Dead People, Trains and the Hat

 

So much of this country’s attractions are focused on dead people.  Yesterday I took a train up to Guimaraes and hit some of the important spots.  Guimaraes is constantly wrangling with Braga as to which should be considered the “birthplace” of Portugal.  Guimaraes is where the battle was, Braga is the city who provided the troops.  The two towns are about 10 miles apart. To our “modern” minds this distance is nothing.  To soldiers and knights from 1,000 years again, ten miles was a much, much longer trip.  The debate really sounds like a philosophical question to me, it is not totally removed from Theseus’s ship.

 

Two of the big attractions in Guimaraes are the castle and the ducal palace.  The palace is large and very Arthurian.  I am told Salazar the dictator expanded the palace and used it as a residence during his years in power.  The castle got tweaked and refurbished during that period but it did not get the expansion the palace did.  Walked through the palace.  Room after room of heavy dark furniture, fireplaces and what appear to be Flemish tapestries.  And Jesus did I mention the uphill climb to these places.  Ugh.  Fat American whine.

 

Anyway, both sites are impressive but located between them is a small chapel from the early 1200s.  It is here the first king of Portugal is said to have been baptized.  The building is empty save an altar and the tombs beneath the floor.  You are allowed to walk in to the church but you can only walk around the exterior wall the center being roped off.  Stone after stone is set in the floor’s middle marking the burial spot of important men.  Given the era, men and not women are interred here. Crosses are carved onto the stones.  Swords are too.  Latin inscriptions abound.

 

Looking down at the tombs I found myself humming a lyric by Van the (Foolish in Regards to Covid) Man.  It goes,

 

You can't stop us on the road to freedom

You can't keep us 'cause our eyes can see

Men with insight, men in granite

Knights in armor bent on chivalry

 

Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison

 

So much of what is an attraction is tied to the acts of great dead people.  The ducal palace was the home of powerful but now dead people.  Same with the castle.  In Porto proper there is a church with the heart of one of the kings of Portugal residing in it.  History defines so much of our character, so much of the place where we come from ethos. It is important to visit these sites with open eyes knowing that what you are seeing has been interpreted and reinterpreted so many times. No matter what the current interpretation is these places are touchmarks of a people’s history.

 

Okay the train part.  When you ride a train here you have to electronically validate your ticket before you get on.  I swear to God I did it before I got on the train back to Porto.  But it did not register on the conductor’s hand-held device.  Had to listen to a canned spiel about the Euro 150 fine and then got the dumb American shrug of I am not going to throw you off the train…. this time.  

 

Early on I bought a hat.  I have now abandoned it.  Nothing says I am a stupid gullible tourist more than the hat they sell at every stall in every market. Got to find a distressed ball cap.  Also got to lose the floral Hawaiian shirts. Need to pick up some football style shirts and horizontally stripped shirts. These will not make me look European but they will make me look less clearly and unequivocally American. If I lost 40 pounds (18 kg) that would help too.

Twilight on the Douro

At about 8:30 PM (20:30) I am sitting at a small table watching the sunlight fade over the Douro River. I am in an Airbnb that I initially thought I would hate.  Yes, it looks like the pictures but I had mistakenly believed it had air conditioning when it in fact does not.  Luckily the temperatures for the next week to ten days are supposed to top out at 73 F.  The night lows are in the high 50s.  And the view…

 

Sitting on this balcony if I look to the west, I see the Dom Luis bridge.  If I look to the east I see two other bridges, one old and one new.   More importantly I see the flotilla of Douro Valley day trippers returning from 6 or 8 hours on the river absorbed in the scenery of the terraced vineyards, coupled with a lunch/wine tasting at a quinta that produces port.  It really is quite beautiful out here.  I am on a cliff and there are several roads below me.  I can’t see the road but I can hear what is going on down there. A street sweeper just went by, it goes by every night at this time. 

