Life in Góis July 2009

30th July
If I had any shamanistic knowledge, I might understand the significance of the visit of a magnificent golden eagle to our home yesterday. While hanging out the washing on the veranda I was alerted by a cry of ‘Eagle!’ from Bess and looked up just in time to see this huge beautiful bird flashing past me just a few feet away. Its wingspan must have measured at least 2 metres, and I could actually discern the different shades of tawny and gold in the feathers of its underbelly. Within a split second it had swooped upwards and away over the valley, where we watched it riding the air currents and stop to hover for a moment before soaring into the distance. No time to take photos I’m afraid- but I will carry the image in my mind’s eye for some while. Today, by way of contrast, I was sitting down at the river-bar in Góis enjoying a sandwich while a little coal-tit hopped around my feet fearlessly, picking up the crumbs. He was soon joined by a yellow wagtail with a lame foot, who managed to get around quite successfully on his one good leg. Meanwhile, the apple tree over the road from our house is having its fruit shaken off by the family of blackbirds that seem to have taken up residence there. All in all, this region seems to be a good place for the birds – there are rich pickings to be taken everywhere, nobody seems interested in shooting or eating them, as in some other countries, and so we are able to continue to enjoy their song and their presence in our lives every day.

24th July
We have been waking lately to the sight of the mist rolling down the valley in front of our house, in a way that is almost early autumnal. It still seems strange to those of used to the pattern of the English seasons, to see dahlias and hollyhocks blooming in early July – flowers that we associate very much with the late summer in Britain. So far this summer it has not been particularly hot – something for which many of us are quite grateful as it makes it easier to keep working and moving around in general, and less necessary to take siestas! But it has been hot enough to make the river an alluring destination, and there has been no shortage of bodies bronzing on the river beach or children paddling up and down in canoes. This is the time of year when visitors make their way to Góis as a base for exploring the region, and in a week’s time, as we come into August, we will see many people returning from the city to their home villages to visit family, or to take a holiday in their prestigious holiday houses. Either way, the villages are busier than usual, and windows are flung open as unused houses are aired to welcome their temporary occupants. August is the month in Portugal when everyone who can stops working and plays. If there is anything important you want to get done, you have to do it this week if possible, otherwise forget it...until September!

14th July
Our garden is in its full verdant glory, as those little seedlings we so tenderly nurtured in the early spring are now heavy with ripening fruit. We enjoy the fact that the garden is alive with many kinds of insects – praying mantises, crickets, I mentioned the butterflies last month - and there is now a proliferation of bees around the sunflowers and the runner beans, so that we can actually hear a low humming sound emanating from the vegetable patch. Fortunately the slugs and snails seem to be very few, and we are impressed at the quality of the harvest that is produced entirely organically. Our only problem is that some plants just seem to get carried away – we have enough courgettes in our freezer now to keep us going for a couple of years!
This weekend it was the annual Góis Arts Festival – an occasion I always look forward to. Although we only managed to catch a couple of the acts this year, they were, in their contrasting ways, both immensely enjoyable. Down in the Parque do Cerejal, where the artists were seated under the trees painting and the rest of us lazed and picnicked in the sunshine and shade, we were entertained on Saturday and Sunday by the ‘Companhia Marimbondo’ – a group of talented clowns with musical aspirations. Unfortunately we have no photos of the tricycle-mounted drag-artist drummer in his big flowery hat – it was quite something to behold! Sunday evening saw the Largo do Pombal filled with the audience for ‘Fado Virado a Nascente’ - two hours of spell-binding playing and singing by highly-skilled musicians on flute, mandolin, piano and guitar. Having only a very limited knowledge of ‘Fado’ I was hugely impressed at the beauty of the music, and it was obviously well-appreciated by the rest of the audience, some of whom were perched on walls, steps, and leaning out of their windows to listen. A warm evening, the finest mist of rain started just as the concert finished at midnight – so kind of it to hold off until then… How wonderful it would be to have more live music in Góis – the Largo do Pombal provides a wonderful setting for performance, as we saw last year with the opera, and the bandstand in the park is just asking to be used for regular Sunday afternoon sessions, to accompany the big Portuguese-style picnics. This is my plea to musicians and entertainers – come to Góis and perform for us through the summer months – you will be warmly received!

6th July
In the area of Góis there are many old mines, some dating back to the time when the Romans were here, but most more recently from the Second World War, when wolfram (tungsten) was highly sought after. Personally, you would have to pay me a great deal of money to get me down one of these old mines, but for some people, Richard among them, a trip down a mine is a fun outing. Yesterday morning, a party of men from our village went into the local mine, because the water that it provides for the irrigation system has been somewhat sporadic, and they wanted to locate and fix the problem. Richard assures me it was very interesting, and that deep underground is a calm and peaceful place to be…
Later in the day it was the opposite of calm and peaceful at the downhill bike races in Góis. No, I didn’t go there either, being at home glued to the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon – much more my idea of exhilarating sport. But Anna was there to cheer on her winning husband, and Richard and Bess took some great photos between them.

Unlocking the history of the Góis region

Updated 14 June, 2010