the stories that I'm telling.

Tag: Adventure

  • Roadtrip Day 2: Piodao

    Roadtrip Day 2: Piodao

    When I say that Kevin researched and planned our road trip with Tyler, I don’t mean that lightly. As soon as Tyler booked his tickets to visit, the research began. And not just some simple google searches of ‘best sights in Portugal’. If Kevin has ever helped you with anything, you know that his research-style is all-in and he stops at nothing to get the best possible outcome. Nothing exemplifies this more than our stop off in Piodao.

    A few weeks before the trip, Kevin showed me a photo of a place that looked amazing, and told me that it was a must-do stop. When I convinced him to shorten the road trip from 6 days to 3, Piodao was one of those places that was a must-see, not to be compromised. And he was so, so right.

    After our morning at the Knights Templar’s Convent of Christ in Tomar, we got back into the truck and embarked on what I can honestly say is the wildest, most breathtaking and most nerve-racking road trip of my life. Before I get into too many road trip details, let’s talk about why Piodao is special and worth seeing.

    Piodao, known as the “nativity village” is a small collection of stone buildings, tucked into a mountain side. Unlike most of the places we’ve visited on this trip, Piodao, due to its remote geographic location, was almost entirely disconnected from Portuguese history. How disconnected? This village didn’t have electricity until the 1970s. This geographic isolation is what makes Piodao so unique – because they were limited to local resources, which is reflected in the architecture of the town itself, their traditions were well-preserved over the years, due to a lack of outside influences. Entering Piodao, picturesquely placed in between 2 hills in a mountain range, feels like entering a fairy tale. As you stand on the hillside, you can even hear the echo of jingling bells from the goat herds. My only regret of this entire trip is that we didn’t stay longer.

    Now, about that road trip. It was long and a bit harrowing. And as the trip went on, we felt increasingly alone. There were long stretches (on this 2.5 hour drive) without seeing other people and cars, though we did see a herd of goats crossing the road. We climbed up into the mountaintops, driving along winding roads, on the edge of cliffs, surrounded by clouds. I was both in awe of the view and in awe of Kevin’s patience & composure while navigating these roads. There’s absolutely no way that a bus could have made this journey.

    Visiting Piodao was a truly surreal and magical experience. I recommend it very much. And beyond being beautiful, the town itself offers great food and friendly people. Check out our many photos below!

    we saw some goats running across the road!
    look at them, just chilling out!
    hey buddy!
    a river
    and a dam!
    climbing up into the moutains
    climbing higher…
    … and higher
    … higher till we’re in the clouds
    soon we’re descending
    and as we come around the corner, we get our first glimpse of Piodao
    we get to to take a break
    and from where Kevin stands, you can see the town
    When we entered the town, we first saw the church
    We also took a little hike up the hill to get a great view of the town and its surrounding valley
    you can hear little goats’ bells jingling & echoing all around you here
    After staring in awe at the town from above, we embarked on a trek up and down and across all the little roads to see the homes.
    Piodao is now a protected heritage site, so the doors, etc must all continue to be painted blue.
    even in a town this small, there are 2 churches
    stopped for coffee, and then we headed out!
  • Roadtrip Day 2: An Aqueduct “just around the corner”

    Roadtrip Day 2: An Aqueduct “just around the corner”

    While we were visiting the Convent of Christ in Tomar, the map of the site said that there was an aqueduct attached. Tyler was pretty excited about this, never having seen a real aqueduct. Kevin and I had seen some in Lisbon, but agreed that it was pretty cool.

    While Tyler and I searched for the aqueduct ruins (which we found outside, attached to the Castle of Tomar), Kevin searched on Google. When we were done at the Castle/Convent, Kevin said he had one more stop he wanted to make. He handed me the phone with a seemingly random spot marked on the map nearby. He told me what we were up to but hadn’t said anything yet to Tyler.

    5 minutes of driving later, we came to the Pegoes Aqueduct, to which the aqueduct ruins at the castle were attached.

    But rather than just a couple of arches, what we saw was a full aqueduct crossing a valley. And the best part? It was open and also empty! From where we parked, we walked just a few steps to climb up onto the aqueduct through an old water inspection station. In the silent countryside, we walked along an ancient aqueduct, just the 3 of us.

    A quick little surprise, and one of the highlights of our trip. Enjoy the photos below!

