Tuesday, March 23, 2021

SETTLING IN . . . .

 
 
When you come out of our little neighborhood onto Avenida de Liberdade, if you turn right, it leads to Rua do Souto and to Praça República. If you turn left, however, just a couple of streets away is the Rio Este (East River). Across it is a pretty little park with a church in one section, and picnic tables and benches all through. Beyond the park is a mountain. So close! (My apologies for the poor lighting.)
On the southern side of the bridge, walkways and a jogging path flank each side of the river, well-used by bicyclists and joggers as well as people just strolling along. (I am sorry to say that in the book I’m presently writing a body will be found on the jogging path, though the victim didn’t die there.) You can see the park beyond.

A few days ago, the trees along the lower part of Avenida de Liberdade toward the river were just "misting," with faint green smudges along the boughs. By yesterday the leaves were unfurling. So quickly! Sadly, the view of the mountain in the distance is marred somewhat by billboards. But at many angles it’s an arresting mountain. and you can see it from many intersections in the main part of the historic section.

The mountain.

Trees along Avenida de Liberdade
I'm not sure what kind of trees these are, but the Avenida is lined with them, right on up to the Praça (which is Portuguese for "plaza.")
We walked on up Avenida de Liberdade to the Sé Catedral area, where we encountered another dear friend, Marisa Rocha, who was walking around with a friend of hers. What a happy surprise! We’ve really been limited for the most part to contacting friends here by email or Facebook because of the virus. Since this was out in the open, and we were all masked, we did elbow bumps and kept our distance, and then had a really nice chat. Naturally, we didn't think to take any pictures of our encounter. We were all too busy catching up on news.

Sunday, everything was closed, but we did more exploring, taking a new route out of our neighborhood and ending up on Rua 31 de Janeiro that took us up to Largo Senhora-a-Branca. And there we had another pleasant surprise: We have noticed places of business getting things ready for April fifth when hopefully more restrictions will be lifted. Hotel Sra.-a-Branca’s doors were open, and we went in to say hello to Maria and her husband, the proprietors, since we stayed there so many times in the past. We didn’t see anyone, so we came out again, and encountered our new American ex-pat friend, Bob, sitting on a bench. We had a nice "safe" (masked up) chat with him, and then Maria and her husband came out of Sra.-a-Branca and waved at us, so we went over and had a safe chat with them. It was great to see them again, and I do hope their hotel opens again and the Spanish border opens up. She said they get most of their tourist traffic from Spain.
Again, we went to the area, even though everything was closed, since it was Sunday. Walking back to the gardened area of Avenida de Liberdade, we stopped and bought a bag of hot chestnuts from a kiosk run by two women. It was just before they were closing, but the coals were still hot. For 3 Euros, we got a dozen chestnuts and ate six of them on the way home. There is just nothing like the taste of hot, salted chestnuts!
On AVenida de Liberdade, at the Praça end, it's been beautifully landscaped, and the flowers change with each season. Right now there are red and white cabbage plants alternating with beautiful small flowers I can't name yet.


It also has some of the more name brand shops, as well as banks, and the Teatro Circo where concerts are preformed.
The end closes to our neighborhood and the river is made up of a lot of apartment buildings that have flats above and small businesses below. By small businesses I mean little produce markets, odds-n-ends stores where you can buy everything from dishes to mops and brooms and dustpans, storage jars, breadboxes, bathmats, towels (and more, seriously), clothing stores, etc. Right now, with some of the restrictions lifted, for the latter, you can buy at the door: stand in a socially distanced line, and when it's your turn, tell the proprietor what you want and pay for it at the door. (The odds-and-ends stores are different, you can go inside to find what you want, and then pay in a socially distanced line.) (Everyone here wears masks, by the way. It's only rarely you see someone wiwthout one.) 
Anyway, to return to the Avenida (and many side streets as well), every flat seems to have a balcón overlooking the street, and many of these are full of plants, some flowering, some even small trees. One captivated us especially: The balcony was overflowing with plants, and the woman was tending them so lovingly it was an irresistible photo.


How about you? Do you like to walk? Do you keep a small garden on a patio or balcony? Or do you have a yard with a garden?

16 comments:

  1. Thank you for taking us on a walk. I love my walks, always have. But now they are restricted to close by, no travel.

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  2. Thank you for sharing some of the beauty of your new home environs.
    I do like to walk. And to garden. Our garden is too big for me now but I keep trying.

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  3. I love the balcony garden! Your neighborhood looks delightful and I look forward to following more of your rambles.

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  4. Glad you are getting settled in. It certainly was a big move. And awesome that you ran into friends on one of your walks.

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  5. Hi, Mirka. I've always liked to walk, too. I'm not a great exerciser, and I don't jog, but I love to ramble around and look at things. It's exercise of a kind, but it's also so relaxing and pleasurable.

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  6. Good morning, E.C. (here in Portugal, anyway.) I loved our backyard garden and for years even loved weeding. I could just get lost in the process. Eventually, though, it got to be too much for me, too. Still, I'm hoping to keep herb pots on our balcony.

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  7. Hi, Vicki, I like the neighborhood, too. Within a very small area, it's almost like a series of little villages, with cafes, grocers, automotive garages, bakeries, a tailor, a cleaners, clothing shops, and those odds-n-ends stores that in Spain we would call a "bazaar," but here they don't. You really don't have to walk far to shop, although we try to walk between 3 and 5 miles each day.

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  8. Thanks for stopping by, Natalie. It's very interesting about running into friends: Braga is a good-sized city, but the area we are in is very close to the historic center, which is almost a village, in that everyone local seems to know everyone local. Most of our friends are in this area, or work in this area, and it's a favorite walking area for those who are a few streets more distant.

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  9. It's so good to see you settling into your new surroundings. It is a beautiful place you chose. I enjoyed seeing the gorgeous flowers in the plaza area and on your walk. That balcony garden was out of this world.

    It's great you have already made friends. We are required to wear masks in my city, but the order is being removed the 1st of April. You will not catch me not wearing one, though. I'm delighted you shared your new home with us, dear.

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  10. Glad you liked the post and the area, Elizabeth. I hope this finds your health steadily improving and that you (and Bleubeard) are doing well.
    Luckily, we made our friends through the years when we were traveling here from Galicia. (For about 5 years before the pandemic.) Really warm and caring people, so it didn't feel like just jumpling into a new place cold, hoping one would like it. We already liked it (and them) so much.
    We are on your page about the masks. Even as restrictions lift little by little, we will faithfully wear our masks. We've been lucky so far, but we are in the high risk age group.

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  11. It sounds like you are settling in and having a wonderful time. That's nice to hear. It looks like such a lovely place. Enjoy!

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  12. Thanks, Rosi. We really are enjoying it. Miss the gang(s), though! I will have to find a way to join a meeting via Zoom once things open up in Sacramento and you go to Skeeter's or StoryCatchers.

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  13. Hi, Donna. I agree. And we are discovering more and more beautiful areas as we take our walks. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day.

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  14. I have a garden and plants inside my house- and on my porch. :) Love to be surrounded by plants.

    Looks like a beautiful area and it sounds like you are having fun exploring. Loved all the pictures!
    ~Jess

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  15. Hi, Jess. I love to be surrounded by plants, too. We are going to keep a small herb garden (in pots) on our patio. It gets such good light, they should do well. Yes, we are enjoying the whole exploration thing. My first Braga mystery centered on the the historic area where all the tourists go. The second one will more or less take place there, too, but I have more side streets with possisbilities for Book Two now. Hope you are having a great weekend.

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