October 26, 2007 -- By 10:30 a.m., we were on our way to Sintra by bus to check out why the city known by the Romans as the Mountains of the Moon was so popular for the Portuguese and foreigners. The moment we arrived we understood why, (see photos) it's filled with gorgeous palaces and monuments situated around an enchanted forest. The Palacio Nacional da Pena dominates the town from the top of the mountain overlooking the small town. It was built on the site of a 16th century monastery.

October 25, 2007-- We took the electric train the 29 km into Lisbon Tuesday, from Cascais (where we're staying). We walked up and down the steep streets of Lisbon, through the fado, a crumbly old quarter of town where the music seem to pulse from the buildings, and where tattoos and graffiti are epidemic. We toured the inside of a number of great churches and looked into courtyards of renovated mansions. Most of the architecture around the city is post-1755, after the great earthquake. We started our hike at the Praca do Comercio, pictured below and walked through the archway which led us into the city. Behind us was the River Tajo, which flows from the mountains through Lisbon to the Atlantic Ocean.




Wednesday, we needed a day of rest so our feet could recover and lazed around Cascais, a beautiful coastal resort where Big Sky is docked. Cascais is the playground for Lisbon's wealthy commuters. The town's claim to fame is that in 1482 (10 years before Christopher Columbus), a Cascaisian named Afonso Sanches actually discovered America. Columbus was a better marketer and received all the fame.

October 22, 2007 -- The sail yesterday into Cascais was a smooth, 8 1/2 hours on the water.


Doug at the helm; Merrilee navigating

We ended the night with a fantastic dinner in an off-the-tourist-track restaurant at an outside table, situated under an avocado tree. Today, we toured Lisbon on foot, exhausting ourselves after eight hours of walking.


October 20, 2007 -- We sailed to Peniche today, the second most westerly point in Europe. The population is about 18,000 people. We angled our arrived toward the Ilha da Berlenga, a protected bird sanctuary just off Peniche and spent a leisurely afternoon enjoying the sites.
Abbey
Yesterday, we visited Alcobaca, in the town of Batalha where there's a magnificent Cistercian Abbey where the foundation stone was laid in 1148.
Fatima
Fatima is an interesting religious spot standing on a desolate high-lying plateau where allegedly three peasant children sited the vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917. Since then, it's become a highly profitable tourist spot called the Lourdes of Portugal where thousands take the pilgrimage there. Two of the children died shortly after the sighting, and the third one died in 2003. They're buried in this basilica built in recognition of the importance of the site to pilgrims.
Batalha Monastery
We traveled on to Porto de Mos and took in the great monastery at Batalha.
Tomar
We traveled on to Tomar, hiked up the long cobble- stoned medieval street to the Convento do Cristo. Tomar was the headquarters of the Knights Templar in Portugal, an order formed in 1119 during the crusades who gained incredible wealth. They left behind marvelous ruins of the old castle, church and cloisters.
October 19, 2007 -- Our walking tour of Nazare was spectacular yesterday! It's an understated town, with beautiful breathtaking scenery. For us, the most amazing part of the city was seeing and meeting some of the local woman in traditional garments.
Local carrying water on her head
It seems that no one under 40 years old dresses in the traditional outfits.

The solid black garment is for the widows, and the coloured/plaid is for those married. I spoke with a woman wearing black asking about her earrings as there was a picture of a young man on them. She told us in Portuguese that she was married for 36 years, and her husband had passed on 23 or so years ago.
The scenery was breathtaking!



See photos of Nazere
See Video of Nazere
October 18, 2007 -- The four of us are totally enjoying our time together. Doug and Merrilee are masters at research and have identified all the interesting spots nearby.
We met another couple from Canada (Maple Bay, B.C.) who took these pictures of Big Sky.



October 17, 2007 --Today we explored the colourful marketplace, buying fish, fruit and flowers. (Pictured below: Merrilee and Doug checking the veggies, and a sweet Portuguese woman tuckered out by 10 a.m.).

We had read about the Casa do Paco, a building with walls covered with several thousand 18 century Dutch tiles said to have been transported here from shipload destined elsewhere -- confiscated. The locals don't seem to know what a treasure they have. After lots of inquiries we located them and they were amazing.

That afternoon, we enjoyed the beautiful beach.

