Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 233

Left the hotel at 6:30 this morning for the Dublin airport. Got a little worried when our flight was slightly delayed about half an hour (because that was the way my flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt started), but we got to Porto OK (well, most of us did....) Sadly (and surprisingly), three of our group had to stay in Dublin because of visa troubles. One is Chinese, and the other two are Peruvian, and they had visited Germany before coming to Ireland to meet the class. Turns out that they had applied for a "multiple entry" visa but got a "single entry" visa instead (and didn't realize this before they left). So, their entry into Germany counted as their one entry, and once they left Germany for Ireland, they couldn't get back into Portugal and Spain. ... read more

Today, I went to a mass, a tower, more Roman ruins, and a film. First the film, "Mr. Bean's Holiday." Seats are reserved, there is an intermission, pop corn is about $6 for a big bucket, you can get booster seats for kids, and they have a senior price that made it aobut $4.50 for me. The tower, see the picture, gave me a view of the whole city. The mass, at the Braga Cathedral, was very "high church." I'm sure there's a word for that, but I haven't a clue what it might be in any language. The cathedral was totally full, with whole front section, maybe 20 rows, reserved for priests--all decked out in white robes. I was surprised to see the donation basket receiving only coins, no bills. Then I remembered, the ... read more

We have just spent a wonderful, relaxing 9 days in Portugal. We started and ended in Lisbon, and in the middle, we took a tour around central and southern Portugal, staying in different pousadas every night. The pousadas we stayed in are historical hotels - either built in, near or as part of castles, monasteries, convents or palaces. For those of you who have spent some time here, you know that Portugal is not a very big country - about the size of Indiana. But it has all sorts of terrain and climates packed into its small borders. We drove by beautiful beaches and fields of cork and olive trees and we also wound our way up into the hills upon which castle after castle was built to protect the country from invaders, mainly from Spain. ... read more

Everything here so far has seemed small compared to Alaska, so much humanity schrunced into so little space, small doors, small chairs, small people, and me feeling like a bull in a china shop. I try to go slow and not mess things up too badly, but you all know how I am--you can't take me anywhere! Yesterday, I dripped coffee on the neatly pressed, embroidered linen table cloth at breakfast. Today, I was more careful and managed to hold the mess to a spot of yogurt, which was, at least, the same color as the table cloth. However, today "small" went out the window. I took the "teleferico," a cable car up to Penha, way above the city. I'm not sure I've ever seen rocks so huge. I'll upload some pictures tomorrow from Braga. Here, ... read more

You never know what will be similar and what will be different in a foreign country. Parking is like in Seattle where you go to a machine, insert money (not sure if you can use a credit card or not), get a ticket, and put itin you car window. On the other hand, shopping carts are very different. They are locked in a little like the luggage carts at the airport, and you have to insert a .50€ piece to use it. When you put it back, you can retrieve your .50€. Today, I'm in Guimaraes, a lovely small town with tons of flowers and fountains. Quite a culture shock to get out of the big cities. Guimaraes is called the cradle of Portugal. I don't recall the full story, but this is where the Spanish ... read more