The Weekend Starts Here!

O Luain's Irish Pub, in Cascais

Today is Thursday. Tonight I will be going down into Cascais for a few (overpriced) beers, some food and some laughs all under the remit of having a Boy's Xmas Night Out. We did the same last year on the Thursday, with the promise of an early start for work in the morning. We hit the Irish Bar in town and Put The World To Rights, and then moved on to another bar in the main square for some food. I think it finished up at about 1am. The plan is the same for tonight, except I'm hoping for a midnight finish! Why does the traditional Boy's Xmas Night Out happen on the penultimate working Thursday each year? Well, many of the expats here want to jump on the first plane they can back to England after work on the Friday, heading straight out towards the airport with images of cosy English Christmases with their families engraved in their minds.

Saturday is going to be a busy day, and, if the rain holds off, my eldest is due to be going camping with is Scout group someplace. The location is currently being held a deeply guarded secret, but I'm sure it will be a very exciting adventure. If my memory serves me correctly, I think it was the Xmas Camp that was his first ever scout camp last year, and they went on the ferry from Belém, across the river to a campsite in the Costa da Caparica. At this moment I'm not sure what time he will be due to return on the Sunday, but I'm hoping that it won't be too late into the afternoon because....

Belenenses' Stadium, in Belém, ovelooking the river Tejo

On Sunday Estoril Praia are playing away against Belenenses, just a few kilometers away, along the Linha (the train line) in Belém. An excellent opportunity for further adventures with The Boys and our kids to watch some footie. Of course the supporters Gruppo are setting out on a much earlier train than the one I shall be catching, but then they shall probably be alighting from the train at every stop along the way for a cerveja or two at the platform bar. Kick off isn't until about 7pm, so all being well, my son's Scout Camp will be finished in plenty of time for us to get to the match. Following last weekend's fantastic 2-0 win against Gil Vicente, I'm hopeful that "O Mágico Estoril" can put behind them their recent European losses and maintain their fourth place standing in the Portuguese league. (Gawd, I hope I haven't just jinxed it!)

All in all, a very busy weekend ahead. And it starts this evening. It's probably just as well there's no work on Monday!

Christmas Again?

Well, it's nearly Christmas. It seems to have come around so quickly this year. I suppose the last month or so has just flown by in many ways. It's just been a busy old time. Winter is setting in for sure and jobs need doing. And so yet again i find myself apologising for not blogging often enough....

The Nativity Scene at Cascais Shopping Centre

So Winter is here. And it's been cold, but not too wet though. I kind of remember last year at about this time it was raining a lot. So, most days after tea I light a fire, to try to keep the house warm through the evening. I've erected a curtain up in the archway between our living room and the hallway and it seems to be doing it's job of stopping at least some of the heat from escaping out under the front door. Hopefully it will mean that we burn less firewood than last year and save a few quid, or at least have some left over for next winter.

As far as other Xmas preparations go, the tree went up a couple of weekends ago. The kids, particularly my youngest, are desperate to get their hands on the chocolate decorations, seemingly not content with their daily dose hidden behind the doors of their advent calendars. I was going to make a point of buying some new decorations, but it seems that with each passing year we have a growing collection of hand crafted items coming home from school, and so when I got the boxes out from the loft and opened them up, it didn't seem necessary. Maybe next year I will push the boat out and get a couple of new bits of tinsel?

The Nativity Scene at Cascais Shopping Centre

Christmas shopping is, as it always is for me, a difficult and slow process. It's not that I harbour some deep seated abhorrence of shopping or anything like that. In fact I quite like the opportunity to get out into the shopping mall on my own and waste a couple of hours meandering the halls. I'm just not very good at the actual shopping part. I need to prepare myself, make a list of things to buy and then get out there. The list is, of course, the difficult part; deciding what to buy people. Once I have a list, it's not too bad. Thankfully I have the next best thing to a list. A wife! She has of course done all the hard work and the vast majority of the present buying is done, dusted and posted off to the UK. All that is left for me to do is the one remaining and most difficult of present buying jobs: to buy her something! She's told me that she wants something to keep her feet warm. (See, I told you it was cold right now!) In some respects I'm happy enough to buy her some socks, but it's hardly original or, dare I say it, romantic? Maybe I'll get the kids a couple of extra stocking fillers while I'm out. It's always nice to go into Cascais Shopping at this time of year too, just to see the Nativity Scene. It's always fabulously detailed and every year it seems to get a little more intricate. It draws quite a crowd, with chidren queueing up to walk up the ramp and through, spotting the various festive characters lit up in the buildings on the way, and finally throwing a couple of coins in at the end.

Delicious Roasted Castanhas

I suppose the thing about Christmas that I look forward to most is the time off from work. Having the chance to relax, unwind and be with the family. We've decided to spend the Xmas holidays here in Portugal this year. Last year we saved up our money and flew to England for Xmas, but it just costs so much to get all five of us there and back. the year before that I remember taking the kids down to Carcavelos beach on Boxing Day and having lots of fun with a football. So here's looking forward to an enjoyable break filled with seafront strolls through the clear crisp wintry air, afternoons in the park with the children playing football and cosy evenings roasting Castanhas on the fire.

Breaking Things

First off, apologies again. It's been ages since I managed to find time to sit and blog. Excuses are abundant, and boring, and simply that; excuses. Doesn't help that this morning I accidentally deleted the post that I was about to publish...

A couple of weeks ago I found myself out shopping and performing the final deed of presenting my embarrassingly tattered plastic bank card to the cashier. The plastic on the front cover was peeling off from the corners to the extent that it had already removed my name and half the numbers from the card. The little golden microchip wouldn't be far behind and I had on numerous occasions thought to myself that I really ought to get down to the bank and order a new card. This was "It" though. Push had come to Shove and my card refused to be pushed into the card reader. Despite the cashier's attempts to flatten down the curling and creased plastic, it would not go in. Fortunately there was another option and, in a manner clearly indicating that she had encountered such a broken card before, she pulled the plastic a little further back exposing more of the orange plastic underneath and leaving the area on the reverse of the magnetic strip clear of any curly plastic edges, then, she deftly and purposefully swiped my card through the side of the card reading machine. The realisation hit strong and hard. The time for procrastination (and humiliation!) was over. I needed to get myself a new card.

The following day, I bolted it out of work, jumped in the car and drove to the bank. Most Portuguese banks have a two door system in place, with a swipe card reader on the first door to allow access to the cash machines out of hours and a bell on the second door to allow access to the bank itself. Hmm. With fingers crossed I swiped my card, and with thanks to the cashier from the shop the previous day, the little green light lit up and I pushed the door open. I turned to face the second glass door. I could see inside that there was a man behind the counter and as I pressed the bell he turned toward me and shouted something to me in that special way that people do when they are separated by a sheet of glass. I only caught the words for "closed" and "tomorrow" but I understood what he was trying to say.

The following day I was only working half the day so I succeeded in getting to the bank before it closed. It was quiet inside and I was the only customer, so I approached the desk to speak. I started the conversation in the same way that most of my conversations do, and apologised for not being able to speak Portuguese. The next sentence I had practiced in Portuguese, over and over; "I need a new card, please," and placed my broken and sad looking card on the desk in front of him. "Ok," he said, picking up the card and examining it closely. After that I struggled to keep up in Portuguese and after discovering that he spoke a little English, he repeated what he'd previously said. My replacement card would take between eight and ten days to arrive at my house by post. He looked at his computer screen for a moment, opened a desk drawer, placed my card inside and then told me that in the meantime I would have to use my credit card. I hope that the look of disbelief that spread across my face wasn't to obvious or, worse still, insulting, but I was genuinely expecting to get my card back and be able to carry on using it until my new one arrived, exactly in the manner that these things happen in England. Oh well. That was that. Nothing to do except to "Keep Calm and Carry On" as the saying goes.

A few days after my banking problems were resolved I was driving along the motorway and passed through the Via Verde lane at the toll booth. The usual green light failed to light up on the display and instead an orange one flashed up in it's place. On the way back it did it again. At least it wasn't red. Orange can't be that bad can it? I spoke to a few people at work about this and they seemed to agree. I remember that when I first installed the Via Verde transponder I was told by the lady at the office that it might show up orange for a few days before the system recognises it and I get green lights, but that it was normal and I was not to worry. But that was then, and this is now, and now I was starting to worry. After some scouting around on their website I found an FAQ page where, after some translation, I deduced that the problem was occurring because my transponder in the car's windscreen was attached not to my bank account, but to my specific bank card! A-ha!