  • Roadtrip Day 2: Tomar and the Convent of Christ

    Roadtrip Day 2: Tomar and the Convent of Christ

    After our day of adventures in Sintra, we drove 2 hours to the city of Tomar.

    When planning this roadtrip, Kevin did quite a lot of research. All the places that we travelled to see made the list because of their unique history/beauty, making it almost impossibly to have a favourite site.

    The city of Tomar was originally founded in 1162 under an order of the Knights Templar, and it was actually the last Templar town to be commissioned for construction.

    Tomar then became the headquarters of the Order of the Knights Templar in Portugal. From this base, the Templars ruled a vast area of central Portugal, defending that territory from the Moors who ruled in the South. As the Catholic church became nervous of the power of the Templars, and then banned the order altogether, the Portuguese King negotiated to create a new “Order of Christ”, which took over the power and place of the Templar’s order. As such, Tomar is considered the last home of the Knights Templar in Portugal.

    This story got a bit more interesting when Henry the Navigator, the leader of Portuguese exploration, became the head of the Order of Christ (from Wikipedia):

    Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The cross of the Order of Christ that was painted in the sails of the caravels that crossed the seas, and the Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514. Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to ameliorate the buildings of the Convento de Cristo since its construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the river Nabão and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today.

    Interestingly, this time in Portuguese history was also an important time in Jewish history:

    Just after 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue still stands.

    In the reign of Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal’s overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope.

    However, under pressure from the Monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by Edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal’s burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the Catholic Clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and New Christians were arrested, tortured and burned at the stake in autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others were expropriated of their property. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined whom would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. The town lost then with the persecution of its merchants and professionals most of its relevance as a trading centre.

    Despite its great importance during the growth and expansion of Portugal and Europe, Tomar is now a town of just 20,000 people, quietly tucked away in Portugal. If you’re interested in knowing more about Jewish history in Portugal, I recommend you check out this Wikipedia article, as well as this article that talks about the town of Belmonte (by the way, home to some pretty good kosher olive oil!).

    Anyways, so as we were driving to Tomar, I was reading out all of these Wikipedia articles to Kevin and Tyler, getting all pumped up about our trip. We arrived late at night, grabbed dinner at a Knights-Templar-themed restaurant, and headed off to bed. With big plans for the next day, we got up early, ate breakfast in our family-run Pensao, and then headed up the hill to the Convent of Christ.

    If Tomar itself has some deep history going on, the Convent of Christ is right at the centre of the action. Built over hundreds of years, the building boasts a great variety of architectural and design styles. The level of detail is impressive, and we spent SO much time in the church flipping about how cool it was to be in the church built by Templar Knights.

    To give you an idea of how the design of the church came to be, here’s a photo from Wikipedia:

    Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 12.57.28 PM

    Similar to when I visited Canterbury earlier this year, it was really obvious that this place grew to become a great centre of activity in Tomar. What you see as blue in the above map is a truly massive set up, designed to house and feed those who lived and visited here. We entered in the oldest part of the building, shown above in green, and worked our way through to the chapter houses. We had only planned to spent 45 minutes here, but we ended up spending well over 2 hours exploring and taking photos.

    All in all, Tomar was a wonderful place to visit. We didn’t get to see all of the sites or explore all of the myths, but the Convent of Christ was itself worth the drive. We expected it to be cool, and still Tomar very much exceeded those high expectations. Enjoy our photos below, we had a lot of fun taking them!

    Dinner at the end of Day 1, at a Templar themed pub in Tomar
    dessert was a pumpkin/fig cake
    breakfast in the morning and then we’re off!
    At the top of the hill, we parked the truck & approached the Convent
    the oldest part of the facility, ruins where a king once lived
    someone is buried here!!
    This is inside the Knights Templars’ Convent of Christ
    The scale and detail are pretty out of this world
    at this point we’re getting into the Chapter House area
    this particular building is one of the greatest examples of Manueline Style
    see that details? *that’s* manuelin.
    exploring the halls – there were prayer room and halls and accomodations off these hallways
    spot me!
  • Roadtrip Day 1 (still!): Quinta da Regaleira

    Roadtrip Day 1 (still!): Quinta da Regaleira

    If you’ve ever read this blog, you know that we typically take our travel slowly. Even if that means we miss out on some possible sites, we always try to spend the maximum amount of time in our travel pursuits, in an attempt to really understand where it is that we’re visiting. Clearly we didn’t quite take that approach on our road trip, where we packed quite a bit of stuff in. I mean, we’re now 3 posts into Day 1 of our Sintra road trip, and yet we still drove another 2+ hours on this day!

