Traditions and Christmas

 

We have been in our new Portuguese home exactly two months and love it here and miss our family in America  so this blog is about some old and some new traditions  

The White Stork (Ciconia cicnia) are a beloved  traditional bird in the Algarve (it’s illegal to destroy a nest).  Portugal has the distinction of harboring the only known White Stork that nest at sea  Olhão however has several year-round nesting storks as we see them flying overhead and perching high on the church steeples in their nests.  Like the Bald Eagles that used to occasionally & majestically fly by our window in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, these storks swoop by our windows every day.  

Olhão is a very old fishing port and one of the most authentic Portuguese towns in the Algarve dating back hundreds and hundreds of years.  

The town of Olhão is essentially and historically linked to the local fishing industry and only grew into existence in the 17th Century. It has about 30,000 inhabitants and was raised to the status of a town in 1808 after 17 local fishermen successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean without charts in their small fishing boat "Bom Sucesso". Their purpose was to announce to the exiled King of Portugal, Dom João IV, that the French invading armies had been defeated and had returned to France leaving Portugal free for the King to return. It was in this town in 1882 that the first canning factory for tuna and sardines was established. Very soon canning it became the leading industry of the Algarve.

Replica of the Bom Sucesso all decked out for Christmas

Today it is one of the few remaining WORKING fishing ports which accounts for the delicious daily fresh fish market.   Walking around the commercial harbor we see mostly smaller boats that go out to the larger fleets to transport in the daily catch.

Food is a passion in Portugal -served with love, family and conviviality.  It's a very Portuguese thing to have food for 3 times the amount of people.  

Se a ultima ceia tivesse sido em Portugal

We enjoyed long video chats & phone calls with our families in the States watching our grandchildren open presents and then settled down to stuff ourselves with food!

Fish is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve and it's usually Bacalhau-salted cod which is revered in Portugal even though it originates from the Northern sea by Norway and Iceland. It's unclear how this fish became Portugal's national dish but most theories say the fisherman preserved the cod in salt for their journey back to Portugal.  By the time they arrived back to Portugal, they would often have leftover bacalhau which they would then sell to the local people.  Today it is still heavily salted and stacked in non-refrigerated piles in the market-then it must be soaked in water for several days to leach out the salt.  

We had Bacalhau, fresh shrimp followed by the usual fruit for dessert.  I baked pineapple for dessert that I followed the recipe in Portuguese! 

buying camarao (shrimp) at the fish market.  Yes, that's €13 kg which works out about $6.00/lb

The translations are often very funny.  This recipe said to put the pineapple in the oven and KEEP IT RUNNING-what it really meant was to rotate the pineapple in the oven.

Our wonderful landlady, Manuela (who speaks no English but we communicate thru Mr. Google)

brought us an absolutely delicious almond cake she made.  It is so dense and sweet!

I decided to share a typical Christmas party treat with Manuela from the States-Chex Mix!  But I couldn't find any CHEX cereals or pretzels so I made it sweet instead of my usual savory batch, substituting what I could find.

 

Since there are virtually no restaurants open on Christmas Day we purchased a complete meal from our local market.  It was a very good dinner, probably more like a home-cooked meal than a fancy restaurant meal and enough food for 6 people!

We picked up the meal and some of the food was actually packaged in real ceramic bakeware

The meal came ready to reheat -Shrimp Paté, Cream of Pumpkin soup, Rice with pine nuts & raisins, Sautéed  spouts (greens), Creamed Bacalhau (cod), Pork Loin with plums, and dessert

Appetizer-Shrimp Paté, Olives (..always in Portugal!) with Martinis

First Course-Cream of Pumpkin soup with Valle do Rico Homen Reserva Wine (have I mentioned how reasonable the everyday wine is here?  This was about $2.50 a bottle)

Main Courses (we added additional mashed potatoes)

Dessert translated to "Bacon from Heaven"?? with espresso

Cheese with Port Wine (those are smaller dessert wine glasses...really!!)

Sending our warmest wishes and love to all for the Holidays.  (and special HUGS & KISSES to sister-in-law Jan and our nephew Jackson, who were involved in a serious car wreck on Christmas Eve in New Jersey.  They both walked away-a Christmas miracle!)

Next time the traditions of NewYears-twelve raisins?

Wait..wait…wait

Wondering what day-to-day life is like in Portugal?  This post will focus a little on the nitty-gritty of living here for two months.  

I mentioned several weeks ago in a post about "waiting" and how things move slowly here, like getting our internet installed.  Well, 6 weeks later and it still has not happened!  Today another technician came to the apartment but with the same issue-no connection. “You will have to wait”.   We did finally get the water and electricity changed into our name.  The process at the municipal water department was slow and laborious.  It seemed as though the clerk was trying to figure out where we "fit into the boxes" on her computor screen.  At one point Jack had to go next door to a cafe, purchase a coffee in order to use their internet so we could then email her the photo of the water meter from our building! 

 One must have patience and humor to get things done here.  

Jack needed to see a cardiologist and he was lucky to be able to get an appointment in four days at the PRIVATE  hospital in a nearby city, Loule. We had to pay since our insurance wasn't accepted there but the echocardiogram, EKG and 25 minutes with the doctor cost $165.   Since we don't have a car we rely on the train, bus and Bolt (ride sharing like Uber).  

Very comfortable, modern, punctual  buses 

Trains are frequent and connect with the buses 

The train and bus took about one hour and together cost $6.00 but we took Bolt home because it was after dark ($16.00).  We had to return the following week so decided to make a little excursion and stay overnight.  Again bus one way and Bolt home after getting in some shopping  

We had to show proof of Covid vaccines several times including to eat at IKEA. We downloaded a Digital “card” which was accepted in lieu of the EU Digital certificate. 

Our hotel exceptionally clean with full breakfast $39

We couldn’t figure how to open the door-we tried everything finally had to call the office for help. Just needed to pull the chain to the left to unlatch it. 

Loulé is a nice "market" city (pop. 70,000) that is like Olhão in that it is a truly a "real" Portuguese city and not primarily "touristy".  Its roots go back to 200 BC when it was founded as a Roman fort but later thrived under the Moorish invasion.  The castle at Loule was built in the 13th century on the site of both a Moorish and Roman fort.  The castle was built into the city walls and today are the gate tower and three towers, all in remarkable condition largely due to the extensive restoration work during the 19th century!

Loule Castle-"Village of Saints"

This bell tower was originally on the site a Moorish Mosque and was a minaret.  It is the only mosque building from the Moorish era (8-12th centure) still standing in Portugal. 

The "Pinto Arch"(named for the Pinto family who once lived in the homes that the arch connect) and cobblestone street has Moorish influence

There are several medieval churches, convents, chapels, traditional craftsmen's houses, and old merchant homes built into the maze of city walls.  The Arabian inspired covered market has stalls selling all kinds of produce and handicrafts.  While it is lovely, it is a little more sleek and modernized inside than the fish and produce market in Olhão.  

It's all about lights during the holiday in Portugal!  Christmas is much less commercial and more about food, family and outdoor decorations although much of the usual celebrations have been curtailed again this year due to Covid precautions.  

Huge Santa and his reindeer orchestra light up the sidewalks

 In Loulé children and their families could spend several hours in the city's Santa Claus Village that extended over several largos ("squares").  The fantasy village included a tiny synthetic ice rink, small carousel & train for the littlest ones and a low element ropes course for the older kids.  We clearly noticed the lack of commercialism as there were no vendors selling balloons or light sabers and the whole event was free for families. 

this little train ride was in a courtyard of one of the medieval convent buildings

Roasted Chestnuts

Yummy on a cool evening!

We went to a Fado performance
Fado is a type of mournful, melancholic music originating from Lisbon in the 1800's.  It was historically sung by women despairing for their men to come home from the sea

Fado guitar with 12 metal strings

December in the Algarve

Happy December Everyone!

 

I like all the pedestrians-sort of like a Hallmark movie!

The Church-Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Rosario

 

This is the Mother Church of our Lady of the Rosary.  Construction was sponsored by the fishing community, beginning in 1698, but only opened to worship in 1715.  Here traditionally fishermen's wives have come to pray for the safe return of their loved ones.

December 1st brought a renewed "state of calamity" (one step below the top emergency level) for Portugal until the end of March! 

This means tigher entries into the country, mandatory masks indoors, and negative coronvirus tests to enter restaurants, cinemas, gyms and hotels even though Portugal's vaccination rate is 87%, one of the highest globally. The EU digital Covid vaccine record must be shown at the entrances and the US covid record from CDC is not acceptable. Fortunately outside eating is still okay (although maybe a little cool....)  We aren't sure what this actually means for us but we do find that the requirement of negative tests will probably keep us at home a bit more. 

Oh well, we have lots to be thankful for and pleased to live in such a lovely area! Our explorations this week have been focused on the natural coastline the area. 

One day we took the train into Faro, about 15 minutes away and enjoyed sunset from a bar overlooking the Ria Formosa.

The restaurant in within the old castle walls

Another day we took a tourist boat to a couple of the nearby islands and learned more about the Ria Formosa lagoon which is separated from the sea by a coastal dune system. 

The Ria Formosa Natural Park stretches about 60 kms (nearly 40 miles) from the city of Faro (near us) to the Spanish border and covers about 18,400 hectares (about 70 sq miles). It's composed of a labyrinth of canals, five barrier islands, swamps and sandbars. Many of the sandbars are used for shellfish harvesting and get completely covered with water with the tide changes.

Birds sitting on the final spit of sand

digging for clams in the marshes and sandbars

Our small open boat was rough on a very windy day and were truely an international group-3 Germans, 2 French, 2 Americans (us) and the Brazilian captain. Needless to say the conversations were delightful. 

Ria (river of salt & fresh water) Formosa (beautiful) is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Portugal and has been protected since 1987. The birds, flourishing flora and fauna make this a very unique area. It's an area for nesting, migratory and winter water birds and a place of refuge for rare Portuguese birds. The salt marshes rank among the most productive ecosystems on the planet and salt has been harvested in the Ria Formosa for more than 2,000 years. Salt was essential to preserving the fish that was transported around the world by the early seafaring explorers.

Bacalhau, or dried and salted cod fish, is stacked open and high in the markets

Our first stop was Ilha da Armona (Armona Island) a sparsely inhabited island with about 50 year-round people, mostly fisherman, that swells to 2,000 during tourist season. It has two long beaches and a campsite.

looking back at Olhão about a 20 minute boat ride

protecting the Chamaeleo (common chamelean "lion of the sea")

   

A threatened species of the lizard family that only exist in the Algarve.  They change color to camouflage, communicate and regulate body temperatue.  Their eyes can rotate independently 360° and their long tongue grabs its prey. 

we haven't seen one yet.....

We wandered around through the tiny walkways (there are no mortorized vehicles so no need for roads) admiring the white-washed homes and cabins with their distinctive Agarve chimneys. These iconic ornamental chimney that look like minarets or miniture mosques have been a mystery for centuries, some saying they are influenced by Moorish and Arabic peoples. 

However research shows that the Arabs who lived here for more than 500 years did not build chimneys. The builder who constructed the chimney used to ask the owner:"how many days of chimney you want?", meaning the more ornate and complicated took more time to build. 

 Back into our little boat, we skirted the shoreline of the islands trying to find calmer water towards our next stop on Ilha da Cultara on the northern end where about 1,000 people live year-round. 

fishing boats in Cultura

C

reparing fishing nets

Most of the fish and shellfish that are harvested around Olhão are shipped off immediately to other markets because they can get much higher prices.  Much of the tuna goes to Japan and shrimp to Spain.  The waters around the Algarve are colder than in the Mediterrean and so the Portuguese fish is much better tasting!

Again there are no paved roads or vehicles and the only way to access the island is by ferry or private boat. We were not able to reach the Farol lighthouse on the west end of the island due to the wind so we'll take the ferry later. We enjoyed a wonderful fresh fish lunch at a small restaurant that supports the local fishing association. 

We are looking forward to more experiences and especially the bird watching during winter and spring.  Birds can be seen throughout the year but especially when they migrate from/to Europe. Purple heron, egrets, white stork, flamingos and many others in addition to endangered species like Seahorse and Chameleon. We do have large stork nests on top of the churches and occasionally one of the large birds flies by our deck (haven't been able to grab a picture yet).

I will finish with some photos of the black, white and gray murals painted on the sides of the old canning factory buildings.  They are reminders of how things were done in the past.  They are fishermen at work, their wives cleaning the fish and sardines, the harbour, horse-drawn boats and the market.

mending nets

sorting clams

cleaning sardines

Portuguese water dog

We have so much more to explore including hiking through the Ria Formosa Natural Park just on the edge of Olhão that will keep us occupied through the next few months of the Calamity.