There was only one thing to do. Pack up a book, some snacks and be prepared to take a numbered ticket to wait in line at the Via Verde office to sort the problem out. I joke, but to be honest the only other time I was there was when I bought the transponder and I had queued for what must have been the best part of an hour before being seen. The only place worse is the Finanças office! So, book in hand I entered the office. Apparently, my previous experience must have been on a quiet day! A quick re-think and I decided to plump for the very scary "option 2" of attempting to talk to someone in Portuguese on the phone. Getting things done face-to-face in Portuguese is hard enough sometimes, but when you can't see their facial expressions, body language and other non-verbal clues to help, it can simply be impossible. So i sat in the Via Verde office car park, dialed the number handily printed on the back of the transponder and waited for the "On Hold" music to come to it's inevitable untimely end and my call to be answered. With my usual opening apologetic line I added, "Você fala Inglês?" to which I received a very welcome, "No. Not much, but I try." Phew! Five minutes later, after much switching on both our parts between Portuguese and English I had established that all I needed to do was take my new bank card (when it arrived!) to a Multibank machine and follow a few simple instructions to attach my new bank card to my Via Verde account. After saying a hearty, "Thank you," in both languages I ended the call with a great sense of relief and some satisfaction of a job well done.

Red Nose Day

Right now I'm sitting here and I honestly cannot remember when Red Nose Day in England happens. I think it's March or sometime near there but I honestly cannot remember. I suppose that I could look it up, but it doesn't matter because I want to talk about Red Nose Day in Portugal, and the whole thing is done quite differently here.

Photo courtesy of the Official Doctor Clown Website

Firstly, it's not even called Red Nose Day. It's called Operation Red Nose and it is organised like a campaign, starting in September and culminating on October the 31st. It has been running since 2002 and it is very different to England's Comic Relief Day. Operation Red Nose (Operação Nariz Vermelho) is not so concerned with evenings of comedy mash-ups on the television but instead focuses on that old adage that "Laughter is the best medicine" and sends "Doctor Clowns" into hospitals, and in particular, in to children's wards, to keep the children smiling. There is a larger International movement which operates along the same lines, sending in the clowns (sorry couldn't resist!) to hospitals all over Europe to children's and elderly wards, to bring some happiness to those unfortunate people that are stuck in hospital, feeling sick or waiting nervously for an operation, and Portugal's Operation Red Nose is just a small part of that. I've no idea why it hasn't taken off in England in this way, but it should.

Photo courtesy of the Official Doctor Clown Website

Anyway, I'm going to include some links here, so that you can easily find out more about how it works and see for yourself some of the Clowns at work. If you'd like to visit the official Doctor Clowns website, you can Click Here. If you'd like to read (in English) about what they do in a recent Portugal News article, you can Click Here.

So, can you help? Well, yes you can. Operation Red Nose is sponsored by Colgate, who obviously want everyone to have nice big shiny white smiles, and you can donate a "Smile" through the Colgate website. It's easy! Click on This Link to go to the Colgate website and then Enter the site by clicking where it says "Entrar No Site". You'll see three big red buttons at the bottom of the page. The left one will donate 1 smile (Sorriso) for a click. The middle one will donate 2 smiles if you click and then share it onto your facebook page. The right one will donate a smile in exchange for a picture, but I'm not sure what or who you are supposed to upload a picture of, so click it if you dare! (It would probably make someone smile somewhere!) So, please, do it now. It only takes a second to click and donate a "Smile" or two and that in turn will help a poorly child to smile too.

Yellow Alert!

I think I jinxed it. The weather I mean. After my last post on Wednesday about the wind and rain, I heard yesterday afternoon that Portugal's meteorological institute had issued a Yellow Alert over the entire length and breadth of Portugal with strong winds and rain to be expected. I didn't quite believe it at the time, since yesterday morning was quite overcast and obviously threatening to rain, by lunchtime the clouds had started to drift away and the sun seemed to be making an appearance. The Portugal News was very clear about it though, forecasting rain from Thursday evening through on to midnight on Friday and (as the picture shows) continuing on into next week. The north would take the brunt of it but everyone should expect stormy weather.

Well, they didn't disappoint. I woke up this morning to thunder and lightning. Our kids were initially oblivious to it all, until prompted to look outside. Our daughter was in the bathroom when a particularly bright flash of lightning lit up the frosted window and she asked if we could count and work out how far away the storm was. There was an urgency about our house this morning, as we dug out raincoats and umbrellas, and talked about how we must leave for work and school a little earlier than we normally would do. And a good job that we did too! The roads were slippy from the rain washing a summer's worth of engine oil onto the surface. In places it was like ice and I could do nothing to stop the wheels from spinning a little on the entrance to one of the busier roundabouts near the motorway. Thankfully, and despite there being an obvious increase in the amount of traffic on the roads, people were tending to drive with great consideration for the conditions and a little more slowly and carefully than usual.

