Dom Luis Elvas

... br>Drink- Sagres beer, or homemade wine

In a Word
¨Shut up Louie¨ Becky yelling at the X-Factor host

Trademarks
Crazy cats, quirky dogs, delicious jams and chutney, endless starry nights, beautiful sunrises

Surprises
Stone wall building can be satisfying

Only a few hosts can claim to rise to the level of "underground tourism", Becky and Martin do so in style. With so much potential and positive energy, there´s never been a better time to visit.

... of saying that "WWOOFing is underground tourism". He did his best to show me the places the average tourist never sees. Martin and Becky have accomplished exactly this. They have taken time out of their days to show us around small towns in Portugal and Spain, they´ve taken us to the most obscure little folk festival, and they´ve introduced us to their friends and neighbors in their community. To me this is what travel is all about.

With no internet on the farm, Corrine and I are always keen to spend some time in front of a computer, checking emails and making plans. Martin was kind enough to bring us along to Albuquerque, where they have a second house still being finished. While he worked away, we surfed the net.

Once business was taken care of, Martin was keen to show us around the little town of Albuquerque. A beautiful old castle at the top of the hill was our to wander through, no ...

... these all but forgotten places. If it weren´t for WWOOF, I would never see a place like this, I suppose that´s what I´m really after.

I took the opportunity of being off the farm to fill up on meat. I´m doing fine on the vegetarian diet, but I´m still keen to chow down on some good pig when the I get a chance. Badajoz didn´t disappoint with a whole variety of tapas to choose from. I filled up the meat tank on delicious cured hams and exciting squid dishes. Happy Birthday to me!

... fig, citrus, quince, and a lone pomegranate tree that produces the sweetest pomegranates in Spain. There´s a nice little vineyard, that likely keeps them self sufficient when it comes to wine consumption. It is basically the end of the gardening season here, but cabbages and greens are still being planted. Cape Gooseberries grow like a weed here, its amusing, considering they cost an arm and a leg for a small carton back home.

The entrance to the house is guarded by 3 ...

After our day in Fatima we hopped onto a bus to a small town about 2 hours away from Fatima, named Santarem. A city that was blessed with a Eucharistic Miracle that dates back to the early 13'Th century. We arrived there at about 6 pm and the church was closed. 5 other girls and I were not going to leave until we got in to the church so we walked around the church knocking ...

... el precio real de las cosas por estos lares. Y no los que vemos en Alburquerque que aprovechan la ocasión para ganar un dinerillo extra (coste de oportunidad lo llaman ¿no?). Gazpazcho: 0,75€; Zumo de naranja y tapa: 1,50€.... vamos, que con unos pocos euros ya hemos comido. De vuelta a Alburquerque, el calor nos obliga a volver a casa, donde se está muy a gustito. Las dos aventureras tocan la cama y se quedan dormidas... así, de repente... la situación fue ...

... el caso que nos despertaron... ¡Menos mal que soy de sueño profundo y a los 2 minutos estaba otra vez con los angelitos! Sí, igual fue un día un poco raro pero aún así estuvimos muy a gusto. Además, aprendimos algunas lecciones: Leccion 1: Reconózcamoslo. Hasta Edurne está mayor. No nos podemos permitir el lujo de salir el día antes... ya no nos sigue el cuerpo... Leccion 2: ¡Qué engañosa puede ser la memoria! El año pasado estuvimos un concierto entero detrás de uno que ...

... canción oficial para entender esto). El de vuelta nos sirve para digerir todas las experiencias y reirnos con las anécdotas más divertidas. Este año hemos vuelto a ir por Salamanca. Resulta que probamos el año pasado a ir por allí y es mucho más cómodo porque suele coincidir con la operación salida y nos ahorramos la N-I y pasar por Madrid. Además, íbamos convencidos de que este año iba a estar terminada la autovía entre Salamanca y Cáceres... pero se ve que han ...

... Portugal supplies the cork for most of the world's wine bottles), olive trees, citrus and almond blossoms everywhere in fields of green grass and golden flowers, next to pastures of sheep, horses and goats. Finally, we wandered around the port city of Lisbon, through the Alto Barrio and Jaixa neighborhoods (and getting acosted every 5 feet by street vendors asking us if we want to buy hash!), eating ...