Random things in Portugal

One of my favorite posts when I blog my trips is to record random things that catch my eye.  Here is the collection I put together for this trip. 

This sign did not sound very tasty to me - ha!  We think they resemble churros and are probably delicious, but I'm not sure what they are.

The instructions for our apartment said to deposit the trash and recycling in the side bins next to the apartment.  We took our recycling out several times and were surprised that these smallish bins did not fill up quickly (there was always room when we did the drop.  The lids had the small catch bin that tilts into the larger bin when you close the lid.  

Then one morning we saw a trash truck collecting from the bin and were startled to discover that under each apparently small bin sits a very deep, larger repository.  The workers flip open the street-based collection bins and a crane picks up the larger bin and holds it over the truck, then it releases a catch and all the trash comes out the bottom into the trash truck.  I had no idea these little cans were so big underneath!

The World Cup hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada has been underway throughout the trip.  Each town we have visited has had a jumbo screen on one of the squares with games playing all day.  This one was in Porto, and Spain happened to be playing.  The square was pretty packed and people were glued to the game.  People would stop mid stroll on the sidewalk and be completely oblivious to others trying to walk around them. 

At one point I asked an Uber driver who they were cheering for in the World Cup and he looked at me like I was crazy - Portugal of course!  I asked about Brazil and again got the 'you must be crazy' look.  He was clearly only supporting Portugal.  However, there were a lot of Brazilian flags flying from balconies (along with Portuguese flags).

The streets were full of residents and tourists walking around, but these two guys were rolling a washing machine down a steep cobble street on a dolly!  The guy on the downside had his work cut out for him not to let it roll all the way down to the river!

All of Portugal that we saw was very hilly, including the cities.  The street cafes had to figure out how to make the tables and chair level.  We saw several different mechanisms in use.  

A very non-branded McD's in Porto. 

Navigating was not too difficult, but there were a few instances where the guidance provided by google maps was hard to follow, especially when some of the roads went over or under others.

Thank goodness we had "Beep" Braga - our navigating sardine - to help us! 

He earned his name from all of the automated "beeps" from our rental car (and many other transportation vehicles).  We turned off most of them in the car, but every time we drove past a change in speed limit (which was often), the car would Beep at us.  When we took an Uber, if any did not immediately get their seatbelts fastened, the car would beep furiously to get us buckled up.  Getting on or off the metro - doors closing... Beep, beep, beep! Our hecklers in the backseat (aka Charlene and David) would randomly add their own beeps if it was too quiet in the car. lol.

A picnic table in a square in Aveiro with hammock swings around it. I didn't try them out, but it seemed they might be hard to eat from. 

This apparent 'tissue box' was actually a wooden box with a ribbon on the lid to deliver your dinner check so it wouldn't blow away in the breeze. 

I'm happy to say I found a geocache on this trip.  This one was right on the square where the Cathedral was and there was a lot of foot traffic.  Once I guessed where to look, I had to sit down and pretend to be looking at my phone while reaching under the location to pull it out.  Managed it without letting the muggles see me. David and I looked for one a few days ago, but it was in a park (likely hidden in a tree) where a whole group of young people were hanging out, so there was no way to look for it discreetly. 

We wanted to make alfredo sauce for dinner but all we had found in the stores were soft cheeses, so I located a queijaria (cheese shop) nearby and asked for "Parmseano" - the elderly shop keeper didn't speak English but understood my request.  She handed some cheese to me and said something about 'but this is Portugese' - meaning it wasn't made in Parma Italy.  That was perfectly ok of course, our parmeasan at home isn't make it in Italy either. 

I suppose my blog would not be complete with at least one bathroom observation, lol.  This was in Guimaraes in the palace.  Each bathroom stall had double doors.  I've never seen this arrangement before and found it funny.  I would not normally take out my camera for this, but no one else was in the bathroom, so I took a quick picture because it was funny.  Right at the moment I took it, the cleaning lady came in.  I could see from her look that she was like "What the * is this lady taking a picture of the toilet for?" I exited quickly.  

Thriving cactus garden on a roof

I *think the dark colored tiles here are actually transparent - small sky lights.  I've not seen this style before. 

Another skylight style I did see a lot of looking down on roofs was this 'circus tent' shape.  Kind of a teepee of glass.  

An EV charging station in a narrow alley of the University of Coimbra.  

It felt very out of place in the medieval alleys.

This jewel bedazzled skeleton was in Gaia.

Day 10 - Last Day, Last Adventure: Avila!

For our last day, we made plans to take a short train ride to Avila (about 1.5 hrs outside of Madrid).  We were supposed to take a train directly from the station in Madrid, but I woke up to a notification that the train would leave from another station at the end of a commuter rail line and we were supposed to meet the train at that new stop.  I wasn't sure how often the commuter line ran or how much time we'd need to find our train at a new location, so we tried to leave early and just missed one of the commuter trains.  In the end, it was a good thing.  I checked with one of the agents and they communicated that another (special?) train would be taking us up the line to meet the connecting train to Avila.  First she said 9:07, then 9:21, and by 9:25 I was really nervous/curious about what was happening because nothing was posted on the connection board at all.  Finally she told us Track 2 and a whole group of people jumped up and boarded the train that had just come in (presumably others who had been planning to take the original Avila train).  We were supposed to take it to the end of the line and transfer (according to my email message), but the agent who was riding with us hustled us all off the train a few stops early.  We followed the crowd and crossed the platform to board another train.  I confirmed as we boarded that this was for Avila.  We looked that the route map on the TV monitor and Avila was one of many stops, so we took a seat and planned to make slow progress toward Avila.  To my surprise, the TV screen blanked and we didn't make a single stop until we got to Avila.  I guess this was a special train scheduled for those of us who planned to make the original trip.  If I had tried to get to the end of the line station early, I would have missed this particular train entirely.  Once again, this example is why I get nervous taking trains. 

We had expected to arrive in Avila to this sight of the city walls, but we arrived on the other side of town away from this historic district. 

One picture from the train.  I was really struck by how it looked like all the color was baked out of the landscape except deep yellow and dark green.

We made our way through the town to the historic district.  We couldn't immediately find our way onto the walls, which we knew were walkable, but we did spot the cathedral, so we started there instead. From the outside, I wasn't super impressed.  The stonework reminded me of cinder blocks mortared together. It almost looked unfinished. 

The interior walls were similarly simple stone blocks, but the vaulted arches were very pretty.  At first I thought maybe there was not worship taking place in this space because there were no pews, but they are further forward in the nave.  The choir loft is directly beyond the stone facade you can see in the middel of the main nave.  

This is one of two side naves.

This was a beautiful carved stone panel with three scenes from Jesus' life. 

This was his birth with the arrival of the Magi.  Two of them are portrayed as black with a different kind of stone used for their face and hands. It was really striking compared to the uniformity of the rest of the scene. 

The high alter.  After seeing a lot of painting in churches that are dark and degraded, it was nice to see this vibrantly colored pieces that were well lit.  

The organ and choir loft

The rosette window in the transept.  The worship space with pews.  This made the space more intimate than filling the entire nave with pews when fewer people might be worshipping. The choir loft is behind these pews along with the organ. 

This sculpture was in the apse behind the alter

With this close up, you can see the detailed sculpted work

Much of the cathedral is built of grey granite (the cinder block parts), but there were parts that included "blood stone" which is limestone with iron oxide in it that causes red swirls in the stone.  At first I thought it was painted on to look like marble, but the red swirls are natural to the stone. 

From this model, you can see how the walls of the cathedral directly join the fortress walls around the city.  

From the inside, you can see the different stone work.  In the foreground is the city wall.  It has large gaps between the rocks that need to be regularly (re)sealed.  To the left, you can see the more regular stonework of the cathedral walls. 

There is a lovely courtyard area attached to the cathedral.  Apparently pigeons LOVE this space.  There is mesh between every window opening to try to keep them from nesting in the vaults. 

After the cathedral, we went in search of access to walk the old walls.  We stumbled upon the city square with a farmers market going on.  The line for the fresh olives was by far the longest, but there were lots of fresh choices.

Looking down an alley, you can see the old wall in the distance.

You could take stairs up to some of the ramparts.  They were BIG steps.  You can see they go up to Charlene's knees!

Mountains in the distance

In one part of the old city, the wealthy families with mason backing the walls were responsible for defending that section of the wall.  You can see the door that opens out onto the wall for easy access.

Where the wall and cathedral are joined

Although we really wanted to try the local pastry: Yemas de Avila, every single store was shut down in the afternoon so the best we could do was flan at a local cafe.  It was also good, but I've tasted flan before...

It was like a ghost town in the afternoon with nearly everything closed and no one on the streets.  Given the heat, I can understand this, but it was still weird to experience. 

Day 9 - A visit to the Prado Museum

We came to Madrid so I could present a paper at an inter-disciplinary conference on teaching and learning.  My panel is scheduled for today in the afternoon, so I joined the crew in going to the Prado art museum in the morning.  Our tickets came with an audioguide app that could be played on your phone.  I followed the route recommended by the app and listened to various discussions of the paintings I was looking at.  At one point the app described how the person in the painting had their hand raised like Jesus, when the person clearly had their hands clasped in their lap.  I found such a blatant error puzzling.  Then the app mentioned the soldiers aiming their weapons and the enemy, when they were all at attention with the rifles shouldered.  By the third mistake, mentioning the king on the left of the painting when he was on the right side, I began to suspect the audio guide was created by AI and promptly distrusted everything it was telling me.  I stopped listening to it. 

No picture taking was allowed in the Prado, so I don't have much to share.  I did note the name of the artist and the piece below so I could find a picture to share. 

I'm not a huge art museum fan, but I do like sculptures.  I spent some time in the sculpture galleries and this one in particular took my breath away. It is Isabell II veiled by Camillo Torreggiani.   

After lunch I decided to learn to navigate the city bus system to get me to the conference site.  It was a success and got me there early enough to listen to another panel as well.