Deadly 60!!!

Argh! Look who I showered with this morning! Where is Steve Backshall when you need him?

At least he was smiling!!! (Unlike me!!!) 

Clare

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Pretty Portugal

Portugal has left a lasting impression on us. The space, the greenness, the natural beauty, did I mention the space, the coastal ruggedness, the stunning beaches, the open space, but most of all the pretty little villages and small towns with their beautifully decorated tiled buildings. Upon each building we have seen, each tile or azulejo seems unique but this can't be the case as it would be impossible! 

The best examples so far have been at Aveiro and in São Pedro Santa Luzia. 

Lisbon is also full of them and there is even a tile museum, but as Lisbon was a complete washout for us, we will have to do that part again one day! According to the 'Rough Guide to Portugal', the brightly coloured decorative tiles were introduced by the Moors in the eight century. The word derives from the Arabic word al zulecha meaning small stone. 

In Aveiro we were told that the reason for the tiled houses was historically two-fold. Firstly as a sign of wealth, as it costs so much to tile a whole house, so those with the entire house tiled are obviously more wealthy than those with just the window surrounds tiled, and secondly to act as a sort of weather proofing against the sea water and salt water, especially along the river banks of Aveiro where the salt pyramids form part of the otherwise flat landscape. 

Whatever the reasons, the tiles (especially the older ones) are beautiful, and I have been snapping away with my little snap-happy camera hoping that one day an art project will come of all my photographic resources!!! 

I have also found the traditional door knockers shaped as hands quite interesting!!

Clare

Tooth fairy part two

Yep,the teeth are dropping like flies now. No wonder the Portuguese tooth fairies are In a financial pickle. 2 down and possibly another wobbler in development! Bring on the soup.

Ed

Jasper's diary entry - Sunday 28th September

Today we went for a long walk from Praia da Luz to Lagos with the same people from yesterday, Ray and Anne, and Lesley and John. It was an up hill walk. Me and Daddy went up the rocky way. When we got there we had an ice cream. After that we went for a walk along the beach looking for sun cream on the rocks. We walked back along the rocky land. We walked back and we said goodbye and then we started driving to our new campsite.

Jasper 

Maya's diary entry - Monday 29th September

Today we travelled to a beach. It was a stoney beach with boats on it. We had lunch on the bay. We saw crabs coming out of their holes in the sand. We drove to a campsite in Tavira. We got off the bikes and cycled to the town. On the way back, we went over a train track and I fell off my bike and hurt my leg. A nurse came out of her van but I was fine so I didn't need a nurse.

Maya

(All true, and all is fine!)

Big clawed crabs of São Pedro Santa Luzia, dragon tails and the great train crash!

Another great story title I think, but also snippets from the day. 

Let me explain. 

We left our new friends from Belgium Gerd and Marc who gave us a lovely send off, once they'd helped guide us out of the tight confines of our pitch. It was quite a clumsy balletic forward backward dance thing going on. 

Once on the road, we made good progress and pulled off in the direction of Tavira. A slight problem with the map scale and poor road signs led us to São Pedro Santa Luzia. A sleepy 'beach fronted' town, which seemed to have no beach. It was actually hidden beyond the water directly in front of us and beyond a nature reserve. Anyhow, we sat, lunched on some lovely fresh and cheap Portuguese bread and watched the river bank in front of us. Hunger had enhanced the focus on the eating, so we were all a little quiet.

However, a strange vision was happening in front of us. It appeared that the sand banks were moving. With stealth, we crept forwards to investigate further, and found the land to be covered with Fiddler Crabs. Crabs with one BIG claw!

They all had their own little hole of a home in the sand, which they duly retired to once approached. So patiently and quietly we waited, and they returned. The land appeared to continue to move. Quite a fascinating thing to observe and we did so for a good half an hour!

The crabs were left behind as we went to go around the village. Beautifully tiled buildings, quiet streets and a real genuine Portuguese quality about it left us feeling very content in this place. Quite the antithesis of Praia Da Rocha (neighbour of Portimao) yesterday.

As we returned to the van for the next part of the journey, Maya came walking up behind me along the river frontage. In her hands she had a huge palm leaf. She carried it, shared it with Jasper, swept the floor with it, dragged it etc. She came to the conclusion though, that she had found a dragons tail. Sadly, the size prohibited her from bringing the dragons tail back with us.

A lovely thing happened then. We were almost back at the van, but we noticed just around the corner a tilted sun brolley, and an old man quietly and carefully working away. An investigation was required. Upon closer inspection and with a bit of explanation, we discovered that he was making small boats out of mussel shells, adding seats, sails, rigging, masts, rudders, etc then painting them. The end result was super!

The photograph doesn't really do it justice as the scale of it is so small. The children both bought one each in the colours of their choice. A proper momento of a lovely little place rather than the usual seaside tat. A lot of time and care has gone into each, and the old gentleman was adamant that the whole idea was his.

After an afternoon snack, it was then a short cycle into Tavira itself for a look around this very unspoilt riverside town. Lots of lovely shops, river side walks, bridges to cross, churches, and a castle. Time was knocking on though, so we set off home. About 500 yards from our home for the night, (municipal campsite at €9.90 per night!) a train track crossed the road, not at a right angle, but at about 45 degrees. It had been a slightly sticky moment going down the hill and into town, but it turned out to end with a splat on the return uphill journey. Maya's front wheel slid across the track rather than going over it and the resulting impact with the road brought on a bout of shock and tears, but also resulted in traffic stopping in both directions. Firstly, traffic behind waited as we all picked ourselves up off the floor, and secondly, as it just so happened a Red Cross van was passing on the other side, stopped, and out jumped a lady paramedic to examine Maya. All was fine, but the shock of the unexpected was why there were tears. It was however a confirmation that the Portuguese people have been very warm, welcoming and helpful throughout our time in their country.