From the forecast it looks like that the end of summer, is as I suspected, here. If we're lucky we might just get one more little blast of left-over summer sunshine, but I doubt it. Even people I know in the Algarve and southern Spain are saying that summer is over and the rain has come. Besides, a little (slightly twisted) part of me wants the weather to get worse, just so that I can find out what colour alert comes after yellow!

By 'Eck, It's Blowy!

I say, it's turned out rather windy of late. Well, it was last week anyway. It's calmed down somewhat this week, but last week it was mighty blowy. The Portuguese weather, to be fair, has had it's ups and downs this summer. In Spring the general consensus was that it was going to be the coldest summer Portugal had ever seen. Back in June a fellow blogger that I follow posted an article about the Portuguese mid-afternoon wind, or "Wind O'clock" as they called it, which gave an excellent snapshot and a colourful insight into Portuguese weather. When I was camping with my family it was mostly cloudy, but then a couple of weeks afterwards the sun was out and it seemed like every day was a beach day. And then this last week the wind has really got up. One morning, I think it was last Tuesday, I woke up and opened the shutter doors to reveal that all the lovely clean clothes that had been hung on our plastic white horse, and that I had neglected to bring inside overnight, had been strewn far and wide across the cobbles of our garden. Yup, last week it was windy.

The summer in England on the other hand has been remarkably good, or so I hear. If I'm completely honest though, I don't really think about the weather in England that much any more. I don't go out of my way to avoid the weather forecast for England or anything like that, but I don't really make a point of waiting around after the news and watching it either. It's not like I don't care about it, but I sort of get an accurate enough picture of the English weather from people posting about it on their Facebook statuses! Oh, yes, us English just love talking about the weather.

But the weather here is not always nice. I know that many people (especially in England?) think of Portugal as being perpetually sunny and hot, but it simply isn't like that. That morning last week, when I was outside picking up the clothes from off the floor, it was cold. Windy and cold. Okay, so it was seven in the morning, but it felt cold. I know I mustn't grumble really, but I think I've become acclimatised to the Portuguese weather now. Well, at least partly. And I know that Winter is coming. The clues are there: The fact that people have started to talk about where they buy their firewood from and how much it costs; My neighbour bringing my family a bowl of grapes freshly harvested from his "farm in the north". All of this, plus the inescapable fact that the "windy season" seems to have arrived with much gusto, are signs that Winter is on it's way.

Today, this very morning, another portent, another sign that Winter is well and truly winging it's inevitable way towards us; the first rain. The last time I remember it raining was maybe back in May or possibly June. And yet today the clouds arrived, the sky became overcast and dull, and then, the rain started. Down it came. Suddenly, after months of dry dusty (but possibly not as hot as it could have been) weather, the air was filled with the long awaited fresh green scent of rain. So this morning as I looked out over the gardens at work and watched the rain splashing down on the lawn and creating ripples in the fountain, with a cup of coffee in my hand and a smile on my face, I breathed deeply in the sight, sound and smell of the rain. With my acclimatisation to Portuguese weather comes he understanding that the first rain after the summer is always something to be seen as a magical moment, almost as if the weather itself has held it's breath over the summer and finally can hold it no longer, suddenly letting go and flinging it's shoulders back as the pressure is finally released. And relax...

And so it may well be time to try and pick a dry day to get some firewood delivered.

Motivated Into Action

I've been messing around now for a couple of weeks trying to think of something vaguely interesting to blog about, with very little success. I've started a few Portuguese Culture posts and also added to and amended a few older drafts that have been sitting around, but that doesn't detract from the simple unequivocal fact that I have not finished a publishable post this last fortnight. The problem is that the summer holidays are over and I am now back at work and therefore back into the normal daily routine. Nothing interesting has actually happened, and therefore I have nothing interesting and new to say in a blog post.

Then yesterday morning, I needed to get some bread and a few other bits and bobs from the shop. If I had just needed bread I would probably have turned out of my garden gate, gone to the bar around the corner, bought half a dozen rolls and had a quick coffee while I was it at. But like I said, I needed a few other things so I didn't. Instead, I walked down towards the main road, heading for the mini-mercado about 15 minutes walk away towards the centre of Estoril. And on the way I saw lots of things that inspired me to write...

On the way out of my village, as the housing stops and the high rise flats start, there is a piece of what has for a long time been simply "waste ground" with some steps adjacent to it that lead up to the back end of the first apartment block. Well, it is waste ground no more! Clearly someone has had some money to spare and have spent it developing the area into a children's play park. It's by no means finished as yet, being little more than a mound of earth with no grass or plants, but there is already a swing, a climbing frame and what looks like a large pipe for the little ones to clamber through. My kids are understandably very excited about this, since currently the nearest play park is quite some distance away from our house, a good 25 minute walk up and over a steep hill, down in Monte Estoril. This new park will only be around the corner, and we all look forward eagerly to it being completed.