    Our wonderful friend, Soledad, insisted that we visit “Quinta da Regaleira”. It roughly translates to being “Estate of Regaleira” (the land was once owned by the wealthy Regaleira family from Northern Portugal). Soledad told us that this was her favourite place in the world, and once we arrived we realized why. We also very much regretted not budgeting more time to be here. There was so much to see, and we certainly didn’t let the rain slow us down!

    The Quinta da Regaleira is essentially an estate that was once owned by a rich guy with big dreams of making something fancy. And this guy, António Carvalho Monteiro (actually nicknamed Moneybags Monteiro) sure achieved his goal. He was an eccentric guy who leveraged his family fortune to become a coffee tycoon in Brazil, then returned to Portugal study everything from law to bugs.

    After purchasing the land in 1892, he spent until 1910 creating a magical villa and gardens, a neo-Manueline extravaganza all dreamed up by Italian opera-set designer Luigi Manini (Lonely Planet).

    Despite the rain, we spent most of our time exploring the extensive gardens. This place is a landscape architect’s dream, boasting arches, gazebos, grottos, aquariums, gardens, patios, paths, fountains, tunnels, bridges, and more. The highlight is almost certainly what’s known as the “Initiation Wells”. We spent at least 30 minutes trying to find them, and it was well worth the effort. Here’s some background info, courtesy of our friends at Ancient-Origins.net:

    The pair of wells, known as the ‘Initiation Wells’ or ‘Inverted Towers’, consist of ‘winding stair’ architecture, which carries symbolic meaning including the death/rebirth allegory common to many hermetic traditions.

    One of the wells contains nine platforms, which are said to be “reminiscent of the Divine Comedy by Dante and the nine circles of Hell, the nine sections of Purgatory and the nine skies which constitute Paradise.” A smaller well, called the “Unfinished Well,” contains a set of straight staircases, connecting the ring-shaped floors to one another. It is believed that the spacing of the landings, as well as the number of steps in between were dictated by Masonic principles.

    The two wells are connected to a series of underground tunnels and caves. Once we entered the primary initiation well, we descended deep underground.

    To our great delight, we ended up in passing through the other well and entering a grotto/lake/waterfall area. We were beyond thrilled at this turn of events. We’d been freaking out about the beauty of this site all day, but this discovery topped them all, and we immediately agreed that Soledad was right about this place.

    The inside of the mansion was pretty cool as well, but nothing close to the outdoor gardens and its secrets. If you plan to visit this site, give yourself at least 3 hours to see everything!

    Check out the photos to see all this beauty for yourself (some are a bit blurry due to the rain – we were completely soaked, as was the phone!):

     

    We began our adventure on the edge of the gardens
    This level of detail and beauty existed throughout
    soaking wet and trying to read our map as it falls apart
    From the top of the initation well!
    down, down, down…
    …down, down, down…
    at the bottom!
    as we make our way through the tunnels, we see the light!
    and hear we are!
    we then crossed the lake!
    we passed a fountain…
    …and made our way to the castle
    the view was stunning!
    This chapel was built in Italy and then transported to Portugal
    View of the chapel inside
    Again in the chapel
    Detail!
    the entry gate
    meow!
  • A Trip to the Algarve – Kevin’s backyard

    A Trip to the Algarve – Kevin’s backyard

    The moment I told Kevin I’d booked my flight, he went into trip planning mode. Two weeks was a lot of time to fill, but it got booked up fairly quickly. We considered and rejected visiting the North & Porto (too far), some additional castles (I rolled my ankle), another historical town (Heather got sick), and a winery (we slept in). But still we ended up seeing a lot. A couple days sightseeing in Lisbon, a few days on the road being steeped in history, and finally a full week exploring the Algarve.

    2015-04-17 21.07.10
    🎶 “…One is a genius, the other’s insane” 🎶

    As Heather has recapped some of the Lisbon tour and the road trip, I’ll share a couple of our day trips exploring the Algarve.

    Avo Olimpia & Exploring Town

    Because Heather works remotely and at night (Australia hours) we usually get a pretty late start our day. We typically didn’t wake up, shower, have breakfast (a Canadian tradition apparently) and a cafe [Editor’s note, we now refer to ‘coffee’ in Portuguese, hence ‘cafe’], and head out until at least noon. Avo Olimpia, on the other hand, is much busier in the morning. Everyday when I would wander downstairs to scrounge up some breakfast around 10am, she would be well into her day – a trip to the market complete, laundry washed-dried-folded, and soap-opera watched. I’d get a “bon dia, bread’s on the table” and she’d be off yet again, now to the cafe with friends. She’s always on the move, and we rarely knew where to.

