= A surprise at the Beach
Just another day in this fine country!
This morning before we had even finished our first cup of coffee, R read to me an email that about made me fall off the couch I was sitting on! What? An email from O asking if we would like to go to the beach with them? After checking to make sure we had the right invitation from the right person, we of course planned to join O & M at the beach.
They wanted to take us to the beach they had been to many times before, but granted it was many years ago when the worn umbrella we opened had no rust on it. The umbrella worked wonderfully and provided the needed shade for those who wanted to enjoy the shade. And the sun and warm sand was plentiful for those wanting to soak it all in.
We drove to a beach town that O & M had taken us to on our last visit, but needless to say it was early spring and the weather was quite cool. There was no one around the day we visited, but today the town was full of mainly Portuguese people and some tourists seeking to find the sun and sand as we were. What a perfect beach weather day it was!
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| 25 de Abril Bridge |
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| Cristo Rei across the bridge |
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| Costa da Caparica - our destination |
Come sit with us for a few minutes.... along with thousands of others...
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| Our little piece of the beach |
After a few hours in the sun, a quick dip in the Atlantic, well, at least my toes got wet, and a few laughs as we visited, we headed back into town to look for a place to stop for lunch. Now let me remind you that the restaurants we look for should include: 1. Is it off the main road?; 2. Are locals eating there?; 3. Is there a grill or fireplace with smoke coming out?; and 4. Is the place being enjoyed by others? We found it! Criteria 1-4, each a "yes".
We read the handwritten menu of the day and made our decisions. As we got our food and began to taste, we were once again simply amazed . M & R ordered the "piano o porco" (= BBQ ribs) and O & I ordered the Doradas (a white meat fish). What should I say? One picture is worth a thousand words! (I must note also that this was the first time I had ordered a fish to eat that had the head and tail still intact. But I knew it would be good flavor as I had tasted Dorada previously, but the head thing still was hard for me. I maneuvered around the head, tail and all the tiny bones and really enjoyed it!) Check it out...
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| My fish lunch - Mmmm! |
We so enjoyed our plates, then went straight to the coffee with no dessert. We had just finished the coffee and were ready for the check, when a gentleman, we assumed to be the owner and cook came out to the table with a carafe and several small glasses. I need to note that this gentleman came out to our table several times to check on us, ask about the food and just talk. He explained that this was his own homemade "plum dessert wine" and we needed to taste it. He insisted. Oh my, it was excellent! It was sweet and flavorful with very little alcohol in it. And as we finished he asked for O's name, and gave us the restaurant's phone number and instructed us with passion to call ahead next time, tell him that O was coming, and he would prepare a special meal for us!
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| Saude! (= to good health) |
Today's lunch was one of many over the years here in Portugal. The contrast to eating in the US is stark. Food and drink is handcrafted, fresh and surprisingly inexpensive. The invitation is always to enjoy your food and drink and sit all afternoon if you want, never being pushed out to seat the next person. Instead of simply having lunch, one has almocar (= lunch).
it is an experience and not just a process to consume calories. This is a good lesson to remember.
Just one more reason to love this country!
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