Photos from our walk on the farm today (2/15):
...and last but not least...
Brendan's hair is getting nice and long.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Compromisso Week Two
I realized just moments ago that the photos I tried to post February 15th never posted, so hopefully they will tonight.
The farm is beautiful. On to the next Wednesday, more about the farms when I have better wifi.
In other news, Brendan successfully chopped off about 6 inches of my hair. New look is a go.
Half and half.
The result.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Sintra
We stayed in Lisboa an extra night due to confusion with rooms on Air BnB, and arrived in Sintra today. We got a hostel for tonight and tomorrow night and may extend it... it is waaay nicer than the last (sorry, Residencial Roxi). We took a stroll around the city today, and it seems to be exactly what we wanted: low key, with lots of winding hilly streets, and beautiful.
We have consisted off of a diet of bread and cheese for 2/3 meals up to today, when we stepped it up with some jam, olives, and citrus fruit. It has been pretty difficult to communicate very effectively in Portuguese but straightforward interactions are very doable and it is so great to be able to practice. Most people in Lisboa continued to speak Portugese to me even after my brutal accent made it perfectly clear that communication in English would be easier for all parties involved, which I appreciated and think will help me greatly in the long run.
While on the topic of accents, I think it's worth mentioning that my accent is especially bad since what little Portuguese I know I learned from people who speak Brazilian Portuguese and I am now trying to adjust to European Portuguese, in addition to 4 years of high school Spanish that have always screwed me up, so I have some strange mixture of American-Brazilian-European-Spanish Portuguese going on. You get the idea.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Pena Palace and Moorish Castle. Hopefully I will get up some pictures soon if I am near a computer at any point.
We also figured out the farm situation, and ironically heard back from more than we did in the cumulative weeks of emailing farms in the time preceding our trip. Figures... we did figure out a plan for the next few weeks though so we are happy as clams.
We have consisted off of a diet of bread and cheese for 2/3 meals up to today, when we stepped it up with some jam, olives, and citrus fruit. It has been pretty difficult to communicate very effectively in Portuguese but straightforward interactions are very doable and it is so great to be able to practice. Most people in Lisboa continued to speak Portugese to me even after my brutal accent made it perfectly clear that communication in English would be easier for all parties involved, which I appreciated and think will help me greatly in the long run.
While on the topic of accents, I think it's worth mentioning that my accent is especially bad since what little Portuguese I know I learned from people who speak Brazilian Portuguese and I am now trying to adjust to European Portuguese, in addition to 4 years of high school Spanish that have always screwed me up, so I have some strange mixture of American-Brazilian-European-Spanish Portuguese going on. You get the idea.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Pena Palace and Moorish Castle. Hopefully I will get up some pictures soon if I am near a computer at any point.
We also figured out the farm situation, and ironically heard back from more than we did in the cumulative weeks of emailing farms in the time preceding our trip. Figures... we did figure out a plan for the next few weeks though so we are happy as clams.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Lisboa in Two Days
Today is day two in Lisboa, Portugal. We spent yesterday adjusting to the time change and exploring our neighborhood and the Praças do Rossio and do Figueiro. Dinner was the classic Portuguese bacalhau (salted cod) with a few side dishes. We went to bed early and slept soundly for a long time.
This morning, after our struggle getting out of bed, we took a long walk trying to find the Castelo do São Jorge and meandered through beautiful side streets in Baixo Alto on the way up. We splurged and spent the 4 euro each to explore the castle and walk around. On the way back, we braved the rain to visit a cathedral and a few churches and got paella to go when we tired of the weather.
We received some unfortunate news today: the first farm we were supposed to work at, starting Monday, had to cancel on us. It is back to the drawing board, and hopefully we will hear back from some farms listed as "Urgently Seeking Help" as we are urgently seeking a farm in return. If not, we will likely go south to hopefully get some slightly drier weather.
Tomorrow we are off to Sintra for a couple days of more low key traveling.
This morning, after our struggle getting out of bed, we took a long walk trying to find the Castelo do São Jorge and meandered through beautiful side streets in Baixo Alto on the way up. We splurged and spent the 4 euro each to explore the castle and walk around. On the way back, we braved the rain to visit a cathedral and a few churches and got paella to go when we tired of the weather.
We received some unfortunate news today: the first farm we were supposed to work at, starting Monday, had to cancel on us. It is back to the drawing board, and hopefully we will hear back from some farms listed as "Urgently Seeking Help" as we are urgently seeking a farm in return. If not, we will likely go south to hopefully get some slightly drier weather.
Tomorrow we are off to Sintra for a couple days of more low key traveling.
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