Lagos, Portugal

As you may know, we spent the last three weeks of September and first week of October in Europe, first in Portugal and then in Italy. So, my plan is to share some of our adventures with you in the next several blog postings.

After three plane hops, we arrived in Lisbon and spent one night there in a hotel before boarding a train to Lagos, Portugal. Our guide book says that the correct pronunciation is "Lahgoosh." Lagos is on the southern coast of Portugal in a region of the country called the Algarve. Nearly all of the coastline comprises a set of resort communities and cities along the Atlantic Ocean.

Months ago, we learned that our Australian friends, Margaret and Murray were going to be in Portugal during this time, and so we decided to add to our original plans for an Italy-only trip by adding the Portugal segment at the beginning. We had not seen them since 2012, when they were in the U.S. and we hosted part of their tour of our country. Naturally, it was great to see them again and to engage in the constant light-hearted fun that is so much a part of our being together. After arriving on the train, we rendezvoused at the guest house where we had arranged for rooms. Our host snapped this reunion picture for me.

This picture will give you a little bit of an idea of the nature of the coastline near Lagos. To the east from the city there is a miles-long, open stretch of perfect beach. To the west, there are numerous, somewhat isolated beaches nestled in spots where the cliffs have eroded enough for a beach to appear. The cliffs extend for miles to the west, and the sea has carved them into the most amazing grottos. More on that below.

Lagos has little to support its economy beyond tourism. However, fishing is a significant business primarily devoted to supporting local consumption, both for Lagos residents and the many restaurants in the city. On one of our early strolls through town, we discovered the local seafood market, which was a colorful and fascinating place to explore.

If you purchase seafood, the vendors will prepare it for you as desired (cleaning, filleting, or cutting into steaks).

The upper floor of the market offers fruits, vegetables, and spices. Kathie won't find this photograph very flattering, I suppose, but the colors are so nice, and I loved how excited she was about the fresh figs she had just purchased for our afternoon snacking. (Nearly every afternoon while there, Margaret, Murray, Kathie and I gathered on an outdoor deck at our guest house to enjoy fruits, crackers, cheeses, and wine while we visited and shared stories. Lots of wine! There are lots of good wines in Portugal!)

OK, back to the grottos. There are numerous boat tours available from the Lagos marina. Some take you out for food and sailing, others go dolphin watching, and many tour the grottos. We did the latter, so here are a number of photographs meant to illustrate the nature of the eroded cliffs, secluded beaches, and constant water sports.

Our guide actually motored us through a number of arches and also ventured into a couple of caves.  With the sea swelling as it does, I wouldn't have wanted to attempt such a thing--too easy to bash into the sides of the arches and caves. The guide became particularly agitated at one snorkeler who insisted on being in a cave too. I guess he disliked having to maneuver around such a person and thought it unsafe for someone to be so near motorized boats and their propellers. These tour businesses obviously feel that they have priority in these grottos, but I can see the attraction for snorkelers.

This was not our vessel. I just thought it was a pretty image. I believe this was one of the barbecue and dolphin watching tour boats.

We spent one day on the beach and probably should have spent more. The water was cold, but I did get in one good swim.

Lagos is a walled city, as many old cities in Europe seem to be.

There are always fascinating old buildings to see, many of them churches, of course.

This one was the old slave market!

I mentioned light-hearted fun. Food and wine were often a part of such times, but there was lots of ice cream available, usually in outrageous configurations, evidence of which you can see below.

I know the following picture was taken on September 16th, because it was our 24th wedding anniversary. On that day, we rented a car and drove west to some smaller communities along the coast. This one was taken in Salema on a day when the Atlantic was quite rough. The waves were amazing to watch. We walked the beach looking for two instances of dinosaur footprints that were supposed to be captured in rocks, but we never found them.

We did stop at a ceramics shop. I liked this display on one of the outer walls.