 

The oranges and reds from the sunset are fast fading and the sky above me, what I can see of it through large fully canopied trees is dusty but growing dark blue with the minute. The day is done and what have I done with it. I didn’t “accomplish” much today.  There was a strategic strike to get some items at a grocery story.  There was a trip through a cathedral and the cloisters attached to it. Great beauty was seen and savored. Coffee was had twice and a great deal of time was spent savoring those moments.  I have come to appreciate coffee culture, at least as it is practiced here.

 

Seagulls are screaming over the river.  A feral cat, and there are thousands of them here, walks by on a wall and then jumps onto a red tile roof. A friend asked me if I was relaxing.  The answer is not all the time, but when I hit moments like this one as I sit and watch the river flow, well, this is as relaxed as I ever get.

The Hour of Transition

There is a moment in the day we have been experiencing on this journey that is quite special.  Somewhere around 5:30 (17:30) the whole ambience of this place changes. The sun drops low in the sky and the temperature falls accordingly.  It was in the high 80s when we were out and about earlier, but now the temperature is a very comfortable 76 F.  A breeze has come up.  The sky is clear, nary a cloud to be found.  This transition has been the norm over the past 8 days.  No matter how hot the day has been, the evening is cooler and quite enjoyable.  A light sweater or jacket is almost required. Sitting at an outdoor table drinking a beer on these evenings is almost a religious experience.  The calming effect of the shift in temperature is extremely relaxing. 

 

We tried to go to Miramar today.  It is a little town with a chapel that sits on a rock out in the ocean.  Problem is we tried to take the eleven o’clock train.  Oh, my goodness, the train was packed with only standing room available.  No matter how high the vaccination rate and it is in the mid 70%s in Portugal, I am not going to stand side by side with sweating, panting people, not with the Delta variant running amok.  Instead, we went back to the beach at Matosinhos via the Porto metro.  The metro was busy, but not insane.  The beach was fairly packed, as it should be on a warm day.

 

Tomorrow we move to an Airbnb midafternoon here.  I am looking forward to this was great anticipation.  I want to eat food that is not restaurant food.  Desperately.  Mind you I like restaurant food, but I want to control the size of my portions and I want to have a salad that conforms to my idea of what a salad should be.  We will see how it goes.  

 

I wanted to mention something I experienced having stayed in (Vila Nova de) Gaia for the last eight nights.  It is one thing to stop in to a hotel for a night or two and take the recommendations of the concierge as to where to eat and what to do.  It is another to walk about the neighborhood and discover it, and to discover the place’s rhythms. Over the past eight days we have tried out a number of pastry/coffee spots and come to have a favorite.  We have discovered a park that is calming and pretty. We have tried several restaurants, some of which are clearly 99% local frequented, and the ones at a distance from the hotel hit the mark for us. Having the time to get the feel of a place is a luxury I have never had before.  I think I will savor it.

 

 

So Far

I had planned to be writing a post daily but that really has not been possible. We have packing so much activity into the days that by the time I get back to the room, writing just does not feel like an option.

 

Most days so far have involved little excursions around Porto.  We went up to the area where we first stayed in Porto several years ago on Friday.  We went searching for a restaurant we really liked, but it was gone.  Don’t know if it just didn’t make it or if the pandemic killed it, either way the store was absent.

 

That day we did find another little place that had soups and salads. Caldo verde was my choice.  The basic traditional ingredients for caldo verde soup are collard greens, potatoes, olive oil, black pepper and salt. Also thrown in are garlic and onion. I also had a shrimp puff pastry and a salad.  Got to say finding a real salad can be daunting. All of it was good.

 

While we were wandering around this neighborhood, we took a breather in a larger part in a traffic circle.  A huge monument sits in the center of the circle. The monument, and I put up picture the other day, was the Monument to the Heroes of the Peninsular War.  This memorial is in honor of the Portuguese and British victory against the Napoleon’s French forces in the 1808-1814 Peninsular War. Then lion represents the Portuguese and British, dominating an eagle, representing the forces of Napoleon.

 

Porto and Lisbon have lots of statues in the middle of traffic circles.  They also have many beautiful churches.  The shot I put up yesterday was from a church not in either of those cities, but in Aveiro.  

