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 |   ON THE WRITE PATH: travel journal for Around-the-World in 2015, 16, 18. |
StephBee - House Targaryen and Sssssh! I'm not really here. This is the first entry for
Neno laughed every time I attempted to speak Portuguese. He's from San Salvador (no estado de Bahia). Yes, I could make myself understood and he did speak a little English; but, where did I get my accent. Hadn't I been to Brasil? Não. But I was taught in university to speak with a Brazilian accent... 50 years ago. The Portuguese find it charming; but, Neno just laughed. You must've visited Brasil... I met numerous Brazilians (like Victor from São Paulo). Many were in Portugal to seek jobs, working, or going to university. None of them were vomiting their words. But I was. Ah... orange juice gone bad? Between diarrhea and vomit I needed to stay close to a toilet for most of two days. It did impact my visit. David  , my Taiwanese travel companion, and I explored the ruins of the Roman temple, the plate of scrambled egg with asparagus and mushrooms while we listened to fado, gaped at the touring cars of a by-gone era (including a Stutz). I have the photos to prove it.  I also 'crawled' up the cobblestone to visit the Igreja de Santa Clara de Évora to view an exhibit devoted to global religious freedom. Once upon a time it was an old cloistered convent where even the priest never laid eyes on the women who lived there. It's not in good repair. I wonder whether the soot from candles has ever been cleaned since the XVI century. One highlight of Rua de Serpa Pinto was the gelateria. I had pistachio-nut and lemon-basil.  I sat in the park with Neno and Alexandre and watched the peafowl. I wanted to see a couple places that were closed. The hostel sits across from two shops that have self-serve cases that dispense everything from pastries to cable cords. The teenagers like to hang out there... switching to the other side of the street to avoid the glaring sun. There are few trees within the old city walls. I watched Eurovision while I was there. Portugal 🇵🇹 had a strong entry "Saudade, Saudade" written and sung by MARO. I liked it! But it only came in 9th.  I didn't do much in Évora. I had been there 3 times before. I'd seen Neolithic stone formations of the Almendres Cromlech (Cromeleque dos Almendres). I'd been to the church of bones, the university with its incredible azulejos (tiles). I stopped briefly at the children's plot in the cemetery. Too sick. Diarrhea and vomiting can spoil any visit. Never get sick! At least I got to the Bata do Fado. Same people singing that I met years ago. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (an epigram by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in the January 1849 issue of his journal Les Guêpes “The Wasps”.) Victor and David:  ~470 words. 3032 blog views to date |
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