This morning we woke up late. After a cup of coffee Poppy pulled up the computer and we all checked email/sent important last-minute messages (such as letting my Momma know where to meet us in the airport and when). When I finished emailing people Ahmee and Poppy were more than ready to go eat breakfast, so I hurried and got dressed to go down with them.
We ate breakfast again in the circular booths downstairs (me in the middle this time so Ahmee and Poppy didn't have such a hard time getting out), where we talked about what we were going to do that day. The first thing on our list was to take the rental car to the airport. After breakfast we went back upstairs to grab a few things (like the map and our purses) and then we went down to the car and drove to the aeroporto. It wasn't difficult turning in the car, and finding our bus wasn't difficult either (even if it did cause a bit of sweat on my part-I thought a cab would be better). We road back to our street where we went and took a look at the bull ring that was nearby. Under this bullring there was a mall. We enjoyed doing a bit of window shopping down there, but after about 45 minutes we needed to get back to the room so we could pack our things.
The idea was to consolidate all of the things we'd gotten into our suitcases and our carry-on's without inflicting damage (and also thinking about preventing damage) to the items. I had to move a few books and postcards (and other flat things) to the bottom of my suitcase and sort through the clothes I wanted to keep and the clothes I no longer cared about. I did this for every bag/container I have. Anything I will not use when I get back has been thrown away, thus making room for gifts and keepsakes. It didn't take me long to get everything into my suitcase and surprisingly enough I think I have more room in there than what I started out with (same goes for my pregnant backpack). I even had room in my suitcase for one of Ahmee's "black uglies" (aka: her black tennis shoes). I have room for more, but I think I might end up breaking things if I put too much more in there. I'm proud to say that I managed to do this packing in under an hour.
After we had everything packed I was hot from running around. I sat down for a minute, fanning myself, and then I pulled on my jacket, my coat, and my scarf. I then grabbed my purse as Ahmee was just finishing up putting on her things. Just as we were heading to walk out the door we got a phone call from the desk saying our tour had arrived and they were waiting for us. Perfect timing really. We were down there in less than 2 minutes after they gave us that call.
We went down, saw a woman in a black coat, and followed her out to the small tour bus where we hopped into the seats up front and showed her our vouchers. The bus went all around the city to different hotels, none of which had any people in them who wanted to take a tour. We stopped at the park in front of the Christmas tree to wait for other tourists and our tour guide. Several buses lined up and several tour guides got out and chatted with each other in the rain as we waited patiently on the bus. As we waited a couple came up and asked where their tour was. We ended up doing a musical chairs where we got out and went to another bus when they really needed to go to that bus and we needed to stay on. Once this was sorted out our tour guide came and stood on the bus with us and talked to us for a little bit. She told us there was another group of 13 that would be joining up with us.
This group of 13 arrived 10 minutes later. This group was a group of frenchmen who were having a guys trip out and who were (as Ahmee puts it) "all intent on having a good time". Each one of these men said Bonjour to us as they got on the bus, and each one of them smiled and talked to us (it's the thought that counts right?). Our tour guide's name was Paula and she was absolutely outstanding! Later we found out that she spoke Portuguese, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and a little bit of German. She told the men in the back that the tour would be done in English and in French, because the three of us at the front were English. The men acted surprised at this but definitely didn't complain.
We then commenced with the tour where we saw several different sections of town including: the April 25th Bridge, the Cristo (Christ statue), an example of the Manuel architecture (more ornate than the gothic), the tower outpost that had originally been in the middle of the river, the monument dedicated to the navigators (had a wonderful map of the world done in stone), the Church of Our Lady of the Sea (had the tombs of kings and of the great navigator Vasco De Gama and some pretty spectacular carvings), a restaurant where we ate killer pastels and where we had an excellent time talking to the Frenchmen (through Paula of course), the Alfama section (where everyone lived before the 15 century: Jews, Moors, rich, poor, etc.), an old palace that had tons of TNP bubbles in front of it and blue and white christmas lights decorating it, the elevators built to aid those who want to go to different levels, the shopping center, and the road that lead up to where we began except this time the tree was all lit up. After this the frenchmen got off the bus and the busdriver eased through traffic to get us to our hotel.
After this we went in, we emailed people, we ate dinner (had newbee's in training), and we came back upstairs where we got our last few things together and where I wrote this day. I have to apologize for the shortness of this blog, unfortunately I'm short on time: the sooner I get to bed the better able I'll be able to cope with getting up at four in the morning tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll be spending the whole day flying from one airport to the next and waiting in between until we finally get to Louisville. I'll have to write a short version of this day too.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
12/02/08 We wake up a bit later, I write, we go to Sintra, we see the National Palace, we see the Moorish Castle, and we get back to the Holiday Inn w
Quiero mi madre, mi hermana, mi perros, mi gata, mis amigos, y mi dormitario. En una dia yo voy con mi abuelos para los Estados Unidos.
I actually got decent sleep again. I was able to wake up and get writing fairly early. Once done I jumped in the shower and got dressed. As I waited for Ahmee and Poppy to get dressed I played with the light fixtures next to Ahmee and Poppy's overly large bed. This would be an example of how weird I am. These lights are silver and are basically jut a tube with a small light at the end. I think they look like an alien. Maybe I took the CNN thing over the radio signal-checking device for outerspace a little bit too much to heart, or maybe those things just look like aliens. Either way, I was standing next to the bed playing with the thing, twisting it up into all kinds of shapes and making it look like ET's finger. The whole time Ahmee had her back to me. She ended up laughing though when I incorporated sound effects with the motions. I didn't really know I was doing it at first but when Ahmee cackled into a fit of laughter when she turned around to see what I was doing I realized those noises I'd pictured were actually coming out of my mouth. Yet again, I greatly amused Ahmee.
After we were all ready we went downstairs, ate breakfast in the hard to get into booths (circular booths are the thing for those people who want to lose weight), and then went out to the car to get on the road to Sintra. When I heard Sintra I thought we were going to the center, for some reason. I was surprised when I heard that Sintra was on the outskirts of Lisbon, and that it had been used as a summer get away (it was cooler than the valley). Something I didn't like the sound of was that we were going off the map and we were driving there ourselves. I was afraid for a bit that we were breaking one of our own rules which is: depend on buses, trains, or taxi's when traveling in a large city. Turns out, I didn't need to be worried. We had no problem getting to Sintra.
We parked close to the town hall, thinking we were close to the National Palace. We were wrong, but it wasn't in a devastating way. We got to walk around a garden, we got to see sculptures, and we got to walk through a small section of town. I made Ahmee laugh again when I pointed out a huge sculpture saying, "OOOOH would ya look at that!... that thing is taking up parking spaces." She replied, "Wow.... What a display of art appreciation!"
After this fun walk we got to go into the National Palace, a place that combines soooo many different cultures. How? Well the Portuguese Royal Family and their court went there for balls, for hunting, a for tidbits of statesmanship. Since Portugal was one of the leading traders back in the day (and probably still so today) they had fabulous furniture/architectural decoration from all different parts of the globe. There were Moorish tiles (I liked the vines the most), moorish fountains, and moorish-style gardens. There were Chinese cabinets, Chinese screens, and other artifacts made in China in the Chinese style (although not always of material from China-ex: one cabinet had a wood brought in from Brazil). There were Portuguese/India cabinets, P./I. tables, and other artifacts. There were clocks made in England based on the Big Ben. There were glass mirrors made in Venice; there were glass chandeliers brought in from Italy, there were carrara marble statues-obviously from Italy; there were tables made of multiple marbles from Italy. There were sooo many things that were inlaid with ivory, with velvet, with brass. All of it was extremely ornate. This was perhaps one of the few times that I took more interest in the decoration of the rooms rather than the architecture. The ceilings were of no great interest. The floors were often average. The doors were often fascinating. The one room that really had cool architectural elements was the kitchen, which was situated in two smoke-stacks (yes, they look like the ones at power plants/factories). This room was cool because I could whisper and it would echo. I would hate to be in there with all the clamor of pots and pans and talking, it would hurt my ears.
