There's a medieval extravaganza every year in Donzenac, on the first weekend in August. The residents get dressed in various medieval costumes, ranging from peasants and servants to the landed gentry and aristocrats. There are many stalls all around the village, where they show the popular trades of the time, such as blacksmiths, swordsmiths, falconry, etc. Many musical groups meander through the narrow streets, playing medieval instruments. There's also theatre and singing on the squares. On Saturday they roast a calf (or two) on the spit and have a banquet. On Sunday they serve the leftovers for lunch.
Unfortunately, Dora will return to Miami tomorrow and will miss all the fun. But we went to Donzenac yesterday and enjoyed the village in its natural state, which is better than nothing...
There are slideshows of previous fetes HERE. Just click on the poster of each year and enjoy!
[We attended the fetes on 2007 and 2008. If it's not too hot, we may go and have a look on Sunday.]
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
I can't resist cat humour
We're off to Donzenac for some sightseeing, and as I had saved a couple of funny pictures of cats, that will have to do...
Monday, 29 July 2013
A quick funny picture
There's a storm approaching, so I can't stay connected very long. If another computer gets fried, the insurance company is going to have a fit...
Labels:
funnies
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Lisbon
The trip to Lisbon was incredible! The Portuguese are very hospitable, funny and generous. Lisbon is a beautiful city, with little surprises around every corner. We tried to see as much as possible in four days, but it's a very tall order...
The food is fantastic, but we had to be careful after the first dinner. Somebody recommended a restaurant, praising the sardines, something my sister was very keen to eat. We arrived and there were only a couple of people in the restaurant, and they didn't look very happy. There were no sardines. We ordered some prawn rissoles for starters and they were still frozen in the middle. We sent them back and ordered Bacalhau à Brás. It wasn't too bad, but we had better before... The only nice part of the meal were the desserts. We decided that from then on, we were going to check the atmosphere of the restaurants, watch people's faces, see if they were eating with gusto. All the other meals were really good, it proved to be a good system.
I took my camera, but, for some inexplicable reason, I left it at the hotel for the first two days. Some of the photos were taken with my sister's i-Phone.
We also visited Sintra, about 40 minutes from Lisboa by train. The old kings of Portugal had their summer palaces there. The village is very beautiful and well preserved.
We took a tour on a very old jeep and went to Cascais to get the train back to Lisbon.
The next three photos are of a place called Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth). We found it quite dramatic.
I was so impressed with the friendliness of the Portuguese, so taken with the beauty of the country, that I wouldn't mind moving to Portugal...
The food is fantastic, but we had to be careful after the first dinner. Somebody recommended a restaurant, praising the sardines, something my sister was very keen to eat. We arrived and there were only a couple of people in the restaurant, and they didn't look very happy. There were no sardines. We ordered some prawn rissoles for starters and they were still frozen in the middle. We sent them back and ordered Bacalhau à Brás. It wasn't too bad, but we had better before... The only nice part of the meal were the desserts. We decided that from then on, we were going to check the atmosphere of the restaurants, watch people's faces, see if they were eating with gusto. All the other meals were really good, it proved to be a good system.
I took my camera, but, for some inexplicable reason, I left it at the hotel for the first two days. Some of the photos were taken with my sister's i-Phone.
| We had to pose next to Fernando Pessoa, a great Portuguese poet |
| This guy's make-up gave him the appearance of rubber. He would stay suspended like this for hours... |
| Torre de Belem |
| The Jeronimos Monastery |
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| We went to this expensive restaurant for some good food and fado. We got neither... The food was mediocre and the woman couldn't sing to save her life! The guys playing the guitars saved the evening. |
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| Entrance to the Museu do Azulejo (The Portuguese make the most wonderful wall tiles) |
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| We think they took some mind altering substances in the XVIth century... This panel is about the marriage of a hen, organized my a load of monkeys! |
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| The leopard hunt. Please note the second leopard, waiting to look in the mirror. |
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| Castelo de São Jorge |
We also visited Sintra, about 40 minutes from Lisboa by train. The old kings of Portugal had their summer palaces there. The village is very beautiful and well preserved.
We took a tour on a very old jeep and went to Cascais to get the train back to Lisbon.
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| This is Cabo da Roca. It's the westernmost place in Europe |
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| Dora has a cheeky smile |
The next three photos are of a place called Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth). We found it quite dramatic.
I was so impressed with the friendliness of the Portuguese, so taken with the beauty of the country, that I wouldn't mind moving to Portugal...
Labels:
travel
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