 

Aveiro is a short train ride from Porto south to the Atlantic coast.  (Being from New Jersey I am having a difficult time getting used to the sun setting over the Atlantic). People have lived around the area for millennia.  Celts and Romans populated the place, the Romans gathering salt there.  Later it was a trading center. 

 

I have been dogged over the last few days by an inflamed muscle in my foot.  As a result, today I stayed in town while Francie and John Lee headed up to the ancient town of Guimaraes. I walked a little but not much.  What I did do was take the metro to one of Porto’s beaches.  Loren and I sat on a wall that divided the town from the beach and just enjoyed the breeze.  It was wonderful.

 

This afternoon I am just going to rest my foot.  I know that with just a little rest I will be ready for another round of adventures.  I will try and post more often.

 

Oh, the bit about the horrible train ride, well because of track work it just took forever.  And there was this Belgian who was being obnoxious.  He was hitting on women, spitting on the floor, and constantly snaking out to the space between cars to vape. The conductor admonished him several times but to no avail. We believe he stole Loren’s ball cap.  So, it goes.  It is in the past and good things await.

Walking

17 August 2021

 

About and Around

 

Yesterday was the first day of the tourist marches.  In the course of the day, we went off to the trendy/ funky LX Factory, to the upscale Cortes Ingles, to coffee shops (here, there and everywhere-I live with caffeine junkies), up hills and down (I am sure we went down but all I remember were the uphill climbs) and to a Vodafone store sadly closed early due to the pandemic. A hat was purchased almost as much for amusement as utility. 

 

I should mention yesterday was a very warm day.  Apparently, there is a heat dome settled in over the Iberian Peninsula.  It was roughly 90 F yesterday and it will be 87 F today. Still, it did not stop our travel to the LX Factory.  

 

The LX is an old industrial site now converted to a mélange of shop, restaurants and creative spaces. The food at LX was good.  The beer was cold and tasty. It should be noted the beer was a mistake in the heat. Due a certain lack of understanding I ended up ordering what was in essence a doppelbock on a hot day.  Yes, there was a cost to this error, after the food and shopping came a nap.  If you want to read about LX, go here.  https://lxfactory.com/en/map/a nap

 

Today we take the train and head north to Vila Nova de Gaia, where the port wine caves are. The high temps there will be 79ish. Not planning to do much in Lisboa today because of the train trip.  Sorting and repacking are the main things.  ‘

 

I note when the sun went down yesterday, the wind really whipped up.  While most of the day was shorts’ weather the track pants, I threw on for the evening run to downtown were well appreciated. Oh yeah, the hat.  I had offered my youngest son a ball cap before we came.  He declined.  As soon as we got out and about yesterday my ball cap became his ball cap.  I knew I needed to buy another hat.  

 

While walking down a side street I saw the hat and tried it on. Surprisingly it fit.  Note I have a big hat size by even American standards.  Before I could put it down the shop owner was out with a mirror and a price.  I said no to his initial price and walked away.  Back and forth it went with him calling out a price to my back and me shouting a price over my shoulder.  In the end we came to terms.  My son kept muttering something about people could tell I was from New Jersey.

Oh yeah, my sons think the suit of armor looks like Grover from Sesame Street.

 

Historical Record

17 May 2021

 

Soon.  Very soon. In the near future I will be closing this blog down.  The plague year is drawing to a close.  What I wrote will simply become another historical record of the past 15 months.  With the CDC dropping mask requirements, and with state governments rapidly abandoning their own Covid rules, things will arrive at a new balance point. The term balance point makes sense because what comes next will not be the old normal and it may a bit of time before we come to know what is the new normal.  We will however come to a point of acceptable living and working norms.

 

What will be gleaned from this particular “historical record”?  Not much, just one old retired male’s take on what he experienced with a world largely shut down. Hopefully the kindnesses I experienced with various neighbors and friends will show up clearly.  There were people who called and contacted my wife when they were going to stores we liked just to see if we needed anything. There were couples we managed to work into our life with social distanced movie nights out on the deck.  For the cost of three trips to a regular theatre we were able to create a projection theatre on warm nights. There were the long e-mails, texts and messages that talked about the pandemic, politics, life and everything. I found myself back in touch with people I respected and loved.

