The south of Portugal

05.07.2013

The night was not so great. Even we was parking direct next to the sea (just a few small houses between us and the sea) it was hot like hell in the night. We had to open the doors 3 o’clock in the night, to get a small breeze in the car. We was sweating like hell.

In the morning was it better. We had a look to the beach, first of all. A huge nice beach with wonderful sand. The kite-surfer was on the water already. We saw on the beach even a whole school class with surfboards. Little Portuguese with small surfboards. :) The ocean itself didn’t look very inviting. It was dirty (from the sand or sediments) and the waves were heavy. We decided not to go in. Who knows how the current is.

We went back to the car and packed our stuff. But before we left, we went to the next café, next to us, and drank a coffee. And I realized that ‘coffee’ means also here Espresso. I got a wet spot coffee with the caffeine of a whole cup.

Then we went off finally… further. We wanted to go this day till before or after Lisbon. Direct in the city was not our goal. We didn’t wanted this stress as well. I don’t like to drive in big cities in general. Too much stress.
I found, in Inges maps, a nice place at a big bay and told her to lead us there. It was good 300km to this point. A while to drive, without highways.

And then we went in the Pampa of Portugal. And it was hot again. In the car partly 45 degrees and even outside not less. The wind was also not refreshing, because it had the same temperature. Even in Cyprus is it not that hot. Like that I would imagine the desert. Hot and without any possibility of cooling down.
And in this heat we saw now again huge gatherings of stork nests. And also here there was building their nests everywhere, like a few days ago in Spain. It seems like they don’t care about this heat.

The landscape was passing in this hours. Personally I don’t really like Portugal so much. Until now is it the most flat country, we passed… except some small hills. It is hot and the vegetation is there, but not really unique.

We stopped somewhere at a supermarket to get some cold drinks. But nothing more happened this day… expect the street.

We reached the place early. It was still bright. We had a look around. Here was a torero school before. But the owner died, as we got told later, and now is it closed and rots.
In front of us was a lagoon, which goes a few kilometer into the country. The water is brown dirty. So dirty, that I can’t see anything anymore in a depth of 2cm. On the other side of the lagoon is the next city.

We just wanted to convert the car, as a van stopped next to us with 3 men inside. They got out of the car and had a look around. We was wondering already what that for men are and what they want and was waiting what will happen. But they didn’t left again. They started to put things out of their van… fishing ropes. Ahh, fishermen. So, better then murder. :)
After a few minutes, one guy was holding a bottle of beer in our direction and said something, which we didn’t understood. So we got out of the car and went to him. He offered us a beer. Julia tried to explain that she don’t drink alcohol. But Juan, that is his name, didn’t understood or didn’t wanted. I accepted a bottle and said thank you :)

We started a chat. Which brought out that Marko, one of the men, is working since 8 years in Germany. I haven’t understood it in total, but as it looks like from time to time. So sometimes he is in Germany and sometimes in Portugal. He spoke even very good German. Juan is also working sometimes abroad. In Germany and Switzerland. But he spoke hardly German. And from the other Juan we didn’t got much information, he was very quiet.

The guys took care about us with beer and even invited us for BBQ. It became a very nice evening with the 3 guys. We was talking a long time, but usually with Marko, because he spoke German. It’s easier. Juan was trying from time to time to talk with us something in Portuguese and sign language, but mostly we didn’t got what he was trying to say. Pity actually, even he didn’t looked like, was he probably a really nice and friendly guy, like the other both as well.

After this unusual evening with the 3 Portuguese Fishermen, we went to bed. The guys wanted to leave next morning around 5-6 o’clock. So we said Good Bye before we went to sleep.
In the night the same game like the night before. It was hot like hell in the car in the night. But we couldn’t open the doors this time. This place was full of mosquitoes. We closed Julia’s window with a mosquito net and could open at least this small window.
I had slowly also an idea why it is always so hot in the night, even it is much colder outside and we also had the doors open to aerate. I think the source of this problem are the liquids in the car. This liquids heating up during the day. Up to 40-45 degrees, like outside. And in the evening they give it back… into the car. We have some liquids in the car. 13 liter in the toilet, several liter drinks, 10 liter in the washing canister. And these are just the big amounts. Plus the fridge, which is cooling from time to time and gives back the heat.
I think here is the source of the heat in the night in the car. We just can’t change it. We need the drinks, the toilet and the water for washing.

