Week 2, Quinta do Luzio

We decided toward the end of last week to stay an extra week at Quinta do Luzio. We enjoy the work and like the stability of a consistent schedule, and the cafés have cheap beer, coffee, and pastries, so we couldn't ask for much more.

This past week, we have been doing much of the same work. However, we also started work on the workshop, which is being converted into a bulk food store for the farm. We are working on the floor, ceiling, and walls, using lots of canes and huge stones.

 

We also learned how to feed the animals, and will hopefully do that regularly: human food scraps for the pigs, dry food for the rabbits and duck, and cabbage for the lambs, who we carry to their grazing area.

We have enjoyed staying in the tent, and find it especially cozy when it is pouring rain outside, as it has been the past few nights and likely will continue to do. We had the day off today and stayed in the tent till it stopped raining at 12:30. Today was especially disorienting because new volunteers arrived and it was daylight savings in Portugal (we were surprised when it was still light at 7:45). 

Tomorrow is back to work, and we begin our final week WWOOFing. We are hoping the cat will have her kittens before we leave - she has gotten significantly bigger since we got here two weeks ago, and seems to be ready to give birth at any time. Even still, she is a remarkably photogenic cat. 

Today we also realized that we are flying home a day before our 90-day allowance without a visa expires, which is quite convenient timing. Hopefully we will get back right in time for beautiful May sunshine.

Quinta do Luzio

Sunday afternoon, we arrived in Janas and found our way to Quinta do Luzio, a farm and cooperative living community. There are 4 permanent resident, 9 volunteers, and myriad semi-permanent helpers that come and go throughout the week. The farm hosts workshops and sells some produce and honey. The new cooperative is in it's formative stages, so there is a lot going on every day and a lot of organizing to do. The volunteers work 6 hours a day Monday through Saturday, and some stay in the house while others camp on the property. The farm has 2 sheep, 2 pigs, 2 dogs, a duck, bees, and a wide variety of trees and produce. Meals and chores are shared every day, predominantly by volunteers but also by residents.

The main house was built 15 years ago by an old man who collected antiques. Thus, the house looks quite old and contains elements 100 years old. The rest of the farm began its cultivation 2 years ago by a small team, 2 of whom remain permanent residents of the farm. 

Work has varied every day. We have built a fence out of canes, harvested canes, weeded, worked on building a stone house and planted veggies.

We plan on staying for a total of 2 weeks, the onto Northern Portugal, then Spain and Morocco. We booked our flight home for the beginning of May.

Pitusa:

The Algarve

After our last day in Setúbal, which was finished off nicely with fish stew made for us by the American chef staying in the apartment, we headed to the southwestern Algarve to relax for a few days. We took a bus to Lagos and had a standard lunch of bread, cheese, and a variable fruit jam/paste, then walked around to find a hostel. Though there are at least a dozen in the small city, it proved rather difficult to find a hostel in the off season, though the place was swamped with British, German, and American tourists. After settling in, we walked to the beaches; turquoise waters, sandy cliffs topped with vegetation, eroded arches, and huge waves. This is Praia da Batata (Potato Beach):

And the rest are from Praia dos Estudantes (Students Beach):

Though the beaches are stunning, Lagos is, as I mentioned before, painfully touristy. Even though it's the winter season still, the main squares were completely swamped with tourist shops, hotels, restaurants, and signs advertising grotto tours. Also, the cheapest hostel was not that cheap, so we decided to move on. We took a bus to the tiny fishing-village-turned-tourist-town, Salema. It had a beautiful beach that served as a picnic site, then we followed a small path to a stunning cliffside hike above the ocean:

 After about 10 or 15 minutes hiking along the cliff, we came to a beach:

We hiked back, had an amazing dinner, and camped on the main beach in the town. We went to Sagres and Cape Sagres the next day when we realized that there was not much to do in Salema, especially in the winter, and camped again on the beach. Today, sick of the crowds and overly touristy vibe of the Southern Algarve, we headed back to Lisboa before heading to our next farm tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from our hostel window:

And tomorrow we head a little ways north to spend some time away from crowds. Back to WWOOFing for a while!

Last Days at the Jardim

Today we worked our last day at Jardim da Boa Palavra, and finished the lemon thyme harvest. It was super warm and sunny. I got a bonafied farmer's tan... ahem... burn:

Tomorrow we're heading to the Algarve to fix our crazy tan lines and hopefully spend some time camping near the beach. Next weekend, it's on to the next farm, and then we begin our time dedicated to just travel. We are still in the early planning stages, and all is very subject to change, but we will definitely get to Spain and if it works out, maybe Morocco!

Here are a couple more pictures of Setúbal for good measure: 

Sunny Days in Setúbal

Being at a new farm and in a new place has essentially reset our internal calendars. At dinner tonight with the other WWOOFers (prepared by an American WWOOFer who is a chef in California), we talked about when the vacation feeling of traveling disappears and a sense of permanency develops in its place. While I don't necessarily feel like I am on vacation still, moving on to a new place every week or two keeps traveling fresh, and prevents any place from becoming too comfortable or stagnant. 

So far, we have trimmed lemon balm, made and replanted cuttings of lavender, weeded various familiar and foreign plants, and harvested lemon thyme. At our break every day we have tea made of herbs from the farm, bread bought fresh daily, and homemade quince jelly and tomato jam (very good, much to my surprise).

It's been a warm few days in Setúbal. Today got up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and sunny. We went on a hike in Parque Natural de Arrabida:

We picnicked on a ledge that overlooks Setúbal, the peninsula across the bay (Troia), and a small town to the west and the Atlantic. Here's Troia:

The abandoned building next to where we picnicked:

To get home, we passed my favorite strip of Setúbal, the docks packed with colorful fishing boats:

Photos all by Brendan. 

Sintra, Day Three

Today we went to Quinta da Regaleira, a late-18th century mansion on the hillside of Sintra that we originally spotted from the binoculars at the top of the Moorish Castle yesterday. It was filled with lagoons and caverns, and well worth the 4 euro and swarms of tourists.

On the walk to Quinta da Regaleira, we walked through the historical area of Sintra...

...and through a park for a little detour.

Brendan found bouldering.

We avoided a tourist group by taking a side street detour.

It is amazing how green everything is. We have been having such a hard time drying out any clothing that gets wet from the rain or from being washed. Though it does make some things inconvenient, it is soooo beautiful. Moss even grows on the pavement in places.

We got to Quinta da Regaleira and were met with this:

Pretty amazing, eh? The lagoons and the well were even cooler and took on a whole new meaning when we toured the mansion and got a bit of background on the place.

Finally, a selfie for good measure:

The last thing worth mentioning for the day was dinner. We stopped at Dom Pipas at the suggestion of the hostel receptionist and had by far the best food of the trip, and probably the best food of the past few months: shrimp with garlic and rice. Really, shrimp cooked in butter, olive oil, parsley and tons of garlic over perfectly moist rice. It was ridiculously delicious, and made for a great end to the day.

WWOOFing Part Two

On Wednesday afternoon, we arrived in Setúbal, Portugal to work on our second farm, a medicinal plant and herbal tea garden called Jardim da Boa Palavra - Garden of the Good Word. The work is very different from the last farm, and we work only mornings, so there is a lot of free time. Setúbal is beautiful and right on the coast, and we have enjoyed spending time walking through the city, especially since it's much less touristy than Lisboa and Sintra. We are also living with 4 other WWOOFers in an apartment in the city which is a great situation to get to know new people. Photos of Setúbal: