Alentejo pork and wine

Filipe said "we have to do it right". He was referring to eating meat in Portugal. Meat, as in pork. Specifically black pork (and all our endearing pet names for it). Eating black pig here is apparently a very special experience and requires a 2 hour drive into the heart of the Alentejo region (just north of the Algarve). Timely with my imminent departure, the Alentejo is also a very productive wine region and is replete with white walled mountain villages. So I was able to cram a week's worth of site seeing (and 3 days of drinking) into one day. Also because each village has its very own strategically placed castle, I was able to increase my european castle quota by over 100%. I now can leave this continent satisfied.

We arrived in Beja by 9:30am where we met up with Pedro, our local tour guide. Our first scenic stop was Serpa. Beautiful city and became my favorite spot in Portugal.

Views from castle #1

What is site seeing without a taste of the local alcohol? Serpa is known for its "dirty beer" which is an age old technique of serving beer, in this case Sagres, in glasses that are washed with the least amount of care possible. This unique process leaves behind residue in the glass which somehow increases the amount of carbonation the beer contains once in the glass. As long as you do not scrutinize the black schmegma adhearing to the insides of the glass too much, it is really nice tasting beer. You have to admit, that is one bubbly brew...

Then we were off to Ameira (home to the largest bull fighting ring in the region) for our black pig lunch where we met up with Cristina. Pedro's restaurant serves the pig grilled as secretos de porco preto, which I like to refer to as 'little pork secrets' or 'my little pork secrets' if I am feeling particularly nostalgic. This lunch definitely stirred up some nostalgia. The Portuguese have a great talent for infusing any meat or fish item with copious amounts of salt in a very non-offensive way. The pork arrived on trays, charred and salty. Rita and fought for the most singed bits and we were off!

And again, what is any traditional Portuguese meal without the corresponding traditional Portuguese drink? Look at their facial expressions as they cajoule me to try Bagaso, the fermented leftovers from the wine-making process, which is served from your very own mini wooden barrel...so conniving.

We sluggishly rolled out of Ameira to drive 35 km south to Monsaraz, an elevated white walled village with an amazing view. Monsaraz immediately replaced Serpa as my favorite Portuguese village. It had the advantage of having a castle that had been turned into a bull fighting ring, which was just cool to stand in.

By sunset we arrived at the Monte do Limpo winery that had a beautiful view of Monsaraz and had a tasting menu made up of 4 really nice wines. Contrary to CA, wines Portuguese wines are commonly blends of several varietals so I am really confused about what we drank exactly. We each bought a bottle or two of the 2004 reserve red blend (Trincadeira, Aragonês, Alicante Bouschet, Syrah, Tinta Caiada). It was a marathon way to end the day.

killing pigeons for science (jt)

In my final 2 weeks in Portugal I have been able to fit in a few more adventures. I did my first cave dive in Sagres with Cristina and got to spend some time with her daughter Ines and lounge about on the very dramatic Sagres cliff-side beaches.

I witnessed JT's efforts to lure eagles to a certain location so he can tag them. The lure involves tying a pigeon down at the same spot every other day so they get used to feeding there and then after a few months they will spring a trap to catch them, tag them and let them go. First, assisted by Neiva, he braids a harness for the lucky bird:

Then, in what could have been straight out of some Conan movie, he tied the poor soul down amidst the carnage of past feeding events (note mess of feathers). Then we drove off, leaving the bird to face its fate. The next day JT will check the spot to see who ate who.

Afterwards we enjoyed the views from the countryside. This is a pile of cork just harvested from the local cork oaks dotting the landscape. The literally shave off the bark every 9 years to harvest. Cork is a very important export for Portugal and since these native trees are abundant and preserved for long term harvest, the landscape faces some risk given the growing popularity of synthetic corks. The oak hills will surely be replaced by housing developments if the cork market crashes. However, some Portuguese still hold hope that cork could survive once space shuttles become more popular to build....seems cork is used as a sort of insulation...or was in the 70s at least.