Wednesday 7 March 2012
Let's start from the back and work toward the front. The back was a superb seafood dinner we treated ourselves to (47 euros) that will always have as a great memory of Portugal. We arrived at Marisquiera O Pardal at about 8 PM after getting lost. A local woman had recommended this restaurant and the fact that it was hard to find made us anticipate it all the more. When we walked through the door Carlos, the owner, greeted us. His wife cooks and they prepare the recipes from generations of family members' secrets. We ordered the seafood with rice and after a starter of olives, a basket of bread, a bowl of garlic carrots and another of octopus salad, we were sure we'd gotten lucky and found a winner. The huge kettle of lobster, mussels, scampi, and crab in the hot broth was intoxicating. The radio blared blues and Carlos' son revved his toy truck on the floor near our table. We were the only non-locals all evening. Finally after not a morsel of crab (which we cracked with dental like instruments) or lobster could be stuffed into our stomachs, we took the left overs back to our free camp. Before we left, Carlos showed us the old ceramic pots covered in barnacles that were used to trap the octopus and he turned on the lights so we could see the crabs in the aquarium for the next guest's dinner.
 |
| No, this is not a shot from a dentist's office |
 |
| The wreckage |
 |
| Our free-camping spot from the day before |
At the start of our day we decided to leave our breathtakingly beautiful site and move on to Sagres - the very tip of Portugal. Driving out of Luz (pronounced Loosh, gotta love that sexy 'sh' the Portuguese have), we stopped in Salema. This used to be a thriving fishing village and was recommended by Rick Steves for its dinosaur footprints. When Dian said that Rick Steves wouldn't print it if they weren't authenticated, Charles ribbed her with, "Oh sure. Anything Pope Rick says is gospel." The town's camp area was a "naturist" (nudist camp) but we decided the cost would have made us lose our shirts so we moved on.
 |
| Salema |
 |
| Dusting sand off the prints |
About 30 minutes later we were in Sagres and checking out another camp. No good. We drove into the little town on the cliffs with a lighthouse and fort and fell in love. Right next to the Atlantic were about 15 campers and being small we fit right in between Denmark and Finland. (In fact, we had taken the back spot but folks there encouraged us to move on up to the site with the better view.) This free camping area was quite international as opposed to other places we'd stayed at and everyone was running around in bathing suits or at least shorts and tank tops. The town had a huge surfing crowd and as we walked around we found a pleasant mixture of old and new shops.
 |
| The marina of Sagres |
Charles stayed at the internet bar while Dian gave Nicole a mock job interview (for a position as a dog poop picker upper - no pay.) They went for a walk around town then chatted with our new neighbors who kindly showed us maps and places we might like to visit. With stomachs rumbling, Dian and Nicole drove over to pick Charles up for the odyssey of finding Pardal.
Let's start from the back and work toward the front. The back was a superb seafood dinner we treated ourselves to (47 euros) that will always have as a great memory of Portugal. We arrived at Marisquiera O Pardal at about 8 PM after getting lost. A local woman had recommended this restaurant and the fact that it was hard to find made us anticipate it all the more. When we walked through the door Carlos, the owner, greeted us. His wife cooks and they prepare the recipes from generations of family members' secrets. We ordered the seafood with rice and after a starter of olives, a basket of bread, a bowl of garlic carrots and another of octopus salad, we were sure we'd gotten lucky and found a winner. The huge kettle of lobster, mussels, scampi, and crab in the hot broth was intoxicating. The radio blared blues and Carlos' son revved his toy truck on the floor near our table. We were the only non-locals all evening. Finally after not a morsel of crab (which we cracked with dental like instruments) or lobster could be stuffed into our stomachs, we took the left overs back to our free camp. Before we left, Carlos showed us the old ceramic pots covered in barnacles that were used to trap the octopus and he turned on the lights so we could see the crabs in the aquarium for the next guest's dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment