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 Colourful Houses & Ornate
Chimney by Bwana_Brown
A carryover from the years of Moorish occupation can just barely be seen in the chimney of this house. It's decorative construction is common in these southern parts of Portugal, all the way to the Algarve, because this is where the hundreds of years of Moorish occupation lasted the longest. Leave a Comment
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 Enticing the Crowd by Bwana_Brown
Well, we did not need much convincing, especially once we saw their very pleasant outdoor seating area on a warm evening in mid-May! Once we were seated at our table, we noticed that our 'hawker' seemed to be a real character. He was funny with everyone, including his competition at the adjoining restaurants. It was a fun experience to sit there in the night airs of Lisbon enjoying our first evening meal experience of the trip! Leave a Comment
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 Cliff-fishers at Cabo de Sao
Vicente by Bwana_BrownLeave a Comment
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 Bougainvillea Blossoms by Bwana_Brown
These woody and thorn-armoured evergreen vines (native to South America) are named after a Frenchman, Louis Antoine de Bougainville who spotted them while sailing around the world in 1767. They typically grow by sprawling across any surface that will support them, usually adorning walls with a magnificent display of leaves and beautiful blossoms. However, they can also grow by themselves as very colourful stand-alone bushes, with their blossoms coming in many different hues.
This particular vine was growing along the inner walls of the Jardim do Paco restaurant as we sat there in the shade, enjoying our cold drinks on a hot afternoon in 'Evora'. The great thing about Portugal is that almost every city, town and village has these plants growing in various decorative ways! Leave a Comment
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 Haystacks in a Field by Bwana_BrownLeave a Comment
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 A 'Meia-Lua' Receives its Load by Bwana_Brown
This is an age-old custom in this part of Portugal, and used to be centered around Aveiro until a huge storm in 1575 raised a sandbar all along that part of the coast. Since that time, the fishers have gradually drifted to other nearby locations along the coast to pursue their trade.
Here you see a mix of the old and the new. This traditional 10-metre 'meia-lua' (half-moon) boat, powered by midship oars is receiving a load of nets from a 4-wheel-drive Valmat tractor. It was great fun watching the technique used today to bring in the haul. Basically, it involves the boat taking the net out from shore and laying it in an arc, with each end anchored on-shore by a 4WD tractor. Once that is done, the tractors begin pulling the net toward shore with their rear-end winches, until finally the looped net is hauled ashore with it's catch.
In the old days, teams of oxen used to haul these boats into and out of the water. Leave a Comment
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 Azulejo Scene at Pinhao's
Train Station by Bwana_Brown
The tiles depict many different scenes and come in a variety of styles. Those on the 'Pinhao' train station, voted the most picturesque station in Portugal, were created in 1937 using the traditional blue, white and yellow pattern. Here, Sue is standing by one of the 24 different scenes depicting various stages of the work involved in the production of Port wine from this area of Portugal.
I may not know much about Art, but I know that azulejo scenes similar to this that we observed all over the country lend great atmosphere to wherever they are located! Leave a Comment
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 Freshly Harvested Cork Oak
Trees by Bwana_Brown
Used mainly in the production of corks for wine bottles, but also for engine gaskets and home insulation, cork oaks are grown commercially in a number of places, but nowhere nearly as successful as in Portugal - the world's largest producer of cork products.
During our earlier travels, I had seen a few groves where the outer bark had been stripped, leaving a very dark inner bark on the trunk. However, just as we were starting the climb to 'Monsanto', in the tiny hamlet of Relva, we came across this scene of obviously very freshly harvested trees. On our first day's drive out from Lisbon we had met, on a back road part way to the Algarve, a truck loaded down with strange curved sections of something. It was only later that we realized these were chunks of the spongy cork bark that had been cut off the trees! Leave a Comment
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 A Typical Breakfast Setup by Bwana_Brown
This scene is of a typical breakfast set-up at a Residencial in Peniche, where we had spent the night after our 'Ilha da Berlenga' adventures! Leave a Comment
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Ever-present bacalhao - or bacalhau, which is dried codfish, is prepared in countless styles after being soaked in water and brought to moist status.
Its salty, tasty flesh has a consistent texture and can be cooked in what the Portuguese say to be 365 different dishes. This legend is yet to be verified but I'm sure that even half of that would be more than enough!
I admit I had my daily intake as it appeared to be highly addictive. My favorite dish is probably the Bacalhao Assado, that is grilled and served with tossed garlic bits, a good dose of olive oil, boiled potatoes and other vegetables. Simply delicious.
As a general guideline, consider that food portions are always very generous. Leave a Comment
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