Further on, we visited Cape Sagres. An old fort sits atop a rugged point there. Prior to the discovery of the new world by explorers, including many Portuguese, people at the time thought of this promontory as the end of the earth, since it reached furthest west into the Atlantic from the continent.

Again, the sea was very active on the day of our visit and so beautiful to see crashing against cliffs and rolling up onto the beaches.

On our looping walk along the cliff near the fort, we came across several fishermen. Imagine this gentleman fishing from the top of the cliff in the photo just above. He used a very, very long pole, and I watched him cast his line in a long arching shot out into the sea before it settled more or less straight down. I never saw him bring up any catch, and wondered how one could reel a fish up so far without it getting free or being damaged banging against the rocks. I still wonder why fishing in this way would have an advantage over fishing from a beach or a boat (unless, of course, you don't have a boat). Maybe there is something about fish species that are drawn to the waters quite near cliffs like these.

So, that is a rough intro to Lagos and the Algarve. Next posting will be about Lisbon and Sintra.

Loro Ciufenna

We are presently in Italy enjoying a villa in Tuscany with friends from New Jersey. Spent an earlier 12 days or so in Portugal (Lisbon and Lagos areas) with other good friends from Australia. Will be home again soon and plan to share lots of photos and stories then. Meanwhile, here is one view from the charming little town of Loro Ciufenna which is very close to our villa.

Installment Two

Those of you who keep up with Kathie on Facebook will already know about this event. However, since this blog is as much a journal for us as it is a way to share with you faithful readers, I'm going to post the information here as well.

It seems that the storm damage we suffered last June (click here for a refresher) was only installment one by Mother Nature. I got a call yesterday afternoon from our neighbors up at the lake saying that another severe storm, evidently much worse than the last one, had rumbled through our area two nights ago. They said that there were many, many trees down throughout the region, including twenty or more over the road leading back to our property. There are also many down on our property, including the three large red pines that you may remember being near our parking area, just at the top of the rise near the septic field. They fell toward the lake, and as a result, aimed right toward the porch and hot tub area of our cabin. The neighbors sent pictures last evening, all of which I post below.

Evidently, the garages are intact, as is the main body of the cabin. The screened-in porch looks like it sustained most of the damage, and maybe not as horrible as I imagined from the phone call. Hard to tell if there is any damage to the hot tub, but I'm sure the deck railings were crushed. Sadly, one of the two flowering trees we planted in memory of Kathie's mother's passing was right in the line of one of the fallen pieces. So, I'll want to replace that. We don't know what things look like in the woods on our property near the road. If this keeps up, we won't have to worry any longer about trees falling.

We are about to head to Europe for a month, so the timing on this isn't great. We'll be back up there around the middle of October, and so I guess there will be cleanup and repair to get done. An insurance adjuster has been called, so that work can begin while we are away at least. I won't have more details to share until we can be up there to take a look. Naturally, I've been kicking myself overnight, because when the June damage occurred and we scheduled cleanup of that mess, I seriously considered having these three big red pines removed, since I have always feared what would happen if they came down. Now I wish I had followed through on that. Oh well!

More Anders

We had a really fun time having Anders stay with us. Here are a few more photographs.

We stopped at Treeland's Resort for ice cream one day, and, of course, Anders spotted their model of the world record musky. He was fascinated by it, but I'm not sure he thought it would be fun to catch one. This particular musky and lots of those still being caught weigh more than he does.

On one of our fishing outings, we stopped for a picnic on an island. Anders wanted to do some swimming, digging in the sand, and rock skipping.

He thought my raisin bread ham sandwich was just weird, even though he had helped me make the bread. He opted for peanut butter and strawberry jelly on whole wheat bread.

Later, we found some hungry bluegill, and he got to catch a few more fish.

