Fishing Village

Christina and Fernando

Manuel (the Godfather of fishing) is in the plaid jacket

Mussels and Shrimp

Boat in Seixal Bay

Along the boardwalk in Seixal

Typical house

Our Church's Azulejo - built in 1646

Let me tell you a little bit about the town we are staying in. I mentioned before that Seixal is located across the river from Lisbon. To get to the center of Lisbon, we have to take a ferry across – but the Terminal Fluvial is very close to our flat and it is only a 15 minute ride to the other side. I actually enjoy the ride because the water is usually beautiful, but Jared finds it tiresome lately. He has a really long trip to all the different archives that he is researching in, what with the ferry, trams and at times metros too. But, we really like Seixal and do not regret our choice to live here instead of in Lisbon.

Seixal is an old fishing village. People have told us that it is 500 years old, and the oldest buildings we have found are 400 or so years old. The church we are attending, and the only one within walking distance to us, was built in 1646! It is beautiful inside, though the azulejo (tiles) on the outside could use a bit of repair. The church is actually a Catholic cathedral so Jared and I are learning Mass in Portuguese. I have no idea what is going on, so I bought a Children’s Missal to read along with and translate! Jared, however, understands everything!

Seixal was on of the places that the royal court would vacation at in the 1700s and I do not blame them. It is gorgeous here! There are always tons of boats out fishing and sailing and the people here are so nice and welcoming. Not everyone speaks English (like in Lisbon) and this helps me quite a bit. I am forced to use Portuguese; but people know me now and help me, are patient, and very kind!

We have made a few friends already, which is really nice! There is a bar around the corner from our flat called Alkhol that is owned by Fernando and Christina. They both speak English and are very interested in all things American. They love American movies, music, and TV shows and the have plans to visit New York for New Years one year. They are super-nice and are helping me with Portuguese and letting Jared practice his. Since they are so close and we have a good time with them, Jared and I go there a few times a week. Needless to say, we have met other “regulars” like Manuel, a retired fishing boat captain who (EVERYONE says) is the best fisherman in all of Seixal.

The other day, he treated us to a fresh seafood dinner. He caught mussels and shrimp during the day, dropped them off to Christina, and them we all met at 7 pm for dinner. Christina is a fabulous cook, and Jared and I had the best dinner we have ever had! The mussels were so yummy, I cannot tell you – and the shrimp were huge! There were fried shrimp (not breaded and fried like in the US) and boiled shrimp, bread, and lots of beer! The plates of food just kept coming and coming, and Manuel had several of his friends and family there to eat too. It was a really special experience for me and Jared and I keep telling myself that something like this would not have happened in Lisbon, but only a small fishing village like Seixal! Manuel has offered to take us fishing with nets in the ocean when the weather is a bit warmer in March, and I cannot wait!!

To see more pictures of Seixal and our amazing dinner, click here.

Switzerland and France with Julie and Alex!

Annecy, France

Sledding in Les Avantes, Switerland - Jared and Alex

Gruyeres, Switzerland

Olives and the Market in Ferney-Voltaire, France

The United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland

This is a long one….

This last weekend, we flew on Easyjet to Geneva, Switzerland to visit Julie and Alex, the wife and son of one of Jared’s advisors and professors, Roquinaldo. Roque was on Jared’s comps panel and Jared has been a TA for one of his classes at UVa. Julie works for the UN and two years ago she was called from Charlottesville to Geneva for six weeks. During that time, I helped Roque with Alex, picking him up from school and staying with him in the evenings a few nights a week as well as spending the day with him on Saturdays.

We were expecting a weekend of visiting, but Julie took us on sightseeing trips all over France and Switzerland! Julie and Alex live in France in Ferney-Voltaire, which is where Voltaire lived. His house is just up a hill from the center of the city, but it is closed to visitors in the winter. We did, however drive up to it and look around it and the grounds. Anyway, this town is very close to the boarder with Switzerland – which is where Julie works, at the United Nations.

Julie picked us up at the airport and since she still had half a day of work and Alex was still at school, Jared and I spent the first afternoon on a tour of the UN’s buildings and at the ICRC Museum or the Red Cross Museum. First of all, I have to say that the Red Cross Museum was amazing! It started with a history of the Red Cross, its founder and how the idea of the organization was created and then the Museum went into detail about all the relief work the Red Cross has done ever since. It was completely overwhelming! (Just a disclaimer, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the Museum so I cannot show you the things we saw.) There were millions of hand written cards about all of the 2 million prisoners of war from WWI stored in old card catalogues for you to see. There were also sections dedicated to specific relief work and places (like a room with 1000 pictures of children under 4 who were left alone after Rowanda’s genocide in 1994) as well as specific campaigns the RC has waged (like a room about land mines, the devastation they have created and the RC’s campaign to stop the use of them). The whole place was tragic, but uplifting – if that makes any sense at all.

