Tag Archives: Portugal

Sundays

Bill’s beautiful bread & home brewed beer in the basement…

The weather has been really crappy this week. We have snow on the ground that is a few days old, but it’s been too cold for it to melt. Consequently, it’s not very pretty to look at right now. The sky is kind of light grey and foggy; I can see my breath when I breathe; and I just don’t feel like going anywhere.

I’ve been thinking about a few possible travel related topics based on the many trips we’ve already taken. But I don’t know if it’s worth my time to write those pieces, since this blog doesn’t get that much traffic… except for a few curious posts that I wrote ages ago. I probably will write them eventually, but not until I’m feeling especially motivated. 

So, today’s post will be quick and to the point… which could be a very foreign thing, if you’re also someone who reads my main blog. I think I’m writing today’s “travel” post because I want to hear more of my nostalgia playlist before I start practicing guitar.

As I write this, Bill is in the basement preparing to start brewing his latest batch of home brewed beer. He says he’s brewing a stout this time, and he has some new equipment to try out. I am a fan of his hobby, so I’m letting him have at it. Yesterday, he baked me a gorgeous loaf of sandwich bread. I requested it a couple of days ago, because although I like the artisanal loaves he makes in our Le Creuset bread oven, I especially love the old fashioned loaves that I can more easily turn into sandwiches. 

I’m actually thinking of having a piece of that bread right now… 

I used to love baking bread. I found it a great stress reliever. As I’m writing this post, I remember that I used to bake bread in Armenia when I had an oven lent to me by the USDA. And it just occurred to me that when I bought yeast there, I knew the Russian word for it, rather than the Armenian word. I just looked both up, just to be sure… and yes, back in the 90s, we used the Russian word for yeast, not the Armenian one. I wonder if that’s changed. Maybe that’s reason enough to visit there again soon. ;)

Seriously, after we take our upcoming intra-Germany trip with Bill’s mom, we will probably plan a trip to Spain. Spain won the last champagne bucket drawing, and Bill wants to go there to explore whether or not we’d like to retire there. Frankly, I think Portugal could be a better bet… I’d like to visit there again, too. Or maybe Italy. I love Italy… even if it can take a long time to get things done there.

We had sushi for dinner last night. It was pretty great. And I expect Bill will cook a roast for dinner. It is Sunday, after all, and we like our British traditions, even if we’re Americans living in Germany. :)

Anyway, I’m pretty proud of Bill’s work on that loaf of bread. If you’d like the recipe, here’s the link. 

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Things I learned on my trip to Spain and Portugal…

I am a firm believer that you learn a lot when you travel to new places.  While I had been to Madrid and Seville before we took our trip, Lajes, Lisbon, and Rota were all new to me.  I love it when I experience new and exciting things when I go abroad.  So, since I think I’m pretty much done with the story of our most recent “seat of the pants” trip, here’s a list of things I learned in Spain and Portugal.

1.  Spaniards are not rude.

The last time I was in the heart of Spain– meaning not Barcelona– I picked up sort of a negative opinion of Spain.  I think part of my problem was inexperience.  Another part was that I was traveling with my older sister, who didn’t seem to like Spain much.  Somehow I came away with the idea that Spaniards are rude.  I am happy to report that on the whole, they are very warm and pleasant.  They seemed to like Americans, too… or at least, most of them seemed to like Bill and me.  I didn’t feel like I needed to tell anyone I was Canadian, for instance.

2.  Donuts are a big deal in Portugal!  

I had no idea how much the Portuguese like donuts, but I saw them offered everywhere.  I didn’t partake of any donuts in Portugal, but I did have a couple in Spain.  They put Krispy Kremes to shame!

3.  Portuguese restaurants bring out food that appears to be free but isn’t.

Food wasn’t all that expensive in Portugal, but they do make you pay for everything, including butter.  If you eat the bread or dig into the octopus salad or crab dip, you have to pay for it.  If you leave it untouched, you don’t have to pay.

