Life in Góis May 2010

May 22nd
This last week has seen the most glorious weather, with the sun getting the temperature up to 30º in the daytime, and warm, balmy evenings. So our thoughts naturally turn to the river bar down in Góis…and the good news is that it is all freshly installed and ready to open any day now! There really is nothing more enjoyable that sitting down by the river, in the shade, with a cool beer on a hot afternoon, and the anticipatory pleasure of what is to come is sweetly enticing. Even though for those of us not on holiday here work has to go on, we now have the reward of a drink at the end of the day, and maybe even a dip in the river as well to really cool off. And for anyone into football – the World Cup will be transmitted in all its glory on a large screen over the water and under the stars!

May 11th
Today we went to view some very different properties some miles to the east of the Góis area – two beyond Côja and two in the Beira region near the river Mondego. The first was a delightful xisto quinta set in a beautiful valley where once 15 families lived totally self-sufficient lives – now virtually empty. We heard how a very elderly lady was brought to revisit this place of her upbringing and was amazed to see it without folk working away on the terraces – so much having changed in the intervening years, since a time when one quinta could house a family of up to 45 people. The next stop was to view a restored granite quinta above Avô, a little town on the river Alva that is almost Bavarian in its steep-sided valley. A total contrast then, was the land near Ervedal, a level expanse strewn with large rocky outcrops of smooth granite. This is dolmen country, where you can feel the history in the very rocks, with their strange scooped-out hollows and scratched-out markings. Among the rocks were growing lupins, yellow daisies and wild lavender in profusion, and we were surprised to also see clumps of delicate tongue orchids (Serapias vomeracea). Lastly we braved a long, steep and stony track (that should really have been tackled by a 4-wheel drive) to find a ruin on a piece of land above the river Mondego – well away from the madding crowd, and from tarmac too! After bumping and rattling our poor van along miles of rutted dirt tracks, it was a relief to eventually get back to real roads. But if isolation is what you are looking for, we can certainly point you in the right direction…

May 5th
As a result of the volcanic ash last month, Richard found himself enjoying a two-and-a-half week stay in Norway, rather than the anticipated 4 days. Consequently, ‘Life in Góis’ entries, and other website updates, have been deferred rather longer than we would have liked, and Richard has been working flat out since he returned to the office a week ago. So we felt it was time for another little excursion – involving looking at a house, of course – and took ourselves off to Praia de Consolação near Peniche, for a few hours of glorious seaside. We were lucky enough to have a cloudless evening in which to watch the sun sinking into the west over the Atlantic ocean, and a sea of turquoise to gaze at. While Ana and I meditated on the sunset, Richard recorded it on camera, and I think it conveys some of the power and beauty of the event...The beach also boasts a remarkable natural limestone pavement, and a wealth of fossils – and did I mention the bracing northerly breezes?

May 3rd
Every first Sunday in the month a market is held in the town of Miranda do Corvo, about 40 minutes’ drive from Góis. The market was started nearly 2 years ago, to raise money for a nearby animal welfare group, and has quickly become a regular meeting place for ‘estrangeiros’ in the area, as well as local Portuguese. We went along for the first time yesterday, on a lovely sunny morning, and found the market laid out under an avenue of huge poplar trees in the centre of the town, conveniently situated next to a café selling delicious cakes! All sorts of things were on offer, including plants, homebakes, books and bric-a-brac, and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours browsing and chatting in the sunshine. As we left, a sound system was just being erected for some further entertainment, but we had enjoyed our fill the night before – down in Góis, the Associação Educativa e Recreativa building (imagine a 1950’s village hall with balcony) celebrated its closure before rebuilding by hosting a review – ‘ Prata da Casa’ - on Saturday night. Billed to start at 9.30pm, proceedings got under way at around 10.30pm, and the audience continued to squeeze their way in until well after midnight, or stood around to listen from outside. Having arrived early we were securely seated, and were treated variously to Latin dancing, accordion playing and traditional songs (assisted by audience participation), recitation, a drag artiste, and a comic theatrical sketch about how the Revolution of April 25th came to Góis (with difficulty, it would appear!) Our personal favourite was the rendition of ‘Grease Lightning’ by the young dance group. As the first half of the evening’s entertainment drew to a close at 12.45 am the night was obviously still young but we, alas, were ready for our beds, not being made of stuff as strong as the local Goiense. I was disappointed to miss the comic sketch about tourists in Góis, billed for the second half, as I’m sure it would have been hilarious and well-observed. I imagine that the fun continued well into the early hours of Sunday morning, as the people of Góis (who certainly know how to party) remembered and celebrated a much-loved component of their lives – the little theatre of the AER.

Unlocking the history of the Góis region

Updated 14 June, 2010