Jon and I separated on Wednesday afternoon when he headed back to Lisboa for his flight and I hopped on a bus to Leiria for the Festival de Gastronomia. After over two weeks of his company, I felt a bit abandoned without him.

 

I arrived in Leiria at about 9PM after a two hour bus ride from Coimbra. After a little asking around to find the cheapest room in town, I found a place that was closing for holidays the next day and managed to bring the price down to 15 euros with the promise that I would leave bright and early the next morning. After plopping down my bag and changing quickly, I set off for the the banks of Rio de Luz, where the festival was happening. Both sides of the narrow little river that was more like a concrete encased stream were lined with white tents, each boasting a different regional product or restaurant where food was being served. At one stall I tried a stringy sweet little dessert called Barriguinhas da Friera (friar's little bellies?), and at another I bought a Bolo de Perna (swan cake) straight out of a little potbellied oven tended by some old ladies in blue checkered aprons. Deciding that it was time to actually sit down and eat dinner, I chose a promising little restaurant stall only to be turned away because I was all alone (sozinha). Apparently, they could not afford wasting a table for only one person. Feeling a little sad that Jon wasn't with me, I went one stall over to a seafood place called Restaurante a Celeste. This place took me in, though the proprietor looked a bit puzzled that I was eating alone. I ordered the Camarao Frito com Arroz de Passas. Rather than the fried shrimp I expected, I got lovely crunchy fresh shrimp fried with no batter, swimming in a pool of butter, lemon, vinager, olive oil, and fried garlic. It was fabulous. The rice, with its pine nuts, raisins, and chorizo complimented the tangy shrimp quite nicely. That dish, along with a small bottle of wine and an entire plate full of desserts cost me only 16 euros. Talk about heaven. Unfortunately,  I did not have anyone to help me polish off the desserts. I had a little bit of each of Farofias, Pudim Caseiro, Pudim de Amendoa e Gila (a tart of almonds and pumpkin), Pudim de Cafe (coffee flan), and Bolo de Coco (a rich, dense coconut cake that was divine). The three women sitting at the table next to me took pity on me and we ended up having a conversation mostly in Portuguese. Which means that the conversation consisted mostly of 'what is your name', 'where are you from' and 'what do you do', since that brief list covers most of my Portuguese speaking ability. Turns out that two of the women are nurses and the other is a firefighter. One of them, Gina, gave me her number and told me that she would take me to a great town called Nazare the next day. Nazare just happens to be where the restaurant is from and a popular vacation destination among Portuguese and foreigners alike. Meeting these women was a real taste of Portuguese hospitality. I would have felt really alone otherwise.

 

The next day, Gina picked me up from the plaza near my hostel and together we drove along the coast to Nazare. Nazare hugs the sea, with dense houses below and a church high above the town on a towering cliffside. Many older women here dress in all black or in very short very puffy skirts, or some combination of the two. This is a traditional, religious town, aside from the tourism industry, and the women wear black as a sign of mourning for some loved one or another that passed away. The skirts are another story. The women here wear skirts high above the knee, in seven layers, and with tall socks pulled above mid calf. I asked Gina about these and she could only come up with a partial explanation. It makes sense that these women would wear short skirts so they don't get wet wading in the water looking for things to eat. However, we asked around and no one could explain why seven skirts on top of each other (the sete saias). It isn't a touristy thing because Gina said that she even has some patients come in like that. Mystery of the day.

 

As for food in Nazare, I tried the ugliest looking crustacean I have ever seen. It looks rather like a barnacle, but with a long stalk coming out of it. This creature, though it measures only about an inch or two long, is truly frightful. However, I felt as though I had to try since both the woman who was selling them and Gina told me that they tasted good (and Gina even bought some). So I tried. It tasted salty and like the ocean. And I was totally grossed out. For you fellow biologists, the thing is called 'Percebes' in Portuguese. What is it?