Hello Portugal!

How can i complain with a sky like that?! (early September)

I made it here! Right now I have the luxury of staying at my Nan's house in Benavente... but I will be moving to Coimbra on either Monday or Tuesday. It's exciting stuff but there are a few things about Portugal that I have noticed. It's a lot slower paced than England. For example, yesterday I went out at 10 to sort out a bank account, Portuguese phone and Internet. Now this wouldn't take long in England... I'd probably be finished by lunchtime... In Portugal... we finished at 7pm! This is partly due to all the shops closing for lunch. Now this to me is just odd... since getting a lunch break in England is hard enough sometimes! The good news is that everything was finished and all I have to do now is register with the Uni... get a permit... and find somewhere nice to live =). I'm really looking forward to when all the organising is over and I can sit back with a sumol and a pastais de nata! (Tango and cream cake)

The other thing I have noticed about Portuguese life... is that driving is for maniacs. I'm a nervous driver anyway... but here I’m a nervous pedestrian! It seems that a zebra crossing is a pretty design in the road, tailgating is just a way to check if you know the people in the car in front and dodging the tomatoes that fly out of delivery trucks is aa well learnt a lesson as walking. Therefore buses, trains and trams are my options. But I’ll be travelling on them soon so I'll let you know how that goes!

O and this is a 'salamander' aka 'central heating?'. Either way you burn things in it like a proper pyromaniac should =)

The other thing I learnt is that the Portuguese people are really lovely and friendly so far. They really do try to help you most of the time... Hopefully this will be the same in Coimbra since I'm gonna need all the help I can get! Also the weather is as hot a topic here as it is in England and the Portuguese really do appreciate a cup of English tea =). Although a queen of Portugal first introduced the English to tea drinking in the olden days. The court laughed at her and gave her beer! So maybe our cultures aren't so different... especially since there's Sagres and Superbock nearly everywhere!

Ninotchka

Having a hug from mum.

Also more recently my nan has taken it upon herself to 'rescue' a stray cat from the streets. This cat is lovely and has beautiful soft fur and doesn't scratch or bite you. (Stephand Amanda would love her!) Needless to say she's a new member of the family who has a completely unpronouncable name (Nin-otch-ka) and will soon be having kittens! I'll post the pictures as soon as we get them. I reckon it will be soon though because she is huuuge and doesn't seem to know what to do with herself! Taking in strays form the street seems to be something that happens a lot in this village because there are so many strays out there. It seems to be part of the culture really, like picking flowers to bring home.