All Hallow's eve

We found ourselves once again at Hank and Em's OB Funplex. This year they went all out with a professional DJ and fire twirlers...because, really, what is a party without fire twirlers, especially when the party is held during FIRESTORM 2007?

Here are some highlights but more pics are at http://convoluta.ucdavis.edu/lauragallery/
view_album.php?set_albumName=album33

SD is burning

Here are some more pics. The eerie sun at 5pm filtered through the smoke.

The dogs are seriously going crazy having us both home at once and not being able to play for long outside due to the air quality.

Leslie has packed up all her valuables, 30 gallons of water and the largest collection of Luna bars, nuts and dried fruit I have seen and has them ready at the front door in case we get that reverse 911 call telling us we have 20 minutes to evacuate.

I watched her from the couch, drinking a beer....

......should I be doing something?

The outline of the fire closest to us as of 5:30am is below. We are on the intersection of Home and Market just west of the fire.

please....

...someone put me out of my misery and give me a beer!

anyone?

Final days in Portugal

My last days in Portugal were marked by the largest tosta mista I had ever encountered (well actully tosta con frango y....umm, however you say garlic) at Praia Faro and a goodbye dinner at Xana's house in Gambelas. Goncalo tortured us wth his weird hungarian apple liquor. Sorry to all my Portuguese friends but the camera came out only at the end so I didn't get most of you! But Thank god I managed to catch Filipe with his jello (a dish that showed up to every house party I attended in faro). Thanks guys for such a great send off!

En route to San Diego I stopped by to see the fam in Westport. The weekend began in true Carney fashion with egg sandwiches for everyone. We fit in a few tennis games where off season sprinklers interrupted our grueling match of canadian doubles. Carney the younger was slamming us with her net shots the whole time, she was "fabulous".

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.