4.  Siesta still goes in Spain, but not Portugal.

I’ve heard that the siesta tradition may be going by the wayside because of business.  However, I did notice that shops shut down at 2:00 so people could have lunch.  I didn’t see this in Portugal as much and was told by a travel agent that they don’t do siesta there.

5.  You have to pay to go into the Seville cathedral.

As a matter of fact, I didn’t see too many churches open in Spain or Portugal like I have in other European countries.

6.  Trying to speak the language is a good thing.

My Spanish sucks, though not as much as I thought it did.  I charmed more than a couple of people by trying to speak it, even though I probably sounded ridiculous.  I have found in other European countries, if you try to speak the language, people will either appreciate it or immediately shift into their far superior English.

7.  Tipping is appreciated.  

This is especially true among cab drivers and carriage drivers.

8.  Don’t take the rosemary.

If you’re in a touristy area and pushy women try to give you anything for “free”, be sure to keep walking.  Chances are excellent that they will either try to pick your pocket or will demand payment for what they’re giving you for free.

9.  There’s a lot of value in just people watching.

Sure, it’s great to see the sights and shit, but I get a huge kick out of just watching people and listening to snippets of conversations.

10.  Street musicians selling CDs are awesome!

Some of my favorite mementos anywhere are CDs I’ve bought from buskers.  I highly recommend supporting street artists if you like what they’re doing.

11. Spanish orange juice is amazing!!!

I miss it.

12. Spanish ads are awesome!

I got a huge kick out of the one featuring the naked guy running through the street with his private parts blurred out.  I also liked the one for nose spray that apparently is so powerful that you can suck up a couple of pencils into your nostrils after using it.

13. Space A trips are very cool! 

Some people are planners, but I love traveling by the seat of my pants.  I love planning things on the spur of the moment.  I also love flying to and from Europe for less than $50.  If you are in the military or retired, I urge you to take advantage of this benefit and see the world.

14. Sometimes you have to trade one travel memory for another…

I’m sorry we lost our wee Scottish umbrella in a bar in Madrid, but I’m not sorry we spent an evening in a seedy local bar, watching the locals mingle and staring at a woman with huge tits.

15. Hit the spa.

I loved our experience at Aire.  I loved goading Bill into it, too.

I learned more than this and I’m sure I’ll write more about it later, but right now I have to snuggle Arran, who begged to get into my lap.  I missed my dogs like crazy while we were gone.

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aquariums

Lisbon’s Oceanarium…

Located near our hotel was Lisbon’s fabulous Oceanarium.  It’s an outstanding facility and as I am a fan of aquariums, I figured we should take the time to visit.  I’m so glad we did.  I learned a lot from the few hours we spent there, along with a couple of school groups.  There’s a permanent exhibit there as well as a temporary sea turtle exhibit.  To see both, which I highly recommend, you pay 16 euros.  To just see the permanent exhibit, it’s 13 euros.

The Oceanarium on the horizon…

We visited the turtle exhibit first, since it was on the way to the permanent exhibit.  Having spent three years in South Carolina, I had heard a lot about loggerhead turtles and how they are becoming somewhat endangered due to man’s encroachment on the turtles’ habitat.  The oceanarium had a few loggerhead exhibits.  They also had sea turtles, which they were rehabilitating and planned to release back into the wild.  These turtles were mostly caught by accident and injured in the process.

 

This explains more about how the turtles came to the exhibit.  As you can see, quite a few have already been released.

The exhibit had a plexiglass floor that we had to walk over.  One elderly Portuguese woman seemed afraid she would fall through the glass.

Growing up near the water in Virginia, I have seen plenty of these…

A turtle swims with the fishes!

Ready for a close up!

It was fun to observe the turtles.

We moved on to the permanent exhibit, which was surprisingly large and took a lot of time to fully appreciate.