Further along the road I came to Estoril Praia's stadium. I'd heard from a friend and through facebook that they had been doing some maintenance and improvements to the ground to make it suitable for the up and coming Group phase matches in the Europa League, the first of which is this Thursday, against Seville. I'd heard that the once present, since broken and removed scoreboard is now back. I've seen pictures through the team's Facebook page of the nice blue and yellow paint that has obviously been liberally splashed around inside the ground. As I walked past today, I saw a gentleman climbing up one of the lighting towers that hold the floodlights, presumably to perform some kind of maintenance to the lights up there. (Rather him than me!) Lastly though, the biggest change has to be to the small building that I'd seen being erected and painted about a month ago. Nothing seems to have happened to it since, but today, as I walked past it was very difficult not to notice the huge Estoril Praia team logos emblazoning the sides. The blinds on the inside of the windows were drawn closed, whereas last week, if you got up close to the glass you could see through the slits to the emptiness inside. The fact that they are now fully closed would hint that there is now more than nothing inside, and I have heard rumours that this new Estoril Praia Shop will be opening on Monday. It would be rude to not go and have a look, now wouldn't it?

Lastly, on the way back up towards home I passed a tree. A tree that I have passed many times before on the road in and out of my village. You can't miss it you see, because it's right in the centre of the road, planted in a large white "pot" made of stone, making a sort of mini-roundabout, which people of the village often like to sit on, under the shade of the tree, to ponder life and pet their dogs. Well, for some reason, the trunk has been covered in a sewn together patchwork of knitted fragments of cloth, forming a sort of tree trunk scarf. It's red and bears the initials A.I.R. in small black letters on one side and in larger darker red on the other. My wife tells me that she saw some teenagers sewing the pieces together and wrapping them around the trunk last night. This is not the first time that I have seen tree trunks adorned with cloth in this fashion. In Monte Estoril last year, surrounding the Bird Park, the trees there had been clothed in a sort of fluffy white cloth, spiralling up from the base to the leaves. I had assumed that it was the remnants from some kind of Festa or party and that after the festivities the decorations had remained there because no one could be bothered to removed them. But that doesn't explain the recent clothing of the Roundabout Tree in my village. Right now, I'm stumped. (No pun intended!) I have no idea what it's about. I asked my neighbour today, and he didn't seem to know either. "I think it's just some artist doing it. They do it all over the place." And so the mystery of the decorated trees, at least for the time being, goes unsolved.

Once More Around The Ride

That time of year has come again when it seems that Summer is drawing to a close. All the signs are there...

My children start back to school next week, and even though some Portuguese schools have another week (or two?) of holiday to go yet, the shops are full of "Back to School" offers on books, stationary and cartoon branded rucksacks. We're all set though, right down to new ankle socks and fresh haircuts all round!

The football season is well underway, with of course Estoril Praia playing their third match tomorrow evening with no losses so far! The stats suggest that Estoril have a 56% chance of winning and a 25% chance of a draw, which means that Academica have only a 19% chance of winning. But that's just the statistics and in reality anything could happen. The numbers for the following match next weekend against Braga are the reverse of those though, giving Estoril only a 20% chance of winning. And of course the European Campaign continues as Estoril find themselves in Group H with Seville, Freiburg and Liberec. It seems that a gratuitous trip to the UK for an Estoril v Tottenham/Swansea/Wigan tie, is at least for the time being, not on the cards.

My neighbour and his family, like many other Portuguese families, have now returned from their traditional August holiday in the Algarve. And it is definitely quite a tradition for Portuguese families to head south on the 1st of August and not return until the 31st. When camping with my family in Milfontes this July I noticed that a decent proportion of the site was crammed with caravans that had obviously not been moved in some time. Most had awnings that had been pegged down to cope with the winter weather. Some had fake green lawns with a tarpaulin covered bbq in the corner. A few even had small picket fences around the pitch with pot plants in the corners. On the Friday night of our stay the site suddenly became much busier than it had been as families arrived, un-pegged, removed tarps, lit their bbq's, and settled in for the weekend, only to pack up and disappear again on Sunday evening. But that was in July. In August, when presumably, families go for the long haul and camp out for the entire month, adjacent to the same families that they've been pitching up next to every August since, well a long time ago, well that, that must be quite an experience.

