Portugal

Hola,

Our time in Portugal is about up. I am now on my way back to Madrid on the overnight train to catch a flight to Athens...next stop Greece! The next 24 hours or so will not be easy, but will certainly leave plenty of time for traveloging.  The town we were in was called Valenca...it is right on the Minho River that divides Portugal and Spain. Our job was to help out at a holiday retreat called Yavanna so that they would be ready for guests in the Spring. Some of our work included: building a fence to support raspberry vines, stacking chopped logs, removing a huge pampas grass (don't ever plant a pampas grass),  burning brush, trimming ivy...to name a few. In exchange we stayed two weeks in one of their great rental houses in the good company of the owners, an English couple, Eunice and Mark. Eunice was a professional chef in past years, and joining them for the occasional meal or frequent "tea time" was a real treat. It was also refreshing to hear English being spoken, something I had not anticipated missing. The region is an interesting mix of old and new, ancient architecture and age old traditions are everywhere you look, as well as all of the modern conveniences...the church bells ringing out the hours can be heard throughout the entire valley.  Local wines are made by almost every family; it is hard to find a house that does not have at least a couple of grape vines for this purpose, although few sell it commercially outside the valley. These wines are available at the central cafe' for about .50 a glass, making for fun afternoons and interesting bike rides. Every local town does a big "market" on a different day...we checked out a couple of these and were amazed by the size of them and the great prices. I drooled over a tent selling beautiful new copper stills in every size, but decided the chance of passing immigration with one was low.
 Already there has been some adjusting and settling, but Mark and Eunice's place was so comfortable we have had an easy time of it. It can be trying to be in a place where you don't speak the language or understand the customs; even the simplest tasks are difficult and everything takes twice as long as it should. It is a strange thing to go all day without understanding a word anyone says...to give an over-dramatic example, it is like watching a movie...whats going on is familiar, but you can't really interact with it. That said, everything is exciting and new and it all feels very adventurous. Hopefully our generally good luck will continue and we will get more used to being in such unfamiliar surroundings. In a couple of days we will be in Crete, Greece, and from there I will try and post some pictures of Portugal.

Adios!