Sunday ; Sunny and mild early in the day, chilly late in the day.
Around noon the cleaners showed up requesting to clean our room. We never know when they are going to show up, but it has usually been between noon and 2 PM, about every five days. To allow them to clean our room we went for our early exercise walk, and to the Aki Perto to replenish a few grocery items.
At 2:45 PM we headed over to Praça Velha for the 3 PM cooking demonstration followed by a musical performance at 4:30 PM. Sundays are very busy at Praça Velha’s “Christmas In The Village” activities. Last week we went to a Portuguese Christmas baking cooking demonstration. Today’s cooking demonstration was Portuguese Christmas dinner ! And thanks to a bit of pre-cooking, today’s cooking demonstrator, a middle aged female psychiatrist, prepared an entire Portuguese Christmas dinner in an hour and a half. And then … <sputter> … fed it to the audience.
We had no idea when we set off to watch the cooking demonstration that it would result in us having Portuguese Christmas dinner.
It is my hope to be able to make last week’s demonstrated Christmas baking, and this week’s demonstrated Christmas “amuse bouche”/appetizer, when we are in Portimao in Portugal’s southern coast Algarve region for Christmas.
We finished our Christmas dinner as the band began to play. It was an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, and a lute, accompanying a female singer, performing “Mediterranean” folk music. It was very enjoyable, but … after about half an hour we were cold, so we returned home, planning to return in a couple of hours, dressed more warmly, for a choral performance.
We returned to Praça Velha at 7 PM for the choral performance. We listened to a few songs, but the choir’s style was not appealing to us, so we … shared a large piece of chocolate cake with chocolate “beans” on top. HA HA HA ! We were back home by 8 PM.
Monday ; Sunny and cool in the morning, heavy rain in the afternoon, mild and pleasant in the evening.
We went out for a long exercise walk this morning, expecting that we probably wouldn’t be able to have a late afternoon walk due to weather. We were wrong. The evening was nice. Due to weather concerns we also cancelled our plans to take a bus trip to Biscoitos today. Oh, well … maybe tomorrow.
Because the weather improved late in the afternoon we went for another walk before supper. Lots of Christmas shoppers on the streets. Christmas music playing !
Tuesday ; Intermittent heavy rain.
We had planned a bus trip to the small town of Biscoitos today. It did not go well, and we “missed the bus”, literally and figuratively. Just before we were to catch the bus at 1 PM it had stopped raining and the weather looked like it was going to significantly improve. We were wrong.
We walked over to Praça Velha to catch the 1 PM bus to Biscoitos, and got incorrect and/or incomprehensible information from two other route bus drivers, an English speaking young man waiting for a bus, and finally, the bus company’s information by phone service. <sigh > Perhaps a good thing, because the weather made a drastic turn for the worse around 3 PM. While we were waiting for the “bus that never comes”, there were two police vehicles parked across the street at the bank, with two police officers brandishing “assault rifles / machine guns” standing outside the doors of the bank.
At 4 PM we went out (in heavy rain!) to verify what we thought we learned from further internet research. Instead of walking about six blocks east to Praça Velha we walked about seven blocks west to Praça Alto das Covas. Yup ! Some bus stops are only for getting off certain bus routes, some stops are only for getting on certain bus routes. At 1 PM we were at Praça Velha which is an “exit only” stop for bus route #1 to Biscoitos, while Praça Alto das Covas is an “entry only” stop for bus route #1 to Biscoitos. Well … who knew ? ! ? We have travelled on buses all over the world, and … didn’t see that one coming ! On the way back to our room we replenished a few grocery items at MEU Super.
Wednesday ; Raining all day, sometimes very heavily !
So … another postponement of our bus trip to Biscoitos. Plan B was to go to the municipal park for scheduled Christmas workshops (?) and music. That seemed to be cancelled as well. There was nothing going on in the park when we arrived at noon.
But across the street in the little square / praça in front of the Ingreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo (Chursh of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) there were about half a dozen (Japanese Pine) Christmas trees set up, with decorations hand made by local children, mostly from “garbage” materials such as “Popsicle” sticks, empty Keurig coffee pods, cut off tops of soft drink bottles, yogurt containers, etc. Most interesting was the tree decorated with baggies filled with products for young children (finger puppets, colouring pencils, etc.) and the disadvantaged/homeless (toiletries, etc.). If the shoe fits … help yourself ! What a wonderful gesture of generosity and social responsibility.
