Costa da Caparica

Costa da Caparica is one of the many beaches in the Lisbon area. On this afternoon, in early October, we were driving around with our friends and decided to make a detour to the beach just to look at the sea and walk around a little bit. Costa da Caparica is across the river from Lisbon and on the Atlantic coast. You can stand on the beach and look to your right and see where the river empties out into the sea.

It was our first time to see the ocean since we have come to Lisbon and it was a perfect day in the late afternoon, with the sun beginning to set, a pleasant breeze and not too many people. Just smelling the fresh sea breeze, feeling the warmth on our faces, and watching the sun set was a gift from God. Don even got a picture of a lone surfer walking across our view as the sun was disappearing out of sight.

Fairs and Feiras

We have county fairs in the States, usually held sometime during the summer, but here in Portugal they have their version (somewhat) of a county fair called a feira. Their feira's last longer and in the case of the one near our apartment, it lasted for all of September. We enjoyed walking down on several occasions to enjoy the activity that surrounds a feira. There were even a few rides for small children. We also got a few nice plants and a really good little pan at one of the booths.

They have a lot of the same things we do - "fair food" of grilled chicken, hamburgers, sausages, corn, potatoes, friend potatoes, and even cotton candy. They also have a version of fried dough but shaped in the form of long hollow tubes that can be filled with cream or fruit fillings or just left empty and then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. We chuckled a little about the name because it wouldn't go over so well in the States - to be eating "farturas".

The word "feira"also means market and in fact, the days of the week came from their "market" days. Monday is segunda-feira (2nd market), Tuesday is terça-feira (3rd market), quarta..., quinta..., sexta... Saturday and Sunday are Sabado and Domingo with no -feira after the word.

The gypsies sell a lot things at the feiras - name brands and immitations. If you need something, you will probably find it for a pretty good price at these kinds of annual feiras.

Football (American) in Portugal

There is football (futebol, or as we know it, soccer) and the much less known and/or liked futebol americano in Portugal. The futebol americano is a non-professional version, but still very competitive from what I hear. The team that Don helps with practices on a grassy area where the Vasco de Gama bridge starts on the Lisbon side of the river. It is about 15 or 20 minutes from our house and a little more when Don gets lost. There are so many streets, buildings, traffic, twists and turns, that even when you are somewhat familiar with an area it is still easy to lose your way.

The videos are from one of the first practice sessions.

This morning there is actually a scrimmage going on between two teams at a stadium. The game will serve two purposes - practice game for the teams, and learning and practice for the new referees. Don had to leave at 7am and I am waiting for him to come home and tell me how it went. I wonder how crazy it got.

Arraiolos

Arraiolos is a town that is know for it's hand made wool carpets. In fact the name of the town and the name of the carpets are the same. Wikipedia has this to say "Arraiolos is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 683.0 km² and a total population of 7,389 inhabitants. The small town of Arraiolos has 3,351 inhabitants."

The municipality is located in the District of Évora.

Evora

Here is a link to information about Evora. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/portugal/evora

It really was a beautiful place and has the World Heritage status. Wikipedia says, "

A World Heritage Site is a place of either cultural or physical significance."

"We bones that are here wait for yours to join us."

Of Guards and Gargoyles

There are guards outside of the Belem National Palace (where the President of Portugal lives) and gargoyles on the monastery. The monastery is just down the street from the palace. These two gargoyles are just two of many other ones, even uglier than these, if you can believe it.

These gargoyles have holes for their mouths which makes me think that their purpose here was what many gargoyles were used for - as water spouts for the runoff of rain on the roofs to go out away from the building walls and foundation. One common belief also, is that they kept evil away from the building and its occupants, watching from high above.

In thinking about that as we explored the chapel in the monastery, I couldn't help but thank the Lord that He is with us at all times, in every situation, serving as our loving protector. In this city that is still a little strange to me, where we don't know the language and just walking across a street or trying to get out of the subway car before the doors close can be an adventure, our loving heavenly Father walks with us.

By the way, did you notice that even guards (human ones that is) sometimes need to wear sunglasses in Lisbon?