The big central tank.

You could watch this for hours and not see the same thing twice.

A ray swims among schools of fish…

Puffin exhibit.

A puffin gives me a great action shot…

These three penguins seemed to be posing!

The next exhibit was the sea otters.  There were two of them; they were both female and delightfully cute.  I could tell they were a popular attraction, though they didn’t seem especially interested in putting on a show.

Information about the sea otters.

Penguins!  I had no idea how fast they can move!

The rest of these photos are from the many exhibits throughout the oceanarium.  There were great displays featuring everything from frogs, newts, and other amphibians, to sharks, barracudas, and eels.  There were also interactive displays and a kids’ area which offered hands on exhibits for little ones.

As you can see, there’s a lot to look at.  Fortunately, photography is allowed, though you’re not supposed to use your flash.  I didn’t, but still came away with some amazing pictures.  The oceanarium offers a film about what goes on there and they types of research they’re doing.  There are subtitles and I highly recommend watching the film, since it’s not very long and is very interesting.  They show how sea animals are cared for at the facility and even explain how surgeons can sew up injuries when the creatures are hurt.  If you ever get to Lisbon and like aquariums, I highly recommend the Oceanarium.  It’s reasonably priced and you will learn a lot from a three hour visit.

As we left the facility, we had to walk through the gift shop.  There is also a cafe.  I bought a few things at the shop and we were stopped by a young guy doing a survey for the Oceanarium.  We answered his questions, then moved on to our next fun activity, the funicular.  It’s located very close to the Oceanarium and is very reasonably priced.  A round trip ticket for both of us was twelve euros.

I got a kick out of the rules…

Up, up, and away!

Bill enjoys the view…

I think “no smokers” has a very different meaning than “no smoking” does.

A shot of the Oceanarium as we passed.

The huge bridge leading out of Lisbon.

Oriente skyline…

The Portuguese flag…

After our funicular ride, we had lunch at an Irish pub, where we enjoyed Irish beers.  The meal was decent, but unremarkable… except for the Irish whiskey chocolate mousse at the end…  I did like the signs, though.

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Off to Lisbon…

We had a morning flight out of Lajes to Lisbon and we needed to return our rental car.  Fortunately, the Lajes airfield and the tiny commercial airport are situated right next to each other.  It was a simple matter to drive to the airport, park the car in the rental lot, and drop off the keys at the rental car office.

We flew to Lisbon on TAP Portugal.  We had a surprisingly nice flight.  The nice thing about Portugal’s airline is that they don’t charge extra to check bags.  They also don’t charge for the surprisingly edible snack or wine they give you on the flight.  After we checked our bags and went through a very laid back security checkpoint, we sat down to wait for our flight out of Lajes.  I turned on my iPhone and was delighted to note that the airport offered free WiFi.  In fact, the cafe and bar we visited on Lajes also offered free WiFi, which was pretty awesome.  We did not find that anywhere else on our trip.

Probably one of the best food offerings I have ever had on an airplane.  Everything tasted good and we didn’t have to pay extra for it.  The sandwich had lettuce and hummus on it and the bread was very fresh.  There was a small bottle of mango compote, and of course white wine and water.  Bill enjoyed the red wine.

We were slightly delayed getting out of Lajes, but our trip out was pretty nice.  TAP Portugal used an Airbus 330 and it was only about half filled.  Unfortunately, the wind was high on our descent and some poor lady sitting two rows ahead of us ended up puking.  I didn’t see or hear her do it and thankfully, I didn’t smell the evidence, either.  Bill witnessed it, though, and said it was looking pretty serious for a moment.  I wondered why her companion was so urgently ringing for a flight attendant.  I think it was because she was about to fill the barf bag.

As we were flying east, I read the airline’s magazine, which had an article about a very interesting program TAP Portugal offers in conjunction with healthcare professionals.  The airline has a program for people who are afraid to fly which includes therapy and even a flight to and from Lisbon and Madrid.  I thought that was a very innovative way for them to help people overcome their fears and score some new customers.

Magazine article about flight anxiety program.

 

The flight lasted about two hours.  We left sunny skies in The Azores and arrived in Lisbon to clouds and drizzle.  Bill and I were briefly separated when he was prevented from getting on the same people mover bus I got on because it was full.  Then, once we arrived at the terminal, I had to visit the ladies’ room, so he ended up getting ahead of me.  Lisbon’s airport is surprisingly large and I felt like I had to walk my ass off to get to baggage claim!  You end up walking through a very glitzy mall like area, too.  There are many restaurants there and lots of very high end retail stores, including an airport version of Harrod’s.

Once we picked up our bags, we got a taxi and went to the Tivoli Oriente Hotel.  This hotel is part of a chain and located in Lisbon’s business district and the area of the 1998 Expo.  Though it was a nice enough hotel, it’s important to remember that you won’t see old town Lisbon if you don’t hop on the metro and seek it out.  This area of the city is nothing like the older part, which we found to be a hotbed of activity.  Also, because the Tivoli is a business hotel, there are surcharges galore.  We had to pay 30 euros for two days of Internet access.  I did read that you could join Tivoli’s loyalty program and get those charges waived, but no one at the hotel told us about that and I never got around to asking.

These were all over the area near our hotel.

The Scorpions are coming to Lisbon!

The first night, we walked around the Oriente area and ended up in a huge Portuguese shopping mall located very close to our hotel.  We went all the way to the top level, where there was a “beer deck” and several restaurants.  It was still kind of early, so we went into a place that looked kind of like a Portuguese version of Legal Sea Foods.  There was only one other couple in the place.  They appeared to be German.

It was a good thing I had read a couple of Epinions reviews of Portugal before we sat down.  It was one reviewer’s negative review of Portugal that clued me in on a local practice that some Americans may find odd.  In Portugal, when you sit down at a restaurant, the server will often bring entradas without being asked.  These are starters and if you look in your menu, you see that they have prices next to them.  When we sat down at this restaurant, sure enough, the waiter brought bread, crab dip, and octopus salad.  If you don’t touch these items, you won’t be charged for them.  But if you do dig in, there will be a modest charge.  We didn’t find dining out that expensive in either Portugal or Spain, but we did find that in Portugal, there aren’t any freebies.  You pay for everything, including the butter.

Anyway, neither Bill nor I were interested in the crab dip or the octopus salad.  What we wanted was beer.  I was also hoping for a local dish that had something in it that couldn’t be considered “junk food”.  I ended up ordering Portuguese bread soup with shrimp, while Bill got salted cod with potatoes and spinach.  Both portions were huge and we ended up eating them “family style”.  The bread soup was really not like any soup I’ve ever had.  The bread in it gave it the consistency of porridge and it was loaded with garlic.  It tasted good, though I couldn’t eat a lot of it because it was very filling.  The shrimp was delicious and a nice treat after all the fast food.  The spinach on Bill’s dish was good, too.

Bill enjoys the first of many Sagres beers we had on this trip.

Dinner…  The bread soup (asordo) was in the little copper pot.  

 

 

We did save room for dessert.  I had some delightful cheesecake and Bill had ice cream made with a beer reduction that was surprisingly excellent.

After we were finished eating, we wandered around a little more, then went back to the Tivoli Oriente to turn in.  I had big plans for the next day, which turned out to be pretty full.

If we hadn’t had fish, we could have hit the brewpub…

Or enjoyed some seafood…

 
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Delayed and in need of rest!

The pilot announced over the loudspeaker that we had “an issue” that prevented us from flying.  He sounded really annoyed, but didn’t tell us what the issue was.  We had to find that out from a gate agent.  The pilot was probably as irritated as the rest of us were as we went back to the gate.  I got the sense that the delay was as inconvenient for him and his crew as it was for the families who were hoping to get home.

It turned out the pilots and flight attendant had been delayed for so long at McGuire AFB that they were overdue for rest. We could not leave BWI until the flight crew had a chance to sleep.  Though I got the sense that the pilot just wanted to gut through it, I realized I’d rather he get some sleep than risk the lives of everyone onboard.

It seemed to take a long time to get the whole story and figure out what we would be doing next.  Bill dealt with the officials while I collected our luggage and sat with the bags in the baggage claim.  As I sat waiting, I remembered being boldly accosted just the night before by a bum who was looking for “coffee money” as we got our bags from our Delta flight.  He was the first of many bums we would run into on this trip.  Fortunately, he was easy to resist and no one else at BWI bugged me in that manner.

Finally at about 2:00 or so, Bill found me and said we’d been given vouchers for a hotel, lunch, and dinner.  We were surprised we were being given the vouchers, since we were just on vacation and they were worth a lot more than the taxes we’d paid for the flight.  It took some more time to get the shuttle, which took us to the Hilton right next door to the Aloft we’d stayed in the night before.

We were told to be back at the airport at 11:00pm and hopefully we’d be on our way by midnight.

I was slightly chagrined by the late departure, since I hate sitting up all night on planes.  But I was already tired from being up so early, so Bill and I gratefully accepted the hotel voucher.  We dropped our bags in the room, had a bite to eat and some beer at the hotel bar, then went back to the room.  I showered and then crashed for a couple of hours.  Surprisingly enough, a couple of the families opted to hang out in the USO lounge at BWI, which was very crowded with folks hoping for the Germany flight.  The Germany flight was also seriously delayed, probably because we were.  I would not have wanted to hang out in the USO lounge for anything because it was really packed with people.

The bar at the Hilton at BWI was a lively place.  The bartender was a former Marine and kind of fun to talk to.  We also got to know more of the Lajes folks, who warned Bill and me of the very dry wine made in The Azores.  By the time we got on the shuttle to go back to the airport, we were kind of bonding with the Lajes folks.  One very nice lady even offered to run us to the Air Force Lodging once we got to Portugal.  That turned out to be a very kind favor, since there’s no easy way to get there on foot and as we were arriving on Sunday, no rental car place would be open.

The flight and welcome to The Azores…

 

The Azores are about 2200 miles from New York City and 900 miles from Lisbon.  There are nine islands in the group and Terceira, which is where Lajes is, is one of the central islands.  Our flight was bumpy and there was no entertainment.  We did get a snack and a meal.  The meal smelled horrible, so I skipped it.

We landed at Lajes Field at about 9:00am.  After we disembarked, we entered the tiny terminal where we were greeted by all the base commanders.  They cheered as we entered the hall and shook hands in receiving line fashion.  A couple asked Bill if he was PCSing there, but Bill said we were just on vacation.  A lot of people seemed surprised we’d want to vacation there, especially in January.  But I am here to tell you that the Azores are beautiful.  Even in the dead of winter, they look like Ireland.

One of the first islands of The Azores…

Welcome!  Many of these people had simply come to the terminal to welcome people back to the island… or just to say hello to me and Bill, since we were the only ones there on vacation.

Our new friends very kindly gave us a basic orientation and took us to the lodge.  They gave us their phone number and encouraged us to call if we needed anything.  It turned out the woman was a teacher at the local DODDS (American) school, which was responsible for about 200 students in grades K-12. She told us there were plans to stop allowing families to go to Lajes.  Seemed a shame to me.

We checked into Air Force Lodging– there it’s called the Mid Atlantic Lodge.  The Air Force base is high up from sea level, so there’s a lot of wind and we could easily see the ocean as we made our way to our room.  I think they even refer to Lajes as “the rock”.  The enlisted/officer’s club is called the Top of the Rock Lounge and you get a great view from there.

Like most military lodging, our room had a sitting room, microwave, fridge, and TVs in the bedroom and sitting room.  We guessed these had once been dorm rooms that were turned into visitor’s lodging.  There was a free laundry room– you just had to buy the soap– and even though we were not based at Lajes, we were allowed to use the BX/PX and commissary.  I was surprised to see that the inn itself stocked some interesting supplies, too…

They even stocked Vagisil…

Safety is always on the brain, even when you’re sitting on the can… This was posted on the door of a bathroom stall in the ladies room.

Bill and I had a quick meal at the bowling alley, which looked the same as it does on every military base I’ve ever been on.  Local folks staffed the place.  If I hadn’t been so tired, I might have bowled a few rounds.  Bill and I used to bowl somewhat often when we lived on Fort Belvoir and in Germany.  As it was, the food I ate at the bowling alley didn’t agree with me and I lost it fairly promptly.  After a shower, I was ready to get some sleep and get into the new time zone… four hours ahead of Eastern.

Monday… a repeat of Sunday, sorta…

 

As it turns out, most everything is closed on Mondays on the base.  We were not able to rent a car and the nearest town was a somewhat stout walk.  It wasn’t actually that far away, but there aren’t any sidewalks and we had to dodge a lot of cars as we made our way along the hilly terrain.  We stopped at the front gate to get passes so we could come and go freely.  The wife of the AFN guy on our flight recognized us from meeting us in the terminal.  She offered us a ride, but we needed those passes, so we declined.  Then we started walking and ended up in Praia Victoria, a cute little town.

These are some of the things I saw as we walked.

The view from the Air Force lodging area…

A pretty field on the way to Praia…

Cows everywhere!  No wonder the cheese in the Azores is so good!

Chickens!

He overlooks the town of Praia.  We didn’t go to the top.

Winding through the park…

Fresco

Close up!

Water view…  the water was actually pretty warm for January.

Underwear on the line!

A map of the area.

More dramatic water…

There were what looked like student made tiles on this Passeio… 

Near the town square where we spent a pleasant couple of hours drinking Portuguese beer.

Mail!

Picturesque village.

You want American fried chicken?  You got it.

This was taken with an iPhone…

So was this…

We patronized this bar because they like Americans.

Super Bock… one of several good Portuguese beers we drank…

Will write more tomorrow, when I’ve had a full night’s sleep.  There will be beautiful photos.

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The Azores…

As I sit here pondering the last year of Bill’s active duty Army career, I realize that soon he will likely have less leave for good trips.  He will also have lower priority for trips on military hops.  I have never been to Portugal.  Neither has Bill.  The Azores, which is a group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is part of Portugal.  It’s also stunningly beautiful.

Bill and I noticed that there are regular flights going to the Azores every week that usually have seats available.  Looks like they also have regular flights back to the US with seats available.  So last night, we were talking about visiting the Azores.  One of my friends lived in Portugal in the 1980s and visited the Azores.  He said it wasn’t a very interesting place to visit.  Having looked around on the Internet, I am inclined to disagree.  From what I’ve seen in photos, the Azores look like a cross between Hawaii and Ireland.  Parts of it are very green, with deep blue ocean and volcanos.  There are hydrangeas everywhere.  And anywhere there’s that much ocean, there is bound to be great seafood.

I have a friend who visited the Azores courtesy of a military hop.  She said when they visited, she and her husband were able to pick up some delicious port.  I am also a port fan.  I like laid back vacations, beaches, friendly locals, and unusual non-touristy places.

I don’t know if that’s where we’ll go next… I do think our next trip will probably be via a military hop, though.  We don’t have as much money in Texas as we did in North Carolina.  We will in February, when we’re done paying off my car… Then things will temporarily be better… but we will also be preparing for Bill’s retirement.  I was hoping we could take a good trip after he retired.  I think that a hop may be the best way to do that.

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