A momentous and eventful day then. Our final day in Portugal, and with some sadness we venture back into Spain tomorrow.

Ed

I should be writing about...

I should be writing about the beautiful day we have just had.

I should be writing about the stunning walk we completed, walking from Praia de Luz along the coastal path across the cliff tops to Lagos.

I should be reporting about the fantastic company we held yesterday with Ray, Anne, Lesley and John. See photograph. A real pleasure to have caught up with them over the last 2 days. I look forward to casually bumping into them in 10 years time once again. 

I should be reporting with great pride about how the children managed to walk in the baking heat for that stunning 9/10km coastal walk, and how they seemlessley and comfortably immersed themselves in long conversations with the above adult company. 

I should be writing about the amazing rocks and caves and beaches at Portimao (sadly in our opinion, ruined by the towering blocks of apartments, British pubs, clubs etc)

However, I am going to write about our evening with Gert and Mark. Upon arrival at our next destination, we first geared the van around the camping grounds in search for the perfect spot. We are getting better at this having observed many a van bimble around camping grounds at ultra slow speed, passing not just the once, but occasionally two or three times. I digress though, upon finding the magic spot which was vacant, we turned in. We then both had a little moment as two Belgians were waving at us. We happily waved back and rapidly began searching our brains for the point of recognition and from where and when that was. Once the brains kicked in, we realised that Aveiro was the point in Northern Portugal. We only had a 10 minute fleeting moment in Aveiro chatting to them before the rains came in, and like the dutiful weather people, retired to our respective vans. And that was it!

Until now.

We set camp (we are quite slick at it at the moment), and I took the children off for a play whilst Clare cooked some tea. Along our way, we stopped off to have a proper chat with our neighbours. And again that was it.

After tea and the children going to bed, there was a gentle tapping on our door. Opening the door, our neighbours had very kindly constructed a list of the best places in Barcelona to take the children. Rather than just say thankyou, I picked up my glass, picked up a chair and (I'm not sure who invited who?) went to join them under their awning for an evening glass of wine. After the formal introductions, Gerd and Marc showed great kindness and openness to give us a lovely evening. They are hugely accomplished travellers, so for us novices (or are we at an intermediate level now?), they provided lots of useful tips. Once again, as with Jose and Maria, our map came out and was circled with some fantastic things. Whether or not we can achieve them all is another point in question, but the rich tapestry of life is ever growing.

And so that really was it. Wine was drunk, maps were perused, super conversation was had, and lovely friends made. We were also joined by Steffie, one of their German friends who is on the look out for work in Portugal so she can stay. We don't blame her! 

Our second post midnight moderate drinking session this week has been another delight. Complete strangers to us initially are being so open and welcome with their time....and wine!

It is all so much appreciated. 

A super evening!

Ed

Ps. So there we were thinking that we'll never see people who we met again. I was living a naive happiness that if we offended anyone, or embarrassed ourselves at all on any of this trip, either with language or whatever, then we would never see any of the people again. I need to amend my thinking!

Catch up in Lagos

Along this trip, not only have we met lots of fantastic new people, we have met friends and families from our present lives, and now have met friends from our 'past lives'. 

Today for us has been a real pleasure. A Facebook post by Clare a few weeks ago led my old headteacher from Coventry to respond and say he was in Portugal. We followed this up and today we met back up again. His wife Anne very kindly came to pick us up from our site. The novelty of being in a car was fun too, especially as the steering wheel was on the other side! We went back to their apartment in Lagos where we met Ray. It was a real pleasure to see them both, and they both went out of their way to host us. We are very grateful, as we are fully aware that this is their holiday!  We went for a long stroll down the beach at Lagos aiming eastwards towards Portimao. Good catch up chats were had, visions of the future were discussed and general slipping back into a relationship that last took place 10 years ago. 

Upon returning to the apartment, Ray had organised for some other of my former Coventry work colleagues who have recently retired to meet up with us too for supper. Unbeknown to them though, they didn't know that we were going to be there. So the door bell buzzed, I went to answer. I pulled the door back. Lesley Heggie, my work colleague and friend from 10 years ago, stood there and looked. Her face looked right through me for 5 seconds before the full hand to mouth moment of shock took place. From then on, life seemed to slip effortlessly back into a world that we lived in 10 years ago. The relationships continued in the way that I remember them being. A beautiful supper was consumed (thanks Ray and Anne for some lovely food), good company was had and then a casual walk around the marina observing the Lagos Saturday night nightlife was a lovely way to end the day. 

And as for the children in all of this. Well, they completely took on board the fact that we were comfortable with our old friends, and they just got on with it. Jasper was completely happy walking along the beach collecting sticks, and then in the apartment was equally happy with Ray's iPad. A big thank you to Anne, as Maya latched on to her as they walked along the beach hand in hand, and she talked and talked and talked and talked and talked... 

As for tomorrow, another meet up is the course of action. We are looking forward to meeting Ray, Anne, Lesley and John tomorrow for a walk up to the day mark in Praia de Luz and then walk along the coast to Lagos and back. The children are fast asleep cracking out the zeds in preparation (zzzzzzzz)!!! I think they'll enjoy it.

Ed

Obrigado, obrigada!

Tonight has ended in a way that made me smile. Whilst tucking up Jasper and Maya in bed, they both slipped naturally into the only bit of Portuguese we know, and said "obrigado" which means thank you. Jasper then quickly and politely corrected Maya - "No Maya, it's 'obrigada' for a girl," as there is a masculine and feminine way of thanking people.

So there may not be a dirth of scholastic input everyday, with a strict Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm routine, but there are glimmers that there is a wider world of knowledge going in. This is just one example, but a nice one!

Obrigado!

Ed

The end of Portugal???

