ALENTEJO SUMMER HOUSE

sunshine, beach, and rosé!

The alentejo was the last stop on our Portugal trip. We picked this summer house to be far away from the big cities, to relax, read, and otherwise do not much at all. Without Internet, the only thing we could do is read our books, sit on the grass, and enjoy the sun. In the evening, as the animals settle down for the night and it gets quiet, I looked at the sun set, closed my eyes, and in the silence I could hear the sound of happiness.

阿連特茹的度假小屋 阿連特茹,葡萄牙的最終站。 我們選擇這個遠離人煙的山中小屋 沒有網路的狀況下,我們可以閱讀的只有手裡的兩本書 坐在這片綠油油的山坡上 看著萬物都將靜默的傍晚 對著夕陽,輕輕的閉上了眼睛 我彷彿聽見了最幸福的聲音。

Although we were a big hung over from the big party night in Lisbon, we woke up in the morning to pack our suitcases for the next part of our trip. We got a little Peugeot from Europcar and drove south on the motorway. Just before leaving Lisbon, we crossed the Ponte Vasco da Gama — the longest bridge in Europe — and my boy was so excited and demanded that I take out the camera and take some photos. He said he had been dreaming about driving across that bridge for a long time. (Some people don’t have big dreams.

結束了里斯本的行程後,儘管我們都還因為前晚的派對有些宿醉,仍舊起了大早為下一個目的做準備。 米卡從eurocar租來的“家寡”將帶著我們沿著公路繼續往南走。這是離開里斯本前所經過的一座號稱歐洲最長的一座橋,米卡興奮的叫我拿起相機,拍下迎面而來得這個風景,他說：好久以前,就希望有天可以開著車經過這裡,今天夢想成真了。

On our way to the summer house, after having left the motorway and driving along a country road, we saw a lot of white tents along the road: a local market. I immediately begged my boy to hit the brakes and go take a look. It was like a department store, you could find anything there. One stand was selling cherries at 5 euros for 2 kilograms. I was screaming inside. We bought a big bag to take with us. Although we tried very hard, eating cherries every day, we just barely managed to eat them all before we boarded our flight back home.

前往阿連特茹的路程大約3小時,我們駛離高速公路後,改行郊區道路;途中看到一個由很多白色帳篷搭建的市級,我馬上哀求米卡踩住剎車,讓我進去看看。這裡就像是露天的百貨公司,應有盡有;剛好六月正值櫻桃的產季,看到那兩公斤台幣150的廣告,我都尖叫了！當然立刻買了好大一袋放進後車廂,等晚上再來好好享用。 (ps.我們很努力的每天吃,居然到離開上飛機前還是沒吃完…好強大的兩公斤)

Portugal is well known for producing cork, about a third of all the world’s cork is from here. Driving south, we passed dozens of those. I had a dirty thought in my head, they look like they’re circumcised! Maybe there’s an idea here for a collection of art… :-)

葡萄牙是橡木製品的產地,全世界1/3的橡木都長在這裡。路上不斷地看到這些被割皮的樹,不知道為什麼我就燃起一陣歪念,那些樹很像都被割”包皮“似的,覺得可以發展一系列的創作（笑）。

To get to this summer house, my boy had to suffer a bit. The owner lives in Lisbon, and we met the evening before to get the keys. I will spare you the details, but it took one hour. She gave us a hand-drawn map with instructions because you cannot just enter the address into Google Maps. I thought this house would be very scary. But on the contrary, when we arrived, we saw fruit trees, a vegetable garden, and everything you would need for a holiday: two hammocks, surf boards and even equipment to go horse riding (which we didn’t do for lack of horses).

為了來到這間遠離人煙的度假小屋,米卡可以說是吃盡了苦頭,女主人住在里斯本,出發前晚我們與她約在市中心領鑰匙,中間的波折就不提,講了快1小時,給我們她手畫的地圖(因為google map找不到),不知道為什麼我心想這房子一定很恐怖,結果到了之後,這裡種滿了各種果樹,還有菜園,度假設備齊全的不像話,有騎馬帽,衝浪版,吊床..等,可以說應有盡有,最棒的還有好多我最愛的多肉植物,還都開滿了花,這裡是天堂。

When you look at this part of Portugal on a map, you will see that it is a very rocky coast with lots of cliffs. There are lots of beaches, but most of them small, in a cove between the cliffs. You see lots of unique views. We were planning to go to the beach, reading, enjoying the sea breeze, get a tan, and drink cocktails with little umbrellas. Well, the truth is the wind was too strong and it felt too crowded. We tried it once and gave up.

地理位置顯示,我們所在的區域,正是葡萄牙岩岸地形最發達的地方,縱使這裡有很多沙灘,但都不大,而且都倚著斷崖出現,所以也造就了這裡得天獨厚的美景。特殊獨特的熱帶植物,也讓這個區域被設立為國家公園。我們原本計劃要未來一周都躺在這裡的沙灘,看書,吹海風,曬太陽,喝著有小雨傘的長島冰茶;人算不如天算啊！風好大,人又好多,在嘗試過一次後我們決定放棄。

After giving up the idea of spending our time on the beach, we were a little bit disappointed, but recovered fast because heaven was at our summer house: built on a little hill and surrounded by trees, it felt very isolated. The whole hill would be our playground, private and secure. So we changed our plans a little bit: we were still reading, enjoying the breeze and getting a tan, but instead of expensive cocktails with umbrellas, we drank the local Portuguese Mateus Rosé wine. PS: I later found out that this brand is quite famous and expensive in Japan, but in Portugal it’s cheap and you can buy one, get one free in the supermarket.

當我們佔領海灘的計劃破功後,雖然有點落寞,但很快的就復原了,因為我們馬上就發現天堂其實就在我們租的度假小屋! 這個房子蓋在一個小丘陵地上,而且周圍樹林幾乎完全的隔絕對外道路,整座小山丘都是我們的玩耍範圍,非常的隱秘,也難怪google map上找不到。於是,我們原計劃稍作修改,一樣看書,吹海風,曬太陽,少了貴俗俗的長島冰茶小雨傘,改喝葡萄牙本產Mateus的Rosé,而且這個牌子事後我才知道在日本很紅超貴,在這裏都是超市特價買一送一,而且真的很好喝！(討厭波特酒的快做筆記) Mateus Rosé:http://en.mateusrose.com/

We weren’t sure if the little black cat belonged to our neighbours. Maybe the cat was also taking a holiday, because she spent most of its time with us. She was lucky to meet two big cat nerds. We even went to the supermarket to buy some cat food for her! In the evening, when we were sitting on the grass with wine and sausage, this little cat always tried to get to our food. My heart melted and I opened a can of food for her. No longer hungry, she returned and was very adorable.

這隻小黑貓不知道是不是隔壁鄰居家養的寵物;如果是的話,那她就是跟主人告假,和我們一樣來這裡悠閒的度假。她真的算命好,遇到我們兩位貓癡,為她還特地去買貓罐頭來給他補一補。這些天的傍晚,我們都會在客廳旁院子的草地上野餐,喝著玫瑰酒,吃葡式肉腸,一邊看書和曬太陽,這小貓咪都會在旁邊不斷的向食物進攻,然後我都會心軟跑去開她的罐頭給他,吃飽以後她又很會賣萌,躺著,或趴著,讓我們都為她騷下巴個好幾回後才肯離去。

In my entire life, I have never seen such a huge cactus, but in the south of Portugal, they’re everywhere. As you can see on the picture, a human looks small next to it!

這輩子從沒見過這麼大的金邊龍舌蘭,卻在南部的葡萄牙處處可以見。 恩！人類真的很渺小….(點頭如搗蒜)

To send a postcard to my boyfriend’s mom, I bought this card in Lisbon. It shows all of the Portuguese regions, and it came with a needle and thread. I used the thread to show our journey, and drew some memorable moments. But it seems the postman liked this postcard way too much and stole it, because it never arrived.

為了要寄明信片給米卡媽,在里斯本的Embaixada買了這張好有趣的卡片。 明信片上有著標示葡萄牙各區域的簡單地圖,並附上針,線一組;這樣結合手作的概念,真心的讓我覺得很有趣 ,我在卡片上依照我們的旅遊路線,依序的用手縫線標示,希望遠在德國的米卡媽收到會喜歡 :-) 可惜的是後來卡片不知道發生了什麼事,沒有寄到她的手上(嘆)

It’s about 80 kilometres from our house in the Alentejo to the furthest south-western point of Portugal (and Europe). On the last day before we left, we drove there to take a look. We passed through Lagos, a city on the coast, but you can skip that one. When we finally arrived at Cape St. Vincent, we saw lots of other tourists who had also come to see the sunset.

阿連特茹距離葡萄牙的最南部大約是100公里的距離,我們在旅程要結束的前一天,決定再開著車子到這裡走走,途中經過了Lagos算是南區比較大的城市(滿無趣的所以略過),當我們到了這個像是台灣墾丁的地方,已經是黃昏。斷崖上擠滿了很多跟我們一樣,特地來看日落的遊客,儼然和這裡的風景融合得像一幅畫。

I forget when it was the last time that I saw the sun set in the ocean, but I will remember this time. It was the most beautiful sunset. The tourist around us all became silent to watch this natural performance. But there was a mommy with a little girl and kept saying “Bye-bye, Mr. Sun!” Although it wasn’t a special day — not the last day of the year or the first — I felt like Mr. Sun worked very hard, burning himself until he disappeared in the ocean. And he will do so again tomorrow and day after day, without stopping. I felt like I have to work harder, even though I just have a normal life. I still have to do my best every day.

忘了距離上次像這樣子在海邊看日落是什麼時候,但可以確定的是今天有看到了,而且是看到最美的一次。 周遭的遊客都靜默著欣賞這個大自然的表演,一位站在隔壁抱著小女孩的媽媽,不斷地對她說：掰掰！太陽先生！我有種感觸,今天不是什麼特別的日子,不是2015年的最後一天,不是2016的第一天,在這即便最平凡得日子,太陽先生一樣賣力地燃燒,直到隱沒在海的另外一頭,隔天,後天.大後天都是這樣子的沒有間斷;突然覺得自己要加加油,即便是最平凡得人生,我也要做好每一件事。