Of course our own seasonal summer visitors have also come and now gone. It's always really nice to have our family come and visit us of course, and for my wife, children and I to join in the holiday spirit with trips to beaches and museums. But it cannot last, and when the airport runs are done it's time to slip back into the daily routine once again, leaving a strange empty quiet kind of hole.

So that's it. Summer is over. All the signs are there. Well, I suppose it is, and yet it isn't. The weather report for tomorrow says that it's still going to hit 36 degrees, which is far from what anyone in or from the UK would call cold! And yet, on social media streams from England I already hear people telling tales of Christmas hitting the supermarket shelves and counting down the number of shopping days! Ridiculous! Yet on those same channels I have some very good friends who quite openly tell me how lucky I am to live here in the sun, where the summer holiday never ends. Well, yes, I am lucky to live here. But no, summer, even here, does not go on forever. It just lasts a bit longer than it does in England. Maybe tomorrow, I'll take a few minutes out from work to take a leisurely walk along the seafront, have a coffee and grab a huge handful of summer before it disappears? No rush though, eh? I'll take my time, thank you very much, because Summer in Portugal kind of fades away gradually with an air of stereotypical Iberian tardiness.

Kick Off!

Well, the football season is under way once again, and with it come many changes. Of course, Estoril Praia have sold a few players, including a couple of the much loved and arguably better players such as Steven Vitória (to Benfica), Licá (to Porto) and Jeferson (to Porto). And of course this has brought money into the team with which to buy new players, notably Balboa (from Beira Mar) and Evandro (from somewhere in Brazil). The figures would indicate that the team have spent a little more than the income from the sold players, but only time will tell if it was money well spent. Perhaps the plan is to recoup some of the money through the new building along the outside wall of the stadium, which although currently empty, has been painted in the team's distinctive yellow and blue colours and my guess is that it will open up very shortly as a merchandising shop.

The first game this season was a Europa match against Israeli team Hapoel Ramat Gan, which I managed to get tickets for, but only just! Speaking in all honesty, Estoril played very well and although they dominated the ball for the most part, were unsuccessful in actually putting it in the back of the net. Fortunately Ramat Gan didn't score either, which meant that Estoril had all to play for on the away leg. I watched the return match on the box whilst simultaneously following the ticker tape commentary in English on the web. It was a decidedly one sided match, fortunately in our favour, resulting in a one goal to nil away win for Estoril!

The third match, and first of the league, was at home entertaining Madeiran team, Nacional. Last season we beat them 4-0 at home and they beat us 0-1 on the away match, so it could easily have gone either way, with I suppose the odds slightly in Esoril's favour. Twenty nine minutes in and they put one in the net. Calamity! But all was not lost. Far from in fact, and in the closing minutes of the first half we scored not just once, but managed to get two goals! What away to leave the pitch! Even more astounding though was that on coming back onto the pitch Estoril managed to get a third goal in off the very first play of the second half in the 46th minute! What's more, the first and third goals were both pounded between the posts by one of our new boys, Evandro, pictured front row centre. I only hope that his good fortune continues.

I bumped into my neighbour before the match against Nacional, and so we walked up to the stadium together, but on the way there, he led me to the supporters bar, which is where all the hardcore fans hang out before the games. I'd been told about this bar last year but never managed to find it. Anyway, I got myself signed up there as a supporter meaning that my tickets for the matches will be reserved there for me to collect every week. Fantastic! And so tomorrow afternoon I'll be going up there to buy some tickets for the evening's Europa match against Austrian team, Pasching. There's a few of us going, so it should be a good wheeze and especially since the numbers are indicating Estoril as clear favourites.

Come on Yellows!!

*Pictures courtesy of Estoril Praia football club, and their facebook page!

Post Camping Relaxation

Phew! Camping certainly was hectic. And after two weeks of living under canvas it's been really nice to sleep on a proper bed and do all those other simply wonderful little things that we take for granted, day after day, like waking up and popping the kettle on for a brew. Don't get me wrong though, the camping was loads and loads of fun too, with all those fantastic day trips out to sandy beaches, gothic monasteries and, most importantly, time off from the usual routine.

So, what exactly have I been up to since the camping trip? Well, not much, if I'm brutally honest. I still have my feet firmly planted in the summer holidays. That said, I have not been completely idle. My family and I have had a few day trips out...

We spent a day at the Museum of Natural History and Science. Quite a large museum in all, with many exhibits of different kinds, including the first hall upstairs detailing the historical journey of it's survival through fires and earthquake. The other more usual exhibits, including the "Equations and Form" exhibit, the dinosaur exhibits, "The Whale Room", not to mention the geology rooms and the exhibit detailing how the universe was formed, were all fantastic. And then....there's the adjoining Botanical Gardens and Butterfly House. A great day out.