Awoke this morning to the not-so-calming noise of the sea crashing on the rocks below us. A lovely location to find, to stay at, and to wake at, but throughout the night I had several "agh!" moments when I thought we were being blown away, so strong was the wind at times! 

We had our breakfast in gleaming sunlight, then the usual ritual of tidying bedding and beds away before the "scaldy wash" happened; the remaining boiled water left in the kettle was put in the bathroom bowl, a small amount of cold water was added, the soap was lathered up and Jasper and Maya had a face wash to freshen up. Now of course it isn't really scalding hot water at all, it's just they both make such a fuss about it and always complain it's too hot, we have named this simple activity the "scaldy wash", which I am sure they both secretly love!

We set off to the most south-western point of Portugal, Sagres. Passing through several small villages and towns along the way I was amazed by the beauty of the simple architecture, bright white walls with a brilliant shade of blue framing the doors and windows. This interspersed with the obligatory red geraniums was just lovely! The town of Porto Covo was simply stunning, and we wished that we had had time to stop for a coffee, or beer as some of the locals were, but then we noticed that it was only 9:30am!!! Onwards we went, with me navigating and taking photos along the way, Ed driving and enjoying (I think) listening to some cool tunes on the Ipod, Jasper and Maya playing Top Trumps and then weaving loom bands - yes, we still have several thousand of those annoying things in our van.

Lunch time was spent in the car park at Sagres. On our arrival into the town we noticed several surf shops and lots of English signage for surf schools, bars, shops etc. and then suddenly, a huge fortified compound appeared similar to the Lands End complex in England. Ed's reaction was typical; "We're not paying to go in there!" So instead we enjoyed the stunning views from outside the walls, and relished in the delight that we had saved ourselves €12!!!

Moving on, we quickly found the seaside resort of Praia De Luz, and followed directions to the chosen ACSI campsite so that we would get a good discount. The weather was still stunning, (almost too hot!) so we quickly scrambled the washing together and organised the first load. On collecting that, I met a lovely English lady who had also stayed at Porto Covo cliff top, and in fact had just done a run of 11 nights free beach side camping! We chatted for ages before she started her washing and I collected mine!!! 

Later on, after some more washing, school work and then swimming/diving, we had a visit from the lady and her husband. We all introduced ourselves...hello Vivian and John if you are reading this! They gave us some great advice on where to stay, and even loaned us a book listing Aires in Spain and Portugal. In turn we loaned them our very valuable France Passion handbook, which if you remember became our bible when we were in France. Tomorrow night we wil reconvene and swap back!!! I hope!

Ed has been on a recce visit to the beach tonight. It's not far away, so our plan is to cycle there tomorrow and see what the weather has in store for us, it's not rained today...yet! So most of our washing is dry, just not ironed (sorry Mum if you are reading this!). Saturday will be interesting as we have plans to meet up with Ed's first headteacher Ray who we haven't seen for 10 years! He and his wife Anne are on holiday on Lagos along with another former colleague of Ed's, so it will be a bit of an old school reunion! 

Having spent last night by the sea, I need more sleep!!! 

Clare 

Pallet boy and the sand rescue

It may sound completely daft, but I feel like I've had a moment today. A moment of realisation or a moment of it all "feeling right". Now bear with me whilst I mumble on about this moment, I shall try to keep it coherent!

Today has by no means been the best day. We have travelled some distance whilst the sun beat down. After getting soaked to the skin twice in as many days, this was not what we wanted! We went shopping, quite a regular shop with nothing adventurous, and we put fuel in the van. Lisbon was far behind us as we approached Sines, a little sort of 'sticky out' peninsula 90 miles south of Lisbon. We stopped on a cliff top for lunch, and as we ate, the sea below us crashed into the rocks with a white fervour displacing such a radiant blue sea. Happiness set in then. Not sure whether it was the sea, the situation, the family, the realisation of what we are doing or a combination of all, but this moment is not to be forgotten.

This was interrupted as we noticed a car that had parked just over from us but was completely stuck in the sand. I donned the red cape and went to help. It seemed quite a multinational affair of Portuguese, French, Spanish, possibly Polish, and now English pushing this car out. It was well and truly wedged. However the universal language of mime kicked in as we all gestured to the driver to turn the wheel to aid the process. (I am on the right!)

This picture highlights the bizarre landscape we found ourselves in. Beautiful coastline with heavy industry and oil refineries all around.

In addition, we raided the ground as sadly there was an awful lot of rubbish around (washed up plastic bottles, juice cartons, bottle lids) so we squashed bottles and placed them under the front wheels for some traction. Bingo. The bottles and a big push, and out the vehicle popped. Job done, we proceeded on our way.

We then found a lovely beach and decided to stop. Swim costumes went on and in we all went. The waves and undercurrents were strong, but they were lots of fun. Then after that, the creative mindset of Jasper and Maya kicked in. For about an hour and a half, Jasper went off finding rope, sticks and anything else he could....including a pallet. And so he worked to set the pallet to sail. Ropes were pulled, rocks were pushed and eventually he worked out a system of using the water and pulling, I.e when the tide came in, he pulled. It was fascinating to watch, and he was completely engrossed. After the success of it floating and moving away, he set about rescuing it and bringing it back. Only an open blister from the rope caused him to stop. Jasper and his pallet was fantastic to watch.

Meanwhile, Maya also was being resourceful. She had also found some rope and had lassoed it around a rock which became her 'dog'.

The rock was then dragged around whilst she sang to it, danced to it and then generally introduced it to all the other 'dogs' on the beach. I'm not sure what I learnt with all of this, nor what the children learnt, but it was a moment of pure joy. 

And to end the day off, as is my pleasure, we have found a lovely spot to free camp again, right by the sea. The sun set beautifully again, photos will follow. 

My conclusion then. I know we are lucky, I know this whole venture is a real opportunity, but today I felt really grateful for it. I've spent a lot of time with my family, and that is magic.

