Summer fun
Felines, friends and festas; Paddling and Ultimate
We’ve had a busy and pleasant summer so far here in Coimbra, Portugal.
Despite the persistent heat dome over Spain and Italy, Coimbra has mostly been spared, given its location near the coast, where it sits in a temperate micro-climate. We’ve had warm afternoons in the high 20’s and low 30’s, with overnight lows in the teens, cooling everything off. We’ve even had a few gentle summer showers to keep things green and moist.
Given we’re in a full-blown climate crisis, and the Gulf Stream could collapse as early as 2025, creating even more climate chaos, I’m sure we will look back on this delightful summer with saudade. When faced with such a massive pending calamity, it’s hard to find a way to make meaningful change. Here are some things you can do to lower your impact on the environment. If you like, please leave a comment below that shares how your household is limiting your climate impact. “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.” - various attributions.
We’re all on this pale blue dot together.
The summer started with a pair of fun cat-sits. We sat for our now-family of furry kitties VJ, Tessa and Cosette in Caldas da Rainha for a couple weeks, where we took the opportunity to day-trip to Évora and Berlengas. Berlengas is a national park and wildlife refuge set on a few small islands off the Atlantic coast. The water was chilly, but we swam and enjoyed ourselves anyway. We were joined on our ferry by a large high school group, whose energy was infectious.
Évora is an old Roman city with a downtown which has been declared a UNESCO heritage site. It’s home to a “Chapel of Bones”, with an inscription that makes one pause and think.
Then we headed north to cat-sit in Braga for a week, where we also visited Guimarães and Vigo, Spain.
Guimarães was unexpectedly charming, with a cable car set up to reach the top of a boulder-strewn hill. A short walk from the base of the cable car was a quaint downtown area which is a UNESCO heritage site, just like Évora.
After watching the Portuguese Premier League for a season, I selected SC Braga as my Portuguese football (soccer) team. While in Braga I took the opportunity to sign up for the sócio (social club), grab a scarf & jersey, and get acquainted with the stadium. The Portland Timbers and Arsenal are my other clubs, for those who don’t know. SC Braga is a smaller club with a lot of heart and solid local support, and are referred to as the “Arsenalistas”, since their style of play and jersey mimic Arsenal. It was an easy choice, in the end. We watched SC Braga’s Champions League play-in match vs Bačka Topola earlier this week (a 3-0 win!).
We’ve also had the pleasure of welcoming some visitors to “141” this summer.
Our long-time neighbors from Beaverton, Todd & Rupy, came over, along with their daughter and some friends. We puttered around Porto on foot for a few days, then settled into Coimbra for a fun week of “Festas da Cidade” music and entertainment, river swims, gelato tasting, and a visit to a very strange art exhibition which allowed us access to the normally-closed Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova on the hill above Coimbra.
At Óbidos we climbed the city walls, browsed the citadel of books, enjoyed a medieval dinner, and Todd sampled the chocolate cup with “ginja”. The views from the city walls are marvelous, as long as you aren’t scared of heights.
We continued south to Lisbon, where we took in the sights and sounds of the capital city, rode the famous Tram 28, which passes by many “miradouro” (viewpoints) and historical buildings. We walked through Praça do Comércio, took in Torre de Belem, and enjoyed pastel de nata from various famous bakeries; “you can’t buy happiness, but you can buy nata, and that’s kind of the same thing”, says one bakery wall. We took side trips out to Cascais, where we enjoyed the beach, live music, and watched teens jump from rocks into the sea, and to Sintra, a magical place that seems straight out of a fairy tale:
Near Sintra is the colorful Pena Palace, which sits atop a hill overlooking serene gardens, clear streams, bubbling fountains, cobbled paths and numerous paths thru carefully cultivated forests of native and imported trees and flowers. It was previously a hermitage, and is still valued for its serenity and quiet beauty.
On our last evening in Lisbon, we rode the ferry across the Tagus River and enjoyed the sunset at a seafood restaurant along the south bank of the river. It was spectacular.
After Lisbon, Efti & I headed for home, while Todd & Rupy continued on down to the Algarve for some rest and beach time.
Paddling and Ultimate
We have spent the past 15 months trying to become comfortable: exploring our new home, learning the language, making friends with fellow expats, and getting a feel for how day-to-day life runs. We have now begun to try and engage a bit more with our local community.
I enjoy outdoor sports and activities, and so I joined the local paddling club, which specializes in canoes and kayaks. I had initially wanted to play Kayak Polo, which looked like a fun combination of water polo, rugby, basketball and kayaking, but the kayak and my back didn’t get along. So instead I joined a more sedate kayak group which meets up twice a week to paddle upriver. It’s been a wonderful way to make friends, practice my Portuguese, and get in a workout while enjoying the beauty of nature. It’s really a social club that happens to paddle together, and they have made us feel very welcome.
I’m always up for a game of Ultimate Frisbee, but the only place I have found to play is a 35 minute drive away in Aveiro. I join them from time to time.
Recently I played in an Ultimate tournament in Leria, and was put on a team with a handful of leftover and newbie players from Braga, Porto, Aveiro and Lisbon. We struggled early, but over the course of the tournament, three of us experienced players on the team coached and taught the new guys, and in the end we showed immense progress. It was a great day filled with throwing a disk and running around in the summer heat, and I threw a hammer for a score! It took me 3 days to finally be able to go down stairs without groaning out loud.
There is still more summer to go. There are more festas and performances to enjoy in Coimbra and the surrounding towns. We have a couple more house exchanges planned, as well as a visit from more Oregon friends. There will be more paddling, more river swims, and more Ultimate before the fall rains settle in.
Well written, a pleasure to read and your page is artfully designed and framed.
It's always a pleasure to read about your adventures. Here's a little (pickiness🐝): I am taking notes of the diversification you have brought about in your soccer team selection 😜. You've taken the soccer world by storm with your own United Nations of football fandom – SC Braga, Portland Timbers, AND Arsenal? Diversity lesson well learned, Dad! ⚽️🌍
Just a heads-up, my "hammer throw" usually involves accidentally dropping my phone on my face while texting in bed. 😂 Here's to a summer full of river swims, diverse soccer team cheers, and many more memories. Keep embracing that "pale blue dot" spirit, and who knows, you might just start a trend of global soccer diplomacy! 🌏🌞🏞️