The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Hola señor Carbòn ¿dónde están usted y tu ML?

Nosotras estamos preocupadas......

¿No hay wifi en Portugal?
Muchas gracias, Amiga Jac and our other amigas for asking about me. And in my own language, Amiga Jac, que bonito! For myself, even I am getting Portuguese mixed up with Spanish, so you can imagine how ML is faring. It is language sopa in her cabeza!

Lo siento mucho, I am sorry for the silence. Christmas and New Year’s were a leeeetle sad, but it is so for many humans, de verdad? You can be assured I was working very hard to keep ML distracted and busy. Mainly by mugging locals for treats and forcing ML to talk to them to explain how friendly I am. I am very good for her language skills, no?

Today is the last day of the Christmas holidays here in Portugal, so I decided it is time to quit moping and get on with things, including sharing our adventures. Ojalá!

Since we last talked, ML and I went to Peniche, a former fishing village and now mainly a surf center renowned for its big waves. We were in a leeetle fishing house right in the cliff. I kept sneaking up to the roof, which just about gave ML an attack of the corazon because it was a three-storey drop down, but I laugh at such worries. I am a Spanish señor, bred for generations to hang out on a roof - it is what we do!

Then we went to a seaside town called Estoril so that we could take the train into Lisbon for the day. Oh amigos, Lisbon is big and noisy and crowded. More on that later, but I can tell you my feet were very tired.

Now we are in the Algarve for our last week in Portugal. The apartment is nice but we haven’t seen much of the Algarve yet because it has been raining, as the French say, like a pissing cow. Which is a lot apparently.

ML no longer thinks we should move to Portugal because it is not very dog-friendly. We are glad we came, but basically if they do not like me, ML gets a tad grumpy and says “Adios”. It is NEVER a bad idea to visit and try something new though.

Vale, that is our Portugal news. On Sunday we are going back to my home town in Spain for a week - ojalá! - and then we start the very long drive to our beloved Cornbeefwall. We will be arriving one week earlier than planned because ML and I would both prefer to be watching it rain in Padstow vs being in the warm sun here. Nosotros somos locos.

Lots of photos to come, but for tonight a shot of yours truly on the sea promenade at Estoril.

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Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Pues, day before yesterday we made our big trek down from Estoril north of Lisbon to the Algarve. It was quite funny to drive over the big bridge in Lisbon because it is nearly an exact copy of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco that ML and I both know very well.

Our first stop was at Sines to grab our lunch - and the essential pastel de nata pastries - at the Sines Lidl. Amigos, I think it is ML’s mission to visit every Lidl in Portugal! While I was waiting, I spied another dog also waiting in the van next to our TARDIS:

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We stopped at a few places along the coast. We say ‘no bueno’ to toll roads and main roads because we like to drive through all the leeeetle pueblos along the way to see how people live.

I really liked this casita right on the water. That would be a very nice place to call home, no?
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We also found a muy hermosa leeetle church right on the coast that was perfect for posing.
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The wind was really roaring…
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…which was perfect for enjoying smells.
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Also ML took some boring photos of a house decorated with seashells. I humour her.
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Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Good to hear from you, your photos are beautiful, rustic and moorish - but with a cornish vibe. I do remember learning about the Portugeuse / Spanish influence in Cornwall, dredging that bit of info from my school days in Peranaworthal! :inlove:
That’s really interesting! I didn’t know that at all about Cornwall, though my friend who lives in Kinsale (Ireland) told me about the strong Spanish connection along the west coast there.

In Northern and Northwest Spain you can really see the Celtic culture in general. It takes a different form wherever it is (Brittany in France as well) but there’s a certain something in common. And not just the weather.

In fact a surprise on this trip has been that my favorite part actually was Northwest Spain (Galicia) where I spent the first few days on the way to Portugal. Definitely most dog- and stranger-friendly.
 
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