    One day I got the grand tour of the town and Kevin’s childhood playground. We walked to the pool, fed ducks in the creek, and saw the old-old church, the new-old church and pointed out every coffee place in town (there were many). There were some really cool sights too! Other than the history (“so the Romans built those walls”, “this buidling pre-dates Canada” etc.) my favourite sight was the giant Portuguese flag overlooking the entire town. Apparently during a previous World Cup (soccer…er I mean, football) some kids had scaled a nearby hill and painted a Portugese flag to cheer on their nation. This act of fan-dalism has since remained, and honestly looks pretty great!

    I thought Grimsby (pop 20,000) was a small town where everyone knows everyone, but Alte puts it to shame. Throughout the week of exploring we rarely walked down the street without stopping to chat with a neighbour, old friend, or relative because everyone knows each other. Case in point: Alte, it turns out, is so small you can accidently run into family. On one of our urban tours we stumbled upon Avo. We chatted for a bit with her friends (all in Portuguese so have no idea what was said, but assume my height and fair skin were questioned) but she was too busy for us (going dancing?) and we each continued on our separate ways.

    All in all I enjoyed seeing this small town.

    Avo Maria, The Farm, and the old House

    While we spent the week with Avo Olimpia, one of our day trips included a visit to see Avo Maria and some of the family farm land. If it was nice having fruit trees in the yard for fresh juice, then visiting Avo Maria was a delight. She has fruit trees as far you can see – grapefruits, oranges, lemons, limes, whatever – just sitting there ready to be picked! I got a tour of the farm (included more Kevin stories “used to climb this tree”, “had a tire swing here”) and we loaded up on fruit, all while dodging chickens underfoot.

    The most hilarious part of this day trip was meeting Daisy. Daisy is Avo Maria’s older but still very much active dog. She followed us around for the whole tour, chasing chickens and keeping us entertained. As we got back to the house though, she surprised all of us by hunting down and catching a pigeon out of mid-air before scampering off to finish her treat!

    The Beach

    One of my favourite Algarve day trips included visiting a beach hidden from the mainroads and mostly known to locals. Here we got to walk the beach for a little while with the sand, sun, and ocean breeze all to ourselves. Kevin knows about the place because he used to visit with his grandfather and fish for clams in the summer. We got a full theatrical explanation of how he would walk in neck deep water (“it was up to here!”) trying to keep up with his grandfather while fighting the ocean (“current was trying to suck me out the whole time!”) so they could eat fresh seafood for dinner. It was a neat story which gave a beautiful pit-stop all the more meaning.

    As were leaving the beach we noticed it had rained earlier (sidenote – apparently it rained so much during my visit I’m not allowed back, bad luck) and the dirt parking lot was now filled with mud. So while Heather rolled her eyes Kevin and I hooked up the camera and drove circles through the mud having a blast! Check it out:

    Doesn’t get any better than that.

  • A Trip to the Algarve – A Culinary Experience

    So…hey there. I’m Tyler, one of Heather’s (decidedly larger) little brothers. Last year when Heather was on her Asian tour I stopped by for a visit in Cambodia. And here’s the thing, if you ever get the chance to vacation with Heather and Kevin, take it! A trip with these two is truly a vacation experience. They find all the most interesting people, order the best food, plan the best day trips, and before you know it you’re staging ridiculous photo-ops in front of Ancient World Wonders.

    2014-08-23 01.22.36
    Angkor Watt with these two (and KP), a world away – nice hat Kevin

    So when I got the offer to come visit in Alte, I took it! And in April, I met Heather and Kevin in Lisbon, kicking off a two week adventure of history, roadtrips, and wine.

    And what a trip. These two know road-trips. In Cambodia it involved a motorcycle ride through the dusty backroads to Angkor Watt. For Portugal it was slightly more tame but just as scenic; stops in Sintra (possibly my favourite place on Earth), Piodao (an incredible mountain town lost in time) and Marvao (where I rolled my ankle, but still got to see a medieval style castle), driving over mountains and through clouds, with Kanye West on repeat for 2 days, before finally arriving in Alte.