We finished up the National Palace and headed out to find a tourist information center, to ask how to get up to the Moorish Castle, to walk around for a bit, and to grab a bite to eat in a close-by restaurant. After this we went out, Ahmee and Poppy stood out at the bus station while I looked around in a linens store. We missed the first bus (because it never stopped even though Poppy waved his arms frantically), so Ahmee and I went back into the store and later went back out to join Poppy and to watch the Pigeons in the tree. We caught the second bus partially because it would've been impossible for the bus driver to miss the small crowd that had gathered to jump on it. We got on, me sitting backwords again, to be taken up the windy curvy road through the forest and up to the Moorish Castle. We got off in another crowd, went over and bought tickets, and then went into the Moorish Castle walls.
The sign said that not much of the Moorish Castle was left due to the earthquake that occurred in Portugal in 1755 (?). We went and walked around a ruin. It was a lovely walk. I enjoyed the boulders, the plants, the trees, and the leftovers of the castle. It was somewhat difficult for me to picture the city there though because of all the greenery. I'd kinda lost myself in a nature walk rather than a historical walk.
When we reached the castle I got to decide between a really really thin, steep staircase to the shortest tower, or a really really long staircase where I wasn't sure about it's condition up to the highest tower. Yeah, I picked the long route to the tallest tower, even with the wind blowing and the lack of a railing on the left side. I moved ahead of Ahmee and Poppy, suddenly losing myself in the climb (I was rock climbing again). Once I reached the top I sat on the ledge out of the wind and drew in deep breaths of air as I took in the view of Lisbon to my front, the view of Sintra to my left, the view of the mountains behind me, and the view of the coast and farmland on my right (as well as the Pina Palace). From my perch I could also mark the progress of Ahmee and Poppy up the steep steps. I was glad that none of the steps were as thin as the other staircase.
Poppy got to me first and took a good look around as he pulled in air. Shortly after him came Ahmee who first asked, "Where's Rachel?" I'd considered sitting just above the entrance, but I decided I didn't really want to move (it would've been funny though). After a few minutes we all started to go down, me in the front and hurrying because I was starting to need to use the restroom. I waited for Ahmee and Poppy on a landing with a bench, sitting their freezing as I held it in. We then continued on down, we helped out a woman who was totally lost and who needed help finding her way back to the entrance, and then once we all got out I made a mad dash across the street to the restroom. I didn't even care that it didn't have a toilet seat.
Immediately after I came out of the restroom the bus arrived. We had to run down to it to catch it. Since there were a lot of people running with us I suppose we could've walked and been just fine. Everyone was blocking his way anyway, he can't run over all those people without getting in serious trouble. At any rate we got on the bus, I sat down facing the right way (good thing too because it was even more curvy) and we road all the way back to the Sintra train station. From there we stopped once to grab a newspaper and to then get in the car and make our way back to the Holiday Inn, surprisingly enough we didn't undergo any terrible trials and we got back before dark.
Once back I jumped on the computer and wrote, and wrote, and wrote until dinner time. At dinner we had a wonderful time talking, but I had to cut things short when I discovered I had waited too long to eat something significant (my stomach hurt even after I got through 3/4's of my plate). I went upstairs, used the toilet (no I didn't throw up), and stretched out on my belly. After about 15 minutes I was able to get up and move around again. So I went back to typing.
Ahmee and Poppy came upstairs and gave me the internet card, and wala! We're at the present. I'm now looking forward to my last full day in Europe, which is tomorrow. After that we'll be getting on a plane back to the States.
I actually got decent sleep again. I was able to wake up and get writing fairly early. Once done I jumped in the shower and got dressed. As I waited for Ahmee and Poppy to get dressed I played with the light fixtures next to Ahmee and Poppy's overly large bed. This would be an example of how weird I am. These lights are silver and are basically jut a tube with a small light at the end. I think they look like an alien. Maybe I took the CNN thing over the radio signal-checking device for outerspace a little bit too much to heart, or maybe those things just look like aliens. Either way, I was standing next to the bed playing with the thing, twisting it up into all kinds of shapes and making it look like ET's finger. The whole time Ahmee had her back to me. She ended up laughing though when I incorporated sound effects with the motions. I didn't really know I was doing it at first but when Ahmee cackled into a fit of laughter when she turned around to see what I was doing I realized those noises I'd pictured were actually coming out of my mouth. Yet again, I greatly amused Ahmee.
After we were all ready we went downstairs, ate breakfast in the hard to get into booths (circular booths are the thing for those people who want to lose weight), and then went out to the car to get on the road to Sintra. When I heard Sintra I thought we were going to the center, for some reason. I was surprised when I heard that Sintra was on the outskirts of Lisbon, and that it had been used as a summer get away (it was cooler than the valley). Something I didn't like the sound of was that we were going off the map and we were driving there ourselves. I was afraid for a bit that we were breaking one of our own rules which is: depend on buses, trains, or taxi's when traveling in a large city. Turns out, I didn't need to be worried. We had no problem getting to Sintra.
We parked close to the town hall, thinking we were close to the National Palace. We were wrong, but it wasn't in a devastating way. We got to walk around a garden, we got to see sculptures, and we got to walk through a small section of town. I made Ahmee laugh again when I pointed out a huge sculpture saying, "OOOOH would ya look at that!... that thing is taking up parking spaces." She replied, "Wow.... What a display of art appreciation!"
After this fun walk we got to go into the National Palace, a place that combines soooo many different cultures. How? Well the Portuguese Royal Family and their court went there for balls, for hunting, a for tidbits of statesmanship. Since Portugal was one of the leading traders back in the day (and probably still so today) they had fabulous furniture/architectural decoration from all different parts of the globe. There were Moorish tiles (I liked the vines the most), moorish fountains, and moorish-style gardens. There were Chinese cabinets, Chinese screens, and other artifacts made in China in the Chinese style (although not always of material from China-ex: one cabinet had a wood brought in from Brazil). There were Portuguese/India cabinets, P./I. tables, and other artifacts. There were clocks made in England based on the Big Ben. There were glass mirrors made in Venice; there were glass chandeliers brought in from Italy, there were carrara marble statues-obviously from Italy; there were tables made of multiple marbles from Italy. There were sooo many things that were inlaid with ivory, with velvet, with brass. All of it was extremely ornate. This was perhaps one of the few times that I took more interest in the decoration of the rooms rather than the architecture. The ceilings were of no great interest. The floors were often average. The doors were often fascinating. The one room that really had cool architectural elements was the kitchen, which was situated in two smoke-stacks (yes, they look like the ones at power plants/factories). This room was cool because I could whisper and it would echo. I would hate to be in there with all the clamor of pots and pans and talking, it would hurt my ears.
We finished up the National Palace and headed out to find a tourist information center, to ask how to get up to the Moorish Castle, to walk around for a bit, and to grab a bite to eat in a close-by restaurant. After this we went out, Ahmee and Poppy stood out at the bus station while I looked around in a linens store. We missed the first bus (because it never stopped even though Poppy waved his arms frantically), so Ahmee and I went back into the store and later went back out to join Poppy and to watch the Pigeons in the tree. We caught the second bus partially because it would've been impossible for the bus driver to miss the small crowd that had gathered to jump on it. We got on, me sitting backwords again, to be taken up the windy curvy road through the forest and up to the Moorish Castle. We got off in another crowd, went over and bought tickets, and then went into the Moorish Castle walls.
The sign said that not much of the Moorish Castle was left due to the earthquake that occurred in Portugal in 1755 (?). We went and walked around a ruin. It was a lovely walk. I enjoyed the boulders, the plants, the trees, and the leftovers of the castle. It was somewhat difficult for me to picture the city there though because of all the greenery. I'd kinda lost myself in a nature walk rather than a historical walk.
When we reached the castle I got to decide between a really really thin, steep staircase to the shortest tower, or a really really long staircase where I wasn't sure about it's condition up to the highest tower. Yeah, I picked the long route to the tallest tower, even with the wind blowing and the lack of a railing on the left side. I moved ahead of Ahmee and Poppy, suddenly losing myself in the climb (I was rock climbing again). Once I reached the top I sat on the ledge out of the wind and drew in deep breaths of air as I took in the view of Lisbon to my front, the view of Sintra to my left, the view of the mountains behind me, and the view of the coast and farmland on my right (as well as the Pina Palace). From my perch I could also mark the progress of Ahmee and Poppy up the steep steps. I was glad that none of the steps were as thin as the other staircase.
