ickspittle and blackbirding.
TUESDAY 22nd MAY.
My lock stopped working yesterday when i came off the beach, which complicated everything, Paolo tells me theres internet in front of the casino but i cant find it, or internet at his place, he invites me to stay but but he is too eager and probably quite shady so i dont trust the invitation and make my excuses. i m staying at the camping. or at least thats my cover story.
i go looking through the bins at Lidl with an older woman with a mobility cart, I give her the ham, croissants, lasagne, and I get apples bananas pain au chocolat and a pocketful of M and Ms, oh and a small beer!! But after congratualting myself on my excellent diet this past week or fish and vegetables, I feel bad for eating all the pastries.
Today everything is working out and its not even lunchtime, I have found free internet, Oz has called, an invite to the cinema from a guy whose company I like and seems safe. Happy days. A bit of oil and the bicycle lock is -kinda- working again, there are 2 Decathlon stores in the north of Porto where I can go to buy new pannier bags. All good.
THURSDAY 24th MAY.
Ze do Banana. which means- Ze, or Jose, of the Bananas, and not the Bananas of Jose, the meaning is very different, I am told.
The punk girl and the dog on the string.
Saint Peter the Fisherman, at Senhor da Pedra, with the waves crashing against the rocks, which was once a pagan altar, where they still do dark magic – or so my guide tells me –
I cant deny I saw the black candle in the sand, like it was there for me, but I didnt light it. I didnt even want to.
Tears, mine, not mine, he doesnt listen, he thinks its funny to act frustrated with me, but then i am not the one trying to communicate in a foriegn language, i admit –
dinner (well, almoço) with the parents yesterday, already, a trip on the bicycles, but its so hot under the jacket – i want to keep my skin out of hte sun again today – and it is the second day of my moons so I begin to feel a little out of it and I thin Nelo does too.
fish fish fish, I ve never eaten so much fish in my life, but its a good thing –
from the Portuguese-English dictionary:
baneberry: erva de Sao-cristovao
barebones: pessoa muito magra, carga-de-ossos
Barebones Parliament: nome dado ao Parliamento convocado por Cromwell 1653 depois da dissolucao do chamado Longo Parliamento
banshee: fada cujos lamentos pressagiaviam, para uma casa, morte de alguiem
blackbirding: trafico de escravos
lickspittle: parasita, sabujo, bajulado
Walpurigs night: noite de Santa Valpurga
weep: choro
wench: rapariga, rapariga da aldeia, criada de lavora, prostituta, meretriz
FRIDAY 25th May.
Nortada wind.
Palmeiras, relegated, travelled over on the boat from Brazil.
The seven headed monster, eating the animals of the area, then being driven underground by the farmers, and the waters of the river rose and washed away the chapel..
what an interesting moral.
foxgloves, everywhere (repousa)
the oiling of the bicycle, i work the links of the chain with my fingers, like the massage last night –
the singing man in the woods, the actor, the puppetmaster, the okupas in the woods of Espinho with the girl with the dreds and the man in the van –
the sea looked spectacular when we left his castle, golden in the distance, it looked even better when we were up close, turquoise, gilded, white horses –
Ate ja (see you later, in Portuguese)
the waves at Aguda are magnificent, raw power, but I ve got to make Matosinhos tonight, Nelo says its 60km but I doubt it, the ducks nesting in the rocks near the sea
At Senhor da Pedra, again, I tie a silver ribbon around the menhir, this seems to be a story about silver, after all, and I tie a green and yellow ribbon to that, a ribbon from Kenmare, Kerry, Ireland, and I think about my parents, and feel the salt spray on my face.
Signora da Ajuda, i used to stand here and look out the window and think she had turned her back on me, says Nelo, but then I realised I had to go stand in front of her to get her attention, maybe she is just looking in the same direction you are looking, I say, out to sea….
Leaving Espinho was lovely, the sunsetting as I pass through the 2 sides of the river (called marginal, I think, in Portuguese, it s so weird to call it a bank now), the rainshower at Passeio Alegre, now the baths at Molhe looking quite regal.
I love the way they tile the houses with colours and geometrix, one day I will do that to a house, and rebuild the rotting ceramicas.
Singing Nina Simone, Go Slow, I cycle past O Castelo do Quiejo (Cheese Castle)
O, and the moon appears, its fingernail, finally !!
Friday night in Matosinhos, the restaurants have fired up their furnaces (barbeques), the churrerias are ladling out chocolate filled delights and if I were a lesser woman (and had not already eaten chocolate salami) I would stay there until sated.
SATURDAY 26th MAY.
Just north of Trofa. At Senhor dos Perdoes. I dont know who was more surprised last night, me half asleep under the chiringuito or the fisherman who found me there – i blinked sleepily in his torchlight and acted mute, not understanding a word he said (except for bicicleta, that ones always a winner)
I had been looking for Decathlon but then realised it was close to midnight and I had no idea where to sleep, so i abandoned the search and headed for the beach – there had been showers and the ground was wet but this spot was perfect underneath the boards of the chiringuito on stilts –
This morning – still a nightmare to find the Matosinhos Decathlon store, I spent 2 hours on it then gave up and took my bicycle on the tram to Maia, and despite feeling lost there too ended up at Decathlon where I replaced my bags for 40€, my hi-viz for 6€, and stole a spare inner tube and a puncture repair kit.
The women who stare at me – what the fuck?? – its totally blatant, they obviously dont think its rude to stare, but its a little unsettling –
Oz tects – Barcelos! Its only a short cycle away, I tell him I ll be there by tmoro morning
and now, starting the road again, with yoghurt all over my trousers, ffs, it was an aloe vera yoghurt and i was really enjoying it, i must have attacked it with a bit too much gusto
WHEN EATING CHERRIES – take your time. especially if they are the best cherries you ve eaten in your life. they re always the best cherries. grip the flesh between your teeth and pull the green stalk away. savour the stone; rolling it in your mouth is more pleasure than most people realise in a lifetime.