I'm enclosing a bonus shot of a tree that was nearby. I've seen it many times and have marveled at it. The tree, a white pine, extends out from the shore by its roots and then turns 90º skyward. Amazing how it clings to life that way. I don't know why a storm hasn't felled it yet, but so far so good. I imagine the shore has eroded away from below its once more secure footing.

Grandkid Time

Just have to share some pictures I took recently of some of my wonderful grandkids. I was home around the end of July and went one morning to the farmer's market downtown. Rob and his family were there, and we all had a fun breakfast together. Then there was music to hear. While that was going on, Penny and Eleanor were enjoying the small park and climbing in some of the trees there. I couldn't resist these opportunities for pictures.

Penny's third birthday was one reason for me to be home. I had gotten her some skates as well as knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves. Carrie shared this picture, which I love. It is as if Penny is thinking about venturing out for her first skate. I imagine her thinking, "Be the skates. Be the skates."

Right now, Anders is here with us for a few days. His folks will pick him up on Friday on their way to their place up near Grand Marais. Fishing was a first order of business when Anders and I got here. On his first cast (truly!), Anders hauled in this very nice, almost 11-inch, crappie.

He caught some other fish too, including this decent walleye.

Investment Club at the Lake

Kathie belongs to an investment club. Each year, usually in August, the club skips it usual monthly meeting and has some kind of fun outing instead. This year, they all, or nearly all, came to the lake to have fun here, and this time, a few of the husbands came along too.

We had loads of fun, including fishing outings, game playing, lounging, and fun food outings and events. One night, we all went to Treelands Resort for their "tacos and trivia" night. The group of us broke up into two teams, and one of the teams actually won the first of two games played that night.

A couple of evenings were spent around the fire ring, and s'mores may have been involved. I think most everyone is represented in the miscellaneous pictures below.

On the last night, Dick took some slightly more formal shots of the club members. Here is one of the several nice ones he shot.

Critters

Our good friend Dick has recently become fascinated with monarch butterflies and their plight. Modern farming methods and the insistence of local governments for keeping ditches mowed have significantly reduced the growth of milkweed plants, which are a necessary food source for the monarch caterpillars. Monarchs are now around in only small numbers as compared to years gone by. Dick joined an organization that is making efforts to provide education about monarchs, increase milkweed growth, and nurture the growth of monarchs.

When he and Rina came to visit us this past week, Dick brought along some caterpillars that needed attention. So it was fascinating for all of us who were here to learn more and to see some of the stages of monarch growth. Here is one of the caterpillars chomping away on some milkweed. (Yep, that's caterpillar poop at the bottom of the photo. These guys turn milkweed into poop.)

All but one of the caterpillars he brought along eventually crawled up to the top of their boxes and formed into a chrysalis like the one you see here. They did this amazingly rapidly (a few hours), and then they hung quietly as the magic inside occurred. You can see here a time lapse of the conversion from caterpillar to chrysalis.

Being the photographer and scientist that he is, Dick was taking lots of pictures to record the progress of his own caterpillars. Alas, we didn't get to see one emerge as a monarch butterfly before they had to go home. We all were hoping to see a butterfly release, but that will have to happen another time. Until then, here is a time lapse of an emerging monarch that I found on YouTube.

The other critter event was finding two of these little tree frogs under the lid of our hot tub. They evidently decided that the humidity there was just right. Alas, one had fallen into the hot water and was struggling to get back out. I assisted him and relocated both of them to the woods, neither one seeming to have been harmed.

A Man...

A man...

A man and his jitterbug...

A man and his jitterbug and his 17" smallmouth bass...

A man and his jitterbug and his 17" smallmouth bass and a satisfied look on his face.

"This is my lucky fishing shirt and I'm not washing it or wearing anything else while fishing this week!"

