Portugal:
After a few days in Paris, the three of us (Beth, her mother Susan, and I) flew to Madrid where we picked up a car and drove to Portugal. Ah, but
of course we had to spend a day or so in Madrid. Why? So we could see
yet even more art museums, churches, and Christs.
I speak passable Spanish, but my Spanish is Mexican-Spanish, which is what we are taught in the USA. Spain-Spanish is waaaaay
different, even though it is almost exactly the same. This might sound odd, but it is the truth. And if you do not believe me, when your
waitress (no longer a mesera, but rather a camarera) asks you if you want a tortilla for your breakfast, see what happens when you
specify--helpfully--that you would like it to be
made out of flour (or corn, whichever is your preference). You will probably be met by the same wild-eyed confusion that I was. And then
your "tortilla" will arrive and it will be your turn to be confused.
Once we arrived in Portugal, we found (with considerable effort) our rather rundown but otherwise excellent hotel. Before
we did anything else, we had to spend a thrilling day looking at churches, art galleries, and a bunch of Christs.
But then, finally, my
own salvation arrived when--after six straight days of churches, Christs, and art (broken by one day of driving), a plant day
arrived! We met who was to be our primary Portuguese carnivorous plant contact--the remarkable Paulo Jorge, president of the
Portuguese Carnivorous Plant Society.
The photograph above shows me and Paulo at the first site for the day.
I was struck by how similar the vegetation was to where I live
in California. This was to be expected, of course, because of the shared Mediterranean climate, but it was still funny to see the
same species I thought I had left back in California. The only difference was that here, most of these species were native!
As for the photograph above, well, yes it looks just plain wrong in about six different ways. But I am not
going to list them---children read these trip reports too, you know.