Poppy got to me first and took a good look around as he pulled in air. Shortly after him came Ahmee who first asked, "Where's Rachel?" I'd considered sitting just above the entrance, but I decided I didn't really want to move (it would've been funny though). After a few minutes we all started to go down, me in the front and hurrying because I was starting to need to use the restroom. I waited for Ahmee and Poppy on a landing with a bench, sitting their freezing as I held it in. We then continued on down, we helped out a woman who was totally lost and who needed help finding her way back to the entrance, and then once we all got out I made a mad dash across the street to the restroom. I didn't even care that it didn't have a toilet seat.
Immediately after I came out of the restroom the bus arrived. We had to run down to it to catch it. Since there were a lot of people running with us I suppose we could've walked and been just fine. Everyone was blocking his way anyway, he can't run over all those people without getting in serious trouble. At any rate we got on the bus, I sat down facing the right way (good thing too because it was even more curvy) and we road all the way back to the Sintra train station. From there we stopped once to grab a newspaper and to then get in the car and make our way back to the Holiday Inn, surprisingly enough we didn't undergo any terrible trials and we got back before dark.
Once back I jumped on the computer and wrote, and wrote, and wrote until dinner time. At dinner we had a wonderful time talking, but I had to cut things short when I discovered I had waited too long to eat something significant (my stomach hurt even after I got through 3/4's of my plate). I went upstairs, used the toilet (no I didn't throw up), and stretched out on my belly. After about 15 minutes I was able to get up and move around again. So I went back to typing.
Ahmee and Poppy came upstairs and gave me the internet card, and wala! We're at the present. I'm now looking forward to my last full day in Europe, which is tomorrow. After that we'll be getting on a plane back to the States.
12/01/08 We head to Lisboa (Lisbon), on the way we eat at the Chill In and see the exciting countryside
La restaurant Chill In es una estupendo restaurant. Me gusta mucho la cosas yo como en la restaurant. Me gusta los perros tambien.
This morning before we went down to breakfast I got dressed, washed my face, and then went to take a look out the window at the cloudless bay and the gorgeous beach. When I turned around I found ants on the floor. I took a closer look and realized that the ants were near my purse (also on the floor). I immediately alerted Ahmee to it, who sat down on the bed and laughed when I exclaimed, "The ants are in my purse! They're using my zipper as a ladder! Why are they in there?! I haven't got any food!" As she chuckled I popped open my purse, took out my french handbook, my spanish flashcards, my postcards, my glasses case, and my umbrella bag. At the very bottom I found a little package wrapped up in a white paper towel that had more than the average amount of ants on it. I immediately knew that this was the brownie I'd searched for months ago (had a terrible feeling it was from the first time we were in France). When I found this I went, "Oh. I do have food in there." I threw away my brownie thinking, "Those suckers got my chocolate!" I then took my purse outside and I put all of my things outside with it (because they had a few ants on them).
When we went down to breakfast (before hand I sent off work) and afterwards when I was putting my things back together (sadly enough some of my things got wet when they were outside) Ahmee told Poppy about my ant episode. It gave her quite a laugh and I can't really say that I blame her.
Once everything was together we went downstairs where we waited in line to check out (Ahmee and I admiring the layout of the building and the christmas decoration). Then when we were free to go we got on the road headed north to Lisbon. We stopped once to try and get into a church (church in Bispo) which Ahmee and Poppy had seen before and which had a beautiful interior. The door wasn't open though and we never found the door so I never got to see the blue tiles and the painted ceiling within (except for on the pamphlet Ahmee had). So we moved on and passed through the countryside and avoided the highway. Most of the time we went slowly, watching the scenery and the windy road. We went through forests with pine trees, cork trees, and other plants. The hills were rolling, the roads reminded me of the curvy ones my Momma loves to drive on, and the plants reminded me of Japanese mountainsides (prints) and of other places I'd seen. The rain wasn't much of a hindrance until we went off the road to the beach. We got out to walk on the sand. My objective was to touch the Atlantic again, which I did. I got close to one of the barnackle-covered rocks and touched the water in the small pool there. It was freezing but the smell and the sights were wonderful. I'd never been to a beach that was framed by cliffs. I'd never been to a beach that had rocks that had those pools and that had those rocks. I did recognize the plant life though when we were getting back into the car (and battling the rain and wind). The century plants, plants that are related to Yuccas and that bloom once after thirty years and then die with lots of babies at their base, the yuccas, the icicle plants (saw those on top of the cliffs at Sagres), and the pines in the background on the hills. For those of you who don't know about yuccas, I recommend you do a bit of research. They are common in the southwest U.S., and were used for all kinds of things by the Indians (paper, tea, etc.). They also have really beautiful blooms.
When we got back on the road our wet clothes caused the windows to fog up, which was slightly annoying for those of us who wanted to see out the window. When Poppy turned on the cooler we were able to look out the windows at the newly harvested cork trees (they scrape the bark off the trees every now and then-no idea how often-leaving the bottom part of the trees orange), at the pine trees (which I really love), the grasses, and the pueblos (which I thought were exceedingly pretty).
Finally we passed through a section of mostly pine trees, went around a curve which had a restaurant across the street from a cork tree that hadn't been harvested yet, and then on down the road we saw another storks nest just above someone's house. At that point we decided it was a good time to turn around and get a picture of the stork posing in his nest, and to head back to the cork tree so I could feel its bark. We did both of these things. The stork was beautiful and stayed still for us, and the cork tree contained many wonderful gifts for us, or at least for me. We parked in the restaurant parking lot to the greeting of two massive dogs which I had to tell to stay put as we crossed the street. Once I got close to the cork tree I exclaimed at the smell which Ahmee at first didn't notice. I then walked over and poked the slightly squishy bark. It was too cool! Of course, those of you who've felt the cork of a wine bottle know what it feels like, but touching it as it was growing was awesome. When we walked under the pine trees the smell came into my nostrils again and I immediately relaxed and told Ahmee to smell the air. She said it was definitely the pine trees and that she wouldn't be surprised if that smell brought me great joy for the rest of my life (we had pine trees in our backyard in North Carolina, I grew up with that smell as a kid). We crossed the street and went into the multi-themed restaurant where we were seated by the gracious chef/waitor. His wife later came to check on us and explained the decoration (had african elements, thai elements, and english elements) by saying that he enjoyed traveling and that all of the things that were on the menu were things he'd come across. I got Thai rice with chicken while Ahmee and Poppy had the enchiladas. When our dishes came we were more than happy we stopped there, even if it was a bit of a wait. Our food was delicious. Before I got too far into my food I went outside and called the smaller brown dog to me, squatting down and cautiously letting him sniff my hand. I say this dog is smaller, but really he was quite large. He's about the size of our Australian Shepard/Border Collie, Buster. When he let me pet his head I felt a breath of air on my head and caught out of the corner of my eye the sight of the larger dog. This dog was as tall as an average table. He was grey with black flecks, had floppy ears, had intelligent eyes, and had a head about the size of... well, mine. I used my left hand to pet the brown dog as I pet the larger dog with my right hand. I let both of the dogs sniff me all over and then I slowly stood up. I enjoyed petting them. They were both gorgeous dogs. What amused me was when the larger dog got jealous and shoved himself between the brown dog and me (causing me to take a step back and causing the other dog to get jealous too). The brown down then put his paws up and over the other dogs back and put his paws on my chest. After this the dogs went into a play-fight. All the grey dog had to do was put one paw down on the brown dog and the brown dog would crumple. I was glad they were both playful because I know that that HUGE dog could've easily have killed the other one. My momma would've loved that grey dog. It's a shame I didn't get to talk to him again.
I went back inside to finish up my rice. Before it was all gone I gave the sauce in the bowl a try. I only dipped my fork in partially to get a few drips, but that stuff lit me up faster than anything I've ever tasted. It was so hot it made my eyes water, my mouth burn, my tongue throb, and my lips burn for an hour after I'd tasted it. Poppy saw this reaction, saw me take a drink of my water and then wolf down rice, and he decided he wanted to try a bit of my hot sauce. I told him to only dip his fork in. He took my advice and I'm absolutely certain he's glad he did. He had the same reaction I did. When the woman came around she talked about how her husband loved hot stuff and we told her about how we'd tried the sauce straight out. At this she looked a bit worried and said, "That stuff is hot!! It's got different spices in it, it's not peppers." At this Poppy told her it was the hottest stuff he'd ever tasted. She recommended trying a teeny tiny bit on the rice. I didn't need any on my rice. The pineapple with the spice left over caused enough of a reaction for my tongue. Poppy gave it a shot though and he said again that that stuff was really hot (he only put a drop on a plate full of rice and it put a small kick into it).