Fishing and Exploring

Our good friends, Dick and Rina, are visiting us this week at the lake. Needless to say, fishing has been involved. We spent one afternoon driving to Park Falls to visit the St. Croix Fishing Rod Company store so that Dick could pick up a nice new musky rod and reel. Some of our outings have involved lots of casting of big lures hoping to raise one of these big fish (they are typically 36" and bigger). Dick did have a "boil up" behind one of his lures a couple days ago, but the fish missed the lure. We have been catching other fish though, including quite a few nice walleye, crappie, and the occasional perch, bass or bluegill.

Yesterday, we went exploring as a part of our fishing trip. For quite some time we have been aware of the history of this lake, which is a flowage or reservoir behind a power generation dam. The dam was finished in 1923 (think that is right) and the proposed level of the lake at that time meant that a Native American village would be flooded. This included at least one church and its associated cemetery. Of course, our American history is littered with stories of mistreatment of indians, and this story is no different. The power company, which had agreed to relocate the community and to provide for a new church and relocated graves, eventually abandoned its promises. The result was that many graves were flooded, though some remained and others were indeed relocated. If you are interested in learning more, there are three websites I have found that have some information. These can be found here, here, and here.

Kathie and I have long known that there was an island somewhere on the lake where the foundation of one of the churches, relocated graves, and some remaining grave markers could be found. The island was formed as a hilltop, which was the site of the church, became surrounded by water. However, we had not previously gotten reliable information about its location. After some further digging around, we obtained a good lead and so decided to go exploring and to pay our respects. We did indeed find the spot, known as Graveyard Point, and spent a little time walking around a portion of the island.

One of the two grave markers was easily seen from the water, once we knew roughly where to look. We beached the boat and got out to look around. The graves are evidently visited fairly often, and many leave tokens of respect behind. Some are traditional, like flowers. Others include coins, fishing lures, beaded items, and others.

There were lots of spots nearby that were, essentially, cavities where graves must once have been. Presumably, these were the locations of graves that were relocated prior to the flooding. We have read that many other graves and markers still lie at the bottom of the lake offshore from this island location.

This is the site of the church that was once there. The stone outline of the church's foundation can still be seen along with bricks from what must once have been a chimney.

After exploring, we moved on to more fishing. Kathie caught a small walleye at one point, but it was damaged by the hook and floundered on the surface of the lake. She felt terrible about this, but we all said something would find it and benefit from a meal. Shortly after that, Dick spotted a speck in the sky to the west. As it came closer and closer and descended lower and lower, we could make out that it was a gorgeous, mature bald eagle. Nearing the water, it flared its wings and stretched out its talon before it. Snatching that small walleye from the lake, the eagle then flew to a tree nearby for a tasty lunch. What a beautiful site, and one which made Kathie feel better about the fish not going to waste.

Soon, Kathie caught a nice bass, not many of which we have seen this season. Others are also reporting limited success in fishing for bass.

Here is the rest of the fishing crew. I think we pulled in about 20 fish in total yesterday, several of them quite a nice size, including several walleye.

Fishing

Donna and David are visiting us this week. This morning, we went fishing for several hours, and all of us caught crappie. Donna caught the largest one, a very nice 11".

There was also a twofer at one point, when Donna and David each pulled in a fish at exactly the same time.

The big surprise for me was having a channel catfish strike my crappie jig. I had never seen one here before, and although I knew they were around, it was a surprise to have one actually hit my bait (a pink jig with a pink plastic nymph on it). We'll be having a nice fish dinner one of these evenings.

New Greeting

A couple days ago, a crew arrived to clean up all the fallen and damaged trees from that windstorm we had here about three weeks ago. Perhaps you can't really tell from this picture that things are a lot neater now, but here is what our driveway looks like at present. They must have hauled six truckloads of tree trunks and debris away. Most of it will end up at a paper mill.

You will also note that we have a new sign to replace the role that Gus the Bear used to play at the entrance to our property.

Kathie thought "Decker Haus" would be a cute way to describe our place. I like the lazy bear, which is often the way I feel these days. No, I didn't make the sign. It was made by a craftsman in Georgia who we located online.