Tomatoes and cheese

One of the awesome things about travelling is getting around on your own to explore and experience the new world in which you're immersed. Arriving in a new place is like meeting someone: you form impressions which are really beyond your control, and then it's necessary to observe and listen to deepen these impressions.

I especially like to observe from my table at a cafe, and through my "morning eyes," when, still hazy with sleep, my sight is filtered and the imperfections of my environment are airbrushed away. So, "suits" striding down the sidewalk to office jobs appear as characters in an 80s movie, and my chocolate-covered pastries are not an unhealthy breakfast but an example of my efforts to try local cuisine!



Along the aquaduct // Evora, Portugal


When you travel on your own schedule you can take time to stroll (or bike, or run) and watch a day in another country slowly unfold. You can linger and gush over whatever you want: colourful flowers, burmese cats, a game show host - whatever.

Exploring natural areas is even more special because few people are around to tell you that you can't be there.

A 16th century aquaduct runs from the town of Evora into somewhere in the woods. We read in the guidebook that it could be possible to follow the aquaduct to its source, so we packed food and water and headed toward the town centre. We found the massive arches of the stone structure - hard to miss - and followed it through narrow streets, petting cats and smiling at shy kids, until we were deep in grassy fields and on foot paths through farmland. We passed horses and houses, and a nunnery still in operation. Water is a wiley element, however, and we lost our hold on the aquaduct somewhere in the brambles under the hot sun. 



Lunch at the top of the hill



We climbed higher to see the town laid out beneath us like a map. There, on the smooth rocks of the plateau of a hill, we unpacked our food and spread out our ingredients on a towel. We took swigs from water bottles and made sandwiches from a small round of cheese and ripe tomatoes from the market. D, ever prepared for spice-related emergencies, unpacked two bottles of Portuguese hot sauce and the pepper mill I'd brought him from Canada. When everything had been devoured, we lay down and sunned our bodies like lizards.