After lunch we thanked the woman and the man, pocketed their card, and then got back on the road, our lips still burning and our stomachs churning a tiny bit from the spice within.
After lunch we also started to get in a hurry to get to Lisbon. We went through towns, searching for a way to Lisbon, we passed highways in an effort to reach a preferable road, only to discover that road was inaccessible and to turn back, we hurried as fast as we could as the sun got farther and farther down the sky. We did not however forget to look out the windows of the car. We saw fields of cork trees, villages with tiny roads, barnyards with cork stacked neatly under tarp, rolling hills, cloudy skys, and an occasional gift such as the one man who rode his white horse into town and had the horse tethered as he chatted with his friend. We only stopped once, and that was when we got on the highway. We pulled off to a rest area where everyone else seemed to be stopping to use the toilet. I think I forgot to mention that this day is a national holiday in Portugal. It's their Independence Day. Almost everything was closed, all of the veterans had their uniforms on, and everyone was out partying. Ahmee and I were certain everyone was stopping there for food and for the toilet on their way to or from festivities.
While in the restroom in the rest area Ahmee and I got to wait in line for a toilet that had paper. I heard the news from a woman who had short, gray hair, who had on a red vest and who was traveling with another woman who was tall with brown curly hair and who had on all jean material (jean jacket, jean pants, only her white undershirt wasn't made of jeans). Both of these women told the others, in vain, that the four stalls at the far end had no toilet paper. Since they didn't know Portuguese and the women in line didn't know English many people went in, only to come out announcing "No papel!" (or something along those lines). I ended up in one of these stalls.
Immediately after this we got back on the road to frantically head into Lisbon (crossing a bridge that was several kilometers long) and to make our way to the airport to find a hotel. Our objective was to find a hotel near the airport because we officially had two days left before we got on an airplane to go home. When we got off the highway we went around the round-about near the airport to discover something that was disheartening: there weren't any hotels in sight. Another disheartening fact was that the sun had long gone from the sky and we had to go into Lisbon in the dark to look for a hotel. We decided to head towards the centro. We ended up taking a wrong turn and heading towards the university instead. As we drove around in the dark, anxiously peering out the windows I gave out an order that we've all heard before and that's worked for us before, "Hey Ahmee! You take the left and I'll take the right!" We went down the street like this and when I spotted two hotels I was ecstatic. On the right I saw a Hotel Zurich, and a Hotel Lisboa, both of which were high-rises and had huge signs at the top (meaning they're at least over 3 stars and most likely are expensive). We made our way into the Hotel Zurich parking lot where we parked the car and got out to search for the entrance to the Hotel Zurich. We didn't find it. Instead we found a Holiday Inn, which we eagerly went into, got a room, and got someone to help us park the car. As we were standing there asking questions with the lady at the desk a group of people walked in.
This has got to be one of the oddest things so far. The women who walked in were the same women we saw in the rest area's restroom alongside the highway. The thin, curly haired, older woman waved and said, "Oh! We saw you in the restroom!" I ended up having a wonderful conversation with this woman as her colleagues got a room (she was traveling with her son, his wife-lady in jeans, and her mother-lady with a vest on and short, straight hair). They were from Iowa and South Dakota, and had been traveling for over 6 days (she said they'd been to Spain for 6 days and mentioned 4 different cities). The woman I was talking to had lived in England and asked me where we'd been and was delighted when I said we'd been to England. She told me how she loved the thatched roofs, the small towns, and even the large cities, saying, "I loved London!" She and I agreed that we both loved the small towns and the big cities, it was just the old sections of town that seemed too closed in. She told me about how Portugal has killer pottery and ceramics, "I'm here for the ceramics."; how she was looking forward to getting back to her dog named Curly Sue (at which we were shocked and amazed because Ahmee has a dog named Curly Sue- this woman laughed when she found out our Curly Sue wasn't curly); and how she'd recently seriously injured her right foot. She told me that she loved the shoes here, she'd gotten two pairs of boots and a pair of shoes, all of which had heels. She said that she slipped when stepping off a curb while wearing these heeled boots and she'd ended up twisting her ankle pretty badly. I don't know how long she's been limping around, but she said that her right foot is now black and blue all over and the only shoes she can wear were her sandals. She said she was going to a doctor as soon as she got home. This lady was absolutely wonderful. I loved talking to her, I hoped her foot wasn't severely damaged, and I really didn't look forward to walking away. I could easily put her up there next to the man who sat next to us in Paris. Doesn't take long for me to decide I like someone.
We took our things up to the room, I got typing, and then we went down to the basement for dinner. I think I forgot to mention the Christmas ornaments, in the lobby they're blue and silver while downstair they're orange and gold. These are heart warming and shocking at the same time. I've been in fairly warm weather all this time, it's going to be a shock going back to freezing cold weather with snow and ice and have Christmas to look forward to.
While we ate dinner we talked about the things we needed to get done, such as pack and double check our reservations, and turn in the car.
After dinner I got to speak with the lady again (she'd come down the stairs, limping of course) and the rest of the group. They caught me as I was leaving the restaurant, asking me what classes I was taking, how I was doing schoolwork, where we'd been, etc.. The other older woman with the vest on was asked if she'd do that for her grandchildren (by her daughter) and she said, "Of course. It's great for both the grandkids and the grandparents. I'll bet you both are having a good time." It was a shame I had to go up and type some more. I really liked talking to them.
Once back up in the room I wrote and wrote until I felt I was going to fall asleep on my keyboard. I then closed up, got on my pj's, and climbed into bed.
This morning before we went down to breakfast I got dressed, washed my face, and then went to take a look out the window at the cloudless bay and the gorgeous beach. When I turned around I found ants on the floor. I took a closer look and realized that the ants were near my purse (also on the floor). I immediately alerted Ahmee to it, who sat down on the bed and laughed when I exclaimed, "The ants are in my purse! They're using my zipper as a ladder! Why are they in there?! I haven't got any food!" As she chuckled I popped open my purse, took out my french handbook, my spanish flashcards, my postcards, my glasses case, and my umbrella bag. At the very bottom I found a little package wrapped up in a white paper towel that had more than the average amount of ants on it. I immediately knew that this was the brownie I'd searched for months ago (had a terrible feeling it was from the first time we were in France). When I found this I went, "Oh. I do have food in there." I threw away my brownie thinking, "Those suckers got my chocolate!" I then took my purse outside and I put all of my things outside with it (because they had a few ants on them).
When we went down to breakfast (before hand I sent off work) and afterwards when I was putting my things back together (sadly enough some of my things got wet when they were outside) Ahmee told Poppy about my ant episode. It gave her quite a laugh and I can't really say that I blame her.
Once everything was together we went downstairs where we waited in line to check out (Ahmee and I admiring the layout of the building and the christmas decoration). Then when we were free to go we got on the road headed north to Lisbon. We stopped once to try and get into a church (church in Bispo) which Ahmee and Poppy had seen before and which had a beautiful interior. The door wasn't open though and we never found the door so I never got to see the blue tiles and the painted ceiling within (except for on the pamphlet Ahmee had). So we moved on and passed through the countryside and avoided the highway. Most of the time we went slowly, watching the scenery and the windy road. We went through forests with pine trees, cork trees, and other plants. The hills were rolling, the roads reminded me of the curvy ones my Momma loves to drive on, and the plants reminded me of Japanese mountainsides (prints) and of other places I'd seen. The rain wasn't much of a hindrance until we went off the road to the beach. We got out to walk on the sand. My objective was to touch the Atlantic again, which I did. I got close to one of the barnackle-covered rocks and touched the water in the small pool there. It was freezing but the smell and the sights were wonderful. I'd never been to a beach that was framed by cliffs. I'd never been to a beach that had rocks that had those pools and that had those rocks. I did recognize the plant life though when we were getting back into the car (and battling the rain and wind). The century plants, plants that are related to Yuccas and that bloom once after thirty years and then die with lots of babies at their base, the yuccas, the icicle plants (saw those on top of the cliffs at Sagres), and the pines in the background on the hills. For those of you who don't know about yuccas, I recommend you do a bit of research. They are common in the southwest U.S., and were used for all kinds of things by the Indians (paper, tea, etc.). They also have really beautiful blooms.
