Helen and Peter in Portugal

A day trip to Lisbon with our Dutch neighbours Ferrie and Ingrid was planned.   Ferrie had to go to the Dutch Embassy to sort out his passport, while Peter and I wanted to go to the super Chinese supermarket we know in the downtown area of Lisbon. In a city where people queue for tins of sardines, we wanted to buy noodles, sweet chili sauce and shrimp paste (not items normally found in your average Portuguese supermarket, where flour tortillas are considered risky).   A coffee break on the drive into Lisbon (just 2.5 hours away) we realised that Ferrie had left his phone at home!   Not to worry, Ingrid had her phone with her .    The plan was to part company at the Embassy, for Peter and I to take a walk from one side of town to another, stopping for much needed Sargres (beer) on the way and for us all to meet up in the downtown district once our Dutch friends had driven over and called us.   An hour passed and Peter and I we...

This is not a new subject for those Central Portugal bloggers, but it’s my version and I’ve been meaning to show off this very special (‘special’) part of Castanheira de Pera for quite a while now. A friend, Emma, has already written one of the best blogs about our town on her blog, Emma's House in Portugal – read it here. Rightful Castanheirense (those born in Castanheira de Pera) were a very proud bunch.   In their lifetime they have seen the town change from flourishing to slightly sad (like Brighton about 30 years ago before it got good again – you know what I mean).     Castanheria de Pera is a town built on wool, from socks to traditional hats the town was once full of mills powered by the Pera stream.   Sadly, a walk along the stream at the back of town shows the decline of this industry, abandoned mills almost litter you pathway.   The whole industry replaced by cheaper imports. But despite this sad decline, Castinheria de Pera is not so diffe...

It was a cold and windy night and the power went off.   Plunged into darkness (well, we were asleep so it was dark anyway, but I’m trying to create a mood here). Power cuts are pretty common in Portugal, the electricity wires run along the forests strung from poles so every so often a tree hits a power line and out goes the supply for a short time.    However last Friday we had a storm, a big storm and our power supply was off for four days and it’s only just stopped raining.   It is only when your electric supply is out when you realise that almost your whole life depends on having this supply.    No internet means no work, no phone or mobile reception means no phoning to check the situation, no TV means a disaster! On Saturday we plugged in our gas cooking rings, got the candles ready and went off to a lunch given in a local social club.   How they catered for 60 people with no electricity is beyond me (even if it was cold and you had a...

I’ve been debating whether to write this blog entry as death is one of those strange topics.   But the custom of notifying local people that someone has died by stapling notices up around town has had me hooked since we first got here. We all know we live in an aging population, well triple that for Pera!    Seriously when our neighbours moved here with their two young girls I think it was the first young children in Pera for years.   Simply by attending events, even I, manage to make the average age a little lower!   So, as in all areas the only people having a boom in this recession is the undertaker!    A death is announced (not by a notice in the paper as Agatha Christie announced) by posters going up around town, with the details, date of the funeral and often a photo of that person looking so young and healthy that I don’t recognise them!   Funerals happen pretty quickly round here.   Within a couple of days you are sleeping i...

It's about this time of year when Peter gets all excited and actually wants to go out for a walk in the woods. The rain has come, the leaf mould is all over the ground and the mushrooms have appeared once again. Parasol Mushroom This year, it's a bumper crop. From Fairy Rings in the garden lawn to Parasol mushrooms in the market. Next month Peter will be going on the mushroom identifiers walk once again and this book will be complete with notes on where to find the edible ones. Fairyring Mushrooms We had a bit of luck recently on our way up to the Coentral Chestnut Festival - we came across a large Cauliflower mushroom nestling in the woods. A gourmet delicacy we are told! This along with Parasol mushroom from the neighbour’s garden and some Milky caps from the roadside were cooked up for brunch with friends the other day.  Cauliflower Mushroom Beefsteak Mushroom Despite having a super book on how to identify the right mushrooms for ea...

Aldeia da Mata Pequena is a small rural village on the extreme outskirts of Lisbon. The village is one of only a handful of Portuguese villages that have been bought in total and restored as holiday destinations. This whole village (although only 7 or 8 houses) has been taken from the jaws of decay and restored to create a 'traditional' Portuguese village. Complete with little old lady, dressed in black from head to toe. We stayed there recently on a trip to the area for a wedding. The self-catering houses are basic but beautiful, resulting in some creature comforts (fridge, tv) but traditional features (two ring cooker, no fire place but a wood oven) creating what their website calls a 'balanced restoration'. http://www.aldeiadamatapequena.com/langEN/01aldeia/index.php The village has won awards for this balanced restoration, using traditional materials such as, lime mortar, poplar, cedar and pine timber work, barrel roof tiles, stone flooring, wood-fired fl...

The majority of village Festas (local festivals) focus around a lot of very poor music, from local accordion players thrashing out the classics, to middle aged men singing ‘party hits’ with scantily clad girl backing singers doing a few basic Wigfield Saturday Night moves. The normal Festa entertainment on offer The Candal Festa of Music was billed as something quite different, with   real music from Fado to a Portuguese Irish band (!).   Set in the mountain-top xisto   (pronounced shhisto) village of Candal   - now home to just a few full time residents, but home to some of the best holiday homes you’ve ever seen, the setting could not have been more beautiful.   Set into the hillside = lots of steps   In true Portuguese style we missed the first act but climbed up the village (set into the hillside would be a better description) to watch a Coimbra guitarist playing some melancholy Fado music while we perched on the steps in the aftern...