    While the road-trip was great (and Heather can discuss more), spending a week in the Algarve with Kevin was the most uniquely relaxing time I’ve ever had. We explored the area (which I’ll talk more about later) learning a good deal about Alte, the Algarve, Kevin’s family, and in true European fashion, we ate some great food along the way!

    2015-04-15 17.14.18

    You may recall previous concerns about picky eating, and they’re fairly justified. I’ve never really been described as “vegetable friendly” or “likes to try new food”, nope, just pizza and peanut butter please and thank you! However, travelling with Heather and Kevin involves visiting some pretty great restaurants, as they take their reviewing pretty seriously, so we worked on expanding our horizons…or waistlines. Here are some the things I picked up along the way:

    1. Portuguese take their french fries seriously

    Spending the week in the Algarve we visited a few local, family owned restaurants. All the food is freshly caught or hunted and cooked, the wines are usually local, service is friendly (helps that Kevin knows everyone). One thing stood out – the fries are delicious. These aren’t you’re frozen then deepfried run-of-the-mill fries; no, every cook here has their own recipe and technique. At one meal we even ended up in a 30 minute discussion on the finer points of potato choice, oil temperature, and crispness. Lines were drawn. Sides were chosen. Accusations were flung. We all had some more wine. Very serious indeed.

    2. Always order the special

    We travelled out to the coast one morning (afternoon) to see Henry the Navigator’s navigation school, and stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant. The restaurant, being right across from the ocean, was of course a seafood restaurant and the special was whatever they caught that morning. I believe we had originally wanted goose barnacles (percebes), but the water had been choppy that morning so none were caught. So we made due with what was available.

    While people around us enjoyed chicken fingers and spaghetti (tourists!) we were treated to clams (in garlic & butter – awesome!), prawn stew, fresh fish (Dourada aka Sea Bream), and some wine. Everything was fantastic. The clams disappeared quickly, Kevin de-boned the fish for us, and even the prawns (despite looking gross) were delicious. We even ended up ordering dessert!

    We must have made a scene enjoying everything, enough so that eventually the owner took notice and paid us a visit. Evidently he was glad to see someone enjoying his food so much, and, when he found Kevin was from Alte, even had drink with us (his own medronho – Portuguese moonshine – cleared Heather’s migraine real quick), and let us know we were the “table of the day”! It was a pretty cool meal, and a great introduction to seafood.

    3. Crab is delicious…

    …but a lot of work. On one of our last Algarve meals we made a two-hour trek to yet another seafood place, right on the coast. It’s fairly popular among locals, so we were lucky to get in without a reservation, and it turned out to be another meal worth the adventure! We enjoyed clams again (I’m a lifetime fan now), and some shrimp (had to actually tear them apart ourselves – gross!) to start.

    For our main course, we actually got to pick which crab we wanted to eat (sort of morbid) and they served it fresh! [side note: up to this point Kevin had been telling me at every meal to use a fork & knife, not fingers, lest I embarrass him] I’d never had crab before, but got a quick run down: crack open the legs, pull out the meat, eat it quick before Kevin takes all the good parts! I was surprised at first because every other meal involved taking a lot more care, but eating crab was a messy, delicious, affair. At different points crab leg bits ended hitting Kevin in the face (he retaliated, and I got hit too), the table, the floor, a different table, and a window. Worth it.

    If fries weren’t available, chips were
    My hosts/tour guides/translators/co-conspirators
    Clams – an excuse to eat butter!
    Prawns – not just in District 9 anymore
    Freshly caught fish
    Visiting Henry the Navigator’s school after lunch
    Seagull flying over the sea
    Just the tip of Europe
    Sunset before dinner
    Picking out who we’ll eat..
    ..and served
    ready to eat. Note: this is pre-carnage, so we aren’t covered in crab bits.
  • Roadtrip Day 1: We went to the edge of continental Europe!

    Roadtrip Day 1: We went to the edge of continental Europe!

    A quick post today before we head out to the beach. This post is a bit late coming, but Kevin’s best friend Mark is currently visiting, so we’ve been out and about (we also drove to Lisbon to pick him up 2 days in a row, because the first day we drove up we were a day too early).

    Anyways, when Tyler was here, our post-Lisbon road trip began with a drive to Cabo da Roca, a lighthouse at the westernmost point of continental Europe. Perhaps not the coolest claim to fame of all time, but it was gorgeous nonetheless.

    The western coast of Portugal is dotted with gorgeous cliffs, and Cabo da Roca is no exception. It’s a popular tourist attraction in the picturesque Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, and was the first of many beautiful spots that we saw in Sintra that day. Because it was March, we were 3 of maybe 8 people there that day. Being along the cliffs, with the beautiful green fields behind us felt magical. It was a great to start to an excellent day.

    See below for the photos!

     

  • Did you know that Tyler came to visit?

    Did you know that Tyler came to visit?

    While Kevin and I were in Cambodia, my brothers trekked halfway around the globe to visit us for a 10 day extravaganza.

    We managed to convince Tyler to come on a similar adventure, this time in Portugal. Kevin put weeks of planning into a road trip that took us all around Portugal, where we saw some incredible sites, ate some incredible food, and laughed incredibly hard.

    He came to visit us for 10 days in the middle of April. We started with nights out in Lisbon, followed by a 3 day roadtrip that was cut short by illness. We then spent the rest of the trip in the Algarve, where we showed him this sites, relaxed among the orange trees, and convinced him to eat all kinds of amazing seafood.

    Inspired by our former roommate, Dragan, the motto of the entire trip was “turn down for what” (really, inspired by this most amazing music video), and Tyler did his very best to turn up all the time.

    We did it up pretty big, which is to say that we spared no expense and never said ‘no’ to anything.

    As a result, there are lots of photos and videos and stories to share. I expect they’ll take up the next 2 weeks worth of posts (including a couple written by Tyler himself!), so be sure to check the blog often!

    Below are a few photos of what’s to come – enjoy!

    siblings at a non-existent archeological monument
    approaching piodao from the cloudy mountains
    cows on the roadside, just normal stuff
    meta photos on an aqueduct in Tomar
    siblings in Lisbon
    siblings in Belem (part of Lisbon, really)
    slow down – goats on the road!
  • Welcome to Alte!

    Welcome to Alte!

    Kevin and I have been here in Portugal for awhile, so it’s about time that I let y’all know about exactly where it is we’re staying.

    Both of Kevin’s grandmothers live in the Algarve (southern region of Portugal), which is where they retired after years of working in Canada. I’ll write separate posts about each of them later, but suffice to say that they are two rather feisty, independent women. Kevin’s entire bloodline (pre-parents) come from the Algarve, all within a 30km radius. So the Algarve really is special to him and to his family.

    While one of his grandmothers lives in a mid-sized city, the one that we’re living with, Avo Olimpia, lives in a small town of about 1100 people. When Kevin was growing up, his grandmother would spend 6 months of the year living with his family in Toronto, and the other 6 months would be spent in Alte. As such, Kevin and his brother grew up spending every summer visiting his grandmother here. As much as Kevin is from Toronto, he’s also very much from this small Portuguese village. And it’s obvious every time that we go out, because he knows every. single. person. here.

    But let’s get back to Alte itself. This tiny little village is rather famous, so much so that it has its own Wikipedia article. It’s also extremely popular as a tourist destination, and I found the best Alte description on a website about tourist destinations in the Algarve:

    Considered by many as the most typical algarvean village, Alte is a small village of white-washed houses nestling amidst trees and mountains, the image of old Algarve. Situated in central Algarve, the village dates from Roman times and has a Moorish past that can be observed in the detail filigree chimneys that adorn the houses.

    In the centre of the village you will find the Church dating from the 13th century, the chapel houses some very special hand painted pieces dating from the 16th century. There is also an old water mill which also dates from the 13th century.

    The focal point of Alte are the two springs. Fonte Pequena and Fonte Grande (Small Spring and Big Spring). In the olden days the women of the village gathered at the springs to fill their pitchers and wash the laundry. Now, the springs are the ideal place to enjoy a relaxing picnic in the calm tranquillity of this village.

    My friend Anne recently visited us here, and she describes this place as a fairytale. It really does have everything: beautiful water features, a waterfall, super old/beautiful churches, cobblestone streets, the view of a town built into a hillside, and the most relaxing sounds. There’s hardly any traffic, so most of day all you hear are the stream flowing and the birds chirping. There’s an interesting array of stray cats (all fed by grandmothers) and other wildlife. In the stream behind the house you can see ducks, geese, fish, and turtles. And in a tree beside the Fonte Pecana you’ll find a couple of chickens and a rooster. There are also horses. Sometimes you see people riding them through the streets!