When we got back on the road our wet clothes caused the windows to fog up, which was slightly annoying for those of us who wanted to see out the window. When Poppy turned on the cooler we were able to look out the windows at the newly harvested cork trees (they scrape the bark off the trees every now and then-no idea how often-leaving the bottom part of the trees orange), at the pine trees (which I really love), the grasses, and the pueblos (which I thought were exceedingly pretty).
Finally we passed through a section of mostly pine trees, went around a curve which had a restaurant across the street from a cork tree that hadn't been harvested yet, and then on down the road we saw another storks nest just above someone's house. At that point we decided it was a good time to turn around and get a picture of the stork posing in his nest, and to head back to the cork tree so I could feel its bark. We did both of these things. The stork was beautiful and stayed still for us, and the cork tree contained many wonderful gifts for us, or at least for me. We parked in the restaurant parking lot to the greeting of two massive dogs which I had to tell to stay put as we crossed the street. Once I got close to the cork tree I exclaimed at the smell which Ahmee at first didn't notice. I then walked over and poked the slightly squishy bark. It was too cool! Of course, those of you who've felt the cork of a wine bottle know what it feels like, but touching it as it was growing was awesome. When we walked under the pine trees the smell came into my nostrils again and I immediately relaxed and told Ahmee to smell the air. She said it was definitely the pine trees and that she wouldn't be surprised if that smell brought me great joy for the rest of my life (we had pine trees in our backyard in North Carolina, I grew up with that smell as a kid). We crossed the street and went into the multi-themed restaurant where we were seated by the gracious chef/waitor. His wife later came to check on us and explained the decoration (had african elements, thai elements, and english elements) by saying that he enjoyed traveling and that all of the things that were on the menu were things he'd come across. I got Thai rice with chicken while Ahmee and Poppy had the enchiladas. When our dishes came we were more than happy we stopped there, even if it was a bit of a wait. Our food was delicious. Before I got too far into my food I went outside and called the smaller brown dog to me, squatting down and cautiously letting him sniff my hand. I say this dog is smaller, but really he was quite large. He's about the size of our Australian Shepard/Border Collie, Buster. When he let me pet his head I felt a breath of air on my head and caught out of the corner of my eye the sight of the larger dog. This dog was as tall as an average table. He was grey with black flecks, had floppy ears, had intelligent eyes, and had a head about the size of... well, mine. I used my left hand to pet the brown dog as I pet the larger dog with my right hand. I let both of the dogs sniff me all over and then I slowly stood up. I enjoyed petting them. They were both gorgeous dogs. What amused me was when the larger dog got jealous and shoved himself between the brown dog and me (causing me to take a step back and causing the other dog to get jealous too). The brown down then put his paws up and over the other dogs back and put his paws on my chest. After this the dogs went into a play-fight. All the grey dog had to do was put one paw down on the brown dog and the brown dog would crumple. I was glad they were both playful because I know that that HUGE dog could've easily have killed the other one. My momma would've loved that grey dog. It's a shame I didn't get to talk to him again.
I went back inside to finish up my rice. Before it was all gone I gave the sauce in the bowl a try. I only dipped my fork in partially to get a few drips, but that stuff lit me up faster than anything I've ever tasted. It was so hot it made my eyes water, my mouth burn, my tongue throb, and my lips burn for an hour after I'd tasted it. Poppy saw this reaction, saw me take a drink of my water and then wolf down rice, and he decided he wanted to try a bit of my hot sauce. I told him to only dip his fork in. He took my advice and I'm absolutely certain he's glad he did. He had the same reaction I did. When the woman came around she talked about how her husband loved hot stuff and we told her about how we'd tried the sauce straight out. At this she looked a bit worried and said, "That stuff is hot!! It's got different spices in it, it's not peppers." At this Poppy told her it was the hottest stuff he'd ever tasted. She recommended trying a teeny tiny bit on the rice. I didn't need any on my rice. The pineapple with the spice left over caused enough of a reaction for my tongue. Poppy gave it a shot though and he said again that that stuff was really hot (he only put a drop on a plate full of rice and it put a small kick into it).
After lunch we thanked the woman and the man, pocketed their card, and then got back on the road, our lips still burning and our stomachs churning a tiny bit from the spice within.
After lunch we also started to get in a hurry to get to Lisbon. We went through towns, searching for a way to Lisbon, we passed highways in an effort to reach a preferable road, only to discover that road was inaccessible and to turn back, we hurried as fast as we could as the sun got farther and farther down the sky. We did not however forget to look out the windows of the car. We saw fields of cork trees, villages with tiny roads, barnyards with cork stacked neatly under tarp, rolling hills, cloudy skys, and an occasional gift such as the one man who rode his white horse into town and had the horse tethered as he chatted with his friend. We only stopped once, and that was when we got on the highway. We pulled off to a rest area where everyone else seemed to be stopping to use the toilet. I think I forgot to mention that this day is a national holiday in Portugal. It's their Independence Day. Almost everything was closed, all of the veterans had their uniforms on, and everyone was out partying. Ahmee and I were certain everyone was stopping there for food and for the toilet on their way to or from festivities.
While in the restroom in the rest area Ahmee and I got to wait in line for a toilet that had paper. I heard the news from a woman who had short, gray hair, who had on a red vest and who was traveling with another woman who was tall with brown curly hair and who had on all jean material (jean jacket, jean pants, only her white undershirt wasn't made of jeans). Both of these women told the others, in vain, that the four stalls at the far end had no toilet paper. Since they didn't know Portuguese and the women in line didn't know English many people went in, only to come out announcing "No papel!" (or something along those lines). I ended up in one of these stalls.
Immediately after this we got back on the road to frantically head into Lisbon (crossing a bridge that was several kilometers long) and to make our way to the airport to find a hotel. Our objective was to find a hotel near the airport because we officially had two days left before we got on an airplane to go home. When we got off the highway we went around the round-about near the airport to discover something that was disheartening: there weren't any hotels in sight. Another disheartening fact was that the sun had long gone from the sky and we had to go into Lisbon in the dark to look for a hotel. We decided to head towards the centro. We ended up taking a wrong turn and heading towards the university instead. As we drove around in the dark, anxiously peering out the windows I gave out an order that we've all heard before and that's worked for us before, "Hey Ahmee! You take the left and I'll take the right!" We went down the street like this and when I spotted two hotels I was ecstatic. On the right I saw a Hotel Zurich, and a Hotel Lisboa, both of which were high-rises and had huge signs at the top (meaning they're at least over 3 stars and most likely are expensive). We made our way into the Hotel Zurich parking lot where we parked the car and got out to search for the entrance to the Hotel Zurich. We didn't find it. Instead we found a Holiday Inn, which we eagerly went into, got a room, and got someone to help us park the car. As we were standing there asking questions with the lady at the desk a group of people walked in.
This has got to be one of the oddest things so far. The women who walked in were the same women we saw in the rest area's restroom alongside the highway. The thin, curly haired, older woman waved and said, "Oh! We saw you in the restroom!" I ended up having a wonderful conversation with this woman as her colleagues got a room (she was traveling with her son, his wife-lady in jeans, and her mother-lady with a vest on and short, straight hair). They were from Iowa and South Dakota, and had been traveling for over 6 days (she said they'd been to Spain for 6 days and mentioned 4 different cities). The woman I was talking to had lived in England and asked me where we'd been and was delighted when I said we'd been to England. She told me how she loved the thatched roofs, the small towns, and even the large cities, saying, "I loved London!" She and I agreed that we both loved the small towns and the big cities, it was just the old sections of town that seemed too closed in. She told me about how Portugal has killer pottery and ceramics, "I'm here for the ceramics."; how she was looking forward to getting back to her dog named Curly Sue (at which we were shocked and amazed because Ahmee has a dog named Curly Sue- this woman laughed when she found out our Curly Sue wasn't curly); and how she'd recently seriously injured her right foot. She told me that she loved the shoes here, she'd gotten two pairs of boots and a pair of shoes, all of which had heels. She said that she slipped when stepping off a curb while wearing these heeled boots and she'd ended up twisting her ankle pretty badly. I don't know how long she's been limping around, but she said that her right foot is now black and blue all over and the only shoes she can wear were her sandals. She said she was going to a doctor as soon as she got home. This lady was absolutely wonderful. I loved talking to her, I hoped her foot wasn't severely damaged, and I really didn't look forward to walking away. I could easily put her up there next to the man who sat next to us in Paris. Doesn't take long for me to decide I like someone.
