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:

Monte do Compromisso Photos

Photos from our walk on the farm today (2/15):

...and last but not least...

Brendan's hair is getting nice and long.

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.

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.

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.

Pre-Departure To-Do List

I have rediscovered the stresses of passports and packing lists.

I had to renew my passport and had about 5 weeks to do it. Unfortunately, the time frame in which a passport is renewed and delivered is 4-6 weeks. If I got it in 4 or 5, I would have been set, but 6? Just too late. So, naturally, I had to expedite it, which would get it to me in 2-3 weeks. I got it in under 2 and paid an extra 60$, making the total of renewing my passport 110$ + 60$ + 30$ passport fee = 200$. YIKES.

Also, packing list. I have a set list for backpacking; a few shirts, one or two pairs of pants, maybe a pair of shorts, some underwear and sports bras, mess kit, food, fuel, knife, rope, tent, rain gear, warm layers, headlamp, book, notebook, pens, first-aid kit, Tiger Balm. Pretty basic, thorough, and repeatable. What I discovered recently when car camping is that I don't know the first thing about packing when I don't have to stuff it all into a backpack and go into the backcountry for four days. That being said, I have no idea how to fit everything I need for 3+ months into a backpack, covering over a month on farms, traveling through cities, and seeing all kinds of weather (though hopefully no temperatures that would allow snow or freezing) and terrains. I have a few packing lists and hopefully will be able to compile my own; one that is complete, succinct, and versatile.