Lavadouro da Madragoa

Our first summer in Portugal was memorable for many reasons: we started living in our house that had this unique smell of not being used in years, my parents drove our old Citroen Visa with tartan seats, everyday there was a picnic on the beach and our washing machine burnt. This meant hand washing all our clothes during that summer.

I recall morning get togethers with our washing tank before hitting the beach. Soaking clothes in cold water and natural soap, scrubbing and spreading them out to sun bleach, (which, in my opinion is the best way to remove stains).

Before a delicious lunch with Carla today, she showed me a hidden part of rural Lisbon I didn’t know still existed. I feel I am in debt with her!!

Lavadouro da Madragoa is a community washing tank. A place where anyone who wants to rediscover the countryside, hand wash a bit of clothing and read a book while it all sun dries can go to relax. It’s also a quiet and refreshing place to be, with an amazing view of the city and a small orchard.

So Carla, when will we tie a scarf around our heads, wear a proper apron and do laundry together??

one month to go

One month to go!!

Now, my only doubt is:

baloon?

camera?

photoframe?

hearts are nice...

and they decided to go with the dog!

After work geocaching

What to do after work? How about geocache!

On my route home there are 4 hidden caches and today I found 2 of them: both very small and interesting.

The first one is actually called "Assembleia da República", how does that sound?! The hint for it was "tighten your laces near the hole, under the window". One thing I've learned is that Lisbon's architecture is full of holes!! After a bit of pacing, trying not to look suspicious, I found the little container and, fighting against my enthusiastic nature, tried not to make a big fuss.

The second cache was extremely small hidden under a fire hydrant in a tiny magnet container: so sweet!

The third is around Rua do Salitre and I'm leaving it for another day.

But the fourth is hard! For 3 days now, as I head home I have been trying to find the cache named "Amália". It's not an easy one. It's supposed to be in an obvious place 2m high but the problem is the people that pass by and those on the bus stop that stare at me wondering what the hell am I doing pacing up and down the street touching the walls, water pipes, holes, reaching for balconies and pulling on electrical wires. I'm going to need a gps for this one.

I'd buy a fancy phone just to be able to take photos like these all day long

Snow is white and my face is red

I think we are a bit off with the weather: if last weekend we spent it on the beach, this weekend we spent it in the snow with the company of Sam and Susanna. On such a last minute arrangement, I posted a “who needs a ride to Covilhã?” on the Couchsurfing website only 3 hours before leaving and Sam said “We do!!” So we were a foursome ready to hit the mountains.

The day before we went to buy waterproof boots and matching jacket which made me look quite dandy and very professional! I think Pete was proud of how great I actually looked!!(Either that or he was just being nice!) I missed snow: the cold, the wetness, the crunchy sound when you walk, the white brightness.

The plan was to hike across the Serra from where we were camping (Covão da Ametade) to the Torre, the highest point and by far the ugliest spot in the whole Serra, but nonetheless, our very own summit!

We had been told that it had snowed the previous night, so the Covão was nice and white. The whole “let’s sleep in the snow” was bitterly amusing: bundled up with only our face poking out in hope that the tent and sleeping bags were waterproof, looking forward to the hot tea in the morning.

Saturday there we were ready to venture into the wilderness in a soundless march towards “the tower”or as Sam put it “the intrepid explorers crossing the snowy waste”! There’s something about the immensity of the mountains that is so compelling which really makes me want to come back. (But this time with sunscreen!)

In the mail

Just got home, opened my mailbox and ta-dá...  postcard from Christine. She wrote it in deutsch with a catchy opening phrase: "Just ask google!"

sunday afternoon

you definitely complete me

Diagrams

50 km by bike

From Caldas da Rainha to Óbidos a ride with scenic views that made me forget that I have 99 pages to write until I finish my thesis and reminded me that I have to buy myself a bike (# 36 on my list).

Sergio, a rider habitué, kindly organized the whole thing: a train ride to Caldas da Rainha, from where we parted to São Martinho do Porto (Portugal’s tinny tiny version of Rio de Janeiro) and stopped to go fossil hunting; then all up hill (very painful) following an amazing downhill (very pleasant) until Foz do Arelho; a small inconvenient detour of 5 riders, Pedro and myself included; a smooth ride around the Óbidos lagoon discussing my near future; to finish off, some more ups and downs until Óbidos. 

 

 

Óbidos has this annual International Chocolate Festival and Sunday was the last day. So you can imagine families hurdling themselves into a small medieval village and not mind paying 7€ for an entrance.

After going for a drink and relaxing a bit from the trip, we let the festival close down and everyone leave and that’s when we decided to go have a sneak peak at what had been the chocolate fever festival. We got so lucky: since the vendors were closing down and beginning to pack up, we decided to start asking for free samples and they started offering us all the chocolate we wanted! Soooo gooood!!

And what did I learn from all of this?

One: I need to exercise more.

Two: always visit a chocolate festival right after it closes!! 

PS: Thank you Sergio for sharing your photos :)

In the mail

I was in debt with postcrossing. Today I finally sent out the 5 cards: Finland, Spain, Vietnam, USA and Russia. Since we are commemorating the 100 years of the republic revolution, all the cards were replicas of vintage cards from the beginning of the 20th century. Considering that a great number of the population at this time was illiterate, the republicans used image based propaganda to spread the news about republican ideas and how the revolution was carried out. I really enjoy sending out these type of cards rather than boring scenery and views of Lisbon. I just hope the recipients enjoy them as much as I do.