We took our things up to the room, I got typing, and then we went down to the basement for dinner. I think I forgot to mention the Christmas ornaments, in the lobby they're blue and silver while downstair they're orange and gold. These are heart warming and shocking at the same time. I've been in fairly warm weather all this time, it's going to be a shock going back to freezing cold weather with snow and ice and have Christmas to look forward to.
While we ate dinner we talked about the things we needed to get done, such as pack and double check our reservations, and turn in the car.
After dinner I got to speak with the lady again (she'd come down the stairs, limping of course) and the rest of the group. They caught me as I was leaving the restaurant, asking me what classes I was taking, how I was doing schoolwork, where we'd been, etc.. The other older woman with the vest on was asked if she'd do that for her grandchildren (by her daughter) and she said, "Of course. It's great for both the grandkids and the grandparents. I'll bet you both are having a good time." It was a shame I had to go up and type some more. I really liked talking to them.
Once back up in the room I wrote and wrote until I felt I was going to fall asleep on my keyboard. I then closed up, got on my pj's, and climbed into bed.
11/30/08 We head towards Portugal, we see the countryside and it's splendid offerings, we arrive in Portugal, and we go to Sagres to visit the fort wh
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.
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.
11/29/08 We leave Marbella to stop in Rhonda and stay the night in Arcos (de la Frontera)
Pueblos blancos tiene muchas casas blancos. Los pueblos es moy bonita y normalmente pequeno. Rhonda es no pueblo pequeno ahora. Es una ciudad pequeno.
This morning we got up, ate breakfast, and got ourselves packed. I was the first one done and I went around the house getting things together. It wasn't long before we were on the road (after we'd dropped off our three remotes and the key). This time I didn't get to write. It would've been foolish to write after we'd gotten off the highway.
After we got off the highway we went up and up into the mountains on a windy, curvy road (I was thankful it wasn't a skinny road). This was the last I would see of the Mediterranean (at least for a long time) and of Gibraltar. From the road in the mountains we had a clear view of the sea, of the rock of Gibraltar, of the many many many resorts that were along the beach (actually we passed through one in the mountains), and of the city of Marbella. As we drove away and into the green mountains I looked back and was amazed to see how the sea seemed to blend in with the sky. The only indicator that your eyes had reached the beach was that a small boat was floating just above the line of the rooftops. The sea was so grey it matched the cloudy sky perfectly. Was pretty neat to see.
Along the drive we continued to go up and around curves. I had to focus on what was in front of us after a while because I started feeling only slightly carsick. I was able to enjoy the pine-covered mountains though which changed as we got higher up into an area that seemed to be composed mostly of rough rock. From a distance it appeared we were entering a land similar to the moon. There was barely any vegetation and there was very little life, that is, until we started heading downhill. Before we got all the way down the mountainside and into the valley we stopped at a restaurant that was alongside the road. There we sat down at the bar, drank coffee to warm ourselves (it was windy and chilly out), and watched Balto- a movie that I've only seen twice in my life but still felt wonderful to watch because it was something I recognized.
Later we stopped to grab a bite to eat in Rhonda. Rhonda is famous for it's bullfighting arena, and for it's geographical landscape. The two sections of town rest on two hills separated by a gorge that is hundreds of meters below. The ponte nuevo (the new bridge) connects the two sections of town and enables cars and pedestrians to travel between the two areas. We enjoyed wandering after we crossed this bridge and we also enjoyed a tiny bit of shopping before we stopped in a local cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Many other tourists stopped in in this cafeteria, among them was a German couple who we thoroughly enjoyed talking to (even if it was partially in Spanish and partially in English). What really delighted me was when they asked us if we were from the area. We're beginning to look European to the Europeans!! Wow!
We also talked about the weather, which was consistently deteriorating in value as we sat there. At first we argued that we were seeing rain (I thought it looked awefully small to be rain and it feel very slowly). Later we were all absolutely certain we were seeing ice. At that point we all headed out of the cafeteria to walk back over the bridge, through the giftshop of the bullring, and back to our car.
This second period in the car we passed through many different landscapes. First we saw the mountains with the occasional field of goats, sheep, and a select few horses. Then we passed out of the mountains and into farmland that had orange soil and had tilled rolling hills with a Pueblo Blanco here and there. As we passed through this landscape we came closer and closer to Arcos, one of the Pueblos Blancos that we had picked to stay the night in. When we reached Arcos we had a fun time getting to a parking place and then making our way up to find a hotel that Rick Steves had suggested (El Convento- aka: the Convent). Before setting out I said that it looked like an awfully long walk and that we might be better off staying close to our car. I then pointed out a hotel just down the street from us. We went on up anyway. Since I was extremely tired (I hadn't slept well the night before and three cups of coffee did nothing) and my fuse has recently been scarily short my mood continued to go downhill as we climbed uphill in search of this hotel. When we didn't find it we went through alleys to a square where we found a closed information office, a great view of the valley below and to the west, and a 4 star hotel that had a menu that had soup for 11 euros (or something close). My mood wasn't the best one. I was slowly getting more and more angry and frustrated that we didn't go with the hotel that was at hand, and at the same time I was getting even more tired from the hiking. In short even when we found a hotel I was acting very very poorly, later Ahmee described it as "downright sulking". Sleepiness and anger don't work well together. Tore Soto was the name of the hotel we found. It's interior was gorgeous and the man at the desk was more than ready to show us the room (he practically ran when he showed it to us). It was wonderful and it was in a great spot, right on top of the hill near the old section. What I didn't look forward to one bit was bringing the luggage up the hill. Luckily the man at the desk suggested a cab, otherwise Poppy and I would've been carrying the luggage up the hill and I'm certain I might've exploded. I told Ahmee I was tired and she told me to go up to the room and rest while they grabbed the luggage. This I did. I thought about how nasty I was acting, how I needed to calm down, and how I needed to explain myself to Ahmee and Poppy as soon as they got back and apologize for it.
When they got back with the luggage I told them that I was tired and I'd gotten frustrated, not with the wifi, but with them not taking the suggestion for the hotel. I said that I'd pretty much gotten a moment similar to the one that Ahmee had when we were entering Florence. I also apologized for acting so ugly (even if I didn't blow up I didn't contain my discontent very well), and we were fine. Ahmee and Poppy understood, and they said it was ok. After that we got back out into the streets of Arcos. We went back to the information center, which was then open. There we got a map of Arcos that told us where all of the important buildings were. We had an excellent time walking around the extremely thin streets of Arcos, looking at the white walls, checking out the gardens, reading about the Church of St. Peter, looking at the art museum, and generally just checking out what appeared to be the oldest section of town (people had to carry their groceries because their cars were too big). One of the highlights of the walk was the terrace view we found on the south side of town. This was right near what I thought was a school, had plenty of graffiti on the walls, and had a view that was absolutely stunning. From there we could see the lake and the mountains to the East, the farmland to the West, the town directly south and below us, and plenty of rooftop gardens. Since it was windy out most of these potted gardens had plants that had been knocked over. Something that was surprising to find was the many houses that had pools. These were to the West, and right on the edge of the road and the farmland. It would've made me chuckle to find out that these homes were the homes of farmers who had made plenty of money selling their crops. This is something that you can find in the United States too. Farmers driving around in mustangs, but then you can also find people who've borrowed far too much and who are driving those (these are the people who can't really afford them).
On the walk back to the hotel we stopped in one shop to look at the Flamenco Aprons and to grab a few postcards (none of which we're going to send because we'll be getting home before they will). Then once back at the hotel we went upstairs, used the bathroom, read about the Andaluzian Horses (beautiful white horses that are extremely agile, cunning, etc.), and then went downstairs to grab drinks and some food for Happy Hour. Ahmee and Poppy had wine while I sipped my Coca cola and ate olives. Ahmee asked me to describe some of the people in my show choir. Those of you in my showchoir I was talking about you for over three hours. Something I don't enjoy doing and try not to do often is gossiping about people and causing drama. Thing is though I only tell a few people what I see in others and how I regard their actions. I've talked to my Momma, my Emma, my Sara, my Iain, my Ahmee, and my Poppy about the people in show choir now. The conversation was very fun, for Ahmee and for me at least.
