[Our internet isn't very strong now, so I'm not able to put up pictures]
Ola! We're back in action with the internet! I have lots to update you all on since it has been a week and a half since my last post. I will touch on the highlights with pictures again :)
Sunday June 26th
We traveled from Luis's second home by the resevoir to Fatima - and my oh my it was HOT. Very very HOT. It was hard to get through the day because it was 100+ degrees and muggy. I don't do too well with that combination. Fatima was neat and it's THE pilgrimage site in Portugal. There was a continuous sighting of a woman (probs the Virgin Mary) with three children during WWI and she told them about the future and reappeared to the community so the children would be believed. It's a unique story and I recommend that you look it up. After that we went to the town of Batalha (pronounced "bah-THAI-lyah") where it was still hot to check out another church. It was pretty huge and it was where the Manueline style originated. We looked for a gargoyle of a monkey's ass that is pointing east...aka towards Spain. Unfortunately we didn't have any luck. We drove to Obidos (pronounced "Obi" like Obi-wan, and "dos" like the number two in Spanish, but throw an 'sh' on the end, so "Obi-dosh") which is a fortified town with a castle wall encircling it! It's very small and we managed to arrive when all of the tourists were leaving (WOO!). We stayed in a fabulous apartment in the center of town. Patrick and I wandered around then found a way up to the top of the castle wall, then decided it would be fun to walk around the whole thing. It was pretty great! With beautiful views. That night we went to a restaurant called Alcaide, which is prounounced ""Al Qaeda" - Yep, there were lots of jokes. We walked back to our apartment and stopped to have shots of Ginja (a cherry liqueur, yummy) in chocolate cups (double yummy!).
Monday
We ventured to the most western point of Europe, where you can buy certificates saying you went to the most western point of Europe, which the Alves insisted we get. I insisted we take pictures with them. Following that tacky tourist moment, we went to Sintra to see the castles and other palaces built in the surrounding areas. All of these incredible places are in the jungle/forest that is incredibly lush and gorgeous. We also went to the fort bult by the Moors almost 1000 years ago - it was sucked in fog but it was still a fun adventure! After that we returned to Lisboa and ate sushi(!) with Luis then went to sleep.
Tuesday
We went to the big shopping center in Lisbon, the Colombo, and spend over an hour in Zara - it was great! Haha at least for me :) . We ran out of there and headed for the airport and caught our flight to Sao Miguel (my uncle made sure we sat on the right side of the plane so that we could see the island as we flew in). We ended staying the next two nights at my uncle's cousin's house with her family because the hot water wasn't working at my uncle's home. We went to our first festa (pronounced "feshta") in Ribeira Grande, and it was a neat parade made up of 12 nearby towns dancing, in costumes, singing, with choreography (it can be done!).
Wednesday
We walked through RG with the San Jose State Portuguese group and went to the Emigration Museum and a museum of little figurines made by a nun (really random). Both museums were created by my uncle's cousin's husband who is the mayor of RG. We saw festa #2, after stopping at a cafe, from city hall! We ate a lot of their food too (really delicious). It was really neat to be in the central location for the parade of horses that has been happening for hundreds of years. That night we drove to Ponta Delgada (15ish minutes away) for dinner and another festa spot with a live DJ and kiosks of booze (we had yummy caiphininas - wow I think I spelled that completely wrong). On one of the menus there was "Festa de SHOTS" so that has incorporated it's way into our daily diction.
Thursday
We started our day off by going liquor tasting. Yep. At the place that makes the passion fruit liqueur (my family knows all about this), among other things. It was cool to go there and see all of the flavors they make, including a honey aguardente which is actually pretty good. That afternoon we moved into my uncles house in Calhetas (pronounced Cal-yetish) and we went to the hiper market (pronounced EEPER market) - to the hyper market, aka a supermarket with camping gear, clothing, etc. It's as if Safeway and Super Target were combined. That night we went back to RG for yet another festa - the city of Ribeira Grande is celebrating their 30 years of being a city.
Friday
On our way to two tea plantations we stopped at an incredible lookout point. Then the two tea places were pretty neat. The first one (Cha Gorreana) had all of the machines going that you just walk around, adn you can watch the women package the tea (no gloves; lots of chatting). Pretty much the whole experience was something that could NEVER happen in the US. And their tea is yummy! The second tea place (Cha Porto Formoso) is a little more posh, but it was still fun. We had lunch at a beautiful picnic rest stop (they are all over the place here) then went to the beach (a beach fixed up by the mayor of RG - he's all over the place). That night we drove through the town of Pico da Pedra and passed the house that was chosen for the crown of the holy ghost to be displayed, and we stopped to talk with the people who were doing all of the prep for their town's festa which happened on Sunday. It was neat and amazing to see how much bread was in one area.
Saturday
We walked around Ponta Delgada, went to the holiest church on the island (pretty blinged out), as well as the port's old fort which doubles as a military museum. While walking around we also saw my uncle's old house, so that was pretty cool.
Sunday
We went to an epic potluck with my uncle's family. Epic because there was a lot of family, food, and talk about cleaning, which my aunt translated for me haha. That night we went back into Ponta Delgada for dinner and we ate at an Italian restaurant so I got my pasta fix :) .
Monday - My uncle's bday; 4th of July
We went to the caldeira - a geothermic waterfall into a pool! It was awesome! Then we went to teh beach and layed around - and I got SUPER sunburned. Turns out that in the late afternoon here you still need to wear lots of sunscreen. I can get away with not wearing sunscreen in CA, even Hawaii, at that point of day, but not here. NOPE. I'm in pain. That night we played Cheers Governor, cleaned up after the washing machine broke and flooded the kitchen, then played with sparklers!
Tuesday
We drove up to the large lake of Sete Cidades which was pretty beautiful.
Wednesday
Rested at the house all day – we read, ate, took naps. It was lovely to take it easy.
Thurday
We ventured to Furnas for part of the day – it’s a beautiful town! We filled our empty water bottles with fresh spring water, went to the lake to see where food is cooked in the ground from the volcanic activity (we are doing this on Sunday), and drank different mineral waters from the springs. We are going back on Sunday to swim in the main pool at the fancy hotel in town while our food is cooking (5-7 hours in the ground). We then drove out to Nordeste, the most eastern part of the island, and it was similar to the Road to Hana – slow, lots of turns, and beautiful stops along the way to take pictures. We came back to the house after a lot of driving, rested for an hour, then went to a nice restaurant in Ribeira Grande that overlooks the ocean.
Friday/Today
On our way to Ponta Delgada, Lourdes (my uncle’s cousin) took us to a regional park in Pico da Pedra which was beautiful and it was nice to walk around the grounds. We then cruised over to Ponta Delgada and walked around a lot – we think we found the Presbyterian church (maybe), and we also stopped to visit my uncle’s aunt who lives in his grandfather’s old house. Them home is very modest from the street, but then it is very large inside, with incredible gardens in the back (ie camellia trees, an avocado tree that has hundreds of avocados growing on it, etc). We will be going back to PDL tonight for one of the many festa nights, this time to hear live fado music. Bonus: Patrick and I have been dating for two years today!
Tomorrow we will be in PDL for a day long festa and parade, followed by a family bbq at my uncle’s cousin’s house there.
Sunday we will be in Furnas!
Monday Patrick and I will fly to Terceira so that we will be there Tuesday morning to fly home!