Well, we managed it to fall asleep.

06.07.2013

As expected was the night very hot. I woke up several times and was sweating like hell. And outside it became also hotter already. The sun was shining on the car already. The fishermen were also still there. The night wasn’t successful for them and they continued to catch something.

We packed our stuff quickly, said Good Bye again to our friends and went further. Further to the next Mc Donalds, which was in the next city. Which we saw on the other side of the river already in the night.
When we arrived, we realized that there is no Mc Donalds, or if, than is it inside of a shopping mall… without good parking places. Also was some festival in this village on this day. Half of the city was closed for traffic. So, we went to the next Mc Donalds in the next city.

The next one was just 10km away. Luckily in the right direction… to the north. We reached this Mc Donalds around 10 o’clock. They opened at 11. Luckily was the umbrellas and the tables outside. So we could sit outside and write a bit and using the internet already, until they opened at 11.

11 they opened finally and we could move inside. We was looking for a place with socket and we connected straight the junction box and connected everything we had to charge on it… laptops, batteries, camera batteries (I still don’t have a 12V charger for my pocket camera). Of course we used also the toilet there :)

Interesting was here the difference between the inside and outside temperature. Inside was it so cold that I was freezing. And when I went outside, to smoke one, the heat was hitting me in the face, so warm… hot was it. The car was showing an outside temperature of 45 degrees and the inside temperature was out of scale.

We spent again half a day at Mc Donalds. First at 5pm we left the place. We wanted to drive at least a few more kilometer, that day. And we did it. Till a forest lake somewhere in Portugal. We had the hope that we could go swimming in the lake, to get a shower as well. Unfortunately was the water here as well totally brown and dirty. Direct next to the lake was a picnic place, which was even at 10pm quite busy. But the last people left a few minutes later and we had the place just for us. Beside of a few fireflies. Really cool things which I never saw before.

We converted our car and went to bed. It was again great hot in our private sauna…

07.07.2013

The night was ending early. But this time not because of the heat, more because the picnic place became busy in the early morning again. The picnic places was quite full already, when we took a look outside around 9am. The first people carried BBQ stuff already on the place and occupied the first places already. Within minutes new cars arrived. They was building up a football field and 2 piglings turned over 2 huge BBQ grills. … I guess we missed some Portuguese holiday.

We converted the car before it became too busy. After a short walk on the lake we left the place. Of course was the technique not working again. It took Inge and the GPS tracker many minutes until they were working properly.

Also we still didn’t had a shower or a bath and the hill with the dirty clothes was also growing. We needed urgently a launderette for our clothes and a shower for us. My solution idea was to stop at a camping place. They have usually both of it. A launderette and a shower. To find a shower is not that hard, but a launderette is harder.

We stopped at the next camping place and asked them if we can take a shower and if we could use the launderette. The lady said, after a lot of thinking, that she could let us in as daily visitor. That would cost 3,75 Euro per Person. Ok… We asked for curiosity what it would cost to stay for one night, with 2 people and a car… 12,50 Euro. Well, we didn’t thought long about it and stayed there for a night. For this little amount of money…

The camping place was ok. Unfortunately a bit less shadow, in the Portuguese sun. But we found a place. Under some trees and direct next to the washing houses. So we had the whole evening shadow. It was just 5pm.

First of all was putting the dirty clothes in the machine and went then to the beach. It was 200 meter away from the camping place. By feet to reach in a few minutes.
A huge beach. For sure 50 meters wide. It was Sunday and the beach was packed. Many people took a sunbath. But funny was for me that many people was standing direct on the waterline. But they was just standing there and that’s it. In the water was just 2-3 people. But direct in front of it were around 100 standing. It looked like they were waiting for something… but on what… I don’t know.
We was also standing there for a few minutes to observe that a while. But nothing. The people was just standing there, but nobody went in. Very strange…

We was sweeten the way back with an ice cream from the kiosk. The best you can do at this heat. The wasching machine was also almost ready. We had to wait 10 minutes and then we could take the clothes with us to the car to hang them up there. Then was it our turn. Taking a shower… always an experience… with these showers here. But at least they had normal valves and not this push-valves, which close the water after 10 seconds again. Like this I could take a nice long shower.

And then the highlight of the evening… BBQ. The first time on our tour we was trying Julia’s great mini-bbq-grill. On the way here we stopped at Lidl and bought BBQ meat. This ended up now on this little grill. Ok, partly a bit dark at the end… but it was anyway very tasty :)

After this great evening we went to bed. The washing we left this time on the lines, that I can dry more over night.

08.07.2013

Finally a night I could sleep through the night. At least until the morning, till the sun was shining at the Kangaroo. Then was the cool time over and the car was heating up within minutes. But anyway was it a good night. Finally sleeping through the night.
And we started slowly in the day. Nice relaxed.
Slowly taking of the clothes from the lines, converting the car and more relaxing.

After we went to the bar, where they had internet… and a coffee. Later we decided also to eat something there. But it took longer than we thought and we left the place a bit late. At 1 we had to check out latest. Half past 1 we checked out. Luckily we had no extra payment to make. We paid our 12,50 Euro and left. Today in direction to Santiago de Compostela, this is in Spain already. That we will not manage the long way today was clear. But the direction was right already :)

And there was already again something… we haven’t sent a single postcard from Portugal yet. We didn’t even saw shop yet where they sold postcards. Somehow strange here in Portugal. In every country you get bombed with postcards and souvenirs. But in Portugal you have to search for them. And we will leave the country in 200 km already again.
An idea was to stop at a tourist information. They should have some or at least know where we could get bloody postcards. And so we stopped at the next tourist information. That was in Povoa de Varzim.

We explained the nice lady in the tourist information that we need urgent postcards and if she have an idea where we can find some. She didn’t had any there in the moment, but explained us where we can find some and gave us also a city map in the hand. Also we could leave the Kangaroo on the parking space from the tourist information (there is 1 free parking for the tourist information) and went into the city. First was it an unsuccessful search. In one shop we found 2 ugly postcards. In a bookshop then the first findings. Later at the beach we found even a better range. And straight we bought some cards, who knows if this is not the last shop with postcards :) Portugal is the most important point on our travel. It is the point where we turn around and heading back in direction to Germany. It’s not possible to move futher to the west. The Atlantic is in the way. So we travel from the south to the north and then back to the east. Via north-Spain through France back to Germany. Maybe 1-2 days Luxemburg and Belgium.

But now we had finally postcards from here. We found on the way then even a souvenir shop, in which we spend 30 minutes, at least. Looking here and there. Well…
After our shopping tour (for tourists) we went back to the tourist information. Ielva, the nice lady there, found also some postcards in the meantime for us. We made it us cozy there and wrote the postcards straight in the tourist information, that we could send them straight away. We also had now Portuguese stamps and had to send them now from here.

As we finally finished all postcards, it was almost 7 pm. And at 7 the office was also closing. But somehow we was talking so much with Ielva that we forgot the time. As some other tourists came into the office, we realized that it was half past 7 already. But it was nice to talk with Ielva. A very nice and interesting woman. We swapped our contact information.

It didn’t made sense to drive much more at this time. We was looking for a nice place, just 5 km further, and stayed there. It was a lonely place, luckily. Here is a hotel, but it is more closed then open. The beach is also huge here, but not full at all.
We was watching the sunset on the beach… beautiful. How the sun is set blood red in the sea.  Unfortunately is the sun in Limassol never going down in the sea.

And we also went to the hotel, for a coffee… and the WiFi password. :) And now I am writing here while Julia is sleeping well already. :) … Which I will do as well now.

Best wishes
Gordon

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