After dinner we went up to our room where I finished up my summaries/discriptions as we got ready for bed. When we climbed under the covers it was 11 o clock at night. Ahmee and Poppy both told me as they turned off their lights, "Night Rachel! Make sure you speak loudly and clearly for us tonight!"
I disappointed them. I didn't say a word that night, because I hardly slept at all.
This morning we got up, ate breakfast, and got ourselves packed. I was the first one done and I went around the house getting things together. It wasn't long before we were on the road (after we'd dropped off our three remotes and the key). This time I didn't get to write. It would've been foolish to write after we'd gotten off the highway.
After we got off the highway we went up and up into the mountains on a windy, curvy road (I was thankful it wasn't a skinny road). This was the last I would see of the Mediterranean (at least for a long time) and of Gibraltar. From the road in the mountains we had a clear view of the sea, of the rock of Gibraltar, of the many many many resorts that were along the beach (actually we passed through one in the mountains), and of the city of Marbella. As we drove away and into the green mountains I looked back and was amazed to see how the sea seemed to blend in with the sky. The only indicator that your eyes had reached the beach was that a small boat was floating just above the line of the rooftops. The sea was so grey it matched the cloudy sky perfectly. Was pretty neat to see.
Along the drive we continued to go up and around curves. I had to focus on what was in front of us after a while because I started feeling only slightly carsick. I was able to enjoy the pine-covered mountains though which changed as we got higher up into an area that seemed to be composed mostly of rough rock. From a distance it appeared we were entering a land similar to the moon. There was barely any vegetation and there was very little life, that is, until we started heading downhill. Before we got all the way down the mountainside and into the valley we stopped at a restaurant that was alongside the road. There we sat down at the bar, drank coffee to warm ourselves (it was windy and chilly out), and watched Balto- a movie that I've only seen twice in my life but still felt wonderful to watch because it was something I recognized.
Later we stopped to grab a bite to eat in Rhonda. Rhonda is famous for it's bullfighting arena, and for it's geographical landscape. The two sections of town rest on two hills separated by a gorge that is hundreds of meters below. The ponte nuevo (the new bridge) connects the two sections of town and enables cars and pedestrians to travel between the two areas. We enjoyed wandering after we crossed this bridge and we also enjoyed a tiny bit of shopping before we stopped in a local cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Many other tourists stopped in in this cafeteria, among them was a German couple who we thoroughly enjoyed talking to (even if it was partially in Spanish and partially in English). What really delighted me was when they asked us if we were from the area. We're beginning to look European to the Europeans!! Wow!
We also talked about the weather, which was consistently deteriorating in value as we sat there. At first we argued that we were seeing rain (I thought it looked awefully small to be rain and it feel very slowly). Later we were all absolutely certain we were seeing ice. At that point we all headed out of the cafeteria to walk back over the bridge, through the giftshop of the bullring, and back to our car.
This second period in the car we passed through many different landscapes. First we saw the mountains with the occasional field of goats, sheep, and a select few horses. Then we passed out of the mountains and into farmland that had orange soil and had tilled rolling hills with a Pueblo Blanco here and there. As we passed through this landscape we came closer and closer to Arcos, one of the Pueblos Blancos that we had picked to stay the night in. When we reached Arcos we had a fun time getting to a parking place and then making our way up to find a hotel that Rick Steves had suggested (El Convento- aka: the Convent). Before setting out I said that it looked like an awfully long walk and that we might be better off staying close to our car. I then pointed out a hotel just down the street from us. We went on up anyway. Since I was extremely tired (I hadn't slept well the night before and three cups of coffee did nothing) and my fuse has recently been scarily short my mood continued to go downhill as we climbed uphill in search of this hotel. When we didn't find it we went through alleys to a square where we found a closed information office, a great view of the valley below and to the west, and a 4 star hotel that had a menu that had soup for 11 euros (or something close). My mood wasn't the best one. I was slowly getting more and more angry and frustrated that we didn't go with the hotel that was at hand, and at the same time I was getting even more tired from the hiking. In short even when we found a hotel I was acting very very poorly, later Ahmee described it as "downright sulking". Sleepiness and anger don't work well together. Tore Soto was the name of the hotel we found. It's interior was gorgeous and the man at the desk was more than ready to show us the room (he practically ran when he showed it to us). It was wonderful and it was in a great spot, right on top of the hill near the old section. What I didn't look forward to one bit was bringing the luggage up the hill. Luckily the man at the desk suggested a cab, otherwise Poppy and I would've been carrying the luggage up the hill and I'm certain I might've exploded. I told Ahmee I was tired and she told me to go up to the room and rest while they grabbed the luggage. This I did. I thought about how nasty I was acting, how I needed to calm down, and how I needed to explain myself to Ahmee and Poppy as soon as they got back and apologize for it.
When they got back with the luggage I told them that I was tired and I'd gotten frustrated, not with the wifi, but with them not taking the suggestion for the hotel. I said that I'd pretty much gotten a moment similar to the one that Ahmee had when we were entering Florence. I also apologized for acting so ugly (even if I didn't blow up I didn't contain my discontent very well), and we were fine. Ahmee and Poppy understood, and they said it was ok. After that we got back out into the streets of Arcos. We went back to the information center, which was then open. There we got a map of Arcos that told us where all of the important buildings were. We had an excellent time walking around the extremely thin streets of Arcos, looking at the white walls, checking out the gardens, reading about the Church of St. Peter, looking at the art museum, and generally just checking out what appeared to be the oldest section of town (people had to carry their groceries because their cars were too big). One of the highlights of the walk was the terrace view we found on the south side of town. This was right near what I thought was a school, had plenty of graffiti on the walls, and had a view that was absolutely stunning. From there we could see the lake and the mountains to the East, the farmland to the West, the town directly south and below us, and plenty of rooftop gardens. Since it was windy out most of these potted gardens had plants that had been knocked over. Something that was surprising to find was the many houses that had pools. These were to the West, and right on the edge of the road and the farmland. It would've made me chuckle to find out that these homes were the homes of farmers who had made plenty of money selling their crops. This is something that you can find in the United States too. Farmers driving around in mustangs, but then you can also find people who've borrowed far too much and who are driving those (these are the people who can't really afford them).
On the walk back to the hotel we stopped in one shop to look at the Flamenco Aprons and to grab a few postcards (none of which we're going to send because we'll be getting home before they will). Then once back at the hotel we went upstairs, used the bathroom, read about the Andaluzian Horses (beautiful white horses that are extremely agile, cunning, etc.), and then went downstairs to grab drinks and some food for Happy Hour. Ahmee and Poppy had wine while I sipped my Coca cola and ate olives. Ahmee asked me to describe some of the people in my show choir. Those of you in my showchoir I was talking about you for over three hours. Something I don't enjoy doing and try not to do often is gossiping about people and causing drama. Thing is though I only tell a few people what I see in others and how I regard their actions. I've talked to my Momma, my Emma, my Sara, my Iain, my Ahmee, and my Poppy about the people in show choir now. The conversation was very fun, for Ahmee and for me at least.
After dinner we went up to our room where I finished up my summaries/discriptions as we got ready for bed. When we climbed under the covers it was 11 o clock at night. Ahmee and Poppy both told me as they turned off their lights, "Night Rachel! Make sure you speak loudly and clearly for us tonight!"
I disappointed them. I didn't say a word that night, because I hardly slept at all.
11/28/08 Malaga's IKEA store
Para la casa necesito muchas cosas. Una cosa yo necesito en la casa, o en el servicio, es una toilet. Un otro cosa mucha personas necesitan en una casa es un television.
This day we really did go to the IKEA store. Ahmee had first introduced me to IKEA through the magazine, which I'd taken with me to my Dad's house as a "source of inspiration". The thing about IKEA is that it is pretty much the Walmart of interior. It is so easy to find furniture (most if it I like), sheets, kitchen utensils, curtains, fabrics, etc.. Since I adore Lowe's and Pier 1 it's no surprise to me that I love the IKEA store. It's got furniture that can be easily incorporated, is cheap, and is even cheaper if you put it together yourself (something that I'd be all over if I were shopping for furniture). This was one of those days where we were just going to browse and educate our tastes, something I'll never get tired of.
Before we got to the IKEA store we ate breakfast, got dressed, and got to find our way to the shopping district of Malaga. We'd seen the IKEA store from the highway twice, the second time we saw it Ahmee made a note of when a person would need to get off in order to go see it (I was busy writing). She got us to the IKEA store with no problem whatsoever.