Everyone needs to do this with their families.

Ed

Ps. Please remind me of this day when we are wet, cold, frozen, stuck inside, trying to get water systems working during the winter aspect of our journey!

Portuguese roads

I though it was high time in gave you a report on the Portuguese road network. Here are the findings.

1. Tolls: this is a real anomaly of the Portuguese road network. I have no objections to the principals of a toll system. The deployment of it is however an issue. When we left the East of Portugal and aimed for the west, we happened upon a motorway, an Autovia. This was good as it upped the speed and decreased the mpg. We merrily plied onwards, but then all of a sudden, were signs which we didn't understand and then an immediate gantry to read our number plate. Taken aback by the lack of information about this system, we grumbled for a few minutes then carried on. This then was repeated 5 or 6 times before we came off. So dutifully I enquired about this the next day and purchase a holiday makers €20 travel credit which would then work once activated via an SMS message. This was all done with success. However, my grumble is that since we have travelled south, all the tolls we have hit have been pay booths where our credit voucher doesn't work. Grrrrr

2. Toll part 2: they don't successfully take the credit card. Grrrr

3.  Tolls part 3: the tolls marked on our 2014 road maps don't tally at all with what you are presented with!!!!! Grrrrrr

4. Roads that aren't tolls: in essence, the toll roads are empty. The equivalent A roads are the busier ones with people avoiding the tolls. They are however, maintained in a slap dash manner. I think it is all a ruse to get you on the toll roads. Our bones were severly shaken today on a stretch where if you veered too far to the right, the tree roots under the road would have caused you to jump, fall off the road or for a wheel to be knocked off. The quality of the surface is akin to driving over a scale road made of Lego! 

5. Speed bumps: less than France and less than Spain, but still lurking in unsuspecting places ready to knobble you at any moment.

6. Cobbles: I think there is a link between the Portuguese government and tyre manufacturers and shock absorber manufacturers. Not only do their non toll roads shake your bones, but the town centres of all the places we have been to have been comprehensively cobbled for mile on end. Therefore, you feel that poor old Hugo has had something of a suspension massage over the past week or so. The bus journey into Lisbon showed how to drive on these cobbles. Our driver 'Lewis Hamilton' did not care one bit, so much so, the bus had unnerving squeaks, rattles and clunks! 

Apart from this though, the roads are well signed and a joy!!!! There is a certain 'devil may care' attitude to overtaking, and the etiquette seems to be that when you are overtaking, you don't pull back into the lane until you have scared the nearest oncoming driver half to death and made him take avoiding action. 

What is lovely though, is that each country has had it's own unique brand of motoring nuances.  I wonder what that will feel like when back in Britain.

Ed

Dodging the zig zags part two - the revenge

Lisbon

That was the aim today, so off we set with a belly full of croissants.

A successful negotiation of the bus driver and bus ticketing swiftly got us on our way. And what a way to enter Lisbon. The driver would give our good friend, rally driver Julian Wilkes, a run for his money. There were some raised eyebrows and a good deal of clenched fingers around anywhere that seemed fixed! He had a certain 'gung ho' quality about him as Murray Walker would say.

We were therefore glad to arrive in Lisbon. From what we made out on our entry, it all looked very charming indeed, but quite hilly in parts. First port of call was the tourist office. We are, after all, becoming more accomplished tourists now. On our way there we entered into the glorious river fronted square of Praca de Comercio, the former site of the royal palace with it's marble steps leading into Lisbon from the river. I got rather excited though and dashed on ahead, as leaving down the Tagus River/Rio Teja was a submarine. A perfect reminder that you have 3 days for your Das Boot homework!

Following this we booked a tram to get us around the city. We aimed high and decided to let the old tram from Rossio Square take us up to the Castelo de São Jorge, a large fortification high above the town. 

Before we did this, a rumbling was heard, a dangerously scarey rumbling. So I listened to my tummy and we headed for a lovely restaurant for lunch and a beer. The view was quite fantastic, all the old houses narrowly packed together with a 1,000 TV aerials poking up in all directions.

It was delightful..... Until the other threatening rumbling took over. A huge bolt of lightening struck out in front of us and the deluge followed that seemed to bring a certain river quality to the place we were in. A short subsidence in the weather allowed us to get on. We walked the "as has become Portuguese custom" cobbled streets and purchased our castle tickets. Initially we found stunning views out above the packed streets and hilly town. We could even see as far as the large statue of Christ the King on the opposite river bank, and the Golden Gate Bridge look-alike joining districts of Lisbon together.

As we turned to leave the views to the walk around the ramparts, we were greeted with the view of people streaming off the ramparts with a real air of them being chased by the storm. And so it was, this grey downpour rapidly approached us and we dived for appropriate cover. This photo shows the impending doom coming in from the right.

Unsurprisingly everyone had the same idea, so there was a certain damp quality as we all fought for space. I'd like to say the rain departed. But no, it increased in severity, velocity and quantity. We then decided, in order for the day to progress we really needed some help with our weather protection (we had no coats, no umbrellas, etc). I therefore went to buy a couple of quality emergency brollys from a street vendor. I did some mediocre haggling, probably still losing out but feeling better that I had had a go, and went back to the castle with two lacklustre umbrellas. Now, with a renewed vigour we felt we could embrace the weather. Umbrellas up, two of us tucked inside each, off we went to have a quick go around the castle ramparts, getting increasingly wet, but having a fun time, enjoying the weather and taking on the rumbles and the zig zags. 

The optimism that we had done the last section had a real fun about it. Sadly, the fun left us when we sat to wait for our return descent on the tram. We waited, and waited, but sadly no trams came. It was decided, just as the rain returned for another go, that we should walk back to the main part of town. Thankfully, no trams came. We subsequently found out that the storms had knocked out much of the tram system, flooded the metro system and wreaked havoc across the city. And there we were having a jolly brolly time up at the castle in blissful ignorance.

Upon our return to the town, we followed our noses and went to find the Elevador de Santa Justa. Our noses were rubbish though, so a kind man from one of the museums gave us a nod in the correct direction and then we found it. The Elevador de Santa Justa is an elevator linking one lower district to a higher one. It's quite a fascinating building with a lift, built in 1901. Once again, the views from this height were super.

It also shows the topography of Lisbon to great effect with their being such great differences in height from one district to the other. We decided to take it to descend to the lower district of Baixa, in order to get our bus home. However, the lady said that it would cost €5 each. The shock on our faces must've made her rethink. As we told her our sob story about the failed trams and the appalling weather, she let us on for free. So thank you to Deanna the lift lady for helping us along!

A late bus brought the weary travellers home. And so here we are, all calm, all is quiet, as is the weather. A good day, although we have the niggling feeling that we didn't quite see enough of Lisbon as we could've. A beautiful place, and once again, Portugal has shown us caring and helpful people.

Ed

A sprinkling of gold dust

It has been a pleasure to be free camping and be autonomous again. No great report here as the photos do all the talking here. Free camping on the beach. Here's a tea time shot. Macaroni cheese was an absolutely perfect meal for a perfect day messing about at the beach.

A shot of the escapee! The irony that our van is made by 'Swift' is not lost on me. A happy day though.

And finally, the view from Hugo for our evening was this. A stunning evening where the sun went down as we watched from the beach, the lighthouse came on at the headland in the photo and an incessant roar from the sea reminded us of where we were. 

Ed

The good, the bad and the ugly.

I'll leave it to you to work out which of today's thrilling adventures is the good, the bad and the ugly!

I was woken from my sleep by Jasper crying, "100's of ants Daddy, quick!". Sure enough, when we leapt out of bed, 1,000s of tiny little forest ants were marching along the kitchen work top and along the wall, across the carpet and past the window. As quick as we could, we all started moving things out of the way and then started squashing the ants. As soon as we thought we had moved enough, more ants were visible. We ended up taking out carpets, chairs, cushions, mats. You name it, it was moved as we frantically brushed and squashed. To add to the annoyance, because of the shelf failure two days ago, which we still haven't been able to fix, we have stacks of books under the dining area table, which all had to be moved in order to take the carpet up!!!

Just as that was going on, all before breakfast of course, the 2 hungriest children in the world were waiting outside to come back into the clean ant free (ish) zone. Maya suddenly said, "My tooth's fallen out!" And thankfully it had! Those of you who have experience of children with wobbly teeth will know that whilst the tooth is wobbling, the child does nothing else but wobble the tooth at every opportunity, right in front of you no matter how horrible you find it!!! Eating is hard. Speaking is hard. Sleeping is hard. Life is hard when you have a wobbly tooth.

After breakfast, we left the site and headed for the beach. The same beach as we discovered yesterday afternoon, only our plan was to get there early today as we were sure that it would be busy with it A) being sunny and B) being the weekend. The car park we had eyed up to stay in overnight was locked up!!! With several motorhomes trapped inside! So we drove a little further and looked for another suitable parking space for our 7.5 metre vehicle. Imagine trying to park that at Lyme Regis on a busy Saturday!!! We did eventually stumble across some parking, loaded ourselves up with beach gear, and excitedly stomped down the golden, sandy slope to the beach. Half way down, bare footed I stood on something sharp and collapsed in pain. Buried in the sand was the end stump of a piece of driftwood which had a rather sharp spike on the end. I limped on down to the beach, and checked to see what damage had been done. A small puncture right in the arch of my foot pouring with blood and filled with sand and grit. Oh the pain!!! Thankfully we had some bottled water with us, so Ed washed it out and I rested my foot. Once dry, I had to put a plaster on to keep sand out. Annoyingly we only have Winnie The Pooh plasters, so now I sit foot raised toying this with Tigger trying to cheer me up and ease the pain.

I think we all deserve an ice cream after our troubles today!!!

Clare 

X

Lost tooth!

This morning my very wobbly tooth has fallen out and I caught it. I have put it in a special jar for the tooth fairy tonight. Here is a photo of my tooth.

Saturday 20th sSeptember

And Daddy  can already see my adult tooth.

Maya

Simple pleasures

1. The sea. An easily underrated thing and, living on an island, an assumed commodity. Having travelled over Spain, now being back at the sea is a fantastic thing. A place where nature seems to become incredibly animated and dynamic. It has given us a fascinating and pleasing set of hours watching, listening, feeling and enjoying it. Awesome! And I mean that in the truest sense of the word.

2. The dry. You may question this as we have had super weather for the best part of 50 days. However, it (the dry) must be appreciated fully. Living in a small space is fine. It is home and has become the 'norm'. Life in this space is easy when it is dry. In fact it is quite pleasing when it is wet as we have a general feeling of "Well, at least we are not in a tent!" But, the overriding wetness causes additional problems such as, where do you dry your own towels, tea towels (here he goes again), wet shoes and the bigger problem of trying to keep air circulating and avoid misting up when all the windows need shutting. So if you are dry, remember that that's a good thing.

3. Solving problems. At home life becomes very easy. To make this point, I would like to use our most recent failure as a point in case. Sitting have lunch one day, I happened to notice an urgent failure in the van. The library wing of the vehicle, a shelf, had started to sag in the middle. We quickly took off all the reading material, diaries, games etc. We now need a drill, drill bits, wood glue, screws of assorted lengths, clamps and nice weather in which to complete the job. I'm just off to nip out to the shed to get the bits............note to self, we don't have a shed! We have the know how, but not the tools. Grrrrrr!

