Cork and Stork -- Portugal Impressions
May 30, 2001
Things
are laid-back in Portugal, at least south of Lisbon. Should you just want to drive around the
countryside, the roads are mostly empty, the towns small.
Attractive, white-washed, red-tiled houses dot the landscape, making for
picturesque scenes. Exterior tiling is popular; religious themes in blue and white decorate
some homes, while one or more sides of another home may be covered with large geometric tiles.
Ancient interior tiles, 
often in yellow, blue and white -- the
scheme from our Lafayette
kitchen, as you may recall -- are found in many churches, well-preserved monasteries and museums.
Portugal is in Europe; therefore
old churches (the oldest were 13-16th century) are easy to find. One
at San Lourenco had every interior surface covered in tile, scenes and stories
painted blue on white; another
in Evora had 12 magnificent ornate altars, each set into it's own 4-story high knave, in
addition to the huge beautiful golden alter in front.
As for
cork and stork -- you may recall that corks often read "Made in Portugal". We haven't discovered how cork is made,
but cork bark, the raw material is in evidence. Bark is cut off tree
trunks and collected in piles (to dry?) It's then treated, including
lightening. The cut areas, which appear black (from some sort of
treatment?), 
are marked with the year the cutting was done.
Large white storks
(with black-tipped wings) are pleasantly common. The stork's size and the size of
its nest makes it easy to spot. In late spring, the nests, usually built atop old
chimneys, telephone poles and, of course, on top of (mostly dead) trees, 
are full of young-uns,
so there's someone guarding the roost all the time. This nest on a
telephone pole was just one of a string of similar nests, all along the side of
a narrow country road.
We liked Portugal, with siesta's
in the afternoon, being out in the pleasant nights. But it got hot quickly. Three weeks ago it was
60F, now it's
90+. Make sure to get an air-conditioned car, and carry water with
you. Then find a hotel with a nice pool and some shade, that way you can while away the
afternoons.
Home
Things
are laid-back in Portugal, at least south of Lisbon. Should you just want to drive around the
countryside, the roads are mostly empty, the towns small.
Attractive, white-washed, red-tiled houses dot the landscape, making for
picturesque scenes. Exterior tiling is popular; religious themes in blue and white decorate
some homes, while one or more sides of another home may be covered with large geometric tiles.
Ancient interior tiles, 
often in yellow, blue and white -- the
scheme from our Lafayette
kitchen, as you may recall -- are found in many churches, well-preserved monasteries and museums. 
