Life at the Villa II

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Sorry about the delay in posting this. Partly due to the fantastic blue skies and sunshine in week two at the Villa, partly due to the travel blur that followed villa life.

After our weekend away at Aveiro, Figueia da Foz, and overnight in Porto before the Douro River cruise we returned to our ‘normal’ routine at the villa 22 - 27 September.
Monday morning the girls went shopping for some supplies and returned with a much needed “Mata Moscas”, translated as “killer of flies”. In other words, a simple fly swatter. Since today was mostly a relaxation and hang around day, our first cloudy gray day since we got here did not really interfere with anything or dampen spirits.

The girls also returned from their shopping expedition with meat and produce they had bought at a local farmers market. After all, we are in a rural, agricultural area. So we had fresh chicken to barbeque for dinner along with fresh vegetables to grill, and pasta. Naturally we also had “Nata” for dessert. This seems to be a Portuguese favourite and can best be described as saying to think of a firm crème brule in a pastry tart shell. They are really quite good.

Tuesday was our short drive of about 70 kilometres to Villa Real where we visited Casa de Mateuse, the birthplace of Mateuse wine. Then it was back to the villa for more afternoon time in the 27C sunshine.

And I’m sorry to tell you but Wednesday was just another beautiful day in paradise at the villa. Gorgeous blue skies all day and glorious sunshine taking us to at least 28C. There were more than just a few rays caught around the pool. I don’t think it gets any better ! There could almost be two stories about life at the villa and one of them would be the wonderful basic simple food and culinary creations we have been enjoying. We dined on a delicious creation of grilled fish, mixed pasta and vegetables, along with fresh this morning Portuguese bread and cheeses accompanied by the fine local red and white wines of the neighbourhood. Luckily for us besides the ‘sample’ bottles our landlord, Antonio, had left for us on our arrival he was also smart enough to market his product by leaving a couple of cases in the laundry room. Antonio is proud of his products but he said he was most proud of his rose’ wine. I’m not much of a wine connoisseur but I can understand why he is so proud of his rose’.

The only frustration on this day was than when I trekked to the village internet café to post the “Canals, Trains, & Boats” blog I was unable to connect the notebook to the internet through their modem. So again with limited access we all have to be patient. Me about the challenges of gaining access and some of you waiting to read more about our adventures and see a few photos. (I have to confess I forgot about this Villa II blog until someone reminded me after I got home) Sorry !

Thursday is a day of mixed emotions around the villa for all of us. It was a another glorious day of sunshine and blue skies but, unfortunately because of the variety of travel plans among the eight of us, today would be our last full day at the villa. It will be “On the road again” for some of us heading through Spain to France.

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