Ed

Tea, tolls and tiredness

A funny couple of days have passed. We have travelled quite a way, all feeling a little tired, and all a little fed up of the weather. We understand the rain is due to persist for some time though, therefore we just have to lump it!

Today we have travelled from Nazare to Guincho, which, give or take, is essentially the most westerly point of Europe. For the second time we have been flummoxed by the Portuguese toll road system, which seems to switch haphazardly from a number plate recognition system, to a toll booth system. Tolls are not clearly marked and seem to spring up all over the place much to our displeasure. We have however, survived these tolls though. Aiming for a place called Sintra was our target today. The above road system got us there eventually. Despite the historical legacy left by previous royalty in this place, there was a distinct lack of parking planned into the scheme by the Portuguese Royals. Maybe this is why the Portuguese Royal family not longer exists! So we went through, we couldn't stop, but looked upto the distant palaces high up on the hilltops.

We carried on our merry way. The mood was getting less merry though. I think I was suffering the most. Not so much a lack of jollity, but more a flagging of the body and mind. Part of it I think is the lack of autonomy of camping in Spain and Portugal. In France we had a positive approach to free camping, we felt that Spain frowned upon it, and haven't quite got back into it in Portugal, although we gather that this is allowed now! More of that to follow.

The afternoon though was a real treat. A cup of tea and slice of cake seemed to kick start things nicely along with a little kindle time. A slow and steady plod down to the beach was in order then. Friday evening was spent in a 'Goonies' style seascape of a beach, photographing the fantastic waves along the coastline as Jasper and Maya sought to stop the advancing Atlantic Ocean. (If you have not seen the Goonies, then that last reference will not help you imagine this scene at all.)

You may be wondering now, that following 'Living the dream part 4', what has happened to all that duff weather? That would be a correct thing to be assuming. However, we seem to have landed on our feet a little and probably rather annoyingly. It has been a glorious day. A real warmth with a lovely high sun in a near cloudless sky. 

Upon our return journey to the van, I thought I would investigate with fellow 'large white vehicle' types where one stood with free camping in Portugal. After brazenly just going and finding someone to talk to, I found myself in to conversation with a French couple who were very helpful. They were probably a little confused as I somehow managed to dip in and out of 4 languages and never quite fully hit on one successfully. They did get the overriding message though and confirmed that we are free to free camp. My spirits have been raised and I now have a renewed energy for the next part...whatever that may be. It will however include some beach free camps which I am really looking forward to as long as the weather holds a little. 

And just a little aside, as I sit here typing, is has not been missed by me, that I am about 5km from Estoril race circuit. An old F1 circuit of the 80's and 90's if memory serves me correct. I might cunningly manage to squeeze in time to go and look at some tarmac this weekend too! (......although I have seen quite a lot in the last 50+ days, just a few miles short of 3,000 at the moment.)

Ed

The Sea

The sea looked like a big green monster.

It was making the sand very wet.

It was waving hello.

It was green and blue with white curled waves.

It sounded like a tiger roaring in the jungle.

Maya Clements 

The Sea

The sand was oozy.

The sea smelt like petrol.

It felt like it was trying to attack us.

It was waving hello.

It was like a dramatic cat.

It sounded like a monster getting destroyed.

I could taste the salt on my lips.

It's colours were white, green and blue.

By Jasper Clements 

Home made pizzas in the van?

Oh yes it can be done!

Dodging the zig zags

Today has mostly been about weather avoidance. We are feeling happy though, as we have made the most of today without getting particularly wet.
After a pretty miserable but spectacular night, where the lightening lit up all our windows, the rumbles of thunder literally shook the van and the rain lashed down at varying velocities, we woke to a calm. A blue sky was trying to break cover through a hushed moment of the morning, although there was a consistent aggressive set of noise in the distance like the sound of living next to a motorway.We decided to make the most of the day. The thought had been to avoid Aveiro due to the weather, but then we thought again and decided that we are here, so lets carry on! So we did. Initially we took the short trip to the sea and parked up. It was here that we realised the hidden aggressive noise was the sea. An angry sea, which reminded both Clare and I of the oft studied poem called 'The Sea' by Philip Reeve. It was raging. So we raced onto the beach to watch it. We just stood and watched because it was quite amazing.

What should be a really nice seaside beach was now an aggressive place. We were fascinated. So much so, we brewed up and watched it worsen as more lightening and rain raced in towards us with an accompanying soundtrack of thunder.
However, the skies began to brighten a little. We therefore aimed for Aveiro. And what a treat it was. We managed to catch it in the sun, and have the benefit of that weather for the duration of our stay. We learnt all about the boats called moliceiros, which were used to either transport the salt (for the salted fish that they love over here....quite amazing to see all the pallet loads of cardboard looking cod in the supermarkets!) around the canals that litter this place, or to transport the special seaweed that they used to fertilise the soil. We duly took a trip around the canals in one of these boats. Although I have not been to Venice (yet), I can see why they call it the Portuguese Venice.
The colours of the boats though were fantastic. The picture below demonstrates this. Many of the boats however depicted "hot and spicy" scenes as our guide told unlike the distinctly un-racey picture below!!!

Sometimes it is only with the benefit of hindsight, and having seen the photos, that we realise that some of the things we are seeing are fantastic.

A pleasing day though. The children have done only a little school work, they have completed their diaries, but have enjoyed their day all the same. A day of going to the beach, taking a boat ride, and then finishing it off with homemade pizza in the van!
Successful weather dodging achieved today though.

Living the dream part 4

Enough said!

Data, you've got to love data!!

Now this blog is completely free to go and read. Views are also anonymous. Below you will find only my speculative thoughts. So carry on people. We can however get certain facts from some of the data that Google provides. So here is a little set of statistics!

Pageviews

United Kingdom - 4948

United States - 299

France - 122

Spain - 101

Turkey - 59

New Zealand - 49

Germany - 34

Italy - 26

Portugal - 19

Poland - 18

These are total views of all our pages so far. Thanks to all the UK people, family friends etc. Doing well!! 

France, well some of that is us, and some of it will be Deborah Long and other people we have met along the way, so thank you.
Spain, I think this must be some of us, but mostly our new friends Jose and Maria. Thank you!
Turkey, Jean Maitland, this must be you!!!Thank you.
New Zealand, a big thank to the Falconers out there.
Italy, I'm guessing at Sue and Klaus, welcome and thank you too! I hope we don't look too scarey.
Portugal, mostly us I think, we have loads of wifi at the moment.
So we are a little intrigued. People from Poland, Germany and the United States, welcome, thank you for looking, hope you enjoy it, but who are you? 

Ed

Sad photo, happy photo

Here is a sad photo. The gas has run out in the van. We have to cobble together some new gas. They don't sell Calor gas over here. There is plenty of gas, but they are all in different bottles with a hundred and one different regulators of different sizes.

Here's a happy photo. We found a place where they refill your gas bottles, and they have British adaptors. 12kg of fresh gas cost us a whopping 14 Euros!!! Thats enough gas to keep us going for at least 2 months I think! 'Obrigado' to my non English speaking friend who filled it up!

Ed

PS. To anyone who we have met along the way and given contact details to, if you need to do this, we found a company in OVAR near Porto. Take the main toll road (A29) north to Porto, then take the Ovar north turning. Follow this towards Ovar. At one of the roundabouts there is a sign for GPL. Follow this. About 1.5 miles or so down the road on the right is a company called Tutigas. Absolute magic!!

More pictures from the folk festival!

No doubts

Today has been an ordinary day. Really. Quite ordinary! Just like any other Monday really. After having breakfast, showering, getting the children organised, and tidying away beds, we started school. Handwriting was the first job, then diaries from yesterday. Maya's was really good, and helped confirm the fact that whilst it may appear that we are on holiday/messing about each day, we are in fact enhancing our children's life experiences, whether it be socially, culturally, historically, or occasionally just educationally!

If there have been any doubts in our minds about what we are doing, and believe me there have been times along the way when we have met people who have quizzed us to the n'th degree about the morals of taking children out of school, and frowns about how we can afford this lifestyle etc, then we have simply asked Jasper and Maya if they are OK, if they feel happy, if they are having a good day, what they have enjoyed so far, what we can do to make it better. They always respond honestly and positively! And the finances of it all are nobody's business but our own! 

After a short break, we worked hard on some maths. Both children are really focused on what we are currently working on, and they are confident in what we are asking of them regarding number value up to five digits and recognising number patterns such as odds/evens, twos, fives, tens. Jasper even spotted a palindromic number pattern, so to satisfy his curiosity we told him what it was. And he loved it!

After lunch, which was delicious fresh rolls from the local baker who visited the site this morning, Jasper and Maya had a long playtime in the sun. And whilst that was happening, I did the housework, sorted the washing out, cleaned the kitchen area, composed some emails, looked at the route for the next few days and Ed went for a bike ride. As I said, today has been an ordinary day really! As I looked out if the window, I saw and heard lots of laughing and giggling. A den had been made, sticks were being used as swords, acorns and leaves were being left as a trail for fairies to follow. All of their own accord, all imagined, all simple play, the thing that sadly formal education doesn't allow for in the age of targets and age related expectations. 

Now an art lesson is taking place with Ed teaching the children how to draw a person, so they can draw and label one of the characters from yesterday's festival.

We have already written a list of questions to ask Daniella and Lydia (on the site) so that we can find out more information about the festival, such as "why the man was wearing a straw suit?", "what do the different dances mean?", and "how often do they practice dancing?" The last question is high in importance on Maya's list!!! 

So if there are ever any doubts, they soon vanish when you look around and see what is happening. We are living an ordinary life, it's just that we are privileged to have the time to do it slowly, and to see the world from the eyes of our children.  

Clare

X

Sunday 14th September (Maya's diary entry)

Today we went to a fair in Portugal. It was really fun. First of all we saw a band, it sounded lovely. We watched some dancers. They were very good. After that we got a wooden spinning top. Then my tooth got even wobblier. We met a man called Marcus. He was a Portuguese man he used to work in an Italian restaurant in London but today he was in the show. And then we drove back to the campsite and went to the park and went to bed.

Maya

Hard to explain, but I will try!

Some days can be gold dust. It can be for many a reason; a good journey, beautiful things seen, achievements by any one of us. However, today's Midas moment was mentioned in the previous post. The previous post was prior to the magic really. I will try to explain. 

Following the previous post, we lunched on our local produce back in the van. Sadly the skies darkened and the looming weather from the west came in and so it started raining. Undeterred though, we umbrella'd up and marched back up the granite causeway back into the village centre. The town was full of people now, all around the edge of the town square. We found a quiet kerb, perched and waited dutifully under the brolly. The rain fell, but people persisted in their waiting. After a suitably long delay, similar to the wait to announce the winner of the 'X factor' or alike, up the cobbled road came the marching band of the area. They were brilliant! A real rabble of a band.

Their uniform was sort of uniform, although hat styles and the way the hats were worn, hairstyles etc were all a variety. They stood where they wanted on the stage, chatted on their phones, some wore sunglasses, some looked like they had just woken up, some really didn't look bothered and the conductor stood at the side with his arms folded through their performance. They were however, brilliant fun, and they got the party started. They were however greeted with a rather subdued round of applause, as people had really come for the folk stuff. The different folk groups representing the different local villages processed into the town square accompanied by their own folk band of various instruments. All looked sour faced, solemn with a slow gait over the granite. Their costumes however were a real variety and delight. Again, hard to describe, but headdresses, hats, piles of straw on heads, baskets on heads, wraps on heads, blankets of all colours, black waistcoats with tartan backs, shirts, tan coloured felt trousers, short brimmed hats, wide brimmed hats, shoes, no shoes, slippers, clogs, no brimmed hats, beards, no beards, cloaks, sticks, poles, tools, instruments of all sizes and shapes, accordions, young, old, knitwear, skirts, dresses, black, lots of black, straw outfits, yes, straw outfits,

RED SPOTTY HANKIES (Hooray!), and the list goes on!

