openidwouldwork (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
openidwouldwork) wrote2012-06-11 04:38 am
openidwouldwork) wrote2012-06-11 04:38 am
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Out and about in Portugal
There were two things that really struck me
- that the Sharpe series was NOT filmed in Protugal or Spain
Driving first South to the beaches and then to just a little bit north of Lisbon, I kept being irritated by the countryside, it was just so wrong and not what I expected... until I realised that Sean Bean had never marched through a backdrop like the one you see in the pics of a previous post, this one and the next.
- that Portugese is NOT Spanish
Having a working, touristy knowledge of Spanish, I sort of expected to be able to use that to get around and be polite, but não. It's obrigada/o instead of ¡gracias!, sim - not si, si being taken as a short form of cinco=5 and so on... and compared to Spanish, the accent is very odd, at times almost North-Eastern European or Russian... I swear people kept going 'davai, davai'... and a normal, harmless 's' was pronounced as a truely German 'sch' (not even like the English 'sk', a real 'sch'), turning Wellington's defensive works into the Linhas de Torresch Wedrasch...
The regiments already on shore were consequently reshipped, and the whole getting under weigh the same evening, anchored at the embouchure of the little river Maceira on the 23d and 24th.
The landing here,, which began on the 25th, was extremely difficult, and attended with considerable danger. The weather was tempestuous, and a tremendous surf broke upon the high shore. [...]
The horses of the third hussars, which had been seventeen weeks on ship-board, and were now obliged to swim ashore, could with difficulty reach the land. Often was an unfortunate animal, after having been cast upon the beach by one wave and unable immediately to get on his legs, borne back by the next into the sea, and again cast ashore to be drivenfrom it in the same manner.
History of the Kings German Legion, Beamish
So... of course I wanted to so something Peninsular War-y, but it had to be close to Lisbon... and for some reason I'm interested in the Kings German Legion Hussars... so after swimming in the the Atlantic at awesome beaches I set out to find Maceira...
What I had not taken into account was the cold water (15°C) and very strong wind of the Portugese west coast - and my chronic otitis. That had not given me any trouble on my last vacation 2 years ago, so I just didn't take much precaution... but driving up past Lisbon that unpleasant throbbing and stitches of pain made themselves known...
Maceira the town/village/settlement was easy enough to find, but it is off the coast and there was no sign of anything like 'Maceira bay', so I just kind of went down a road that sort of followed a river which went into the general direction of the sea... which was not called Maceira river, according to a sign next to a bridge over it, but reaching it's embouchure and after having a fun discussion with about 5 fishermen in front of a local tavern we all decided that it certainly was 'Maceira bay' and 'Rio Maceira'. *grins* Naturally I'm not entirely sure, but these could be pics of where they landed:
Of course I also walked around the beach a bit... without shoes, because beach!... which was not a good idea in the afternoon... as I burned my feet.
I managed to wheedle a room out of the one hotel there to spend the night and, as I knew I would not be able to sleep on my inflamed ear, asked about a doctor... and was told that in Portugal doctors don't work afternoons, I'd have to wait till the next day or go to a hospital. And off I went to the next large town with a hospital, Torres Vedras.
Getting into Urgencias was no problem, and I was really impressed by how they handled the 'not brought in by emergency vehicles' crowd; after registring and having my id and health insurance card copied, it took less than 5 minutes to be called in and be assesed and triaged! They did literally triage their cases, giving people red, yellow and green armbands, and then sitting yellow and green back in the waiting room. But going was well organised and smooth, and despite several ambulances arriving while I was there, I had seen a doctor and gotten a prescription in less than an hour. Well done Torres Vedras hospital! The only objectionable thing were the boys playing football in the waiting room...
And another picture of 'Rio Maceira', taken from the hotel the next morning:
- that the Sharpe series was NOT filmed in Protugal or Spain
Driving first South to the beaches and then to just a little bit north of Lisbon, I kept being irritated by the countryside, it was just so wrong and not what I expected... until I realised that Sean Bean had never marched through a backdrop like the one you see in the pics of a previous post, this one and the next.
- that Portugese is NOT Spanish
Having a working, touristy knowledge of Spanish, I sort of expected to be able to use that to get around and be polite, but não. It's obrigada/o instead of ¡gracias!, sim - not si, si being taken as a short form of cinco=5 and so on... and compared to Spanish, the accent is very odd, at times almost North-Eastern European or Russian... I swear people kept going 'davai, davai'... and a normal, harmless 's' was pronounced as a truely German 'sch' (not even like the English 'sk', a real 'sch'), turning Wellington's defensive works into the Linhas de Torresch Wedrasch...
The regiments already on shore were consequently reshipped, and the whole getting under weigh the same evening, anchored at the embouchure of the little river Maceira on the 23d and 24th.
The landing here,, which began on the 25th, was extremely difficult, and attended with considerable danger. The weather was tempestuous, and a tremendous surf broke upon the high shore. [...]
The horses of the third hussars, which had been seventeen weeks on ship-board, and were now obliged to swim ashore, could with difficulty reach the land. Often was an unfortunate animal, after having been cast upon the beach by one wave and unable immediately to get on his legs, borne back by the next into the sea, and again cast ashore to be drivenfrom it in the same manner.
History of the Kings German Legion, Beamish
So... of course I wanted to so something Peninsular War-y, but it had to be close to Lisbon... and for some reason I'm interested in the Kings German Legion Hussars... so after swimming in the the Atlantic at awesome beaches I set out to find Maceira...
What I had not taken into account was the cold water (15°C) and very strong wind of the Portugese west coast - and my chronic otitis. That had not given me any trouble on my last vacation 2 years ago, so I just didn't take much precaution... but driving up past Lisbon that unpleasant throbbing and stitches of pain made themselves known...
Maceira the town/village/settlement was easy enough to find, but it is off the coast and there was no sign of anything like 'Maceira bay', so I just kind of went down a road that sort of followed a river which went into the general direction of the sea... which was not called Maceira river, according to a sign next to a bridge over it, but reaching it's embouchure and after having a fun discussion with about 5 fishermen in front of a local tavern we all decided that it certainly was 'Maceira bay' and 'Rio Maceira'. *grins* Naturally I'm not entirely sure, but these could be pics of where they landed:
Of course I also walked around the beach a bit... without shoes, because beach!... which was not a good idea in the afternoon... as I burned my feet.
I managed to wheedle a room out of the one hotel there to spend the night and, as I knew I would not be able to sleep on my inflamed ear, asked about a doctor... and was told that in Portugal doctors don't work afternoons, I'd have to wait till the next day or go to a hospital. And off I went to the next large town with a hospital, Torres Vedras.
Getting into Urgencias was no problem, and I was really impressed by how they handled the 'not brought in by emergency vehicles' crowd; after registring and having my id and health insurance card copied, it took less than 5 minutes to be called in and be assesed and triaged! They did literally triage their cases, giving people red, yellow and green armbands, and then sitting yellow and green back in the waiting room. But going was well organised and smooth, and despite several ambulances arriving while I was there, I had seen a doctor and gotten a prescription in less than an hour. Well done Torres Vedras hospital! The only objectionable thing were the boys playing football in the waiting room...
And another picture of 'Rio Maceira', taken from the hotel the next morning:
no subject
Well done Portuguese health service though! and the Portuguese do need to practice their football skills - you should have given them lessons!
no subject