December 31, 2022: Happy Anniversary #11 Portugal-Style

 

So why not start the border of one year upon another with a hike between the border of Spain and Portugal?

     “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” —Rainer Maria Rilke, poet

     Along our walks in Portugal, I noted how many city squares and even the irrigation water wheels and bridge abutments are inscribed with poetry. And so, poetry in Portugal dates back to the beginnings of the country itself when it separated from Galicia in the early 12th century with women lamenting their separation from lovers by war and various other human maladies, through the renaissance and romantic period to the modernist likes of Pessoa and de Campos who wrote during dictatorships with feelings of cultural handicap to give birth to a variety of 20th and 21st century diverse expression. And if you were able to walk through this green countryside, whitewashed and tiled houses on hillsides and riverways, the simple villages and friendly people, you will understand the inspiration. And to some extent, if you look across the Guadiana River and almost immediately recognize the disparity between the two countries, you recognize why so many Portuguese poets have an undercurrent of sadness as well.  We were privileged to witness all the above today.

The walking guide, Rocia, insists we start walks at a bakery of sinful delights daily. Almonds, eggs, figs and honey dominate the ingredients.

Algarven delight: Three layers---fig, cream, almond. Yum.

After the bakery stop, you pretty much have to walk about 10 miles to make up for it. We are walking with a group of delightful UK folks from Ireland, Wales and England. 

     Our walk today was up and down hillsides, past farms of citrus, vineyards, sheep and a few chickens and then along the Guadiana River separating Portugal from Spain. Our hiking guide said, if you see a sailboat, a modern windmill or a beautiful home along the way, it's in Spain.  While not absolutely true, there is a noticeable difference gazing across the river. 

Rocia was right about the windmills (and the economics). These are on the Spanish side. In Portugal, although most homes did appear to have electricity, it was often provided on spindly wires and probably goes out in bad weather. 

    We saw a hunting party out for wild boar on our walk. Fortunately, we escaped unscathed but based on the echos of gunfire, we think a few wild boar won't be starting the New Year at all. They hunt with groups of men and a bevy of female dogs running through the brush flushing out the piggies. Sorry piggies. Portuguese are fond of their pork, especially those naturally fed on acorns.

Beautiful meadow and abandoned house. 

The chicken on the left literally "crossed the road" in front of us. He refused to answer our query regarding why.

This aloe was about 6 feet high.

One of the hunters with his cadre of bitches seeking an omnivorous snout nosed undomesticated mammal. Many of us rooted for the bacon!

     We ended our walk in a beautiful village and had to hike to the restaurant on the very top where we enjoyed the soup voted by culinarians as the very best in Portugal---a broccoli scented broth.  Of course, they also "threw in" for New Year's Eve, all you can eat bread, salad, "chips," a vegetarian stew and a humongous pile of meat. It was welcome after about 10 miles of walking. 

The village of the never-ending lunch. In our defense, we did walk to the top of the hill to get it. 

     It was a wonderful way to end the year. And let me end this entry with a New Year's Eve quote attributed to Barbara Walters who broke many barriers in journalism for women.  She died today and I greatly admired her gutsy interview approach.

      "Deep breaths are very helpful at shallow parties."

    May your New Year's Eve be full of deep happiness... with deep breaths as required.

Paul's Ponderings:   We had a fantastic day out walking.   It started out cool, but quickly warmed up!    Unlike the beach walk days we had earlier, this was up and down repeatedly until lunch about 2 pm, by which time we were all pretty much famished as a group.    It's quite green here due to a LOT of recent rain apparently and the route was pretty muddy at times.   All in all, a great day out.