Leaving the Country of Orange

Our last day in Holland we all were working like mad on our final project/performance. During the entire day we would have moments of coming out of the dark shadow puppetry studio to watch the epic game of Holland against Brazil. Spica and I would take walks down the cobblestone streets and we would hear random shouts and horns coming from pubs. "Could it be?" I thought. "Is Holland beating Brazil? The epic team?" All of the other classmates would make fun of me a little bit. How is it that an artist could be so interested in sports? I guess those are the benefits of growing up in a small town. You have a tendency to do everything.
I was sure that Brazil would beat Holland no problem. They were bound for victory, but Holland, the tiny country held their own. Pretty soon it was clear when the score was 2-1 that Holland had it in the bag. People starting running from their TV screens into the streets and started yelling, dancing and parading their orange flags. The street was one big river of orange. Horns were being honked and people would pass in their cars and motorcycles chanting words in Dutch. What a victory. I was happy for Holland, and so excited to feel like I had witnessed their victory. Maybe they will win the world cup? Who knows. We have a little ways to go!
The last night of performances went really well. Spica and I worked until the very last moment and pulled together a very nice 6 min. piece dedicated to the beloved town where we had lived for the past two weeks. Spica and I must have similar energy because we were able to pull off a 6 min shadow puppetry performance in only a day. It is so energizing to work with someone where there is such a creative flow!
It was difficult to say goodbye to all the puppeteers from whom I had learned so much. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking and drinking wine. I think the most painful goodbye was to my Taiwanese companions. I had experienced so much generosity on this trip. Jaed, Fa, Mai, Zchu, Spica and John had now become my family. I will miss learning Chinese, I think I learned more Chinese than Dutch, and singing, dancing and laughing constantly. It is amazing, even though one can't always understand what the other was saying, their smile and warm spirit gave it all away. One can have so much fun without even saying anything at all. I think my companions called that Ashi. Whenever we would do something at the same time, or have a fun exciting moment they would all yell...ASHI! So from now on, when I have a magical moment with someone else I will yell ASHI! This experience in Holland was definitely ASHI to the max!

30 shows later and now a workshop

I can't express how much of an overwhelming satisfaction it is to be surrounded by the arts 24-7. I do believe that it is true, art is all around you, but to have the opportunity to see so many shows is truly phenomenal. I know this may sound cliche, but we are all human, but it is amazing that we all have very vastly ideas of how to tell a story and how to create an atmosphere and environment that invites the audience just for a moment into your own little world. A world in your own creative mind. It truly is inspiring.
There is so much to share. Yesterday I went to Haarlem, where my father and sister Rachel's good friends live, Florens, his wife and their daughter Isabel. Meeting them for the first time was magical. We laughed as if we were old friends and what I most appreciated was that Florens has known my father for almsot ten years. It is all through the Bon Buddhist organization that they both love. It was so wonderful to even discover new things about my father and hear about the things that he had been telling Florens about me and our family. I truly developed a new appreciation for my father. He truly is a very determined and hard working man. He never gives up and his passion and new ideas are contageous. I only hope I can be half as determined as he is in my life's persuits. As Florens put it, "Your father really is living life! He has no plans to retire. His retirement is his rebirth." I completely agree with that statement. What a zest he has for life.
We have now begun the shadow puppetry master class. It is quite intense. Today we have been hovered around an overhead projector and given only 30 mins to create a quick story. The preassure is on, but the overwhelming support that we get from the class is amazing. Everyone is at least ten years older than me and I am the only American, the class is in English, but I think I am one of two that English is their first language. It has been a learning experience for sure and I have a lot of learning to do! We work from 9:00AM-10:00PM every day with breaks inbetween. Whew! It is quite exhausting, but really beneficial. I look forward to tomorrow because we will be working with flashlights! Oh my goodness. I am officially a shadow nerd!

Holland Plays in the World Cup Today...While we perform! :) Big Day for Holand!

It is true, the world has turned upside down for the world cup! As we were setting up our show today in this beautiful house that looks like a museum, we could hear the chanting and hollering outside in the streets. I was glad that we had music that could drown out the horn blowing and hollering, but I do admit, a part of me wanted to join them. I am a soccer fan at heart. We rehearsed twice, pre set our puppets and waited for the audience to arrive. We were performing three times for three different audiences of about 25 each. Spica and I both agreed that we got better as we went along. I relaxed more and more as we went along as well. It was such a rush to perform, set up again, perform...three times in a row. We were so grateful that the last show was our best show because a couple from Israel were in the audience. They go to festivals so they can invite shows they like to their own festival in Israel. She asked us if we could create a 45 min piece. We said yes and she invited us for next summer's festival in Israel on the spot!!! We both smiled and when she left we went crazy and jumped for joy! I was so relieved that Spica was so pleased with the performance. I think we both felt proud of our work.
Later that night we went over to a friend of Spica's house to celebrate one of our companion's birthdays. Taiwanese people age so well. I thought she was at the oldest 30. She was 40!! Absolutely phenomenal! At the party there were 4 languages circling the room. Cantonese from Hong Kong, English, Dutch and Manderan from Taiwan. It was incredible to watch the translation happening so quickly. We were all laughing and having a wonderful time. This is what I love most about festivals. The exchange of cultures, way of life and enjoyng people's company from across the world.
Tomorrow is another day of seeing shows and performing. I fear I will never tire of it. :)
We also found out Holland won their game in the World CUP! Hooray for Holland!

Puppetry Heaven!

Hey hey, today is the day, we are on a puppet parade!!! What do you say? :) I see puppets on the streets, puppets in theatres, gardens, living rooms and even...on boats! I must be at the Dordrecht Puppetry festival. I couldn't believe how many different places it was possible to perform! Spica and I are in the living room section. An audience of about 35 sees 3 shows in one night. Each show is in a different home in their living room. We visited our living room and the house is absolutely enormous! It looks like a museum. There are paintings hanging everywhere and the furniture looks like it is from the 1800's. We needed absolute darkness in our room and when we turned off the lights, sure enough...I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. The windows were shuttered shut and heavy curtains were placed over them. It is sure going to be exciting to perform in a space that all you can see are the lights we create. We perform tomorrow!!! We are both very excited! We perform for three days and three times each night with only 10 mins to pre-set in between shows. It is going to be a whirl wind of a night.
We have been rehearsing every day. The house where we are staying has turned into a studio. There are four shows that sleep in the house. One show rehearses in the garden, one in one of the theatre rooms, and two down stairs. We have all performed for each other, given feedback and made adjustments to our own performances. It is a lot of brain power, but it is worth it!
In between rehearsing we see shows. We are seeing over 20 shows in one week from all over the world. It is mind boggling to think that I am one of four people from the United States at this festival and one of them is Spica. We are the only two people representing NYC.
I am surrounded by at least five different languages on a daily basis, but the common language that is exchanged is English. I am so impressed with how many people know English. I am the token American that hangs out with the four wonderfully energetic Taiwanese. I love listening to them speak Chinese! They are such a happy bunch that continuously make me laugh! They have officially been my companions for this festival. We eat, see shows, rehearse and laugh together. My kind of companions.
Our host family has been VERY generous. Every night we sit in the living room and he offers us wine, nuts and so so much cheese! I am in heaven. Cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner! What could be better?
Dordrecht is the oldest city in Holland. All the houses are by the river and boats are plentiful. Many people live in them! There is even a show that takes you down the river in a boat and you see performances along the way. What the people in the boat don't know is that there is another performance that you can't see going on in the street. The performers are running, changing clothes and taking off their shoes so they can make it to the next station for the people in the boat to see. It is quite funny watching the actors run from station to station carrying props frantically. One night we followed them with our host father. We ran after them and waved at the boat as it was going by. I can't wait to actually experience the performance in the boat!
I know I say that almost every experience I have is "AMAZING!" But I have to say, when Spica asked me if I was having a good time I told her, "Spica, I have to pinch myself every day to make sure this experience is real."

Made it to Holland!

After one bus ride from Philly to NYC, then one plane ride to Brussels, and two train rides to Holland, and a 15 min walk to the information desk to reunite with Spica-- I finally made it! It is supper late and I have had a whirl wind of a day, but I have already seen two shows, eated at a great restaurant and have reunited with Spica and all of her wonderful Taiwanese friends. I am staying in a beautiful home where I have my own room. I am so inpsired by this home. There is a theatre inside of the home!!! In the room there are book shelves on both sides where there are two balconies and then below is a stage and enough room for an audience of forty chairs. How amazing to have that kind of space in your own home. It has inspired me to work on my barn at home. I asked the man who owns the home how long it took him to build it--he made it himself. He said a year. Look out year...here I come!
It is so wonderful not only to be surrounded by artist, but also puppeteers! We are a rare breed indeed. We don't perform until Thursday so I am exicted just to see shows and to rehearse. What a joy it is to be here in this cute little brick roaded town! I really couldn't ask for anything better! I am truly on cloud nine! Much more to come!

Our final days in Lisbon

On our last day we went shopping. We made it over to the mall and found a couple stores that we really liked. Sarah Grace was very excited to make some beautiful purchases at Zara! Rachel and I purchased a dress at some hippie store. I can't remember the name, but it was fun! We had a good time just...being girly. Which is often so rare for me, so it was fun to buy a dress and heels. I figured out I hadn't bought heels since...2004. I guess it was time. Sarah Grace and Rachel have such amazing tast, so it is fun to ask for their oppinion.
We were all prepared to get dressed up for a night of Fado! We made reservations at a restaurant at 8:00PM. So exciting! We were all dressed to the nines, including Grandma. When we arrived at the restaurant there was only one other couple there, so we got the best seat in the house right near the performers where they were going to play! Pretty soon the restaurant was packed! We ordered cod fish and it was absolutely without a doubt the best cod fish I had ever tasted! It melted in my mouth! Grandma said it was because they put cream in it. It was devine!
Pretty soon the Fado performers came to play. There were two guitars and a bass and one singer. Fado is famous in Portugal. It is singing from the heart. It is absolutely tragic and dramatic in true Portuguese fashion. There is always a song about forbidden love or somone dieing or not being able to persue your dreams. Tragic! Grandma just sat there with her head in her hand and you could tell she was in heaven. There were four performers and they were all amazing, but each one got better and better as they went. The last one, was a starlet! She worked the crowd. Every time she ended a song she stomped and shouted "Bom!" She sang a song where we all had to shout out, "Em Lisboa!" Grandma said she was saying they have the prettiest women in Lisboa. We all shouted back, "Em Lisboa!" At the end of the night we bought her CD for our mother and she signed it! It was quite a memorable night. One that I won't want to forget. Just looking across the table at my beautiful sisters and Grandma brought a few emotional tears to my eyes. I realized it was our last night in Portugal. We definitely will be returning and to have the opportunity to have shared this with our Grandmother, this legend of a woman, has been for a lack of a better word--priceless. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
We returned to the hotel and went to bed immediately. The next day we packed and I went into my Grandmother's room. She had her head in her hands like a little girl and was staring out the window. I wanted to know what this profound woman was thinking? Was she saying goodbye to her Portugal? I could not even fathom what kind of feelings she was having at this moment. But I do know, that these are the moments you look back on and you never forget. I had a feeling she was taking it all in.
We went downstairs and met with more of our cousins. Their grandmother was Margarida our Great Grandfather's sister. It was such a beautiful reunion. My grandfather's cousin had passed away the year before and last time Grandma had seen him was in Portugal and he wasn't married yet. Now we were meeting his wife, their two children and two grandchildren for the first time. It was very emotional for my grandmother and the wife of my grandmother's cousin. They told stories and they asked what we had seen on our whirl wind trip. After recounting everything to them I was impressed with how much we had seen! Had it really only been 12 days? It seemed like a life time of knowledge was just poured into my brain. I really hope it stays.
As we said our goodbyes through tears and promises to return we set off again with our luggage for the long journey home. As we got on our plane I looked out the window and saw the red roofs of Portugal. "Grandma look!" I said. "Goodbye Portugal," she said whistfully. "Ate logo." I said as we flew away.

A culture day in Lisbon

Lisboa is filled with culture! Who knew that they had a puppetry museum! I was filled with joy at this discovery. Rachel, Grandma and I took a taxi right to the museum and we found ourselves surrounded by puppets from all over the world! There were shadow puppets, water puppets, hand puppets, paper puppets, toy theatre puppets...you name it and it was in the museum. They were all beautiful! What was most enlightening for me was that there were so many Portuguese puppeteers. It just confirmed for me how much I am meant to be in the profession I am in! Puppeteering is in my blood. Grandma looked at me with a proud smile as I perused all of the puppets and took pictures. I know I am 27 nearly 28, but it is still so important to me to make my parents and grandparents proud of me. I know I will always persue my dreams, but when your loved ones take a genuine interest in what you are doing, it means the world.
There was a tour of children running through the museum looking at all the puppets. There is something about the relationship between a puppet and a child. Children are facinated with puppets. If I go into a room of 20 children and I bring out a puppet their eyes are immediately glued to the puppet. I started getting really excited for my next adventure to the puppetry festival in Holland where I will be performing with Spica. I oddly felt very much at home in this puppetry museum. I really felt like--myself.
Next we took another taxi over to the museum of modern art! We walked through this beautiful garden before finally finding the museum. It was like a mase surounded by gorgeous trees. It didn't even seem like we were in the middle of a city anymore. When we arrived we immediately went down stairs where they had a huge exhibit. Grandma pointed out a painting where there were two couples eating at dinner. We were trying to decided if in the painting they were disgusted with the check, or if they were looking at a theatre program and just looked bored. What is amazing about art, is that it is possible for it to be open to interpretation. I was impressed by Grandma's knowledge of art. Is there anything she doesn't know? :)
We went back, had a huge lunch and then called it a day. Well, minus our daily visit to the ice cream shop. They knew us by this point and we always arrived less than an hour before closing. Why they closed at 8:00PM we will never know, but we loved it. They had amazing tea, ice cream and cakes.
Later that night we were all extremely tired from our trip. It was definitely a banana grams night. I don't know who won that night, but I am sure whoever did shouted in a high pitched voice--I WIN!

Second Day in óbidos, Máfara and then back to Lisboa

I woke up at around 8:00AM the next day with no word from Grandma or Sarah Grace, which was strange. Grandma's motto has always been. "We are on vacation! We shouldn't be sleeping in, we should be out and about doing stuff!" So I was puzzled when I hadn't received a wake up call. At 8:30AM I go down the hall way to their room and knock on the door. SG opens the door and it is dark. I walk in and I say, good morning Grandma, it's 8:30. She shoots up in bed, turns on the light and with her hair sticking straight up in the air she proclaims, "8:30!" It was priceless. We all laughed. Grandma had slept the entire night. Something she hadn't done in years.
We decided to take the journey up to Óbidos again. This time with Grandma. She walked up the hill and all the stairs. It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue and the temperature was perfect. We had not had a rainy day on our vacation yet!
During the day Óbidos is filled with children on field trips. The tour guides took them on what looked liked to be wild goose chases. We would see tours of children holding their shoes in the air and chanting words in Portuguese that I couldn't understand. It was hysterical. We walked around, did a little bit of shopping and of course got some ice cream. :) We were sad to say goodbye to Óbidos, but it was time to hit the road and go see Máfara.
Now if you have ever hung out with the Fitzsimmons women, you know that we all love to sing. SG calls my impuse to sing, singer's turrets. At any moment I could break into song. So being that this was the epic Portuguese road trip, we had to sing in the car. So we sang, everything under the sun. Rui, our driver, rather liked our singing and asked us if we knew, I am sixteen going on seventeen from the sound of music. Did we EVER?! We sang a loud randition and then he proceeded to ask if we knew any lady gaga. In fact, we did. Hooray for Poker Face and Bad Romance. :) It truly was an amazing road trip.
When we arrived in Máfara it proved to be a beautiful cathedral and monestary. We saw the library, that was filled with rats and bats!, the king's quarters and where the monks lived. We were all starving afterwards, so we all had a huge lunch and then headed back to our original hotel in LISBOA! On the way we saw beautiful mountains, landscape....and...wait a min, what is that Rachel and Rui saw? Could that be a peeing man? It was, he was peeing in the Lisbon streets. All of us sure got a kick out of that one. :)
We had a wonderful journey. I am sure we won't be able to process all that we had seen now, but I am sure it will creep up on us later when we least expect it, how profound this journey really is.

Óbidos, the castle on the mountain

Normally monuments that rise more than 20 feet in the United States have tons of bars protecting people from falling off the side of walls if there are no railings, or they don't let you get on the monument at all and you have to take a picture from below. Well, we were not in the United States. We were in Europe and that meant that the castle was our playground!
Grandma decided to rest at the end of the day. It was only 7:00PM and we needed a little bit of dinner, so we decided to explore the grounds. We hiked up the big steep hill that took us to the village of Óbidos. Only about 100 families live in Óidos and the entire village is surrounded by a beautiful stone wall that rises at least 50 feet in the air. We entered through a large arch and when you walked in, yet again another Harry Potter comparison, it felt like you had just stepped into the magical world of Gringgots! There were tiny houses along the cobble stone streets right next to each other. The road sloped upward just slightly until it finally reached the castle. Before going to the castle Rachel and I had crepes and ice cream while SG had a ham sandwich. She was shocked to discover when asking for a ham sandwich she really just got ham and bread. We had our first moment of missing American food, "no lettuce, tomato or anything else?" But we happily ate and planned our adventure through the medival town.
We walked through the village and up and down the stone steps and explored the little houses with tiny little doors and windows. We came upon a clearing right before the castle and looked out onto the sunset. It was beautiful. Too bad I had forgotten my camera, but it was something I will never forget. The view looked out onto the mountains and the farms below. I seem redundant by saying that it all seemed so magical, but it really was. It was as if we had gone back in time.
We explored the castle and looked at the stables. SG proceeded to climb these large steps that led up to the very top of the castle. She looked back at Rachel and me and proceeded to say, "Are you coming?" Well, we were definitely up for the challenge. We climbed the huge stone steps until we reached the very top. The view was beautiful!!
We climbed down and decided to start to head back to the hotel. We started to walk, but we weren't very clear on how to find the exit. Sarah Grace decided to climb another huge stone stair case that rose to the top of the wall that surrounded the village. I watched her with anticipation. It was quite high. She disappeared and we couldn't hear her anymore. We called her name. She responded back with, "I think I can find a way out." Before I could emplore her to wait, just like a Portuguese explorer, she had already taken off. Rachel and I looked at each other, what were we to do? So we followed her. We climbed the high staircase that had no banister. We got to the top and we were at the very top of the wall. We could see the entire village below. The path that went along the walk could not have been more than four feet wide. Sarah Grace was up ahead going as fast as she could. Didn't she tell me just yesterday that she was afraid of hights? Rachel and I sure were and we steadily made it along the wall. I was in flip flops and was almost sure that I was going to slip and fall to the village below. Maybe some beautiful Portuguese man would catch me?
We had walked too far because we couldn't see Sarah Grace and we were definitely way past the entrance. My Portuguese worry wart sindrome was getting the best of me. Rachel and I decided to climb down and who should be at the bottom but Sarah Grace. I need to have more faith. She is almost 20 after all.
We walked home, played an evening game of banana grahms and went to bed. Tomorrow is the last day of our travels by vehicle and then we are off to LISBOA! :)

Grandma quotes:

There were many wonderful things said by Grandma...these are some of our favorites:

"I want all you girls to know that you come from very strong women!!! Look at your mom how strong she is, my mother, my grandmother my aunts. We don't have any mamby pamby women in this family. A strong women who can take her life and make the best out of it in spite of a lot of obstacles in her life. If you want to sit down and be sorry for yourself and be...aw poor me...but the strong women continue to count her blessings."

"Oh Rachel!" (Rachel's skirt went up and she had no idea until Grandma shouted!)

"8:30!" Grandma slept in until 8:30AM! Shocker! We came into her room, she sat up and her hair was sticking straight in the air. :)

"Where are we going now Loui?" She was talking to our driver who's name was Rui.

"This coffee is so bad, it's just bad!" (The got better as we went along.)

"Rui, I worry about you." Talking to our driver, that is when you know he has really become a part of our family.

"Oh Margot, the buffet is wonderful! The marmelada is so delicious!"

"You ladies are all bruchas!" Referring to us as witches. :)

Beautiful Nazare!

After visiting the epic Dona Inez Decastro we got back in the car and made our way to Nazare. Portugal has such a beautiful landscape. It became even more beautiful with our introduction to Nazare. The equisite coastal city. Grandma asked our driver Rui: "Do the bulls still pull the boats into shore?" Rui chuckled and explained they have machines for that now. "A pity," Grandma said. "It was such a beautiful sight seeing them throw their ropes from the boats onto the shore and then attaching them to the bulls and see them walk up the beach and pull the boats in."
Instead of bulls we encountered a lot of sun bathers. It was a windy day, but the sun was shining brightly and we were on top of a cliff looking down at the Atlantic Ocean below. Portugal has beautiful beaches! Rui said that the water is quite cold, but people still love to go swimming.
We walked around a bit trying on hats at the local shops and buying fun sister bracelettes. I almost bought a really fun pink, purple and black fadora, but thought better of it. Next time!
The most facinating thing we encountered were the Nazarinas. They were women that sold nuts and dried fruit and an occasional sardine. They wore seven skirts that represented the colors of the rainbow. Each Nazarina looked as if they were about middle aged and were handing out chestnuts to try and lure us in to buy some food. I had to admit I was hungry and almost bought some apricots, but we had to be on our way. I just smiled at them and watched them as their seven colorful skirts blew in the breeze and listened to their loud Portuguese laughter.
Our next stop...Obidos! The medivial town of Portugal. Only 100 families live there and it is surrounded by great walls and there is a castel inside. I knew this was going to be my favorite place!

Sarah Grace finally meets the two lovers...foot to foot...

Sarah Grace's blog:

This morning we were packed, checked out, and ready to go by 10 am. We had read in our guide book that the cathedral we wanted to see in Alcobaca would be closing at 2 o'clock because it was a Sunday. We cancelled our plans to see another cathedral on our way to Alcobaca and decided to go directly to Alcobaca. The cathedral in Alcobaca was important because we all felt connected to it, but no one felt more connected to it than me. The cathedral contained much more than high ceilings and elaborate art work and statues. It was home to the tombs of the greatest lovers to ever live.

Shakespeare may have his famous Romeo and Juliet, but Portugal has its own love story that is just as passionate and far more gruesome. The tragic love story of Dom Pedro, prince of Portugal, and Dona Ines de Castro is one that has been passed down in Portuguese history and retold to me as a child repeatedly. From a very young age I was enthralled with the love story of Pedro and Ines. I can remember asking my grandmother to retell the story over and over. I would lay on the couch in my grandmother's living room with my head in her lap looking up at her intrepidly while she reenacted the lover’s tale. She would stroke my hair as she spoke tracing the contours of my face and telling me how I must be a reincarnation of Dona Ines de Castro because I looked exactly like her. How my eyes would sparkle every time I thought of perhaps being a princess and brutally murdered for a forbidden love affair.

Dom Pedro, the heir to the throne of Portugal and the son of Alfonso IV was arranged to marry Infanta Constance of Castile. When Infanta arrived to marry Pedro he was instantly captivated not with Infanta, but with her lady-in-waiting Ines Perez de Castro. Pedro and Ines fell instantly in love and continued a passionate love affair while Pedro was married to Infanta. Infanta eventually became ill and died causing the marriage to last only five years. At last Pedro and Ines could openly love each other even though they were forbidden to wed.

King Alfonso IV and certain nobles became weary of the relationship between Pedro and Ines. They feared the potential influenceof Ines' Spanish family on Pedro. After long consideration King Alfonso IV reluctantly agreed to have Ines assassinated. While Pedro was out on a hunt two nobles traveled to Pedro and Ines' palace where they murdered Ines by driving a sword through her heart. When Pedro returned he found his world turned upside down and despaired in agony with hatred for his father and a sadness over the death of his love. He vowed to one day have revenge.

After the assassination of Ines, Alfonso IV repented deeply when he found out that Pedro and Ines had already been married in secret. He grieved over the mother of his grandchildren and regretted his decision. Alfonso IV died two years later and Dom Pedro was crowned king of Portugal. Dom Pedro's heart was still bitter and he sought to get his revenge. He found and captured the two nobles that murdered Ines and killed them by ripping out and eating their hearts. He then exhumed Ines, dressing her elegantly and crowning her. Pedro placed his queen on the throne and ordered the court to pay homage to Ines by kissing her decomposed hand. Pedro then ordered the construction of two elaborate tombs for himself and Ines. The tombs were placed in the Mosteria de Santa Maria in Alcobaca and put near the alter on opposite sides of the church. On Pedro's orders the tombs were placed foot to foot so that, when the time comes, the two can rise up and see each other straight away.

When we arrived in Alcobaca I was dancing with excitement. Our driver Rui took us straight to the Mosteria de Santa Maria. The gothic monestary was elaborately decorated and had many steps leading up to the entrance.

Grandma again ranted about the steps by saying, "Oh these Portuguese must have had strong legs for all the steps they built!" We took a tour of the ancient monastery learning about the monks that use to inhabit it, while patiently saving the best part for last. Grandma however was not so patient. She repeatedly would say, "Come on, come on I want to see the tombs!"

When we felt we had seen all we could see of the monastery we made our way back to the connected church where we had entered. Grandma’s impatience was growing as she asked, "You girls done yet?! I so much want to see the tombs." I could not argue with her. I had fantasized about this day my whole life. The day that I would see the resting place of my two favorite lovers.

The church was a large cathedral that had just finished Mass minutes before our arrival to the monastery. Margot and Rachel left to go see the gardens and grandma sat down on a pew to wait for them, but I could not wait. I made my way purposefully down the aisle of the cathedral towards the alter. When I reached the alter I looked to my left and to my right and on either side of me in the wings of the church were the two lovers foot to foot. I went left and made my way to Dona Ines the one I was "reincarnated" from. Her tomb was stunningly decorated all around including a depiction of the Last Judgment Day. Margot and Rachel finally caught up to me and Margot insisted on taking pictures of me next to Ines’ tomb. Grandma continually kept exclaiming, “She looks just like her. Doesn't she look just like Dona Ines de Castro?!" After paying homage to Ines I made my way over to my "lover" Dom Pedro and was fascinated with the detail done to his tomb. A unique carving, meant to represent the Wheel of Life, was chiseled on his tomb. I rested against a column near by and looked at him longingly. This was my favorite day of the whole trip.

Leaving the cathedral and monastery our grandmother tells us, "If we don't find a restroom soon I am going to go shee shee (pee pee) right here in my panty hoes!" So off we went to find a bathroom. We walked outside and a bit around the corner to set of glass doors that looked like it could possibly lead to a restroom. The doors were locked, but on the outside of the doors we found a puzzling sign restricting pedestrians from what they could do around the cathedral. Sorry Dona Ines and Dom Pedro, no hanky panky allowed here :)

We ended our time in Alcobaca by having lunch outside in a quaint typical Portuguese restaurant. I did not eat much because I was not hungry, but grandma Margot and Rachel enjoyed and delicious meal of soup, codfish and chicken. This is also where I received my new nickname. When the waiter came to take our order he made his way around the table ending with me. He bent over slightly with his pen and pad of paper in hand and said ".....and for you small boss?" I guess I must have been tired from all the driving we had done that day because I asked my grandmother what that meant. "Boss? What does boss mean?" I asked. My sister's laughed and rolled their eyes and told me that he was speaking English. The waiter had picked up on my personality in a matter of seconds. I was indeed exactly what he had called me, a small boss. The youngest child who thinks she runs the show. My family got the biggest kick out of this and laughed about it the rest of the day.

