Our adventures in a mobile home
Posts tagged food
A bit of France in Portugal
Apr 5th
We detoured through the Serra da Freita on our way to Arouca. The landscape in this area is almost English, very green and full of tumbled down stone cottages surrounded by gardens packed with flowers. There is an abundance of water and rock, creating white waterfalls and idyllic roadside stops. At one such place we got out to explore and encountered a rather hunched up crone guarding her goats. I hadn’t noticed her crouching away from the blistering sunshine until she unfurled her black shawl to tend to her charges. She was wrapped in black from head to foot, whilst I was wandering around in shorts and a strappy top. This seems to be the norm here, the Portuguese are wrapped up like its -10° and most women seem to wear black (perhaps to trap in the heat?)
Arouca was bustling compared to the quietness of the Serra da Freita. We wandered around the town and then stopped for lunch in a cafe frequented by the locals. David ordered a Franceshina (translates to “a little French”), that turned out to be not so little. This massive meal consists of a door stop sandwich, containing pork steak, bacon and sausage, covered in grilled cheese floating in a soup of chips, tomato, beer and piripiri. It was a dream meal for David although he struggled to finish it and we opted for a healthy carrot soup for supper to try and balance out our diet.
Music in the hills
Apr 3rd
We drove up into the hills surrounding Caramulo and found an idyllic spot at Cabeca da Neve. We decided to stop here for the night, much to our detriment as it was frequented by locals through the course of the night blasting cheesy rave music. At 4am we had enough and blotted out their crap tunes with our drum ‘n bass turned up to the max. This started a soundsystem war and we didn’t get any more sleep. We will remember in future not to stop anywhere with views of lights on a Saturday night. Our lack of sleep put paid to our walk along the hills the next morning and instead we stopped for pastries at Caramulo and drove on to Vouzela.
Vouzela’s campsite was on a hill, next to a Castelo and a very steep 2km downhill into town. We cycled it and dreaded the all uphill return journey. Vouzela itself is a pretty backwater town, it has a famous pastry which tastes like very eggy custard combined with mounds and mounds of icing sugar encased in filo pastry masquerading as paper. Not my best pastry experience! And it definitely didn’t help with the cycle ride back home … less sugar rush, more like jelly legs!
Fire me up!
Mar 8th
Even the sunrise looked like a bush fire
24 hours of fire! Our first fire incident was trying out some local, home brewed firewater; cracking stuff. The barmen at the campsite said he couldn’t divulge the alcoholic percentage or where it was made. Perhaps it is an old family ‘recipe’. (Ingredients: starch. Method: ferment until causes drinker to clutch throat and fall to the ground screaming) It certainly reminded us of Zivania from Cyprus or even Stroh Rum and the after-effects were similar!
The second fire incident happened as I was making prawn crackers for our homemade Sunday night Chinese. I managed to set a pan of oil alight, and in an enclosed space leaping flames are a rather frightening sight. Luckily I managed to keep my wits about me and got it out the door before setting us and the van aflame! Phew, maybe we won’t be making homemade takeaway for awhile.
Making mini craters
The beach at Odeceixe is stunning. There is a long sweep of powdery, white sand framed by dark cliffs and intersected with a meandering river. The sand is incredibly fine, and a hard crust forms on its surface. Every step on the smooth sand causes a ripple of holes to form around your foot, as if someone had just fired at it with a shotgun. I thought for a second I was in some sci-fi movie, seeing a bleed through from an alternate reality, before I realised it was just my foot!
Cycling Struggles
Feb 26th
Next stop was Salema, beachside wild camping along with 10 other motorhomers. This spot is in a wetland, and the sound of frogs and waves serenaded us to sleep. We spent a gloriously hot couple of days fishing, sunbathing and generally lazing about. We managed one cycle ride up the rather steep hills into the town, David’s very cheap bike is currently running on one front gear and he had a hissy fit when he saw the climb out of town. Our bbq is getting heavy use now, it is magical to sit next to the ocean, glass of wine in hand of course, and cook some fresh fish or frango piri-piri.
