Dear readers, I have gotten so immersed in
the actual stuff of exploring this amazing land, that I have fallen woefully
behind in my chronicles of this travel. I
have just come back from my Sunday morning walk in the forest. My Fitbit says that I walked 6000 steps on
this foray into the beautiful wilds of Mira.
Each day I venture a little further.
As I sit to write this morning, I am sitting beneath an umbrella in
Silverio’s garden. It is breakfast time,
and a steaming cup of coffee is at my left hand. Surrounding me on the table are the standards
things that are always there in the morning.
There are fresh strawberries, fresh figs, Big pieces of various cheeses, various
sausages, olives—both green and ripe -- , and cold boiled eggs. I hardly know what I will do when I return to
my regular life, and breakfast consists of a dish of yoghurt and a coffee. I guess what I will do is sit and fondly
remember my days in Mira.
I guess where I left you; we had just
finished at the Mercado in Portomar. I
had come home with even more cheeses and sausages that there already were in
the house. As well, I had bought little
things for the children of the family that we had to leave home from this
adventure. Before I return home, I know that I must also buy a gallon of pure
virgin olive oil from the locals for my cooking, and a flask of Eucalyptus
honey. I am sure it will be incredibly
healthy to have a spoonful all winter to fight off colds. We came home to a lunch of roasted chicken
and rice, which was incredible, and then, while Lourdes went with her daughter
Maria to Coimbra to shop for her grandchildren in Canada, Silverio came with
Becky and I to guide us through a visit to Aguedo.
The heat of the direct sun that beams down
on them often overwhelms this lovely city.
Their answer to that is both beautiful and effective. Above the streets, there hang hundreds of colorful
umbrellas, which not only offer a very much-needed shade, but also give the
entire town a look of joy. All the
benches along the narrow walking streets are painted in festive rainbow motifs,
and local artisans have also decorated stairwells that run to either side. When we arrived, we found parking close by,
and began out walk. Silverio said that
we should stop and rest from the road at a local pub. It felt great to get in out of the scorching
sun, and once again the wine bottle
arrived, and we enjoyed a glass of rich
red wine. The proprietor also came out
with a big plate of mixed olives. As
inexpensive as olives are here, the plate
of olives cost more than the three glasses of red wine.
Refreshed and ready, we headed out to
explore the city. It was a beautiful day of walking, as the pictures will bear
testament. Our last stop was in a
beautiful little church.
After exploring, we began our journey home
to Mira. While we were in Aguedo we
heard the sirens blaring calling the firemen of Aguedo to help with the forest
fires which were then coming quite close to that city. On the way home we saw the huge plume of
smoke rising. These fires are doing
terrible damage here. Silverio had to
get all the dry weeds and dead fall wood removed from his properties to try to
hold the spread of these fires in check.
On the way home, we stopped once again at
João’s home. As we have come to expect,
our arrival meant that João would immediately pull out all manner of cheese and
sausage and bottles of wine. Becky asked
João’s wife about her family, and her incredible pride in them shone through
pretty quickly. She ran and got books of
pictures of the baptisms of children and grandchildren, and we were immersed in
the story of her family. We are already
treated like we are a part of that family.
Upon arrival back in Mira, Silverio laid
out his usual late-afternoon snack of cheeses and sausages. And just when we were well and truly fed,
Lourdes laid out dinner from the leftover chicken. Tired and over fed, Becky simply felt that
she could not face another meal. She
made her apologies and went up to bed to read.
For myself, I managed to find a
little space for food. I fear I may
return from Portugal having gained back some of the weight that I worked hard
to lose.
After eating, Silverio and I sat over a
bottle of Vinho Tinto and discussed Theology and the life of the church. Finally, I simply had to turn in.
The Saturday walk was 5000 steps of
glorious exploration with stops along the way to pick the wild black
raspberries that bring back so many great memories of my early years on the
farm in Tilbury.
When Becky was up and had breakfast we sat
and talked with Silverio and Lourdes until lunch. After lunch, -- a soup Lourdes made called Caldo dos
Laboradores or farmer’s soup (a soup made by throwing together everything that
you find in your garden that day) and a couple bottles of wine, we took Becky
to Praia de Mira and helped her to set up in a perfect place on the beach. After this, Silverio and I went to the local
Nursing home where we did some Pastoral Visiting. We stopped to see João’s
mother who is 94 and failing very quickly.
We also paid a visit to Lourdes’ aunt.
Along the way we were drawn in to many conversations with others who
lived in that home.
With our visits complete, we went back to
the house to collect the cooler, and went and joined Becky at the beach. The sand was very hot, but the Atlantic was
still quite cold. Both Becky and I
ventured into the ocean for a short time, but the temperature soon changed our
minds.
After a little walk in the sand, Silverio
opened up the treasures that he had packed in the cooler. Lourdes had prepared Lupin beans, which are
wonderful lightly salted, soaked beans.
There was a huge bag of peanuts in the shell, and prepared fruits. Of course chilled to perfection in the bottom
of the cooler there were a couple bottles of Vinho Verde. When this “afternoon snack was dispatched, we
packed up to return to the village and get ready to go to Mass.
The church is a beautiful modern
church. The clergy are very informal,
and while they do wear alb and stole to celebrate, they only wear clerical
collars on principal feast days. The
music of the Eucharist was lovely and well-sung. The preacher delivered a very
strong but short homily. Silverio –
himself an Anglican Deacon – had informed the Rector of the parish that I was
Anglican, and the Dean of St. George’s Cathedral in Kingston. Usually this would have meant that I would be
excluded from receiving the Eucharist, but the Rector of this parish insisted
that I must come and join in the meal with everyone else. Having been barred in many Roman Catholic
Churches in my lifetime, this was an amazing sense of hospitality.
Following church we returned home to have a
great dinner of the leftover farmer’s soup and a couple bottles of wine, it was
off to bed.
This morning, my fitbit, as I said
previously says that I have accomplished 6000 steps before this fabulous
breakfast. The plan for today is that
Becky and I will do our laundry so that we can pack to go for a couple days to
Porto for more explorations. In the
evening, we are meeting with a few of
Silverio’s friends at a local restaurant for a very traditional Portuguese
dinner. Through the day, there is a
special celebration at the Igreja de São Tome across the street from us, which
celebrates all the immigrants who come here.
They are barbecuing a pig, and there will be music and dancing in the
streets. It reminds me so much of the
life I shared with the people of South America during my sabbatical, and with
the Colombian congregation back in Kitchener, where every gathering somehow
devolved into someone beginning to play music, and people dancing. I expect this will be a quiet peaceful day
for the most part.
When I returned from my walk, Lourdes had
one new thing that she wanted me to try.
A year ago she started making a Liqor.
She filled jars with all the fruit from the garden that has a stone in
it. (Plums, cherries, peaches) These
were then covered with white wine and sugar and placed in a nice cool dark
place. Lourdes had forgotten have made
this, and today she opened it for the first time, and it was absolutely
fabulous. When I return to Canada I can
see a recipe of this Liqor being started at Camden East.
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