Kittens!!Tonight while taking Mango out for her evening walk we heard something that sounded like a strange bird call. After a couple of screeches we realized this was no bird, we have kittens on our hands!! Behind the old tower is the remnants of an old animal pen and lots of brambles and cacti. The perfect hiding place for a new mom and her little ones! As we stood listening to where the cries were coming from we spotted an itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny grey kitten trying to climb over the prickly branches! Now I am terrified of snakes and spiders, and Portugal has its share, but give me a helpless kitty and I basically threw myself in there! LOL! So this little critter was desperately calling for its mom, and we soon heard more cries. We made our way to the other side of the tower to find 2 more! A grey one and a black one! Both hiding in the rocks of the tower! We were pretty worried that these little guys were going to meet their demise once the sun went down, but within a few minutes their mom showed up! Still a young cat herself! We placed the kitten down and after a few cautious seconds she approached and grabbed fluffy! She then disappeared beneath the giant cactus to retrieve her other children! She must have found the other 2, a few minutes later and there was silence! Family reunited!! Needless to say we would like to adopt the entire family and bring them home with us! Hopefully we don't grow to attached! LOL!
A slight look of terror! Poor little thing!
As you can see, kittens aren't really my thing….
Here is the little black one trying to find cover in the tower. The other grey one is already hiding. So smart!
Here is the mom carrying fluffy away after we put her down. Such a good mom!
I'm not getting attached! I'm not getting attached….
So who out there thought that cork came from the entire tree itself? That one must cut down the tree to obtain the cork? Ok, maybe it was just us? Since arriving in Portugal we have discovered the truth, the cork comes from the bark! It is actually considered vegetable tissue! So one might think, why is it endangered if it is a renewable product? Well, the answer is that it is only endangered because man has decided to switch from traditional cork bottle stoppers to plastic and twist tops, slowly driving out the demand for cork products. 70% of the bark goes to cork stopper production, and because it is slowly being made obsolete, the trees are not being cultivated. Kind of sad right?! So all of you out there that thought you were doing the tree a favour by only purchasing twist offs or plastic corked wines. Stop now! Cork harvesting is one of the most environmentally friendly agricultural processes out there! Here in Portugal they don't use any kind of machinery. The skill is done completely by hand and is passed down from generation to generation. The workers who strip the cork are called Tiradors and work in pairs. The bark is stripped away every 9 to 10 years and takes 3 harvests before the cork is deemed suitable for wine corks! The first 2 harvests are used for things like flooring, insulation, even shoes, hats and furniture! The trees can be valuable for over 200 years! It is amazing the things you learn while travelling! I thought we were doing the politically correct thing buying a bottle of wine with a plastic stopper, I even thought it was taboo to consider cork flooring. The thing is, we were only jeopardizing these trees! I could go on and on about this unique tradition, and the important roll these trees play in Europe's ecology, but instead, if you would like to learn more about these old trees, take a look at this short video from the BBC!
A newly harvested Cork Oak!
This one's a biggie! The number 1 signifies the year it was harvested, 2001, perhaps that was its last harvest?
Portugal supplies 50% of the cork harvested worldwide!
Friday we spent a leisurely afternoon exploring the municipality of Portalegre. Portalegre is one of the largest cities in our district, and is made up of 10 surrounding parishes, or villages. It was founded in 1259 by the king of Portugal, Alfonso III and rose to status of "city" in 1550. It was an important economic centre and was known for it's manufacturing of beautiful clothe. As you may know we are located close to the Spanish border, so in ancient times this city was invaded many times over by the Spaniards, because… when you have one country who doesn't want more! Anyhoo! We had a great day making our way through the narrow pedestrian friendly lanes, snapping endless photos, admiring the fortified walls, castle, churches, and many other architecturally beautiful buildings. Upon the suggestion of a fellow in the tourism office we also decided to check out the Tapestry Museum. Knowing that Portalegre has a history of textiles we thought it would be worth a visit, happily we were not disappointed! Portalegre tapestries have had worldwide recognition since 1952, and the Portalegre weavers are considered to be the best in the world. Every tapestry is based on an original piece of art, more than 200 Portuguese and foreign artists have had their work translated into Portalegre tapestries. The finished products are breath taking! Hopefully our photos due them justice!
This is almost a work of art on its own! Yet this is only a sample of the over 7000 colours of yarns that are used in the Tapestries!
Tapestry based on a painting by Portuguese artist Joao Tavares
Tapestry of Malangatana painting
The Cathedral of Portalegre is a national monument. Construction started in 1556 and was completed in the early 17th century.
We decided to take a different route home to Marvao and found ourselves winding our way through the beautiful countryside, sometimes the only car for miles. It was surreal! Driving over rivers, under old oaks, past wineries, ancient castles, and even gypsies with their horse and carts! Unfortunately I won't show you that picture. It includes myself getting the middle finger from one of the young occupants of the cart! Ahhh, so sweet! Anyhoo! The more we experience Portugal the more we love it! If only the Schengen rules would allow us to stay longer than 3 months. Until then, we still have over a month to enjoy this amazing part of the world! Here are some quick pics of our drive back to the rolling hills of Alentejo!
The beautiful white sands and blue water of Altura Beach!
Megalithic monuments are found all over Portugal!
Menires do Lavajo a megalithic structure
Vascao River
The bridge of Mertola
Mertola was under Islamic rule for more than 500 years, and is the sight of Portugal's only surviving medieval mosque. So cool!
Break time in the park! Yum!
Mertola
These White Storks build their nests everywhere! We've also spotted them on top of chimneys!
Today was our last full day in Tavira. We thought we would explore the Algarve region more, but Tavira had so much to offer, and when it comes down to it… Do you spend the short amount of time you have racing from place to place? Or do you slow down and enjoy your immediate surroundings? Well,we chose the latter. I'm not going to lie… For these few short days we were determined to enjoy the city life. The food, sightseeing, people watching, and shopping! Not that we aren't enjoying the country life in Marvao, but perhaps Donny and Marie Osmond said it best! "I'm a little bit country and he's a little bit rock-n-roll!" Actually, we both love the country, and the city. When it comes down to it, I don't know if either of us could choose… Perhaps a nice ranch 5 km from a metropolitan city? Ahhh… we can dream can't we! Today we designated a couple of hours to a local exhibit, "The Islamic Museum". It was amazing to learn a little bit about Tavira's Islamic past and to see some of the artifacts that date back to the 12 century! We were also told that a great portion of these treasures would soon be going to Paris to be displayed in the Louvre! Before leaving we were asked to view some local children's artwork and vote for our favourite piece of pottery, drawing and hand painted tile. We were super impressed by the talents of these young school kids, and spent an agonizing 30 minutes or more trying to pick only one of each!! After our morning spent inside the museum we walked around the streets taking pictures of things that caught our attention. Do you call dogs, cars, and old houses eye candy? Perhaps….Either way, here are some fun pictures of day 3 in Tavira!
My birthday is coming up! Hint! Hint!
Friendly locals above and below!
More cool door ornaments above and below.
A small snack along the way. Rosemary cheese sandwich, yum!
Portuguese tiles, or "az-zulavi", which originates from the Islamic term for refined stone. Date back to the Moors. You will find these tiles on everything from houses to churches.
There are many old empty buildings ready to be brought back to their former glory!