The tour of the UN was pretty cool as well. We only got to see 3 of the conference rooms, but we did see the one where the WHO meets and the one where the Human Rights Committee meets. Our guide told us specifics about the way the UN is broken down, which group does what and who is responsible for everything. We learned how the UN got the land the buildings are on, and we got to see the original League of Nations building! All very cool!

After visiting the local weekend market, Julie, Alex, Jared, and I all went in the car the next day and drove all around Lake Geneva and into the mountains. We stared with a medieval village called Gruyeres, near Moleson and saw a castle – which I have to admit, was awesome! (It was so cold though, so I am sorry for us being all bundled up in all of our pictures!) After that, we drove to Monteux, which is this totally swanky place on the coast of Lake Geneva! I mean, SWANKY! Lord, Jared and I felt totally out of place! One cool thing about Monteux though, is that Freddy Mercury lived there and had a recording studio there! We went to the Chateau de Chillon, which is the castle of this area and took lots of pictures and bought some Swiss Chocolate (mmmm!). Montreux is the area that the rich and famous send their children to for finishing and boarding schools. The whole skyline in the mountains was dotted with tons of huge, beautiful, Swiss boarding schools! Crazy! Schools that European kings and queens have been sending their kids to for years! Anyway, Julie took us up into the mountains just to see some of the schools and because the views are “out of this world” beautiful! But while we were up there, we came across this little town called Les Avantes with tons of families sledding – so, of course, we jumped out and went sledding too! (Because, when you live in this area and have a 4 year old, you always have a sled in your truck because you never know when you’ll need it!) So the trail that everyone was using started way at the top of a peak that you had to take a train too, then the sled ride down was about 20 minutes in length! It was the coolest thing ever! Jared and Alex only went a little way up the trail and came down (the sled we had was rickety compared to the awesome sleds everyone else had and we doubted very much that it would have lasted on the big trip!) So now Jared can say that he went sledding in the Swiss mountains! While he was doing this, I took the opportunity to visit a café and try some Swiss Hot Chocolate – it was everything I knew it would be! After we all went sledding a few times, we drove back down to Montreux because there was a ski and snowboard competition going on. We all walked the boardwalk and watched some of the guys doing their thing, but we were FREEZING and decided to go home and eat some Raclette (a traditional cheese dish that is so yummy).

The next day, Michelle, Alex’s new nanny arrived and all 5 of us set out to see downtown/oldtown Geneva. We walked around, visited a Cathedral, saw the Reformer’s wall, played in the park with Alex, and took lots of pictures! Then, we drove to Annecy, France. It is the largest city in that area of the country, but it used to be a small medieval town on the coast of Lake Annecy. It was beautiful! I cannot tell you how awesome it is to walk on cobblestone roads among buildings and fountains that are nothing like what we have in the US! It was so awesome! I thought Annecy was wonderful! After we walked in the old part, we took a stroll on the boardwalk of the Lake and decided to feed some ducks. However, once we stared to throw out some bread crumbs, flocks of seagulls came over and were catching the food in mid air! It was crazy, totally crazy! I have never seen anything like it before! Anyway, after this, we played a park and eventually went back to Ferney-Voltaire because Jared and I were leaving very early the next day.

All in all, it was a crazy-fun-filled-beautiful-three-day trip that we were not expecting! Thank you Julie, Roque and Alex! It was such a great time!

Click here to see more photos of France, and click here to see photos of Switzerland.

Belem, Lisbon!

The rain finally stopped for a day on Saturday, so we took this opportunity to visit Belem. It is in the west coast of Lisbon, on the opening of the River Tagus and the Ocean. When Jared studied in Lisbon 2 summers ago, it was his favorite part of the city and I was very excited to see it. Belem is famous, as it is the place from which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery. In particular, it is the place from which Vasco da Gamadeparted for India in 1497. The area is surrounded by gardens, parks, statues, and fountains; as well as several museums, the Torre do Belem (Tower of Belem) and the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (Monastery of the Jeronimos). We did not have time to visit everything and are already planning to go back to the museums another day. However, we did spend lots of time in the Monastery.

The outside of the building is sculpted with all different figures and is amazing to see in person.We just looked at the building for a while because there was so much to take in. Inside, you are welcome to walk through the sanctuary of the cathedral, which held the tomb of Vasco da Gama as well as several other royal tombs. The sanctuary was beautiful! The ceiling had arches, which are held up by great columns that are themselves, sculpted beautifully. The alter was magnificent to see and like the one in Toledo, I just looked at it for some time and am sure I did not see it all. To go into the choir loft and the rest of the Monastery, we had to pay admission, but I am so very happy we did! The courtyard is a square with 2 story cloisters on all sides. These cloisters are decorated in aches and sculpting that takes your breath away! We also saw the old dining hall, prayer room, and confessionals. There, of course, was a small museum area and a gift shop too!

We also saw the Monument of Discoveries, which celebrates the Portuguese and their voyages into the unknown world! It was quite pretty and we saw it at dusk, so the lighting was beautiful. Also, there were some people dressed up as Native Americans in the square in front of the monument wearing deerskins and playing wooden flutes and rain sticks! The songs they were playing totally cracked us up because a few of them were “The Sound of Silence” and “Fernando”! It was hilarious!

Across the street is the Torre do Belem, which started to be built in 1515. The Tower is situated at the main entrance to Lisbon from the sea and was built partly to manage traffic, but partly to guard the Monastery as well.

And of course, we also stopped at the 160 year old pastry shop called Pasel de Belem! Mmmmm! This shop is the place that invented the only real Portuguese pastry. It is a little cupcake-looking thing that is filled with sweet custard and has a flakey crust on the out side. You can eat them with cinnamon and/or powered sugar on top if you’d like!

To see more photos of our time in Belem, click here.

That's all for now!

Jared and Michelle

Toledo, Spain

Toledo, Spain used to be the capitol of the country and it is home to many beautiful things including the 2nd most important Cathedral in all of Europe - the Holy Church Cathedral, Toledo. Most of the city is very touristy, but not in a trashy way at all. In fact, the splendor and beauty of the city has been well preserved and there is barely any graffiti on the buildings or trash on the streets. (Which is the case in both Madrid and Lisbon)

Construction on the Holy Cathedral Church began in 1227! It was amazing to be inside - we got to go into the Choir which is like a choir loft, but on the main floor directly behind the pews in front of the main alter. The Choir was made of carved wood and told the story of Granada's conquest. The main alter itself was beautiful. I stared at it for at least 20 minutes and I do not think I saw everything displayed in it! The Cathedral is home to a Museum as well and in the Museum were the robes of past Arch Bishops that dated back to the 1300s! It was amazing! The architecture was breathtaking and I feel so lucky having seen all of it! We were not allowed to take photos inside the Cathedral, so I advice you all to Google it and see some of what I am talking about!

We also went to a Sefardic Museum called Museo Sefari. It was in a building that used to be a Synagogue until 1492 when the Jews were dispelled. The Museum is dedicated to the Jews of Sepharad and their expulsion at the end of the Middle Ages and it attempts to offer the widest possible overview of the history of the Jews in Spain. For the most part, the Museum was a newer/renovated building, but parts of the Prayer Room were still intact and it was lovely to see. (Much different than the Cathedral, but still gorgeous!)

Toledo itself is a cute little town and I am so glad we were able to go! Thanks Danny! To see more pictures of Toledo, the Museo Safadi and the Cathedral, click here.

Madrid, Spain

Spain was so awesome! Madrid is a beautiful city with shops, cafes, restaurants, stands, and so many beautiful buildings that it takes your breath away! On Friday, January 1st, we explored the center of the city near Danny’s apartment and had churros. Churros are fried dough that you dip into a mug of melted chocolate! (I am sure there is a better way to describe them, but that’s all I have!) They are delicious! Later that evening, we went to Mass at a local Cathedral and the building was gorgeous! I had never been to a Catholic Mass before and I found it comforting to be around such tradition as well as to be in the walls of such a splendidly decorated building. Honestly, all I knew of a Catholic sanctuary was what I saw in Madonna’s Like a Prayer video. But, it looked quite similar! There were gates in front of all the different Saint’s rooms just like in the video! I though it was beautiful!

Saturday was spent in Toledo, Spain and will take a blog entry of its own…it was amazing!

On Sunday, we went to a flea market and to the Plaza Mayor were lots of old men had tables with stamps, coins, books and other odds and ins. It was pretty awesome! The flea market was HUGE and went on for blocks and blocks and was 3 or 4 streets wide! I bought so much stuff! I apparently love shopping in Madrid! Late that afternoon, we went to the Museo Nacional Del Prado, which is a gigantic art museum. Goya, a famous Spanish painter is well displayed there and the difference in his two styles is really interesting. His earlier paintings are colorful and the figures in them are all playing sports, laughing, and enjoying their time. His later paintings are called The Black Paintings and they are all dark both in color and in content. We also saw Bosch’s Table of he Seven Deadly Sins, and his Garden of Earthly Delights, which is a three-panel piece. My favorite though was probably Murillo’s The Immaculate Conception.

We did not take pictures of the art Museum, but we did take several pictures of the buildings in Madrid, a few of the art inside some Cathedrals, as well as statues and parks. To view a few more photos from Madrid, click here.

Happy New Year, 2010!

We flew to Madrid, Spain on New Year’s Eve and spent the New Year with Danny. Danny is a colleague of Jared’s and super great guy who is studying in Spain on a Fulbright as well. Anyway, Danny lives right downtown and after a 5 minute walk we were in the plaza Puerto Del Sol to bring in 2010 along with thousands of other people! The plaza we were in is the equivalent to New York City’s Time’s Square and we were in the center of it all! Here are a few pictures of the New Year’s celebration! We will post more pictures of our time in Madrid and Toledo later. Happy 2010!! We hope everyone is safe and healthy!

J & M