Some very beautiful algebra.

A dinosaur's skull.

This huge geode was 4 foot tall! Gorgeous.

This tree grows new roots from the dangling tendrils into the earth.

A Venus Fly Trap.

Another carnivorous plant.

Caterpillars in the Butterfly House.

Chrysalises.

A very tall palm tree.

A lovely white flower. No idea of it's name, sorry.

Another nameless flower, but this time, in red.

We also spent a morning at a newly discovered beach, the Praia de Lizandro, watching the surfers surf and swimming in the adjoining river, which was (a), much safer for the children because it was only knee deep, and (b), a hell of a lot warmer than the icy cold sea!

The river at Praia de Lizandro.

View from the hill of Lizard Beach.

Of course there's always the obligatory walks along the promenade between Cascais and Estoril. With the weather improving since the camping trip up into the mid thirties the beaches along the line have been packed with tourists and locals alike all working on their tans, swimming, surfing and even paddle boarding. (I'm told that's what it's called, but don't quote me!)

Paddle-surfers!

View from São João towards Cascais.

With a couple of weeks left of the summer holidays yet, I'm anxious to make the most of it, so with luck, there will be more pictures soon...

Campismo 2013, Part 2.3

Friday 26th

The morning passed smoothly enough. We packed up our stuff into the car once more and, after an early lunch of pizza from the campsite shop set off once again onto Portugal's motorways through Porto back south towards Tomar. Deciding one again to completely ignore Sat Nav Kate's advice we headed along a new motorway to the campsite and by Kate's own admission chopped fifteen minutes off our journey time. We arrived, following her GPS coords, without problem and discovered a quaint site run by a Scots lady and her Dutch partner in the middle of apparently nowhere. After erecting the tent for the final time we ate and then headed for the bar where we met with an Anglo-Welsh couple spending their summer touring Europe and swapped stories into well after the children's bedtime. We decided that tomorrow would be a simple visit to Tomar with visits to the local caves and dinosaur remains to follow on Sunday.

Saturday 27th

Tomar is a very lovely town to visit. There's a river with a weir, The Convent of Christ to spend ages exploring, some fantastic restaurants and even (currently) a beer festival. The Convent, which as it happens also turned out to be the ancient headquarters of the Knights Templar and incorporated an entire monastery took all morning to look around, and we still missed bits. A tour guide would have been helpful as the place is huge and has such an important history. But, we have kids instead, so we just found our own pace exploring all the nooks, crannies and interesting looking spiral staircases.

The river and weir in Tomar.

The Church of St John.

Statue of Gualdim Pais, founder of Tomar.

View of the Convent of the Order of Christ.

The old entrance to the Chapel at the Convent.

The famous Chapel house Window at the Convent.

A Lego recreation of the Window featured at an exhibition in Tomar.

Sunday 28th

We started out early following the directions of our hosts to find the "Dinosaur Footprints" and after that follow the road into Mira de Aire to the caves there. Well, we didn't find the caves and soon found ourselves in Mira de Aire. Perhaps we would find the dinosaurs on the way back? So we bought some tickets for the cave sand waited patiently for our guided tour to start. The guide led us into a room where we watched a short video about the caves and how they were formed, when they were discovered and about the geology of the area, all in Portuguese of course, but I got the general idea from the pictures alone. Then we entered the caves and the guide led us first down the steps into an open cave. It was spectacular! After stopping to talk and get everyone to line up for photographs (to be sold to us later!) she proceeded to lead us from cave to cave in what turned out to be a very extensive set of caves leading ever downwards. Unfortunately, none of my photographs from the caves turned out very well, so I'll just link a Google Image Search here for you, to give you some idea of what it was like. Over lunch we talked about heading for the Dinosaur Footprints and decided that as we didn't really know exactly where they were, that instead we'd head to Batalha and look around the stunning Cathedral there. And it did not disappoint! We were very lucky to pass by the Chapel of the Unknown Soldier just in time to witness the changing of the guard. With their commanding officer barking out orders, the guards performed what seemed to be a highly ritualistic "stamping" march along the cloister's corridors! Across the other side of the Cathedral was a room containing the tombs of some of Portugal's royal family including that of King John I and his Queen, Philippa of Lancaster, whose marriage in 1387 secured the Portuguese - English Alliance, which is the oldest alliance in the world that is still in force! All in all, a very impressive day out!

The Cathedral at Batalha.

Rather impressive statue of a man on horseback.