    Aside from the natural beauty of Alte, there’s the beauty of the community itself. When you go out here, it’s important to always says “good morning” (bom dia), “good afternoon” (boa tarde), or “good evening” (boa noite) to each person you encounter. Basic manners in a small town, I guess. And half the time, that person knows Kevin and/or his family, and will stop to chat. Kevin’s family is rather well-known here, and having spent his summers here, Kevin himself is rather well known. He actually has life-long friends here, which is pretty cool. You’re hard pressed to find someone who won’t describe knowing Kevin when he was just small child.

    I thought that growing up in Grimsby gave me a small town experience? Kevin’s life in Alte is actually as small town as it gets. And not in an unpleasant way. Yes, when you go for coffee or go to the pharmacy, everyone asks about Kevin or his teeth or his grandmother. Yes, people know things about you and talk about what you’re up to. But it’s because the people here are pleasant and nice. Because they’re invested in knowing each other. The people are relaxed and they’re interested in having a good time.

    Case in point? There are SO many events that happen in this small town, all of which involve lots of eating and drinking. In fact, the last festival I went to, we ran into some old family friends. What started as a lively conversation ended with shots of medronho (local fancy moonshine).

    Here’s a quick rundown of the some of the events we’ve been to here (pictures included below):

    – Festa do Chourica (Festival of Chorizo, a version of Portuguese sausage): This was a lively festival held beside the older, smaller church in Alte. We had bread, chourica, and beer. (Of course, we got less bread than the others, because the lady giving out he bread knows that Kevin and I aren’t big bread-eaters, because his grandmother told her). There was also an auction, where we ‘won’ a jar of honey.

    – Alte BTT: this is a bike race that kicks off the cultural week in Alte. It’s organized by a local bike club, and the starting line is right in front of Kevin’s grandmother’s house. We were able to get a great view from the balcony.

    – Semana Cultural – the cultural week included live music, a comedy night, public art, dancing, and an artisanal marketplace (with great desserts)

    – Folk Festival – This took place on the ending weekend of the cultural week. It was a huge event that began on the Friday, which was a holiday. The Fonte Grande was packed with tables and people who were enjoying food and beer while watching a typical folk dancing competition. The weather was beautiful, so we were able to get lots of great photos.

    Lots of photos below, enjoy!

    our first day in Alte! (back in January)
    our first day in Alte!
    reading by the fire, keeping warm in January.
    dinner time!
    the older of the two churches in Alte. This one dates back to the 15th century.
    trailers in Alte, just up the street from us
    public laundry area
    snack time!
    view of Alte from above
    me at the traditional games area in Alte (botchey ball, etc).
    nearby grasslands
    Kevin, on the first motorcycle he learned to ride (it’s seen better days)
    Kevin, stoking the fire.
    view from our favourite cafe!
    Clouds; a rarity in the summer!
    pick-em-up-truck spotted in Alte!
    reading!
    afternoon snack with Avo Olimpia
    almond trees in bloom!
    the festa chorica (chorizo festival), in front of the church
    garden slugs eating our cat food!
    ducks at the fonte pequena (small spring)
    collecting water
    orange trees in the backyard.
    birds nest, found in the backyard
    the formerly crazy lemon tree in the back yard
    Easter!
    Easter!
    on the bridge. Kevin’s gradmother’s house is to the left of me, further back, in this photo. The stream runs behind the house.
    Alte BTT Moutain bike race
    Kevin’s gradmother, off to enjoy the fun
    me at the cultural week kick-off in Alte!
    folklore festival in Alte
    lunch!
    entered a draw to win this chicken! we didn’t win 😦
    me at the Fonte Grande (big fountain), which fills up and acts as a swimming pool in the summer
    the crowd at the fonte grande for the folk music festival
    old people here are mountain goats!
    the fonte grande
    me on the bridge above the fonte grande (people swimming in the back!)
    a water mill beside the fonte pecana
    folk-sy decor throughout Alte for the cultural week wrap-up/folk festival
    it’s snail season!
    a horse and a baby horse!
    view from my yoga spot on the back patio
    view from the backyard
    the waterfall in Alte
  • January 2015: Heather & Kevin spent 1.5 days sightseeing in Lisbon.

    January 2015: Heather & Kevin spent 1.5 days sightseeing in Lisbon.

    Julie’s flight from Lisbon onward to Prague left quite early in the morning. That left Kevin and I with another day and a half in Lisbon before carpooling down to the Algarve with his godfather.