We reluctantly moved onto Sagres, the most westerly town in the Algarve where the weather turned more windy. Consequently, it proved to be another challenging ride to Cabo St Vincent, especially after a couple of G&Ts. David was carrying Odie in his doggie backpack much to the delight of the busloads of Americans who grabbed the opportunity to take a photo, some by asking if they could and others by snapping away when they thought David wasn’t looking. The lighthouse is the most powerful in Europe and its light can be seen for over 90 miles. It’s a very good thing as the sea is very choppy and rough out there.
Sagres town has a couple of places to park in the van, we stayed at both and had a great time walking and fishing near the town. We enjoyed an incredible Sunday lunch of grilled fish and a massive steak washed down with the local beer. All cooked by an old salty looking chef who brings out the uncooked wares for you to examine before singeing them on the grill. Beats a Sunday roast hands down!
Lunch in Lagos
Feb 23rd
Apparently Portuguese dogs walk backwards, do their business, then leap into the air !
Lagos warranted a hot, uphill walk during our short stay in Luz. We arrived on the outskirts of town feeling weary and in need of sustenance. Luckily there was a Portuguese equivalent of a builders cafe so we stopped for a very hearty 3 course lunch. David got an amazing meal comprising of a bowl of soup, a pork chop, a sausage, a gamon strip, two ribs, salad, chips, rice, desert, a glass of wine and a coffee, all for just €8 ! It was certainly the right lunch if you are laying bricks but not if you are sightseeing, and after an energizing espresso we managed a rather ungraceful waddle into town. Lagos’ museum’s main attraction is an ornately carved church. Odie interrupted our religious reverie by ensuring his barking echoed in the cavernous room and he was moved to a nearby tree in disgrace. The town is touristy but beautiful. We skipped a boat trip to the coves as we did that on a trip with my Dad a couple of years ago.
Amalfi Coast
Oct 5th
One of my long standing ambitions has been to explore the Amalfi coast. This goal inspired us to persevere in our struggle with the Italian traffic, and we made our way to Sorrento. A little preparation made the journey to the area much more bearable. We were able to find a campsite open in the ‘off’ season and avoid all those challengingly low bridges. Our campsite was tagged onto the end of Sorrento with amazing views of the coastline.
We decided to spend our first day in this area exploring it on foot. The Italians don’t seem to be overly keen on footpaths, or even pavements, and you have to take your chances on the narrow roads leaping sideways to avoid scooters undertaking three-wheeled Piaggios. We diverted off the main road onto a walkway, straddled on either side by lime and lemon plantations. We scrumped some limes for our larder, though our pickings were meagre compared to a retired Italian couple we encountered, dragging bulging plastic packets filled with olives, lemons, limes and pomegranates in their wake.
The coastal road to Amalfi is closed to motorhomes during the day due to the huge volume of traffic and the jaw droopingly narrow squeezes between cliffs and houses. The coast is easily visited by bus and boat, both run by the municipality and very reasonably priced. Feeling more adventurous we opted to rent a scooter from Sorrento for the day. Finding a good scooter-spot for Odie proved to be an interesting challenge but soon, like an unwilling sandwich filling, he was wedged firmly between us, sniffing and staring at the passing scenery.
We bumped and weaved our way along the peninsula, through isolated villages to Santa Agata which has stunning views all round. The road hugs the cliffs and continues on to the beautiful towns of Positano, Praiano and Amalfi. The towns are mid-way down the cliffs, between the sea and the towering limestone monoliths that stretch into the clouds.
We stopped for a delicious seafood lunch in a restaurant, with tables looking out across one of the bays. It turned out to be a rather expensive treat of seafood pasta and freshly prepared veggies from the proprietor’s garden for only €10 extra (or yous sleeps widda fishes). After lunch, the clouds descended and rain quickly fell upon our cheap plastic helmets. We weaved our way homewards through mist and fog, our TomTom bleating out alternatively a direction to turn, or a warning about a low battery. With the TomTom off to save the battery we powered on, thinking we had our bearings right, but discovered after a long descent to a small fishing village that we had made a monstrous diversion to a dead end. I’d usually have been annoyed but strangely the last hour of scooting back through the Italian rain was as much fun as you could possibly hope for. My spirit of adventure was feeling much alive.
Death by Olive
Sep 14th
A seahorse fountain in the square
We are always interested in trying new foods and Ascoli Piceno had something unique on offer – olives stuffed with veal and then deep fried. A cardiologist’s worst nightmare but a delight for tourists’ tummies! This town in the Le Marche region of Italy has plenty of interesting sights, beautiful squares and pretty architecture. Its tourist appeal is readily evident with the numerous American and English voices that can be heard echoing off the Roman monuments.
A quick descent out of the mountainous region of Monti Sibillini National Park lead us to the Adriatic sea. Beautiful blue skies and abundant sunshine, combined with a powder blue sea should result in hordes of sun worshippers … or this is what we thought. The only sight that met us on the beach in Porto d’Ascoli were endless rows of sun loungers and parasols. It looked like a holiday ghost town. If only the English knew about this September paradise. I’m sure many would love a cheap holiday in the Italian ‘off’ season. We eventually located a wild camping spot right next to the sea, and were rewarded with a pretty sunrise the following morning.
The rising sun looked like a nuclear bomb
Fantasy Chocolates and Ceramics
Sep 11th
Perugia, a hill top town in Umbria, Italy was our destination for the day. Much to my dismay I was unable to organise a tour of the local chocolate factory. Such factories should be open 24 hours per day by law! I had to console myself with a delicious organic lunch of freshly made pasta and wild boar sauce. We made an effort to work off our indulgent lunch by marching up and down the many Perugian staircases, some of which ultimately lead to nowhere. The town has many pretty sights and plenty of photographic opportunities.
After our feet could take no more traipsing around we made a quick detour to Deruta, also in Umbria. This little town is famous for its handmade ceramics. The main street is riddled with shops selling their wares. Many allow you to observe the artists as they create their beautiful ceramics, but photography is strictly forbidden so the only shots Dave came away with was of tiles laid into the pavement.
Feasting Festivals
Aug 22nd
And step, and step, and scowl at partner ...
Our festival luck is improving! Hungry for lunch we were on the look out for somewhere to stop for a bite and noticed a sign advertising a ‘Sommerfest’. The local village square was closed to traffic as benches had been laid out for hearty lunches accompanied by the sound of Bavarian folk music. The band members were fully kitted out in Leiderhosen and many villagers had also donned traditional dress. The best bit was when the children from the village did a traditional bavarian folk dance with much leaping and twirling and pouting and picking of noses.
Accidental Austrian Strudel
Aug 18th
Rain, rain, rain! We had hoped to make the most of Lake Constanz but the only constant has been a steady downpour. Luckily, while drifting through Friedrichshafen, we spotted signs for the Zepplin Museum and decided to check it out on a whim. As it was early, we were fortunate enough to find a parking space easily but they were few and far between when we returned to the van. Get there early if you don’t want parking headaches. The museum itself was fascinating. I can’t believe how huge the Zepplins were, especially considering how few passengers they could carry. What we did find rather odd was that the top floor was home to an art exhibition. The rather tenuous reason (or should that be excuse?) for its existence was a little sign with the words “Science is art and art is science”.
We found a Stellplatz adjoining a campsite near Lindau. At last a chance to do some washing! A brief break in the steady downpour allowed us to go for a cycle to explore the area. We stopped at a cafe for a warming cup of tea and a very delicious apple strudel. On the cycle home we noticed a sign showing the way to Deutscheland and realised that we had accidentally strayed across the border into Austria for our strudel!
Lindau bay lit up at night
When evening fell we cycled, away from Austria this time, into Lindau town. The bay is lit up at night and is very pretty, apart from a rather odd neon sign at the top of a statue which changes every few minutes from a smiley face to a sad face. The restaurants on the water front are very expensive but a short walk to the end of the row will take you to a funky little cafe which serves cake and beer, a combination I have come to love 
We suspect that although it has a lovely riviera feel at night it would be very different in the day, heaving with tourists.