La mar en Portugal es estupendo. Yo miro la Atlantic un otro tiempo. Ahora es con mi abuelo y mi abuela, y es no diferente para mi.
This morning we got up early, went and ate breakfast (me being lightheartedly scolded for not speaking clearly), and then got our things together and downstairs where we waited for a cab to take us to our car. Ahmee and Poppy warned me that the cab last night had taken some hairpin turns and had just about scraped its windows off, I prepared myself for an interesting drive. We didn't need to worry though because this taxi driver took the smart route and stuck to the main roads. It might've been longer, but it most certainly didn't scare me and he never came close to scraping his car on any walls.
Once out of the parking lot we made our way back through town and to the A7 which later turned into the A1E1. Along this way we started to see how rain had collected overnight (apparently it had rained) and how all the plants were hurrying to soak it in. The rolling hills slowly became flat and more pine trees started turning up (this is an indicator that you're getting closer to a coast). Even though we were on a highway I was not interested in writing. I've figured something out while on this trip, and that is that I really should not write when I feel totally and utterly exhausted. It is a waste of my time because I'm busy fighting with my body and my brain to work quickly when it just doesn't want to, and it's a waste of my time because as I'm struggling I could be relaxing and enjoying the view and conserving energy for later usage. This is exactly what I did. I relaxed in the warm car and peered out the window at the countryside, telling myself that I was going to pull out the computer thirty minutes into Portugal.
Sixty or so kilometers before we got into Portugal we caught sight of the Atlantic Ocean and later a rest stop. There we got our lunch: me two doughnuts and coffee, and Ahmee and Poppy something bigger. I decided that since we were mostly going to be sitting in the car all day that it would be a better if I kept to eating small things because I wasn't going to be working very hard and using them up anytime soon. After this short break we got back on the road where our eyes met a wonderful sight. I'm not sure exactly when or where, but as we were traveling on this road we saw lots and lots of stork nests. They'd built their nests on top of the power lines, some of which even had little baskets for them, and others were just condos for the storks. It was too cool to see these 10-15 different nests all lined up and to see these storks perched up there. In the United States I'd only seen storks fly over maybe twice, and those two sightings happened earlier this year. Seeing all of these together was great for me. It appears that that place is just the perfect spot for the storks.
Shortly after seeing the storks we passed into Portugal where I waited for ten minutes (and got to see the cork trees while coming in) and then opened up the laptop and got writing (very slowly because I seriously didn't want to, all I wanted to do was take a nap or relax and watch-but I did complete a day while in the car). It wasn't too long before we got off the highway however and shortly after that we arrived in Sagres, a small town that Ahmee and Poppy had stayed in before and a town that should be famous for the rest of the world: it was at this place that sooooo many explorers got their training for the ocean and for navigating. Without Prince Henry's school I know that at least one navigator Vasco De Gama wouldn't have had the training to find the route from the Mediterranean to the Indian Sea (thus finding a spectacular trade route). Before visiting the fort we went and checked into the cliff-side resort Pousada do Infante where we got a smaller room with a view of the bay: Praia Balceira. The coastline here didn't contain many beaches. Here we saw cliffs that were hundreds of meters high. Later we got to walk very close to these cliffs.
After moving our things in we went to the Fort Tolezo. The wall facing us was huge, so it surprised me when we went through the ticket booth and walked into the square to find two white, modern looking buildings and a lot of plant covered area. I looked at the map and found that the only buildings that were there were: the church (which had had restoration work done on it), the souvenir shop, the auditorium (which had a film that went on only every now and then apparently), the compass (giant compass made out of rocks and which looks pretty straggly now), and the gallery that was only open occasionally. The heavily fortified wall that we saw when coming in had two ramps up, but was under restoration. This wall didn't go very far. I don't think it really needed to. The cliffs were enough protection for the Fort and the occasional cannon we saw when walking around would've definitely been a threat to the ships that were coming in. Those ships would've had to come close, dodge the cannon fire, and then become perilously close to the rocks and the cliff face (on the north side the waves were pounding into the cliffs-they were astoundingly large for us). I should mention now that the only buildings we went into were the church (five minutes max), the auditorium (where we stopped by on our way back to the entrance/exit), and the over-priced giftshop. The rest of the time we walked on the yellow rock path as we looked at the cliffs, at the crazy fisherman who were perching themselves on the very edge of the cliffs, at the plants that were covering the rocks on top of this peninsula, and at the waves. As we walked along this path we had to pull out our umbrellas and battle the wind and the rain. The chill caused our noses to start dripping, and the rain/wind made it difficult to look around. Even with these weather inconveniences it was definitely worth the trip. It's a shame that this isn't more of a revered monument though. This place had just as much historical significance as the Castle of Edinburgh, but it definitely wasn't in that kind of shape.
When we left we were freezing and I was more than ready to get writing. The chill had woken me up, while the sight of the Atlantic and those cliffs made me want to write. Once back at the hotel (before going in we saw another sign of good luck: a rainbow) we made a quick dash to our room where I grabbed the laptop and then headed back down to the main lobby where a fire was blazing in the fireplace, where many people were lounging and reading magazines, and where I got a great view from my couch across from the window. From there I got to see the sun as it made it's final decent behind the fort (the bay we had sight of had waves that weren't as rough). Ahmee and Poppy got drinks on the house from the man who'd shown us our rooms. Poppy got red wine while Ahmee got some of Portugals famous green wine. My writing was interrupted to try a sip of Ahmee's green wine and to grab a few of the nuts that they'd gotten to go with their drinks. I have to say that of the wines I've tasted so far that green wine was definitely one of my favorites. It really was delicious (don't take this opinion as an indicator that I drank a lot of it: I only had two sips and this is what I normally have when I'm trying wine that Ahmee and Poppy get). Of the wines that I've tasted I like the dry reds, the greens, and a few sparkling (these are a select few). What I do not like is white wine. That stuff is nasty.
After it got dark in this room we went up to our room where we got ready for dinner (was very fancy so we had to dress up). Once ready we went downstairs, discovered we'd lost an hour, and then went into the entertainment room (had checkers, cards, a tv, and a computer) where I emailed people as men in the background watched football (soccer-whoa that was natural for me to say!), and two boys played checkers. While on the computer I found a surprising backdrop of the local cliffs. Apparently sometimes the waves get so huge that when they crash into the cliff face the spray goes up and over the edge! When the time came for dinner everyone in this room got up and went to the restaurant. Here we had a splendid time doing the usual: people watching, talking about the day, and talking about our plans for the next day.
After dinner we went back to the room where I got the fun task of taking a picture of the moon over the fort before I got into my pj's and climbed into bed.
This night I actually got good sleep. I think the heater at the end of my bed was a nice touch.
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