While in the IKEA store we spent literal hours walking around in the galleries where they showed their furniture and their accessories. They had a living room section, a kitchen section, a home office, a library section (oooooooooooooh), a bedroom section, and a kids room section. Each of these sections contained examples of living rooms, kitchens, everything (but bathrooms). Some of the best ones were where they did a whole house. They had three to four rooms in this house and they used their furniture wisely because it was an apartment-sized home (small but in this case comfortable).
I found plenty of little inspirations while walking around. It's a shame we had to rush through the downstairs where all the accessories where (we were all getting hungry).
We left the IKEA store at about 2-3 o clock in the afternoon and as soon as we got through the traffic and back to our room we ate leftovers from Thanksgiving all put together in a soup. During lunch we talked about the things we liked about the displays, the furniture we liked in particular (my favorite pieces had to be the bookshelves), and what we thought we could pull off. After lunch Ahmee and Poppy went through all of our pretties to make a list and to put a price on each thing. While they separated my things from their things and recorded just how much I owed them (less than 300 dollars-I've made more than that working over the summer) I wrote on the computer. Since I was feeling particularly chatty/artistic I wrote a fair amount.
We ate dinner and watched CNN to check up on the situation in India before we went to bed.
This day we really did go to the IKEA store. Ahmee had first introduced me to IKEA through the magazine, which I'd taken with me to my Dad's house as a "source of inspiration". The thing about IKEA is that it is pretty much the Walmart of interior. It is so easy to find furniture (most if it I like), sheets, kitchen utensils, curtains, fabrics, etc.. Since I adore Lowe's and Pier 1 it's no surprise to me that I love the IKEA store. It's got furniture that can be easily incorporated, is cheap, and is even cheaper if you put it together yourself (something that I'd be all over if I were shopping for furniture). This was one of those days where we were just going to browse and educate our tastes, something I'll never get tired of.
Before we got to the IKEA store we ate breakfast, got dressed, and got to find our way to the shopping district of Malaga. We'd seen the IKEA store from the highway twice, the second time we saw it Ahmee made a note of when a person would need to get off in order to go see it (I was busy writing). She got us to the IKEA store with no problem whatsoever.
While in the IKEA store we spent literal hours walking around in the galleries where they showed their furniture and their accessories. They had a living room section, a kitchen section, a home office, a library section (oooooooooooooh), a bedroom section, and a kids room section. Each of these sections contained examples of living rooms, kitchens, everything (but bathrooms). Some of the best ones were where they did a whole house. They had three to four rooms in this house and they used their furniture wisely because it was an apartment-sized home (small but in this case comfortable).
I found plenty of little inspirations while walking around. It's a shame we had to rush through the downstairs where all the accessories where (we were all getting hungry).
We left the IKEA store at about 2-3 o clock in the afternoon and as soon as we got through the traffic and back to our room we ate leftovers from Thanksgiving all put together in a soup. During lunch we talked about the things we liked about the displays, the furniture we liked in particular (my favorite pieces had to be the bookshelves), and what we thought we could pull off. After lunch Ahmee and Poppy went through all of our pretties to make a list and to put a price on each thing. While they separated my things from their things and recorded just how much I owed them (less than 300 dollars-I've made more than that working over the summer) I wrote on the computer. Since I was feeling particularly chatty/artistic I wrote a fair amount.
We ate dinner and watched CNN to check up on the situation in India before we went to bed.
11/27/08 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! We eat killer food, walk on the beach, write, and get some scary news before dinner that make us truly thankful
Para la Fiesta de Thanksgiving nosotros comemos pollo, verduras, sandia, y sopa. Las platas son moy deliciosos. Nosotros se gusta mucho la Fiesta de Thanksgiving.
The point of thanksgiving is to recognize what you're thankful for and to enjoy your time. This we did splendidly.
Our plan was to eat wonderful food (I'm never able to recite everything I ate when I eat a feast), relax, and do only a few low-key things. Ahmee and Poppy planned on starting the day by sending emails to everyone. After that they wanted to go for a walk on the beach and then head back to the room. Once back in the room they wanted to read and relax while I wrote. Then later on we'd go for another walk before happy hour and then we'd watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before eating dinner.
We did almost all of these. Early on I decided I was going to dress up in my orange shirt, blue jeans, sparkly belt, turquoise jewelry, and my orange scarf. This outfit made me feel very pretty when we went and emailed everyone and went for a walk on the beach. We didn't actually walk on the beach, we sat and watched the rough waves and the high tide before we went back to the room. Once there I sat down in my corner and wrote while Ahmee and Poppy read. I didn't go on another walk on the beach, I was busy writing; and we didn't watch the Thanksgiving Parade, we watched the news on CNN over the terrorist attacks in India.
The news we received rattled us. I don't remember the details, I just know that in Mumbai (sp?) a force of twenty or more terrorists came in by boat and attacked multiple areas: the central station, an important touristy cafe, two hotels, and the Hospital (also a Jewish Cultural Center). I found out later that these "very very young men" had had specific targets, and that they'd killed some of the top officials who were the first on the scene. It being scary enough that this could happen with everyone being completely blind to it coming, what managed to really frighten us was the fact that the terrorists were singling out British and American tourists. While eating dinner (Poppy shut off the tv) we were all extremely grateful we weren't in India, but then we also realized that a terrorist attack could happen anywhere. What I wondered while I ate my chicken and my vegetables, was: Why did those men single out the American and British tourists? They were very specific in their aim with the India police officials. Do they have another goal besides creating terror? Are they looking for a specific person? Do they want top officials representing the U.S. and Britain to come so they can take a swipe?
Of course all of these questions came along with those of: who did this? Who planned this? Who payed for this? Who trained the men? Who do they have on the inside?
After eating desert and cheering each other up significantly, we turned on the tv again to see what else CNN had to report on the situation in India. I was so busy thinking about this that when I went to bed I couldn't get to sleep but for another hour, wishing I knew more.
Once I got to sleep I stayed asleep.
The point of thanksgiving is to recognize what you're thankful for and to enjoy your time. This we did splendidly.
Our plan was to eat wonderful food (I'm never able to recite everything I ate when I eat a feast), relax, and do only a few low-key things. Ahmee and Poppy planned on starting the day by sending emails to everyone. After that they wanted to go for a walk on the beach and then head back to the room. Once back in the room they wanted to read and relax while I wrote. Then later on we'd go for another walk before happy hour and then we'd watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before eating dinner.
We did almost all of these. Early on I decided I was going to dress up in my orange shirt, blue jeans, sparkly belt, turquoise jewelry, and my orange scarf. This outfit made me feel very pretty when we went and emailed everyone and went for a walk on the beach. We didn't actually walk on the beach, we sat and watched the rough waves and the high tide before we went back to the room. Once there I sat down in my corner and wrote while Ahmee and Poppy read. I didn't go on another walk on the beach, I was busy writing; and we didn't watch the Thanksgiving Parade, we watched the news on CNN over the terrorist attacks in India.
The news we received rattled us. I don't remember the details, I just know that in Mumbai (sp?) a force of twenty or more terrorists came in by boat and attacked multiple areas: the central station, an important touristy cafe, two hotels, and the Hospital (also a Jewish Cultural Center). I found out later that these "very very young men" had had specific targets, and that they'd killed some of the top officials who were the first on the scene. It being scary enough that this could happen with everyone being completely blind to it coming, what managed to really frighten us was the fact that the terrorists were singling out British and American tourists. While eating dinner (Poppy shut off the tv) we were all extremely grateful we weren't in India, but then we also realized that a terrorist attack could happen anywhere. What I wondered while I ate my chicken and my vegetables, was: Why did those men single out the American and British tourists? They were very specific in their aim with the India police officials. Do they have another goal besides creating terror? Are they looking for a specific person? Do they want top officials representing the U.S. and Britain to come so they can take a swipe?
Of course all of these questions came along with those of: who did this? Who planned this? Who payed for this? Who trained the men? Who do they have on the inside?
After eating desert and cheering each other up significantly, we turned on the tv again to see what else CNN had to report on the situation in India. I was so busy thinking about this that when I went to bed I couldn't get to sleep but for another hour, wishing I knew more.
Once I got to sleep I stayed asleep.
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