Day 16 and Chaos

It was an early start to see Michelle and Perry off for their Italian adventure. Britt and Johnny were catching a lift to Lisbon airport to get the replacement car from Goldcar, and then swing by the supermarket.

It was a chance for us to take a short hike up the hill. There was a fine misty rain but nothing to worry about. Harri snuggled in for a sleep against Zak's chest while Chux walked, skirting puddles, learning to use a walking stick and getting an education about the countryside and everything we passed.

We had lunch and as the kids were having a sleep I decided to join them. What a wonderful deep sleep it was. I only woke when John and Britt arrived back in the early afternoon, after picking up the new hire car and restocking the supplies at the supermarket. They had had a horrible experience with an Uber driver, who was rewarded with the lowest possible rating and a video of his behaviour sent to Uber.

The plan for the afternoon was to go for a drive to the Blue Lake and the surrounding village of Dornes. It was a spectacular twisty-turny drive up the mountain through farms and some heavily wooded areas.

The Blue Lake was full to overflowing thanks to all the recent rains. The beach that could normally be seen was well under water. The town was full of family groups meeting up for Easter and visiting the gravesites of relatives in what must be one of the most picturesque resting spots ever.. The streets were incredibly steep but we all managed to keep our footing. 

We visited the relic museum attached to the chapel and explained to Charlie why there was a picture of a mummy holding her boy. "Some cruel people had hurt him with sticks and his mummy has found him"; I hoped that was sufficient explanation.

 

 

 

We returned to the adega for a spot of balloon play and for Britt to begin to prepare the evening meal of a pretty amazing pork sausage meat and mushroom sauce over pasta. There were no leftovers for the cats tonight!

 

The evening ended with us all decorating Easter eggs. As the supermarket had no red egg dye, we settled for boiling the eggs and each person decorated their egg with coloured markers. We all got on touch with our inner artist.

Tomorrow, Charlie and Harri will have an Easter egg hunt. By the way, did i mention that on this trip Harri produced her first tooth and started crawling. She is a little champion.