October 16, 2007 -- After nearly nine hours on the water, we arrived at Figueira da Foz. All was going well, Doug had the bow lines; Con was making the turn to line up for our slip; I opened the side rails and dragged the stern line to the centre, pulled to free it to ready for tying on, lost my balance and fell against the rail that was no longer there, and promptly fell into the 19 degree marina water! It was Doug and Merrilee's first docking and they had decided to "watch" at this point. Instead, they had to get to the stern, untie the life buoy and toss it to me. Then Con instructed Doug to move to the bow and called out instructions to tie and dock Big Sky.
Just out of the water
I made my way across the fish-filled marina seeking an exit point. Climbing out was a challenge as my jacket was so heavy but there was no way I was going to take it off and risk loosing it to the marina, as I just bought it a few weeks ago! The only injury was my pride! Doug is pictured in the background trying to figure out how to tie up Big Sky.
October 15, 2007 -- Porto is built on a series of hills leading up and away from the river. The four of us explored it on foot -- up the hills and back down the series of stairs. What a major workout! About 2 p.m., we decided to stop for a brief bite to eat, since siesta would be another 30 minutes before we could get into the churches and museums. Nearing 5 p.m., we admitted defeat and left the restaurant still hungry, not fed. The kitchen consisted of three frazzled women and one five-month old crying baby tied to a keg of beer, in her walker, who spent most of the afternoon under the fat fryer!

See the photo albums for pictures of our walk through Porto. The next day, we rented a car and set off to visit the towns Guimaraes and Braga both attractive old towns. Guimaraes is the birthplace of Portugal. The church dates back to the 10th century.


We started our tour at the Castelo, massive large walls and towers on a rocky hill with a magnificent view of the mountains.

By car, we wound our way around the mountain roads to Citania de Briteiros and took in the remarkably well-preserved Celtic ruins in one of Portugal's most important archaeological sites. The prehistoric fortified village inhabited by Celts was discovered in 1874.

We drove a bit further to Bom Jesus, the religious centre set high on a mountain. It's another popular pilgrimage centre known for its remarkable stairway flanked by chapels and statues.

Near exhaustion, we drove on to Braga and bought a couple of delicious roasted chicken, fruit and veggies that we later had that night on Big Sky. When we finally sat down for a drink in the town square outside restaurant, Con spotted a McDonalds. I raced over with my laptop to tap into their WiFi to upload the website. Finding WiFi has become challenging in Portugal.
October 13, 2007 -- Doug and Merrilee arrived yesterday, making them our ninth and tenth visitors to sail with us on Big Sky. Geert, Doug and Merrilee just missed each other by about 30 minutes.

The four of us made our way to the Super Markada and loaded up on fresh fruit, trout, wine and snacks. The wine is incredibly cheap and good, about $1 or $2 Euros per bottle. The espresso coffee package was $.46 cent Euro; we usually buy it for just under $10 Euro. The weather has been warm and sunny and expected to remain that way all week.

Today, we're heading back into the historic old town of Porto (for the second time for Con and I) as there is so much more to see in this beautiful unique commercial Portuguese city.


October 10, 2007 -- One way to know you're heading "south" is by the amount of flies. They find their way to Big Sky when we're on the water and hitch a ride for as long as we'll put up with them. In the last hour of our five-hour sail/motor, Geert and I attacked them like it was WWIII.

The sail today was just about perfect, a sunny sky with a warm breeze blowing us at about 5 knots almost all the way to Porto. See Portugal for information on Porto.

October 9, 2007 -- Our six-hour trip took us from Viga, Spain to Viana do Castelo, Portugal, into the Minho region just north of Porto, also known as Costa Verde (green coast). Grapes grow everywhere, the vines hang from trees, porches, climbing slopes and terraces, on poor rocky soil where nothing else flourishes. The Minhotos train their vines to grow upwards, onto the trees, houses and hedges to leave ground space for cabbages, onions and potatoes. We're arrived in Viana do Castelo during the grape harvest (Sept. and Oct.). In rural towns, you might find the old fashion festival dancing in the grapes with arms linked. People say it's the only way to crush the fruit without smashing the pips and spoiling the flavour of the wine. Today, most of it is done mechanically which keeps the sweat from dripping into the vats. Thank God!
October 8, 2007 --Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian family and friends.

Today we bummed around Viga taking in the art, enjoying the people, and shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner.

The jamon was a bit pricey at $431.57 Euro.

We're docked beside this statue. Europeans have fun with their art.
October 7, 2007 -- I think the dolphins waited for us just outside the marina! As soon as we left this morning, they romped (if that's what you can do through the waters) over to us and rode the bow for a brief moment, then continued hunting for their breakfast. We motored to Viga, Spain, docking on a public access pier. We took everything off the deck and stored it inside to discourage any would-be thieves and headed out for tapas.
We had dinner here.

October 6, 2007 -- We hitched a ride to Noia from a friendly local (using our thumb), then took a bus to Santiago de Compostela to tour the basilica where St James' (known in Holland as St. Jacob) tomb was discovered in the beginning of the 9th Century and still remains today.


Thousands of tourists take the pilgrimage along the ancient medieval route (shown in purple below) called Camino de Santiago de Compostela, to this little town just an hour from the coast where we're docked. (See where the red ends on the west side of Spain, that's where we are. The green line indicates our route over the next few months.)



We were there just when the service began. This basilica is next in Christian importance to Jerusalem and Rome.

That afternoon, Geert and Con had to take a siesta along with most of Spain before taking our pilgrimage back to Big Sky.  

October 5, 2007 -- When we crossed the Bay of Biscay, we crossed into a different culture. I love speaking spanish here and there, however bad it is. Unlike France, no one walks around carrying baguettes, no morning runs to the bakery, the siesta lasts twice as long, and the biggest difference, the dogs no longer have restaurant privileges.

Caminaras
Geert on the phone

Caminaras is an attractive little fishing harbour (pictured above) with a few cafes and restaurants. We spent one night, and left mid morning for a small town called Portosin, where we'll take a short trip to Santiago de Compostela.

October 4, 2007 -- Happy Birthday Courtney! Today Courtney's 24 years old. We'll be heading east across northern Spain arriving in Caminaras, Spain sometime in the late afternoon.


Touring La Coruna, we decided it was a place we could spend a few weeks, but we need to move south, as time is closing in on us. The harbour seems to be filled with people living our live style in one way or another. Very friendly place; friendly city.


We enjoyed dinner of Jamon & Queso (ham & cheese).
Geert is pointing at the pig legs hanging above all the tables.

Statues littered the square.

October 1, 2007 in the PM-- DOLPHINS!! What a day! From whales in the morning and early afternoon, to dolphins visiting us twice in the afternoon. The waves in the Bay of Biscay have turned into very large swells, rolling in from across the Atlantic. It seems with them come the dolphins and whales. About 300 meters away, Geert spotted the dolphins, and once they spotted us, they turned course and headed directly to us to play with Big Sky's bow. They chirped and twirled showing us how much they were enjoying Big Sky pushing the water at the bow so they could ride along.

Later that afternoon, on Con's shift, he spotted one very large dolphin had either returned or was from another family. I sat on the bowsprit that overhangs the water and watched (with the camera) as the dolphin twirled, dove, leapt out of the water and glided from one side of the bow to the other.

He'd turn on his side to look at me a few times. A few minutes later he was joined by about four more, then by the time they'd finished playing, there were about a dozen of them. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY!


See the video. If you play it 'till the end, you'll hear the dolphins squeak.

October 1, 2007 in the a.m. -- The sea calmed, Geert made some dinner and took it outside to eat on his watch.

That's when he spotted the second group of whales. The rippled water went smooth, then small white caps, then they surfaced.

WE SAW WHALES! Oh man what a sight! Geert stepped out into the cockpit and a moment later called to me "Barb, see over there." I looked and a large gray coloured whale with its humped back gently lifted itself out and through the water. We woke Con when just a few minutes later, on the other side of the boat, we saw a number of them seemingly moving so slowly past us, but within a few seconds, they'd passed. Sorry, this photo was the best I could get; it had just spouted.


October 1, 2007 at 1 a.m. -- I'm typing this entry from the pilot house on my midnight watch shift. This is our second night underway. So far, we've traveled over 37 hours, with another estimated 25 to go.

It started out sunny, then by afternoon the waves took their toll on Geert and my stomachs. By 2:30 a.m., 1.5 hours into my night watch, I had to get Con to take the last 30 minutes of my shift. It was so rough, the mattress wouldn't even stay on the bed! Con has a stomach of steel, thank God, and between Geert (who suffered) and Con, they covered my 7 a.m. shift. The irony of our preparations: we stocked the cupboards so we'd not go hungry and so far, none of us can eat. I'm now on sea sickness pills and the worst of the rocking is that it puts me to sleep. About an hour into my shift, the rocking knocked my hand onto the Man Overboard button on the RADAR which is connected to the boats navigation systems. For the next 45 minutes to my total dismay, I realized that we'd been traveling in circles! I woke Con to come and reset the system.

September 29, 2007 -- Geert, Con's brother climbed off the TGV from Holland at 4:15 p.m. the same day in Rennes that Brit and Kris left Rennes for Charles de Gaulle airport.

Today, the three of us left Treguier under calm seas and sunshine skies for La Coruna, Spain anticipating a 60-75 hour trip.

Yesterday, we drove Brit and Kris to the train station in Rennes, leaving Big Sky at 3:30 a.m. to get them there for their 6:10 a.m. departure.

We arrived at the train station about 6 a.m. with just a couple of minutes to spare. On the way, we received a nasty picture, compliments of France's automatic ticketing process for speeders.


We had a fantastic time with them, visiting Granville, St Malo, Paimpol and Treguier by boat and so many smaller cities by car. The history we were able to take in this region from WWII to century-old architecture and churches was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity for us all.

This is the only food Con has ever rejected: Pig's intestine. He had them barbecued and was able to swallow one bite before announcing that it was "most disgusting thing he's ever eaten!"