Bird Watching – Why not?

While evaluating things to do in Southern Portugal I came across a two-hour bird watching tour by boat in the Rio Formosa National Park. It was reasonably priced and highly rated, and we had never been bird watching before, so I thought, why not? Plus this would be a good way to experience the large natural park area. Now I just had to convince Jeff it would be fun. In the end, it didn’t take much convincing.

We ended up with an almost private tour. There was only one other guest, Margaret from Oregon. The three of us had a marvelous time with our guide Paolo, who was incredibly well-spoken and informed about the natural park and its wildlife. It wasn’t the warmest afternoon, but the light was marvelous, and we had no issues spotting several types of birds.

Being total amateurs, we’re not able to remember all the types of birds we saw. But we did get super lucky and saw a group of 9 wild flamingos flying and then landing in the shallow wetlands. I’m pretty sure neither of us had ever seen flamingos in the wild before – only in zoos. And we know we had never seen them flying. This was tremendous good fortune. Even Paolo noted that he does not get to see them often, and he’s out there nearly every day. These flamingos seemed remarkably elegant in their natural habitat and we enjoyed spying on them from our boat for several minutes. We don’t have any photos because you really can’t take quality photos of birds with a phone. It was just as well, better to just enjoy what we were seeing without trying to get the perfect shot.

Enthused after our tour with Paolo, we spent another half a day walking and bird watching in the area close to our resort, which is also part of a nature preserve. We were able to locate a stork rookery and enjoyed seeing various other birds as we walked along golf courses and nature paths. Bird watching makes you much more aware of what’s going on around you and you see things you otherwise would miss. You are more “in the moment,” which in these distracting times is a good thing.

Although we won’t be taking up bird watching as a hobby anytime soon, we have a new appreciation for it and will keep our minds and eyes open to new opportunities.

Here are a couple of bird photos I did get along the way. A cormorant in the Lagos marina and a stork nest near the Silves castle.

Keep your eyes open and your head up. You never know what you might observe out there.

Cheers,

Shana & Jeff

Ponta da Piedade

During our visit to Southern Portugal we covered a lot of ground exploring the Algarve region. As you know, we don’t like to do organized tours unless they will allow us to experience something special or can take us somewhere we can’t easily get to on our own. We found a tour that fit the bill in Lagos – an hour-plus boat ride out to see the Ponta da Piedade.

The Ponta da Piedade is a series of beautiful sandstone cliffs, that are considered to be one of the finest natural features of the coastline. This area to the southwest of Lagos has been eroded over the millennia by powerful winter storms to form unique cliff formations, which include sea arches, grottos and smugglers caves. While you can explore the area from the pathways that cross and climb the cliffs, our tour proved it is much more enjoyable to view the cliffs from the sea.

We hopped in a basic boat – essentially an over-sized rowboat with an outboard motor. The sights were stupendous, as were the historical and geographical explanations provided by our captain. Words can’t do justice to the formations, so here are the photos. As you’ll see, you can also play a fun game describing what you see in the shapes.

These steps were used, beginning in 1444, to bring slaves from Africa to the slave market in Lagos – they are a monument to a shameful period in human history:

This bridge was apparently built by the nearby property owner:

These formations are called “Lovers” and the “Arc de Triomphe”:

We were able to enter various caves and get up close thanks to the small stature of our boat:

And some additional shots:

If you’ve been to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico and seen El Arco, these formations will look familiar, but they are so much more extensive.

It was a fun excursion – sun, sea, and nature. Plus the water was fairly rough the day we were there, and being out on the ocean in a small boat was definitely an “E-Ticket ride.” Two thumbs up!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

PS – we are just about one week into our coronavirus confinement here in SS. So far we’re managing just fine. 

Coronavirus Update Part 2

Before getting “locked down” officially at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning (Monday, 16 March), we ventured out yesterday and today to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather, to take super-long walks, and to get some extra Vitamin D before we won’t be able to venture out too far or for too long. Saturday a lot of other people seemed to have the same idea. Today, after the Prime Minister’s speech, it was much quieter, especially because all of the bars and restaurants are already closed.

Since yesterday’s post was photo-free, we thought we’d share a few photos from our last adventure out. As you can see, it was gorgeous and warm, but the streets were mostly empty.

Wish us luck and feel free to call and/or Skype to keep us company. 

Sending virtual hugs your way, 

Shana & Jeff

A Coronavirus Update

And now, in a break from our regularly scheduled programming, we thought we’d provide you an update on how things are going here in Spain, which currently has the 5^th highest number of coronavirus cases in the world after China, Italy, Iran and South Korea. The Basque Country, where we live, has the third most cases in Spain, after Madrid and Catalonia. But fortunately for us, most of the cases are in the other two Basque provinces and the number of cases here in Gipuzkoa is less than 50 as of now.

We saw people wearing masks for the first time in the airports in Portugal 2 weeks ago, where there were no known cases at the time. Since we returned from our trip on February 28, we have slowly been refilling our refrigerator and cupboard. As we restocked, we started buying a few extra things here and there, yes, including toilet paper. Keep in mind, we don’t have a local Costco, and even if we did, we don’t have the space for too many extra supplies, especially perishables. Our refrigerator is not even full size. As avid news readers we knew things were going to change quickly day by day. So, last weekend I made a pot of soup and put most of it in the freezer. We continued our daily routines, going to the gym and Spanish classes, and I went to yoga as well. The virus was a topic of conversation and worry with everyone, but overall things were calm.

Ultimately, things were not that much different here than what has been going on in the US. Although we realized that it would be highly unlikely we would be traveling to Germany as planned the first two weeks of April, or to Seattle at the beginning of May.

This week, the energy began to intensify a bit. There was an intangible feeling of impending change and some unease, especially after the Italian government extended its shutdown to the whole country. Closures of schools were announced in various areas and events started to be suspended. Everything essentially started to come to a halt Friday (13 March) when both the national government and the regional Basque governments declared a state of emergency. At that point, my yoga studio shut down and we knew the gym would be next.

Last night, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, explained what the state of emergency will mean for us here. The good news is we have been able to understand the news broadcasts and newspaper articles. Our Spanish has come a long way! The bad news is we will be staying in our apartment for the next two weeks at least, except to leave to buy food, other essentials, or the newspaper. We are fortunate that we have a balcony and there is a lot of natural light in our apartment – we get the afternoon sun. So, as long as the Wi-Fi works, we’ll do our best not to go too stir-crazy.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming – posts about our trip in Portugal. Sadly, we know now that there won’t be any future posts about our forthcoming trips because they won’t be happening.

Keep calm and carry on washing those hands,

Shana & Jeff

Church of São Laurenço (Saint Laurence)

As our frequent readers know, we visit many churches and cathedrals in our travels. At times, each giant church blends into the others and it becomes difficult to separate them. In fact, we rarely write about our church visits anymore.

However, we thought the Church of Saint Lawrence in Almancil (in the Algarve region of Portugal), which dates from the late 17th Century, was worthy of a quick post, despite its small size, because it is spectacular. The interior is completely covered (including the ceiling) with blue and white azulejo tiles depicting the life of Saint Lawrence (the tile was believed to have been added in 1730). Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but this picture from an outside wall of the church gives an idea of what the tiles look like:

The second reason we thought this church deserved a quick post is because of the life of Saint Lawrence himself. Of course, it is difficult to follow the events depicted by the tiles without knowing anything about Saint Lawrence, so we consulted Wikipedia to learn about his life while we were there. This is what we learned: Saint Lawrence (225-258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of Christians ordered by Roman Emperor Valerian. 

Born in Spain, the young Lawrence was considered the first deacon of Rome and was therefore responsible for the riches of the Church. When the persecution ordered by Valerian began, Lawrence was ordered to bring the riches of the Church and turn them over to the Emperor. Lawrence asked for three days during which time he gave away all of the riches in his control to the indigent. Then, on the third day, when he presented himself to the prefect of Rome, he brought with him the indigent, the blind and the crippled of Rome declaring these to be the true riches of the Church.

Now, this part is almost certainly not true, because at this time the Romans were killing people by beheading. But, it is a great story: after Lawrence's act of defiance, the prefect was so angry that he ordered a gridiron brought so that Lawrence could be roasted to death. After he had suffered in pain for some time, he is said to have cheerfully declared "I'm well done on this side. Turn me over." Based on this, Lawrence is considered the patron saint of chefs, cooks and comediennes (!), and is often pictured carrying a gridiron.

Sorry we don't have any pictures of this beautiful church, but if you find yourself in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, it is definitely worth a visit.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana

Cork Factory Tour

When Shana told me that we were going on a tour of a cork factory during our trip to the south of Portugal, I assumed that the factory produced corks (i.e., what the people in the cork industry call wine stoppers). But, it turned out that the factory we toured literally makes the "first cut" of cork, which is then sold to companies that may use it for wine stoppers or other products depending on its age and quality.

Raw cork is basically the bark of a cork tree. When a new cork tree is planted, the planters know that it will not provide any cork for about 25 years. After 25 years, the first cork taken from a tree is know as virgin cork, and it is only useful for things like cork board or panels used to soundproof rooms. It cannot be used for wine stoppers. After that, cork trees are harvested about every nine years, but the second harvesting also can only be used for the same purposes as the first. So, when the third harvesting comes around, which is at least 43 years after the tree is planted (it can be as long as 50 years), you have raw cork that is usable for wine stoppers. The raw cork looks like this:

After the raw cork arrives at the factory it is boiled in a large copper vat using a wood fire (nothing is added to the water). This process serves to make the cork more pliable and usable. Next, a highly-trained worker looks at each piece of cork, cuts away parts that cannot be used for wine stoppers (there are a number of reasons this might be the case including holes in the cork made by bugs, and algae), and separates the cork by thickness. This worker has been doing that job for 43 years, having started when he was 13:

As our guide showed us, this process allows the cork to be stacked by thickness, which allows buyers to come to the factory and select the cork they need. A close-up-look also shows horizontal lines in the cork, like rings in trees, indicating the growth process:

That is literally the entire process undertaken by the factory we visited. Nonetheless, we learned a lot about wine stoppers including the difference between a natural cork wine stopper, which has small holes allowing some air to enter/exit, and composite stoppers, which are used for sparkling wine, so that the fizz does not escape.

The cork tree is the national tree of Portugal and the tree has been protected there since the 13th century due to its importance to the country's economy. Portugal produces 50% of the world's cork supply. Spain produces most of the rest.  As you can see, it was a really interesting tour.

More to come from Portugal soon.

Jeff and Shana