The front entrance to the Cathedral.

The changing of the guard in the Chapel of the Unknown Soldier.

The Lamp, standing over the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Tomb of King John I of Portugal and his wife, Queen Philippa of Lancaster.

Monday 29th

A quick stop off at the market in Ferreira do Zêzere to buy some bread, cheese and fruit for our picnic lunch before heading to the "floating pools" at Castanheira for a swim in the river. Then a drive down the other side of the river (lake) to take on a quick view of the dam at Castelo do Bode before returning to camp for a much earned glass of beer.

The floating pools. Pic courtesy of regiaodozezere.blogspot.pt.

The dam at Castelo do Bode.

Tuesday 30th

Just time for a pony ride for my youngest followed by a quick dip in the pool to cool off. Tent packed back up into its surprisingly small bag, and we're of back home again.

A fabulous trip through three campsites. Yes, I would do it again. Probably next summer!

Campismo 2013, Part 2.2

Sunday 21st

Mostly driving. Mostly boring motorway stuff. After arriving at the campsite and putting up the tent we discovered the tunnels leading from the campsite under the golf course to the beach...

The view from the end of the tunnel across the beach.

Monday 22nd

Day out in Braga, which is a very lovely city a bit like Lincoln, full of old churches and narrow streets with arches at the ends. We walked around the Cathedral and through the shopping arcade. We ate lunch at a small bistro and then walked around some more. In hindsight it might have been better if we'd had a more concrete plan for which sights to see. Or perhaps not. We were happy simply meandering and saw plenty of fantastic sights anyway. In the evening I took a long walk through the tunnels again and along the beach. A way along I discovered that what I had previously thought were rocks were actually enormous white sandbags to reinforce the dunes and/or stop the golf course from collapsing onto the beach. Weather wise, it's just a shame that the clouds persist; It would be so much nicer if the sun would shine.

A Church garden in Braga.

Another big church in Braga.

The big fountain in the centre of town.

Church tower.

The beach next to the campsite, strewn with tatters of the sandbags.

Further along, where a stream joined the beach.

Tuesday 23rd

Hooray, the sun is shining. And so we decided to head for the nearest town, Póvoa de Varzim. We had obtained a little tourist guide from the campsite reception and the review of the beach was very good. Having found the seafront we drove along right until the end and then parked up. After a very relaxing morning on the somewhat gravelly beach we found a restaurant for some lunch and finished off the day exploring the shops along the prom and eating ice cream.

A small section of the immense wall of Azulejos near the harbour.

A small house curiously sitting in among the taller apartment blocks on the seafront.

Wednesday 24th

After much discussion last night we decided to go to Porto today and follow a walk from the Lonely Planet guide. It started off at a Church called Clérigos, with a tall tower to climb and get fantastic views of the riverside area. Then winding its way to the riverside though narrow streets and allies leading finally over the bridge to gain a splendid view of the riverside area from the far bank. Then our plan was to take a boat trip up the river a way and simply enjoy the scenery, which we did having been sold the tickets for a boat trip at the foot of the church tower steps. Finally since the tickets also gave a free visit to a Port Wine cellar, including a much advertised free taste, we indulged. We returned to camp late after a very busy and tiring day. Plans are to spend tomorrow, being our final day in the north, at Guimarães, arguably, or so I'm told, the birthplace of the kingdom of Portugal.

Torre dos Clérigos (Clérigos Church Tower).

Clérigos Church.

Ooooh, A tram!

The view from Clérigos Tower towards the riverside.

Example of stone working on a wall in the riverside area.

A bridge over the river Douro.

These boats were originally used to transport the wines down from the vineyards.

Another view of the bridge.

A different bridge, viewed from our boat trip.

A Port Wine cellar.

The customary tasting!

Thursday 25th

Guimarães today. A lovely town. Very medieval looking and apparently, although I'm no expert, with some French influence. Either way a town full of fantastic looking old buildings. We parked at the market and found our way to the historical centre where, after a quick visit to the tourist information office to obtain a map we wound our way through the cobbled streets and fountained praça's up to the palace and castle.

A church in Guimarães.

A symbolic statue of a (possibly) the first King of Portugal.

Azulejos depicting the Virgin Mary.

Another less symbolic statue.

The model of Guimarães Castle, that I'd previously seen at the Big Lego Event.

Inside the Palace, looking across towards the chapel.

The front of the Castle.

Fountain and view from the town square.

Back in camp I took the kids to the pool while my better half cooked us up a fantastic casserole to use up all the veg in preparation for our moving on tomorrow to Tomar.