    While our few days with Julie had been about relaxation and exploratory walks throughout the city, Kevin and I knew that without direction we’d end up spending the next 36 hours napping.

    While we did make time for some naps, I also busted out my trusty ol’ pal, TripAdvisor, for some advice on what to see in the neighbourhood. The result was lots of walking and lots of looking at neat things.

    We started the day with breakfast at a truly Lisbon-esque spot. The thing about Lisbon is it’s filled with parks and cafes. And you’ll never, ever find a park that doesn’t have its own little cafe-stand. Just up the street from the place where we stayed, there was a large park that had 2 cafe stands AND a restaurant. This casually beautiful restaurant doesn’t even have a TripAdvisor review. In Toronto, a place this cool would have a 2 hour brunch line up, but in Lisbon? No big deal.

    Once we were properly fed and caffeinated, we headed to our first destination: Reservoir of the Mae d’Agua das Amoreiras and the Aguas Livres Aqueduct. Both of these are part of the Lisbon Museum of Water, which also includes an additional water reservoir, located underneath a fountain in the park where we’d eaten breakfast. The aqueduct was built beginning in the mid 1700s, and it provided the northern neighbourhoods of Lisbon with water up until the 1960s! (Fun/not-so-fun/actually-sad-and-gross fact: the aqueduct was the preferred site/tool of a serial killer in the 1800s)

    As it goes in Europe, the aqueduct was tucked in behind a bunch of other buildings in a less-travelled area of Lisbon. After some walking, Kevin and I rounded the corner and saw the aqueduct crossing a road and spanning (yet another) park. After taking a bunch of photos and freaking out about the wonders of engineering, we wanted to go inside the reservoir, but it was closed for lunch (lunch is a BIG deal in Portugal).

    We opted to return later, and headed off on another walk. Our walk took us through one of the main roundabouts in Lisbon, placed between the enormous Edward VII Park (named after a British dude!) and the Avenue of Freedom (Avenida da Liberdade). West of the park is the Estufa Fria, or “Cold Greenhouse”. Essentially, it’s large indoor garden that isn’t hot like a greenhouse. It includes a grotto, some ponds, and a host of interesting plants. Kevin and I enjoyed a leisurely walk through the garden, stopping to read our e-readers, like a couple of nerds.

    Finally, we headed back to the reservoir to see the inside. Now, I had read online that it was possible to walk through the aqueduct by entering the reservoir. We didn’t get to do that, because the gate was locked, but I would imagine it’s possible if you book your trip ahead of time.

    The Mae d’Agua das Amoreiras Reservoir, (mother of water of the Amoreiras neighbourhood reservoir, or something like that) is incredibly beautiful. It is not, however, a particularly well presented exhibit. It’s also rather expensive. When you go inside, there’s a desk where a person is working. You pay that person 5 euros each, and then walk over to get a better view of the reservoir.

    Water pours from the top of the aqueduct into the reservoir pool. The light that shines in reflects off the water, making for a beautiful visual effect to accompany the sound of the water. On top of the water, there’s actually a floating platform that you can walk on. I can imagine that it must be a great place for events, and I hope that the people of Lisbon take advantage of a cool space like that. It’s basically begging to have concerts and yoga classes and weddings on it.

    Behind the pool is a staircase that takes you to the roof of the reservoir. When you’re walking up the stairs, you can see into the aqueduct, which seems like it’d be a cool walk if it were open. From the rooftop, you get a view of the aqueduct and the city of Lisbon. 5 euros each felt like a bit of a scam, but I honestly think that the reservoir was one of the prettiest buildings/spaces that I’ve ever been in. I highly recommend checking this place out if you’re in Lisbon.

    After our sightseeing, we met up with Kevin’s godfather for lunch, ran some errands, and generally enjoyed being in Lisbon. The next day we woke up, had breakfast, lazed about, napped, and eventually drove to the Algarve, where the adventure continues…

    As always, photos below!

     

    early morning, up and ready for breakfast
    see that building behind me? that’s a restaurant. in a park!
    breakfast time. mixed toast, coffee with milk, chocolate milk
    me, dressed cozy and researching what we’ll get up to for sight seeing.
    an aqueduct in lisbon!
    some serious statue in the middle of a roundabout
    Parque Eduardo VII
    In the grotto at the Estufa Fria
    Inside the Reservoir
    cool spot for a yoga class, if I do say so myself.
    view from the top
    almost knocked this guy right over
    science rules!
    lunch time!
    that’s me, alright.