Thursday, July 30, 2009

Grutas da Moeda


I don't particularly like caves, this is because I love open spaces and light but I loved to visit Grutas da Moeda. They are not very far away from Fátima and were discovered in 1971 by two hunters who wer chasing a fox. Their luck :-) The cave is quite unique, it has galleries and chamers, all with their own name, of course having as inspiration (some of them) religious themes. Normally you are not allowed to take pictures but the guide told us that we can take pictures as long as we don't get lost from the group-nice Portuguese guy.

The cave has a legend that goes like this: "According to the legend, while passing through a thicket, round a small pit, a wealthy man from the area was attacked and robbed by a gang of culprits who killed him, as was common in those days. The body was thrown into the cavernous abyss. Due to haste, the thieves let fall in with the body the bag of coins that the victim was carrying and that they so longed for. Down the pit scattered the coins, never again to be recovered, giving the cave the name by which it is still known today".










Friday, July 24, 2009

Linda Ana Maria




Ana Maria is a delicate 10 years old girl who traveled Europe with her parents from the North of Romania to get to quiet and sunny Portugal just to be on my blog :-)). She is sweet and lovely and quiet and beautiful and she has this nice traditional Romanian costume that she wears every Sunday at church. She was so nervous during the football championship-where she had to be present-I held her hand, encouraged her and was grateful that I had the chance to pick her for the event without not even seeing her in advance. Linda, querida Ana Maria :-)

Monday, July 20, 2009

Peniche



I woke up with this wish-I have to go visit Islas Berlengas close to Peniche. Got there (in Peniche) and no luck...it was too late, I was supposed to sleep there to be able to get to Berlengas and then....the waves were 3 meters high as they said.






So quietly started to discover Peniche-a city where Salazar had the most secure prison....a city where women spend their time making complicated lace patters and where people fish and enjoy the sun. I liked Peniche very much and was sorry I didn't have the chance to see it before.







Tuesday, July 7, 2009