 

I hope the connections forged in this year don’t disappear.  I hope the banal small talk cloud doesn’t reappear. You know what I mean, all the filler conversations we used to have at the office. I hope we all realize how fragile our respective holds on these moments of life are. Flowers are a little brighter right now and bird songs are a little bit cheerier.

 

One thing I know I will remember is the value of a good back yard.  When a year passes where you cannot socialize in communal settings like parks, libraries, bars, restaurants and concerts, having a nice table, comfortable outdoor chairs, a good canvas umbrella and pleasant surrounding flora matter. Without my backyard I would have gone bat sh*t crazy over the last year.  

 

With the New Plague Journal gone where will I direct my creative juices. In the best of all possible worlds, I would drop back to my old blog. But no. Facebook has determined those writings to be against their standards. Despite my repeated attempts to get Facebook to revisit the ban, they still won’t let me post links to what is written there. I guess I will be creating a new blog.  I am not quite sure what it will be about.  Best guess?  How about my upcoming three-month trip to Europe?  

 

A Shuddering and Stumbling Return to a Normal World

 

Friday is here.  May 14, 2021 is the date to be exact.  We are at just about 1 year and 2 months from the date the pandemic became serious as a heart attack real. Seems like forever.  Seems unbelievable. Change however is coming.

 

Yesterday the CDC released new guidelines that basically remove mask wearing requirements for most of life’s activities…if you are vaccinated and if you are not living in a den of anti-vaxers. This point has been coming in increments. 

 

Three weeks ago, I ate at restaurant on the deck at a table ten feet from any other table.  We talked and had beers and had our masks off except when we were talking to service staff because everyone at the table was at 2 weeks plus from their second shots. For about a month I have been walking without a mask on my solitary jaunts for exercise.  Last weekend we went to an outdoor party of about 25 people, all of whom had been vaccinated or who were wearing masks.  People actually hugged. Also last week we held a dinner party for 8 people here on our deck all of whom were vaccinated.

 

Grocery stores are still requiring masks.  Most still have delivery/pick-up options available. Courts and city governments are still doing Zoom and Teams meetings. People for the most part are still practicing social distancing. Travel is nowhere near back to normal no matter how much people are wishing it was. The world is not reopened and with good cause, just look at India.  But the door to the post-pandemic world is cracked open just a bit.

 

According to a daily hospital blog a third of all Americans are fully vaccinated.  Closer to 40 % of my fellow Michiganders have been vaccinated. Makes me proud Michigan, makes me proud. Mississippi and Alabama are dragging far behind with barely a quarter of their respective populations vaccinated fully. Whether it’s the clarion call to “Freedom” or the fear of being injected with Bill Gates DNA I must shake my head at the risks these folks are taking.

 

My guess is that we will be entering a new normal come late summer. I think that there will be vaccination requirements for travel without quarantine, for continued admission to colleges, and for work in jobs where densely packed staff are the norm.  My guess is that schools will be more hard-nosed about student vaccination proof for kids 12 and older.  Personal space and seating arrangements will be different.  We may not be keeping everyone at a distance of six foot but my guess is that three feet will be the new hard line personal space zone for Americans. In addition to flu shots each year we will probably be getting Covid vaccine boosters.

 

By fall my guess is that outdoor patios will be full but not packed.  Concerts will resume but with smaller density than in years past. College football will resume but again I think there will be an increased spacing between patrons and fewer seats sold. We will stumble forward toward a new normal and by trial and error will we come to a point of acceptable boundaries.

 

Make no mistake this will not be the world’s last pandemic, and the next one may be deadlier.  But it well may a turning point in our health behaviors.  Hand washing will occur multiple times every day, every time we return from a group gathering/setting.  Mask wearing on public transport will continue.  Mask wearing might be seasonally mandated. Humanity has a short collective memory but maybe this time will be different.