HEY … my American friends … are you listening ? ! ? NAH … they’re probably too busy bemoaning Herschel Walker’s defeat last night in Georgia !
Since we were very near to the Palácio dos Capitães Generais (Palace of Major Generals) and it was cold and raining we decided Plan C was to take a self guided tour of the palace. Built in 1595, this former Jesuit private school and “study yard” was converted to the Major Generals’ Palace in 1776. Since that time it has been “overthrown” and/or occupied by a succession of clergy, military, and political bodies. It is currently the local home and office of the Governor of the Azores, who actually lives and works on another island in the Azores, and is rarely here. It was the (neutral territory) meeting place of US President Richard Nixon and France’s President Georges Pompidou in 1971 for the “Presidents’ Conference” to address the turmoil in the world’s economies.
It’s quite a spectacular palace ! <blink blink>
We decided to return home for a very late lunch, stopping at Aki Perto on the way home for some grocery replenishment. It began to rain extremely heavily as we walked to the grocery store, then home. It’s actually rather difficult to maneuver the really narrow sidewalks carrying an umbrella which scrapes against the walls of the buildings being passed, and needing to be tilted outwards towards the street when passing other people walking, without scraping the roofs of cars passing from behind. SHEESH ! Another acquired skill that we lack ! AND … walking on cobblestones in heavy rain is like walking on ball bearings !
Accordingly … Joanne decided we were NOT going to tonight’s Christmas musical concert in Praça Velha. What a wimp ! HA HA HA !
Thursday ; Cloudy and cool, intermittent light rain all day.
Thanks to being blindsided by WestJet’s ineptitude and obstinacy at 6:30 AM on our departure date from Winnipeg on November 14 I have spent an inordinate amount of time in the last three weeks checking and double checking all of our subsequent travel and accommodation reservations. I have become OCD paranoid (hopefully temporarily) about ensuring that all information is correctly entered in all service providers’ computer systems. This morning I downloaded TAP Air Portugal’s online app into our i-Phone then verified our upcoming flight to Lisbon is as it should be, and a subsequent flight on TAP Air in February is as it should be. All is well ! With TAP Air and all other travel and accommodation service providers. Only WestJet was a ***k-up ! Thanks a lot for your ineptitude and obstinacy, WestJet !
Today was some manner of religious holiday in Portugal. No school, no work, etc. So … the “Natal em Angra” festivities were in full swing, both at Praça Velha, and along Rua da Sé, the main downtown street.
We went out for an exercise walk at noon, before having lunch. After lunch we walked over to “Pink Church” to watch the Desfile de Filarmônicas, translates as Parade of Philharmonics, but realistically … Parade of Marching Bands. The rain was co-operative, ending just as the marching bands parade began at 3 PM and resuming as soon as the marching bands parade ended at 4 PM. We followed the last marching band to Praça Velha and ate a piece of chocolate cake while waiting for the band “Brothers Of Soul” performance to begin at 4:30 PM. It rained lightly for most of the band’s hour long performance.
Great marching band parade ! Great soul music band !
We returned home briefly, then returned to Praça Velha for a choir performance at 7 PM. The choir performance was not particularly appealing to us, so … we bought some pumpkin & zucchini soup and a slice of walnut pie (somewhat like a Portuguese version of pecan pie), and brought them home. Soup for supper, pie at bedtime.
Friday ; Overcast, chilly, windy, intermittent light rain, another yucky day.
Around noon, during a brief period of slightly improved weather we went for an early exercise walk. We stopped at the tourist information office to get a new city map. We’ve worn out our old one. HA HA HA ! We walked to Preça Velha and Joanne waited there for me while I went humping up a long, steep hill, over one block, then down a long steep hill back to where she was waiting for me. Good exercise for me, but too difficult for Joanne she has recently determined.
There was one charity food booth open at Preça Velha. Joanne purchased herself a pão com chouriço (chorizo sausage meat filled bun) to take home for lunch. We walked over to A Barrica Restaurant and I purchased for myself their daily special to take home for lunch. Last Monday I had checked their daily special menus for the week and decided I wanted their special for today ; cream of vegetable soup, grilled swordfish, and roasted tiny potatoes. It was my first opportunity to try swordfish. I liked it ! Joanne thought it stunk ! We shared the soup.
The afternoon weather was pretty crappy. Around 5:30 PM as it began to become dark we walked over to both MEU Super and Aki Perto to replenish groceries. YUCK … raining lightly and very windy. It inspired us to cancel our plans to go to Preça Velha for an evening musical performance.
Saturday ; Mostly sunny, warm, humid. Late yesterday evening the weather deteriorated severely and overnight was a significant Atlantic winter storm.
Well … it’s now 5:30 PM. We have just returned from an afternoon at Praça Velha and … are trying to sober up before we head back there in a couple of hours. HA HA HA !
On our way back home we stopped into a Christmas crafts store and browsed. A vendor woman asked (in English) if we were American. As Joanne answered “no … Canadian”, I guess I sort of gave the woman “side-eye”. She looked horrified and said “ OH, OH, OH, … I’m so sorry ! ! ! I understand completely. It’s like when I travel and people assume I’m from Spain. NO … <HMPH> … Portugal !” HA HA HA !
By the way … there is something about our appearance that immediately brands us as English speaking foreigners to the locals. I think it’s Joanne’s “blondeness” and the length of my hair. Even when they haven’t heard us speaking, people here who can speak English immediately do so when they interact with us. They’ll be happily chatting with someone in Portuguese, and as we approach their charity food booth they will look at us, smile, and ask in English if we would like to try their “come to Jesus” cake, or whatever they’re selling. Store cashiers who don’t speak English simply smile and point at the amount owing displayed on their cash register.
The Atlantic winter storm was subsiding this morning and was almost finished by noon when the cleaning lady showed up and asked if she could clean our room. We said “sure” and went out for an exercise walk along the seawall which runs in front of our guesthouse and around to the fort on Monte Brasil. The seawall is about 50 feet above the shoreline. The storm seemed almost over but there were still big waves crashing in.
I was leaning on the seawall watching the big surf roll in and crash on the rocky shoreline below. “HEY, Joanne … come and see how high up the seawall the sur …” SPLOOSH ! A big wave crashed so hard on the rocks below that it splashed OVER the seawall, 50 feet high ! ! ! <blink blink> We were both soaked ! In icy cold saltwater ! HA HA HA HA HA !
As we continued walking along the seawall we found some little dead fishies that had been splashed up OVER THE SEAWALL overnight ! ! !
After walking around the seawall, then up into downtown we replenished a few grocery items at Aki Perto before returning home for a late lunch. At 2:45 PM we headed to Preça Velha for this week’s Christmas cooking demonstration. A bilingual (Portuguese & English) woman was making Christmas tree shaped, Christmas “ornament” decorated brownies. At the end of her lesson, everyone in the audience received a gift bag with one of her Christmas tree brownies, and one of her Christmas decorated macarons.
WELL … HMPH ! It’s now 6 PM and apparently Joanne has fallen asleep on the bed ! Or perhaps drunkenly passed out ? HA HA HA !
After the baking lesson Joanne sat on a park bench and scarfed down the macarons while I went by myself on a “humping up the hills” cardiac rehab brisk walk. Her knees can’t endure the hills at the quick pace that I like to walk them. By the time I returned to Preça Velha they were setting up for “VIII Prova e Concurso de Bolos e Licores de Natal” / the eighth annual tasting and contest of cakes and (home made) Christmas liquers. <blink blink> Really ? ! ?
WOW ! There were ten contestants. Most of them elderly women. A few middle aged women. Each with a huge, elaborate cake, and a large bottle of their homemade liquer, specifically “paired” with their cake. The audience members walked around sampling cakes and liquers, then voted. We had seven small pieces of cake, and seven small glasses of liquer before Joanne began to burp and her eyes began to roll. HA HA HA <SNORT> HA HA !
It was time to head home <snicker>. On the way home we stopped at a different Aki Perto than the one we had been to at lunch time, and we bought another few grocery items that the earlier Aki Perto did not have.
We returned to Praça Velha at 8:30 PM for a musical performance … that didn’t happen ! Don’t know why ! So … we had supper. Firstly, Joanne had a bowl of a traditional Portuguese soup made with beans, sweet potato, and pork, and I had a bowl of “delights of the sea” soup that included grated carrots and rice. Then Joanne had a bifane sandwich (stewed pork cutlet on Portuguese crusty bun) and I had a couple of traditional Portuguese cod cakes. Soups were great. Pork sandwich and cod cakes were … okay.
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment