A verdadeira primavera

Or, spring - the real thing

This is a slightly unusual (and short) post, because it's only about three days - last Saturday, yesterday, and today, the reason being that in the intervening period I was out of Portugal, enjoying a holiday with my family. Anyway, this isn't the place for describing that, so I will get on with the real deal.

Representing Tethys in Lisbon

Last Saturday, the 21st March, as I mentioned in my previous diary-type post, was set aside for a huge rowing adventure being organised within the Leisure section of ANL, my rowing club here in Lisbon. The aim was to row to Vila Franca de Xira and back - a distance of more than 60km in total. In the end, we 'only' did 47km... still quite enough for me!

Getting out the boats

After arriving at the club at 9, we got out all our equipment and set off in three coxed four yoles and a motor boat (or as the rowers would have it, a launch...). We pushed off at about 9.45 and were faced with a pretty fierce headwind and generally unfavourable conditions, which meant progress was a lot slower than expected. We kept on going until about 1.15 then decided to land at some handy pontoons at Póvoa de Santa Iria, where we had a big picnic lunch and rested a bit, then headed back to the club. Fortunately in that direction the wind was behind us, and the water felt a lot calmer. And the sun even came out as we were getting back. It was nearly 6pm by the time we arrived - quite a journey. I think it was the furthest I've ever rowed in a day, even accounting for the fact that I coxed about 5km of the way. A good achievement!

Going past the Expo site - with me on bow side!

All the boats going past the Praça do Comércio/Terreiro do Paço

Since I was, er, rowing, I don't have any photographs of my own, so the ones above were sent around by some other members of the group (Ana and Filipe).

There is now a ~magic time lapse~ and we can start again with yesterday, aka Saturday 28th March. I was back at the boat club for a much smaller rowing session in the morning - probably only around 15km - which was fun. Lots of sun cream was required! The weather was so beautiful that I followed the rowing with a trip to the beach at Cascais with Carly. We took a picnic and enjoyed an afternoon of soaking up the sun, paddling in the 'refreshing' water, exploring the sinking sand, and chatting a lot. Back in Lisbon, we both went home for a while, then I went over to her flat so we could have dinner together. Still lots of catching up to do!

Carly in the sinking sand - fortunately she escaped

Why not go to the beach in March?

Then this morning we met up again for more food - a light breakfast at the kiosk in the Jardim das Amoreiras - followed by church. It was Palm Sunday so the church was decorated with genuine palm branches. It was also the current locum's last week here, and there was a new member of the congregation - a less-than-3-weeks-old tiny baby! So the service was full of interest. Carly and I hung around for a while afterwards, chatting to Feyikemi and others, before having a relaxed few hours wandering round Lisbon. 

First coffee of the day

We had a particularly exciting time this afternoon as one of Carly's students had given her free tickets to a Portuguese 'revista' - like a combination of a musical and a cabaret - called Portugal à Gargalhadas, at the Teatro Politeama. The two of us went with Doosuur. It was great fun - absolutely hilarious in some parts, and incomprehensible in others. I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to go. It would never have occurred to me to book tickets and go of my own accord, but I feel like it was a genuinely Portuguese experience, and taught me a lot about the Portuguese sense of humour, among other things...

Third (?) coffee of the day

We followed the theatre trip with dinner in a very friendly restaurant in Rato - cheap and delicious to boot. Then it was time for me to go home and get ready for going back to work tomorrow, and write this. There's never a dull moment.

Spring at St George's

Thanks for reading!

Portuguese rowing words

I thought I'd add to the useful/useless knowledge (depending on your situation) available here by creating a list of Portuguese rowing vocabulary.

Who knows, this might actually be the first rowing-specific English-Portuguese word list on the internet. That's probably unlikely, though. I haven't been through the whole of the internet to check...

So, let's get started! This might be updated later when I remember words I've forgotten.

Rowing - (fazer) remo

Sculling - (remar a) parelhos

Equipment

Boat - barco (generic)
You can also specify 'skiff' (a racing shell) or 'yolle' (wider boat) or 'yolete' (in between)

Oar/blade - remo

Parts of boats

Stern - popa or ré
Bow - proa
Rudder - leme

Parts of blades

Spoon - pá
Handle - punho

Other useful things

Trestle - cavalete
Trolley (for moving the boat around - seriously, super useful and we should definitely have more of them in England) - carrinho

Technical words/how to understand the coach

Coach - treinador

Crew - tripulação

Stroke-side - voga

Bow-side - sota

Row on - remar

Back down - ciar

Easy there - leva

Stroke-rate - voga

People in the boat

Cox - timoneiro

Stroke-person - voga
e.g. 'a tempo com a voga' - in time with stroke!

Bow-person - proa

Other rowers - just use the numbers as in English ([um] dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete [oito])

Parts of the stroke 

Stroke (one complete stroke cycle) - remada
e.g. 'remada bem comprida' - nice long strokes

Finish - safe
e.g. 'safe rápido' - quick finishes

Recovery ~ à frente
e.g. 'aguente à frente' - slow on the recovery

Catch - ataque
e.g, 'ao ataque comprido/meia-calha/tronco e braços' - sit at the catch for a full stroke/half slide stroke/arms and bodies stroke

Drive ~ na água
e.g. 'força na água' - power on the drive

Drills

Arms only - só braços

Arms & body - tronco e braços

Half-slide - meia-calha

Full slide - cumprido

Square blade rowing - remar sem rodar o punho (lit. row without turning the handle)

Positions

Backstops - pá de chapa

Frontstops - ataque (logically, the same as the catch)

'Gunnels' (Is there another word for easying with your blade handle on the saxboard?) - punhos a falca

Other

Lightweight - peso leve

Openweight - I still don't know how to say this. One thing's for sure, it's not 'grande', which means fat...

NB "~" means 'roughly equivalent to'

With thanks to:
http://www.arbl.pt/documentos_fixos/remoescolasarbl2.pdf and http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remo#Componentes_dos_barcos
and Filipe Monteiro, treinador at the Associação Naval de Lisboa

Books: Viagens na Minha Terra, Almeida Garrett

Post no. 2 in my series on Portuguese-language literature.

Unlike the first book I wrote about, which was right up to date, this work by Almeida Garrett, dating from 1846, is a Portuguese classic.

I'm not going to pretend this is a rigorous, academic exercise... this post is just a little taster for anyone who's interesting in finding out a bit more about the book. Oxford-standard literary essay it is not.

So, why did I read this? Well, partly because at one stage it was on the list for the book club I went to a couple of times (although it was later taken off). And partly because I read it in English before I went to be interviewed at Oxford (way back in 2011, unbelievable though that seems!) and wanted to see what the real thing is like.

Funnily enough, I didn't really remember much of the plotline, or anything, before starting to read, and it only came back to me very gradually. I wouldn't like to say it's not memorable - it really should be, because the structure of the book and many other aspects are deliberately odd. Maybe I just read it too quickly the first time...

One example of oddness - Viagens doesn't fit neatly into a particular genre. It's not a 'proper novel', but it's not non-fiction either. And the curious reader might well wonder whether the first-person narrator is a portrayal of Garrett himself, or a loose projection of Garrett, or someone completely different. We know Garrett did make the journey described, from Lisbon to Santarém, but at least some of the narrator's experience in Viagens is definitely fiction.

The narrator, whoever he really is, is apparently unable to concentrate on anything for very long, until he gets involved in the very long story of Joaninha. This sub-plot is the only coherent narrative in the whole work - the rest is the narrator's reflections on the state of the world, loosely tied to what he sees and experiences in his journey. It's quite intriguing, in its own way - mainly relating to the Portuguese Liberal Wars (civil war), full of personal (melo-)drama and romance. Garrett was surely contrasting the romanticism of this part with the realism of the rest of Viagens, although, of course, this division is a simplification. Good 19th century stuff.

As another example of the unexpectedness of Viagens, the Joaninha story-within-a-story isn't told simply from beginning to end. Although much of the middle of the novel is given over to the subplot, the narrator interrupts it more and more frequently nearer the end, until the two separate threads are completely interwoven. I could try and explain, but it might ruin things for you, if you ever read it...

At its time, Viagens was ground-breaking for its use of the Portuguese language - rather than sticking to the literary, 'high' style, Garrett mixes in plenty of vernacular speech, which reflects how people actually spoke, rather than how it was considered Portuguese 'should' be written. It's a bit of a strange connection to make, but you could compare it to William Wordsworth writing in the 'real language of men'.

