude ur rejecting portugal girls and portugal drugs all in the same day? Does Europe have peer pressure or is that just the US??