Rain and More

14 September 2021

 

One month since this trip began.  Clearly, time does fly.  I am comfortable living the way we are bouncing from city to city, neighborhood to neighborhood.  Each locale is different and the patterns of the people in each place differ, but all in all they are good and genuine folks.  One could get used to this. Once you have arrived in a spot it takes a day or two to get the lay of the land.  But quickly the foreign becomes familiar as you learn where the bus stops and the metro stops are. And then you can set about to get to know the heart of the place.

 

At this point I know I like the suburbs of Porto.  However, Porto itself is not my kind of town except for maybe the Foz.  Too many hills, too old and too much focus on the tourist side of things.  I really liked Braga and Povoa do Vazim, the ancient city and the beach town. I think I could live in either one of them. I also right at this moment like Olhao.  The ocean beach vibe of this commercial fishing town just suits me, and I haven’t even been to the beaches yet.  With this weather that will not be today, see below.

 

Hell-atious

 

The Ministry of the Sea and the Air has afforded that the weather will be unsettled for the next couple of days and that “disruptions” may occur. At about 5 AM the wind kicked up and the sky let loose and the lightening put on a display that was spectacular.  The clouds were low, so individual strikes were not readily discernable.  However, with each blast of electricity the sky’s color went from pitch black to blindingly white.  And it happened again and again.  The weird part was that the strikes had to be at some great distance because there was nary a roll of thunder to be heard.

 

As I write this the weather has settled into a pattern of what I call beach rain.  This morning’s skies are behaving in a manner not that different from those I experienced on the Jersey shore.  One moment the clouds open up and a deluge fills the streets creating lakes in low spots on the road.  Fifteen minutes later the rain has stopped the water is disappeared from the byways and there are large swatches of blue with some occasional sun above.  Rinse and repeat. Today will not be a day of major exploring. Writing, plotting and planning will be one the agenda.

 

Beloved Dogs and Feral Cats

 

People in Portugal love their dogs.  I don’t know how to explain it.  The dogs go everywhere with their owners, restaurants, cafes, in the car or walking along the docks.  A man will be sipping an espresso at the café and a larger dog will be there spread across his feet. And nobody bats an eyelid.

 

Most of the dogs are relatively small.  But they are so well behaved.  They don’t run into the street.  They don’t bother other people.  I have seen a couple of larger dogs that I just loved.  The owners tell me that the big shaggy breed of off-white canines is a breed that comes in from the Azores.  I am not a dog person but I would consider owning one of these.

 

Cats on the other hand seem to be everywhere and they don’t seem to be owned by anyone.  Felines walk about the community with impunity.  As you might expect they are found in large numbers by the fish market and near the waste bins of grocery stores.  Some cats clearly are well cared for but given the numbers one sees the feral population must be quite high. Saw one cat with a collar all of yesterday.  He appeared to be a Manx Siamese mix. Stubby tail and Siamese points and soft, soft fur. 

 

Faro

 

Took the train to Faro yesterday.  Faro is the biggest town in the area.  It has regional bus service, a train station and an international airport.  Faro has been around for a long time, the Romans used to evaporate seawater there to collect the salt.  Faro also has a castle with a Moorish door from the 1100s.  We wandered the alleys inside of the castle.  However, one of us dropped his phone.  Frantic searching ensued.  To my surprise we found the phone.  All the credit cards and cash were still in the case.  After the fright of that potential loss, one which would have been disastrous, we needed to decompress.  

 

We went for a meal.  At the time it seemed kind of expensive.  However, the food, wine and gingina gelato all were wonderful. The meal struck the right balance between delight and comfort.  And best of all I had the credit card to pay for it.

Storks

 And did I mention the storks.  Two of them have a next out behind the apartment.  It is so very cool to watch them.  Their gigantic nests are just amazing.