So, it had quite a lot of influence in its day, and still retains a lot of interest for the modern reader, giving you a great insight into 19th century Portugal. What's not to like?

É uma maravilha

Or, it's a wonder

Another week and a bit since I last posted - how did that happen? As always when I begin writing, I don't feel like I have a lot to tell you about, apart from last weekend. It's been the standard combination of work, sport (lots of rowing) and food (a couple of restaurant meals with Carly and others).

So, I might as well skip to the weekend.

Can you guess where I went?

On Saturday I went to the normal rowing session, which was fun - the sun was shining (more or less) and it was good to be out on the water. Afterwards I had a coffee with one of the rowers, and got engaged in an interesting conversation about European politics (as you do) which meant I didn't hear my phone ring when Carly tried to contact me. Fortunately it wasn't a serious problem, as she and Kieran (one of her colleagues, who we were going to spend the afternoon with) got off the train and waited for me at the next station. Yes, an adventure was beginning!

We finished the train journey to Cascais and, leaving the station, were met with just what we needed - someone advertising bike hire. We found our way to their shop and decided to get lunch in a nearby café before picking up some bikes and helmets. At €5 each, the bike hire seemed like a bargain! There are some free bikes sometimes available, provided by the town, but getting there later in the day meant it made more sense to just pay a bit, and enjoy the superior bikes (with gears! and locks! and other special features).

Safety first (Carly and Keiran)

The people in the shop were lovely, giving us directions and all kinds of promises of help if we ran into difficulties. They didn't even ask us to pay until we got back, and we didn't put down a deposit or anything... top marks for trusting your customers. Sadly I can't find the name of the shop anywhere, but if I manage to, I'll update it here, because they deserve a serious recommendation!

Definitely not a staged photo

We found our way to the cycle path leading up the coast, and set off - beautiful views, a good route, and altogether a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Many photographs were taken...

Uninventive people would caption this 'dramatic scenery'

We stopped at a small beach (near Praia do Guincho), mainly because at that point the cycle path ended abruptly in a pile of rubble. Sadly I didn't manage to take a picture - it would have been a great demonstration of something profound about Portuguese infrastructure projects (just kidding). Anyway, after a brief paddle in the Very Cold water, we set off back towards Cascais and got there in record time, with time to wander around the marina before giving our bikes back.

More dramatic views

That's a good cycle path right there

Since we'd enjoyed the café we went to earlier, we decided to return for an extra snack before getting the train back to Lisbon, and a quiet evening for me. All in all it was a very enjoyable day.

Sunday brought more exercise for me - I set off early to get to the rowing club for 9, where I met up with the fellow rowers for another excursion. We rowed across the Tejo to a small beach near Trafaria (indicated below) - very exciting. There were only a few fishermen there to see us having fun landing the boats (two 4+ yoles) through the waves... We all enjoyed a good 'bracing' swim (some intentionally, others less so) before tucking into the picnic we'd brought with us. I have no photos (fortunately decided against taking my camera into the boat) so the map will have to do.

Click to enlarge. We rowed from the red circle to the red arrow, and back.

By the time I got back home it was mid-afternoon. I had time to do lots of laundry before going to read (and nap) in the park, then met Carly for postcard-shopping and a quick snack. Eventually I went home and had a relaxing rest-of-evening, involving a very early night! Also - look who I spotted near Marquês de Pombal...

Yep, some students from the university of Coimbra... and their coach, and their guitars. My educated guess is that they'd been performing their special Coimbra fado somewhere, but this is based mainly on the guitars and my knowledge of Coimbra.

So, that's a summary of pretty much all the most exciting things I've been up to. Otherwise, life has gone on - including lots of translations at work, an Indonesian lesson, finishing off some bureaucracy ready for the next stage in the year, Portuguese food... all sorts, really.

Tomorrow is bringing an extremely exciting rowing adventure, which I will update you all on later, assuming I survive... let's just say it may involve rowing up to 60km...

One final picture - looking up to Sintra

The blog will return soon - as ever, thank you for reading.

Uma alma portuguesa

Or, a Portuguese soul

I've been back in Lisbon for more than a week now, after a wonderful few days in Oxford. It was lovely to catch up with my family and friends while I was there. Still, since this is strictly for Portuguese-related things, I won't bore you with the details of that trip, but will instead tell you about everything that's been going on since I got back.

I flew in to Lisbon on Monday evening and arrived after 11 - my flight had been a bit delayed - so got home very late. But I was back in the office bright and early on Tuesday for a normal day's work, which was fun. During my very short commute I noticed how warm and sunny it was. It seems that summer arrived here while I was in England! By the weekend it was well over 20 degrees, and felt positively hot in the sunshine.

Blossom near the rowing club

Thing back here have been going well. As ever, I'll let you know about the evenings and the weekend, rather than the details of my days at work. Both Tuesday evenings brought 2-hour Indonesian classes, which are great, but very fast-moving. More practice required between classes, I think! Then both Wednesdays I have made the most of the warm evening by going down to the river for a good row. I spent last Thursday early evening doing a bit of admin, before going out for dinner with Carly at our favoured restaurant, which didn't disappoint. 

A beautiful view from the Miradouro de Alcântara

The weekend was full of entertainment, as ever. On Saturday morning I went rowing - a good session in a slightly narrower kind of boat, a 'yolete', which was rigged as a coxed quad rather than the normal four. Later I met up with Tom, another Oxford Portuguese student who will be in Lisbon for the next few months. We had a bite to eat near Rato then went on a walk round the city - down through Principe Real, past the Miradouro de Alcântara, to Bairro Alto, through Chiado, and the Baixa to Praça do Comércio, then up through Rossio, Restauradores and Avenida de Liberdade, past Marquês de Pombal and to the top of the Parque Eduardo VII. Quite a long route in the end, which I hadn't planned, but we both enjoyed it! 

A caracol - definitely tastes better than actual snails

I went home to cool down for a minute (it was very warm by mid-afternoon) before meeting Carly for a chat, a coffee and a snack, which was great - we both had a pastry called a caracol (literally, 'snail'), similar to a Danish pastry but with different fruit. I feel it's my duty to make the most of the pastries while I can! Later we went to Carly's flat to continue chatting for an extra couple of hours... we never seem to run out of things to talk about.

A street in Campo de Ourique, deserted at around 9.30 on Sunday morning

On Sunday morning I got up quite a lot earlier than my normal Sunday routine, so I could go swimming. It was really nice to be back in the pool - a good way to start the day, and there were lots of lanes open, meaning I could swim at my own pace with no problems. Maybe I'll go back on another Sunday sometime; starting early has its advantages.

Breakfast!

I followed up the exercise with breakfast with Carly at Tentadora (my favourite pastelaria, mentioned frequently in these pages). A ham and cheese croissant and freshly squeezed orange juice really filled the gap. I was so enthusiastic about it, in fact, that Carly decided to supplement her cup of coffee and apple pastry with exactly what I was having. It's nice to have found someone who shares my enthusiasm for food...

At Tentadora you can watch the trams go by and feel like a true lisboeta

We managed to get to church on time - the service had the added excitement of a choir from Tennessee (the Variations Ensemble) singing. They were great and it was fun to chat to them after the service - they were even giving out free CDs. I'm listening to mine as I write this and enjoying it very much.

After leaving church, Carly, Kinsey and I bought a bit of food and headed to the Jardim de Estrela for a picnic in the beautiful sunshine. We stayed there for hours - with Janice replacing Kinsey halfway through the afternoon - just relaxing and enjoying the fresh air. Once it got a bit cooler we had a look round the monthly craft market, which was taking place in the garden, and had a drink in the café, followed by wandering over to Avenida de Liberdade and sitting around there for a while too. I eventually decided to go home and had a quiet evening doing not very much.

Drinks in the cafe at the Jardim de Estrela with Janice

My chocolate milk came in a plastic cup branded as Sagres (one of the local beers)

This week has been going well too - probably the most exciting thing to tell you is that on Monday I was given a flower at work to celebrate International Women's Day, which seems to be a much more important thing here than it is in England. Very nice it is too. 

It certainly brightens up the room

And there you have it - you're all up to date with my life. Thanks for reading!