After a miraculous day of having an out of body experience while seeing Dona Ines and being given a new nickname, we made our way to Abidos to spend the night in a new hotel.

Our Journey Continues...Freixo da Serra

Our Great Grandfather's family name is Guerra. Little known fact: My Grandmother said that many Jewish Portuguese changed their name to Guerra during WWII. So our family could be Jewish.

After visiting Casal Vasco we jumped back into Rui's car and headed to the village where the Guerra's grew up--Freixo do Serra.

We passed the Rio Mondego again and climbed over more mountains to reach the village. We first visited the cemetary where our Great Grandfather's mother is burried and her sisters and brother. Our Grandmother never knew her Grandmother on her Father's side. Our Great Grandfather came to the United States when he was 21 and never returned to Portugal. When we arrived at the cemetary we encountered all of our Grandmother's Great Aunts and a Cousin: Maria de fina Guerra, Isaura Guerra, Zulmira Guerra, Eduardo Almeida Nunes, and Margarida de Jesus. We searched and searched for my Grandmother's Grandmother, but we couldn't find her.

But we knew that she was there along with her spirit. Grandma looked at the cemetary pensively before deciding to leave. I saw a small tear run down her cheek then slowly she turned and walked out of the gate.

We then entered into the heart of the town of Freixo do Serra. My Grandmother wanted to see if the pews that her cousin donated were still in Freixo do Serra's church. During WWII when a soldier died during the war in Portugal the family received 10,000 dollars. Our cousin died in the war and when his family received the 10,000 dollars they decided to donate the money immediately to the church for new pews. Being Satruday it looked like the town was deserted and the church was locked. Rui and I ran to the closest house and called out to a woman that was gardening in her backyard. Sure enough, she had the key to the church. It was so generous of her to open up the church for us on a Saturday in her gardening boots. Before we entered the church I saw a yellow butterfly flying above our heads. I pointed it out and my Grandmother said, "It's an angel!"

Inside the church it was trimmed with gold and tiles lined the bottom of the walls. The most exciting part was that the pews were still there! Each pew had a plaque on it that said, In memory of Manuel S. Teixeira.

I felt chills go down my spine. It is one thing to hear a story about your family history, but to actually see it is quite another. These benches dated back to 1940. We thanked the woman and got back in the car. It had been a long day. It was time to head back to Viseu. What an adventure. It was almost as if we had gone back in time for just a moment.

Discovering our family history...Casal Vasco

I knew we were from Portugal, but I couldn't grasp exactly where our relatives grew up. Our Great Great Grandmother and Great Grandmother came over, when our Great Grandmother was only 16, because of an infected let.I know that might shock you, but as the story goes our Great Grandmother's sister had an infected leg and the doctor said it needed to be amputated. Our Great Great Grandfather said he wasn't going to do that, so in order to save her leg they would need to have an operation done in Lisbon. It was going to be expensive so they decided that they needed to go to the United States to make some money so she could have the operation. It was during WWI and they weren't allowing men to leave the country who were under a certain age. So they decided to send our Great Great Grandmother and her daughter, our Great Grandmother to the United States in Ludlow, MA to send some money back. I think it is truly amazing that in the year 1917 two young women, one in her 30's and the other no more than 16, went to go work in the United States alone. They planned on returning, but as life happens our Great Grandmother, Angela, fell in love and married our Great Grandfather while in the United States and didn't want to return. Slowly the entire family started coming over to America. My Grandmother was born in 1920 the first of 7 children. And as a result, they did make enough money for my Great Grandmother's sister to have the operation in Lisbon.

Now it is the year 2010 almost 100 years later and our 90 year old Grandmother and her three grandchildren are visiting the small towns where her parents, our Great Grandparents, grew up before they came to the United States.
I woke up that morning to my Grandmother knocking on the door of our hotel in Viseu. I opened it and she said, "Oh Margot! The buffet in this hotel is just wonderful! They have marmelada and queisada!" Basically jam and cheese. She said she used to mix the two together as a little girl--it was quite good. We ate a hearty breakfast and we were on the road again with Rui as our guide.
The first town that we wanted to pass through was Gouvei. The town sits in the mountain range of Sera de Estrella which is interesting because where we live in Virginia in the United States is called The Shenandoah Valley which means daughter of the stars. They both have similar meanings! Portuguese can't get away from our mountains. The mountains were spectacular! The views from the roads were breath taking. The roads, our Grandmother pointed out, were much better than they were last time she visited 45 years ago. There were huge boulders everywhere and almost all houses were made of stone. Our Great Grandfather was a stone mason and he used to build houses in Gouvei.
We crossed the river Mondego where our Great Grandfather almost drowned. It looked like it was a popular place to go swimming, but there were lots of rapids. After passing Gouvei we were on the search for Casal Vasco! We first landed in Fornos where our Great Grandmother used to walk, that was 2 miles away from Casal Vasco, to sell cheese. Rui had an idea of where Casal Vasco was, but he wasn't quite sure so he had to ask people along the way. Casal Vasco wasn't even in our Lonely Planet travel guide or on any map! This could be a long trip. We asked a woman in Fornos who was collecting water from the local fountain. She told us it was a little bit further up the mountain.
We climbed and climbed; we drove over cobble stone roads and passed an abundance of tile walls. It was very clean, but as we were driving we passed two black cats and Grandma shouted out, "Eww!" The Portuguese are very superstitious, but not to worry the Virgin Mary was everywhere guiding the way. Suddenly our Grandmother yelled out, "Stop!" Rui got a little confused because we hadn't arrived to Casal Vasco yet. Then we realized she was reading a sign. "They have stop signs in English!" she said. We all had a good laugh, because ironically in the middle of no where in Portugal, signs suddenly start to pop up in English.
We finally arrived in Casal Vasco! The garden country. We passed a church where our Great Grandparents got married. The entire town was adored with roses. I was happy to discover there was a soccer field right in the middle of the town. There was a plaza, cobble stone roads, and cute little houses. We decided to stop at a little cafe to ask for directions to the capela, a little church, to see if the statue of the Virgin Mary was still there that my Great Great Grandfather donated. He had promised in 1933 that if everyone made it to the United States safe and sound, that he would donate the statue to the capela. Sure enough the whole family had made it and now we were about to see if the statue still remained.
We entered the cafe and my Grandmother started speaking to the man behind the counter in Portuguese asking if he knew anyone by the name of Ribello. He said yes, that he knew her father's brother's family. I found this remarkable! There couldn't have been more than 1,000 people or less who lived in this little village and 100 years later this man in a little cafe knew my family? Grandmother told him she was 90 years old, that seems to be our ticket to getting just about anything we want :), and immediately a man at the bar says, "I will go get one of your relatives!" He runs out of the cafe and down the street. It was a Saturday morning and the town was deserted, but pretty soon he returned with a man who looked to be about in his 70s. He was a farmer and worked on our old family farm. Grandmother said he looked like a Ribello. Our family were farmers and taylors in the town and cultivated olives, apples, wheat and cherries. What a reunion!
Another cousin came who was in her 30s with blond hair and blue eyes. She offered to open up the capela so we could see the statue that our Great Great Grandfather donated. It was still there!!! It was a tiny capela, but right above the alter hanging from the wall was the statue of the Virgin Mary. It was truly amazing. We thanked her for her generosity and made our way back to the car. We had to press onward because we had to make it to our Great Grandfather's family. The Guerras.

The Harry Potter of Portugal...University of Coimbra

Next on our list was the University of Coimbra. Grandma was very excited about the University's library! I can imagine if Grandma had grown up in Portugal, she would have gone to The University of Coimbra. It is the country's greatest university over the past five centuries. It is also, as my Grandmother points out, the oldest. Well, it is debatable. It competes with Oxford and Harvard. It sits on top of a large hill looking down to the city below.
Grandma described the town as being rich with history as well as the university's traditions. She explained that the students used to wear capes everywhere they went. We all perked up and said, "Like in Harry Potter?" Rui our driver said, they still wear their capes on special occasions. We were all hooked!
We all walked through the impressive gates of the university and immediately looked for tickets to go see the legendary library. The library dates back to the early 1200's. Grandma described the library having many levels and there were ladders that you could climb so you could reach the top of the book shelf. The ladder had wheels that made it very mobile so it could jump from bookshelf to bookshelf. It was something right out of Beauty and the Beast.
We rang the door bell to the library, yes you had to ring a door bell, and a cute little Portuguese gentleman let us in. He took a liking to Sarah Grace because she was so excited about the ringing of the bell. He showed us another bell that was on the table. It was a small bell that when the students were studying they would ring when they needed something. There was absolutely no talking in the library so instead they would ring bells and then write down what they needed. The library contained a great deal of books! We were told that the oldest book was from 1100! It was a book about marriage or how to be a good woman. Interesting...
Sarah Grace secretly took some amazing pictures of the library and then we quickly made a get away. We could see the joy in Grandma's face as we exited the library. She does love books. She has made a list of all the books she has ever read since 1975 when she retired from teaching! I can only hope to read that list some day.
We then visited the University Chapel where a lovely woman greeted us who was crocheting. The entire chapel was filled with tile and gold. It was a quaint little chapel and is still used to this day.
We then all decided to walk back to the car and there we found Rui asleep in the front seat. It had been a long day. :)
We drove to Viseo where we were welcomed by a beautiful hotel with a garden and a swimming pool. Before dinner Sarah Grace and Rachel took a dip in the pool. As usual they had the best dinner! Viseo is known for their beans and rice and it was delicious!!! Grandma could not resist having some Creme Brulee for dessert.
Tomorrow is a very important day. We are about to embark on a journey in search for our relatives' villages in the mountains. We are sure to have quite the adventure!

06/04/10 We begin our Portugal Road Trip: Fatima

The Virgin Mary is ever present in Portugal. She hangs on walls made up of tiles, hanging on necks, in restaurants, sold in stores and statues are dedicated to her throughout the cathedrals. She represents hope and the true dedication that the Portuguese have to their Catholic history and religion. Which brings us to our first visit on our road trip...FATIMA!

We got up early to eat breakfast, packed small bags for the four day road trip and went downstairs to meet our driver Rui to make the journey to the great city of Fatima. What is the significance of Fatima you might say? Rachel, SG and I had seen the movie in Sunday school class and we had heard of the story from our Grandmother, but we had never been there and had no idea what we were about to enounter. The story of Fatima according to our Grandmother is:

She begins by saying...."I don't believe in it." Which is quite shocking to us since a huge part of the community believes it happened, but she is 90 years old and has a right to her opinion. :) She says that:
"There were these three little shepherds who were out watching their sheep and one of them saw the Virgin Mary. I don't know you better look it up, but they went home and told their parents we saw a beautiful lady dressed in blue and told us to come back again. The parents spanked the children for telling lies. That is what I heard, but they decided to go back anyway. At first the church was very much against it, they told them to keep their mouths shut, and they would say what are you doing, you are lying and they were ostracized by the town. Pretty soon they said the Blessed Virgin was about to appear to them and it was really important, the three shepherds saw her again and kept nodding their heads and the entire crowd that was there couldn't see the Blessed Virgin, but pretty soon the sun was spinning around and around and then started to get closer and larger! They thought it was the end of the world. The people started questioning them and took them to Lisbon and one of the boys got very sick, and the Blessed Virgin told them that two of them were going to die and go to heaven. Two of them died within the next few months. I am not sure of all these facts. I have heard so many. My mother used to tell them all the time. Lucia one of the girls had a letter and she said to open it up 50 years from the time they saw the Blessed Virgin. No one is sure what the words contained. There were some general statements, they predicted WWII and the assassination of the Pope...I don't know. He wasn't assassinated, he lived. But anyway, look it up in the computer they can give you a better story than I can give you. These were stories my mother told over and over again. And I didn't believe them then. The place was not as commercialized when I went in 1965. It was dirty when I came, it was the day after the 13th, May 14th I think. The first vision happened on the 13th. This was a lot better because all the stalls had been removed and it was clean. They have included a smaller church that blocks part of the larger church dedicated to Fatima, you could stand in front and see the entire church, now you can't. Before I saw where they used to live and it was covered in money, as a contribution to the children. At that time, only the little boy and girl were burried in the church and Lucia wasn't. She died in 2003. Look it up in the computer Margot, OK... I used to pray that the Blessed Virgin would appear to me. I still pray to the Blessed Virgin because I believe in her."

We arrive in Fatima:

Rachel:
We arrived in Fatima with the guidance of our driver Rui. All of us put away our tried complaining selves when we saw the magnificence of the church. The atmosphere was so serene. Grandma had already been before so she sat on the stone bench and swung her little legs that couldn't touch the ground while she waited for us. There was a huge stone like plaza that was as big as one soccer field leading up to the church. A smooth stone path led up to the stairs where people could walk on their knees to show their devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Grandma commented that those people were crazy and life should be about joy and not torturing themselves. Maybe it was joy for them? We did not walk on our knees but we did walk up with reverence. Up the stairs and into the church, we looked at all of the wonderful paintings of Mary and sat down in the pews. I meditated and prayed a bit and felt the energy of the room. So powerful! The tombs of the boy and girl were off to the side with flowers on top of them. There was a beautiful statue of Mary at the front of the church. I had heard the Dalai Lama speak in NYC the week before the trip and he mentioned he was at Fatima praying with the nuns. While he was speaking in the church he saw the statue of the Virgin Mary smile! He said "Is it my poor eyesight?" I secretly was staring at the Statue hoping for one little crack of a smile, but alas no change of countenance. Maybe next time:) After our prayers and soaking in the energy, we left the church with lighter hearts. What were we arguing about? Who knows. We walked back to our Grandma who was still swinging her legs on the bench under the tree where we left her. She asked us, "So how was it?" We didn't have many words about the experience. I think each of us had our own special connection to the place that words couldn't exactly describe. I don't know if I believe in the story or not. I believe the Virgin comes to certain people..possibly in a form for that individual to understand. Like maybe a Buddhist dakini is another form. I hope to visit again, maybe at that point I'll be walking on my knees.

Vegetarian no more...

well, at least in Portugal. It is no surprise that all of our activities are being surrounded by food. When in Portugal...you got to eat!! Grandma and all the granddaughters wake up every morning and have a wonderful breakfast, minus the coffee--to quote Grandma, "The coffee is just so BAD! It is so BAD!" Who would have thought there would be bad coffee in Portugal. As everyone in NYC knows...I don't eat a lot of meat, but being a vegetarian in Portugal is pretty much an impossible task. It is like saying you don't eat meat and then they look at you puzzled and they say..."OK, I cook lamb." To begin I have been way too excited about presumto (the very finely sliced pork). It reminds me of Spain when my host mother would give me jamon serano. We eat it here with either white melon or pine apple.

Lunch is huge and that is an under statement. Today we had lunch in the hotel and it was beautiful!

The hotel had a 360 window

view of Lisbon on the eighth floor. From the window we could see some of the ruins left over from the earthquake in

1755. On each table there was a small basil plant that looked like little bushes in clay pots. The fragrance was beautiful! We each ate a plato (plate) that was large enough to feed four people! The waiters are so nice and shower us with cod fish cakes. They are almost better than our Grandmother's but not quite. The bucalhou is remarkable, but again doesn't compare to Grandma's. Who would have thought...we were raised more Portugues than we even realized! Growing up we ate when going to Grandma's house: Hot chocolate for breakfast, cod fish balls for New Years and Christmas, Bucalhou (cod fish) for Christmas Eve and plenty of caldo verde soup and caldeirada a typical cod fish stew.

After lunch we got together with our cousins that still live in Portugal. We were introduced to Grandmother's first cousin who is the son of our Great Grandfather's sister. His name is Ulisses. He came with his wife Custodio, daughter Margarita and two Grandsons named Ricardo and Andre. We plan to meet more cousins next week. It is so nice to have family from different parts of the world. How refreshing to speak portuguese! :)

Ice cream seems to be our dinner treat. Today Rachel, SG and I walked to our favorite gelato place. On the way we could hear the mass service in the streets. It was a holy day called Corpus Criste (the body of Christ) and the mass was being broadcasted through speakers all over Lisbon. It was like a public mass. People were sitting in the streets listening to the broadcast. We got our ice cream and with a wink the man behind the counter said, "See you all tomorrow!" Rachel echoed back, "I hope so!"

When we returned to the streets the church bells began to ring and there was a procession! Large white horses were coming down the streets followed by priests, a cardinal and a large figure of Christ. Flowers were being thrown in the air in front of the figure. The streets were completely packed with people. It was quite amazing how we came upon this great spectacle. We decided to return home to Grandma. We needed to get home to take a nap and then wake up to have dinner. :) Tomorrow we are leaving Lisbon and seeing Fatima. I guess this procession was a great introduction of what we are about to encounter in the holy place of Fatima. We are also going to visit Coimbra one of the oldest Universities in the world! Our Grandmother told us that back in the day they used to wear capes just like Harry Potter. I hope they still do! She says they do! Ate logo!

Second Day Sintra, Cascais and Estoril

We began our day a little bit late. We all slept in more than we planned, but we still met our tour guide at 9:30 AM on the dot! We started the journey by traveling to the "Pink palace" in Queluz where King Don Pedro lived when he came back from Brazil. It was a summer palace and every room opens up to the garden. We witnessed a puppet show and many kindergardeners running through the gardens. :) There were two huge rooms that appeared to be ballrooms. SG, Rachel and I decided to take a turn around the room just like in Pride and Predjudice. There were portraits of royalty and Grandma was good to point out the shi shi pot (pee pee pot) or a chamber pot that was in a receptacle of its own and not under the bed. Rachel the art history major was good to point out the rococo style that was evident through out the palace. It was all very elaborate and ornate. There were beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. It was a very large palace, but Grandma noticed that we didn't see the kitchen or a library...hmmm...maybe they always called for take out and never read. :)

Next we traveled to Sintra a quaint little town outside of Lisboa. There were so many cute shops and pastelerias. Our driver insisted we have a queseria that was absolutely wonderful! Grandma didn't have coffee because she insists that the coffee is terrible in Portugal, minus the esspresso she had at lunch, but I am getting ahead of myself. In Sintra we saw an old palace with a twin chimnies and a spectacular view of Lisbon below. We knew it was noon when the bells tolled and we had to be on our way.

We climbed the mountain with our car passing quintas, which are old houses with a lot of land on them, and climbing the winding roads. The scenery was beautiful! We went to lunch at a traditional Portuguese restaurant specializing in fish, especially bacalhau--cod fish. It has been a major challenge to be vegetarian in Portugal. The fish and presunto are amazing! The portuguese eat presunto, which is pork, with honey due melon, olives and sera de estrella cheese. It is AMAZING! We shared an entire bacalhau and sea bass for lunch and we rolled out of the restaurant when we were finished.

We drove to the top of a mountain reaching the Boca Roca. We were at the western most point of Europe. The closest we could be to the Americas. Rachel could have sworn she saw a whale, but unfortunately it was only a rock. The wild flowers were pleantiful and the rocks were huge that stretched out near the Atlantic Ocean. There was a light house that guided the sailers safely home. It was the most impressive thing we saw that day.

We got back in the car and we drove through Esoril, that had a huge casino and beautiful homes. It was definitely where all the upper class lived. Cascais had beautiful beaches and we could see sail boats in the distance. We have decided if we were to buy a condo that is where we would have it! The beaches were beautiful and the waves rose sometimes up to 4 meters high!

Then we headed back to Lisbon on the highway. We were so satisfied to experience places that were not only new for SG, Rachel and I, but also for Grandma. We loved reflecting on all of our adventures and Grandma is getting her groove on by walking every day!

Our favorites from the day:

Grandma: Boca Roca and the "Pink" palace in Queluz

Rachel: Boca Roca the "Pink" palace and the food especially the bacalhau

Margot: The presunto and cheese with fish (after all I am here for the food) :) The puppetry was an extra surprise.

SG: She is asleep right now, but we know she loved it all! But, she tells us she especially liked the ice cream for dinner, which we will get to right now.

When we got back to the hotel, SG, Rachel and I walked to get our evening dinner of ice cream. We walked down to the water front near the Rossio which was a big plaza where Don Pedro's statue is located. The Rossio is the plaza where our Great Grandmother left for America back in March 1917. The weather has been wonderful and it was like a dream, sitting by the water eating our dinner, of ice cream, and writing post cards and talking about our futures.

Tomorrow is our day of rest and we hope to take the tram and meet some of our Portuguese cousins. Ate logo!

Oh the places we go...

After breakfast on our first day of touring we met with our tour guide for the day and hopped in his blue car. We were on our way to tour Lisbon! Here are some of the highlights!

Cathedrals in downtown Lisbon

Azulejos everywhere! (tiles)

We rode through very tiny alley ways. Some of them we couldn't even get through by car. He told us the moors made them so they could make quick get aways down the allies.

This city is filled with purple trees called Jecarandas. They are not originally from Portugal, but were brought over from somewhere else.

We passed by the statue of Pombal the Economist who reconstructed Lisbon after the great earthquake and sunami of 1755.

This city is filled with bridges and aqueducts. It isn't a wonder because there are seven rivers that fill the city and one, the Rio Tejo, that flows right into the Atlantic Ocean.

Our best example of Fitz team work came when we visited the Cristo Rey a copy of the Cristo Rey that is in Brazil. Our guide told us there was an elevator that went all the way to the top. We took the elevator and then when we got to the top we realized that there were over 60 stairs to get to the view. Grandma got a little nervous. She said, "Don't they realize how old I am?" Rachel at the front and SG and me at the back we slowly made the climb. Grandma was a trouper and I think she even surprised herself. When we got to the gift shop right before getting to the top she asked the cashiers in Portuguese, "Do you know how old I am?" They both insisted she was 80..."noventa" she said, which means 90. They all looked at her with awe and gave her some water. We only had 16 more stairs to go and then we finally made it to the top of Cristo Rey that looked out over the entire city. "Vale la pena." Grandma said. It was definitely worth it. Grandma slowly made the climb down with her grandaughters surrounding her. At the bottom she said, "Vou a fazer chi chi." We looked at her puzzled. "I have to go wee wee." We laughed. We all learn a new Portuguese word just about every day!

We continued on our journey by visiting:

Gironimos Cathedral where Vasco de Gama (the great explorer that discovered the pathway to India) was burried as well as Luis Camoise the poet that was filled with gothic architecture, cloisters, scalloped arches and gargoils

We drove through a region called Belem Lumesco that had a lot of world heritage

We went to the edge of the river and saw Belem, which was a castle on the coast

There was a monument right next to it that I like to call the Explorer monument. It looks like a giant boat with tons of explorers. It was created in 1960. Prince Henry the navigator was at the front of the monument as well as others like Vasco de Gama.

Behind the huge monument was a giant map on the ground. We all took pictures of places where we wanted to go. SG wants to go to South America, and she will later this summer. Rachel wants to naturally go to Tibet! I want to visit India and then we all made our mark by putting our feet in Portugal.

It was only our second day in Portugal and the jet lag was starting to get to us. Our driver said he would drop us for lunch and then we would feel free to explore the huge Lisbon aquarium. Grandma looked at all of us, and we could see it all on our faces that we would barely make it to lunch. Rachel had already fallen asleep in the back. I asked if the driver could pick us up after lunch. Grandma said that we could see a very nice aquarium in Baltimore....ooops...:)

So we went to a restaurant called Paixada and ate Calderada to our hearts content. It is something we all grew up with and Grandma of course challenged the waiter and said, "I bet it won't be as good as mine." Which it wasn't and she told him so...I hope I have that much gumption when I am 90. But the food was still amazing. I have to stop accepting the food when they bring it to the table. We didn't order gambas (shrimp) and they just brought it to the table, but if you eat it, you buy it. It is not on the house. But who can resist all of this amazing sea food?! Grandma couldn't stop talking to the beautiful Portuguese waiter the entire time. He even had to say to her, "I could talk to you all day, but I must get back to work." He was lovely, he had spent time in Utah and new all about American proms and homecomings. I guess that is something that we are known for.

We went back after lunch and had the most marvelous siesta! It felt so good to sleep. All of us slept for over two hours! Then we awoke and decided that ice cream would be the perfect dinner! We went to a lovely cafe and had crema de nata (a portuguese treat) and gelado (ice cream) with tea. It was perfect! We walked around the streets of Lisbon arm and arm and just marveled at our wonderful day. We went back to the hotel and knitted, emailed and ended the day with an intense game of banana grams. As always I have a very unique way of spelling words, but as it turns out toat and ren are words! Who knew? Look them up! :)

Time for bed after a long day, tomorrow Sintra! More to come!

Roles reverse in Portugal

Our first morning waking up our tour guide is arriving at 9:30AM. So naturally the New Yorker says, "should we meet at breakfast at 8:30AM?" The Portuguese Grandmother says, "That is only an hour for breakfast! Let's meet at 7:30AM." The youngest one of the bunch says, "Maybe 7:45AM is best!" The calm middle child buddhist says, "Why don't we meet at 8:15AM." The New Yorker looks at the Grandmother with pleading eyes and finally the Grandmother agrees. After dinner is over and we are about to head to our beads the Grandmother says, "See you outside my door at 7:45AM!" The New Yorker, smiling to herself nods. No one disagrees with Grandma. The New Yorker says to the Grandma, "I will call the front desk and tell them to wake us up at 7:00AM sharp!" The Grandmother agrees and all go to bed.
The next morning there is a knock on the door at 6:45AM! The New Yorker falls out of bed spouting out interjections towards the door, but slowly makes her way there and opens the door a crack. The little one is at the door completely dressed and says in the sweetest voice, "It's 7:45AM!" The New Yorker, who doesn't even drink coffee, can only imagine that she could be functional with a cup in her hand right now says, "It's 6:45!" The little one looks at her puzzeled while the New Yorker shuts the door!
There is another knock on the door at 7:00AM. The Grandmother and the little one have returned at 7:00AM and say through giggles, "We are going to breakfast! We accidentally set our alarm an hour early!" Those two little mischeivious girls! The middle buddhist child says half dead at the door, "Oh, you look pretty!" As she stumbls to the bathroom. The two little girls, the little one and the grandmother laugh and slowly make there way to breakfast as the New Yorker shuts the door.

Three sisters a Grandma and Portugal!

We have finally made it! This has been a dream come true for all of us--to get the opportunity to share our beloved country of Portugal with our Grandmother. For years we have been trying to get her to go and she always insisted that she was too old. Well, now that she is 90 she told us one day that it was time to go. (no one says no to Grandma) So we packed up our bags, made reservations and off we went to Portugal! Oh Portugal, the home of our ancestors that came over in 1917 during WWI. It's truly mind boggling to think about. We hope to visit the small town where our great grandmother grew up and visit places like Fatima, Sintra and explore Lisbon. Surprisingly my 2 semesters of college Portuguese are coming back to me, but it sure helps to have a Grandmother that is fluent.
Right now we are all exhausted and taking naps in the hotel. I am looking out our window into the center square of Lisbon. The houses rise up onto the mountains and they all have the very typical red roofs. When I looked out the airplane window I saw a sea of red roofs. I can't believe we are in Europe! This city is so old and filled with so much history. I have to say, being here makes me very proud to be Portuguese! Que bom! :) Ate logo!