All in all, quite a feast for the eyes, so much so, as we now digest the photos, we can't believe that we were privileged to have seen it all today. Quite something!

However, as the whole thing unfolded into its festival atmosphere, a brown caped Zorro figure started introducing the event over the PA. We hadn't a clue what he was talking about, nor really what all the costumes meant, but it was good, and we all clapped at the marvellous things he said. It got better though; each group of musicians and dancers had to perform on the stage. So much made us smile, from the dour faced bands playing uplifting and joyful music, to the dancers who performed with verve and a real passion for what they were doing.

 It seemed as though the dances were telling stories, perhaps about the harvest, or giving thanks for the seasons produce. We have film footage to share with those of you who are interested at some point, but I guess you had to be there really! 

Anyway, after the first round of musicians and dancers, they marched off the stage to their own music to make way for the next one. So we watched and waited for the next round of fantastic costumes and intriguing music and singing. As we waited, one of the previous guitarists came wandering past us. I caught his eye, and in an odd moment, I recognised him, and he recognised me. To our surprise, it was Marcus (see previous post about Portuguese man who worked in a London based Italian restaurant) who once again greeted us with a vitality of life. He placed his hat on Jasper, and let both he and Maya hold his guitar whilst they posed for photos. A lovely man. 

The conclusion then. We were a slightly confused family of British people who just enjoyed the event for what it meant to us. A lot of fun, slightly crackers, but a confirmation once again that Portugal is a special place. Happy days.

As a point of note, it is now 53 days since we left home. Not quite Phileas Fogg yet!

Ed

Feria Das Tradicoes e Sabores

You are not meant to know anything about this title. If you do, then you are better than us. We have driven to this Folklore festival in a village north west of where we are staying. Only about 6 miles, but it has been a rare journey where Hugo has been used as a car rather than us using the bikes. 

The arrival into this village for the festival, was a greeting of cobbled streets and closing walls and balconies to be avoided. Having got this far, we parked up and decided to follow the locals, who were carrying bread, cakes and other produce, walking up between granite walled houses on yet another granite cobbled street. We arrived into the main square, and saw stalls of local food and drink produce, all to be sampled. So we did. And then, not much else happened. So we bought some local bread and cake, returned to the van, and lunched.  (We later found out that 12:30- 2:30pm was the time allocated for a shared communal lunch for all those attending the festival). 

We haven't gone home though as limbering up just outside the van has been a marching band. It sounds lively and exciting, trumpets, drums, clarinets, and tubas etc. People are getting changed into various outfits ready for dancing and performing, we think! 

So as I said, we are now sat in a park, killing an hour, as Marcus, an engaging Portuguese man (who approached us, introduced himself and then started a conversation with us telling us how he used to work in London in an Italian restaurant), filled us in that the music doesn't start until 3pm. So we are waiting. Lots of Portuguese groups from the North, East, South and West. This is what it's all about though. Mingling with locals, continuing to bumble through the language barrier. 

A report will follow about the folk music later on in the next post.

Ed

Portugal - warm and welcoming!

Our arrival into Portugal was unmomentous really as there was no border control as we had expected, and consequentally we just arrived! The drive down the Douro Valley (as recommended by Ed's friend Albinio) was fabulous, and we enjoyed every hair raising moment as we swerved from corner to corner, round one bend to another. Meeting Jose and Maria at the viewpoint just after crossing the border was another highlight. What lovely people; we just keep on meeting them! Portugal is so green and lush compared to the Spain that we have seen. Not that we didn't enjoy Spain, but we hadn't realised the vastness of it when we marked out our route, so passing field after field of brown and yellow did get rather tedious in the end. Even naming the shades of colour in exciting titles didn't really help...ochre, burnt sienna, cadmium yellow, etc didn't hide the fact that it was brown. Can you tell that we were once art students?!?! 

Now in Portugal we have realised that we have missed the greenness! Maybe the infamous "green and pleasant land" line from Blake's Jerusalem is so heavily ingrained in us that we naturally seek it even when it isn't to be found! Today we have thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and drive from Meda along the 331, N229, N226, and N229 to Vila Nova de Paiva and my map reading skills on the map from Albinio that is about the size of a postage stamp have been well and truly tested!!! 

The campsite is fabulous, one of the better ones that we have stayed in, and of course the warm welcome that we received from Daniella really helped us feel at ease and relaxed, so much so that we visited the bar again tonight and had another drink with her and got some excellent advice about a local festival of folklore and food which is happening tomorrow (Sunday). We are planning to go there and sample the delights of Portuguese food. I'm only hoping that the local delicacy of Salted Cod that we have seen in every supermarket is tastier than it looks!!! (And a great deal less smelly!!!)

Clare

X

Quick update whilst sat in the bar!

Portugal just keeps giving.

We were content last night and yesterday, but now we are a little further into Portugal, we have found a lovely site. We were welcomed so warmly by the host Daniella. Rather than the 'pay and go and find a space' welcome, we were told to sit down and have a complimentary drink! So we did. Sat on a stunning outdoor platform looking down an as yet unresearched valley.

So tonight, we returned for another beer. Drinking Portuguese beer, learning Dutch from the previous owner, chatting to the lovely hosts and generally enjoying life. So for today, learning is out of the window, it's just a normal Saturday. I proved this point by washing Hugo with the kids. A happy van with shiney bits now!

Ed