It was a bit of a dam day as today’s curney was due to take us past two absolutely beautiful dams high up in the north of the country. Yet again I had foregone the quick route for a nice bendy wendy across to Chaves. We awoke to rain, in fact it rained all the way to Chaves – right up until we sat down at the most fantastic little bruschetta cafe situated just on the other side of the river Tamega which is a tributary of the majestic Douro.
Chaves is beautiful and is right at the top of the N2, the top half of the old route we are going to explore over the next seven days. It is the longest road in Portugal and runs from where we are now all the way down to the Algarve and was the route for Portugal’s spice trade.
We had supper and got caught in a downpour whilst strolling round the castle. They really should have called the country Fortugal. Forts are everywhere and so many are superbly maintained. In fact that is the initial impression that I’ve got from Portugal during the first few days. Things are preserved here. Everything seems to matter and is not instantly replaced. I like it. I like it a lot. In a world that we have created where we seem to need some sort of instant gratification, there is something rather pleasant in watching a craftsman in the market sharpening an old head for an axe.
The rain cleared finally around teatime, and we celebrated with nutella crepes and coffee. It is silly cheap for coffee here, and also pastries. I really wanted to be able to wax lyrical about how beautiful the views were on the drive, but I can’t because it was so misty most of the way. Sometimes you just get lemons. Turn them into lemonade and move on. Maybe the reason was so that we would come back up this way at a future date.
Some things that we now depend upon in this new world are essential to our on the road existence. Not life threatening but definitely super useful. We need internet connectivity. Bucket loads of it. Kimberley has huge online case files and often spends the whole day doing meetings. I like to be able to download movies and watch live sport. When we took these mobile phone contracts out, we were assured that ‘unlimited’ data meant unlimited data anywhere in Europe. However, we’ve heard they have just changed the rules. It now means 25gb.
Now you may think 25gb is a lot of data but Kimberley’s update for her iMac this evening took 5gb of data in the flash of an eye. Right in the middle of this download, O2 send me a message to inform that when I reach 25gb I will be charged £3.50/gb over it. On a super huge month, I have been known to clear 200 gb of data. Yes, I know I can change my practices, but in the UK it is no problem. It is only a problem outside of the UK. Isn’t it funny how sometimes the smallest thing can send the anger button into overdrive?
I think hard about how this is making feel and why it is making me angry, and also why I am unforgivably taking my bad mood out on Kimberley. I drill down onto this anger, and it turns out it is the fact that I don’t like the mobile company having control of my freedom. I don’t want to have to change my lifestyle. I do need to apologise to Kimberley which I do pretty quickly as being rude is just not okay.
So why do I need this lesson from the Universe? Well, three good reasons have come to light. Firstly, I need to have multiple streams of connectivity – just in case. Okay, I will look into that one tomorrow. Secondly, I need to analyse how I behave towards those around me when I’m angry. Lesson heard loud and clear. Thirdly, I do not have to be in control. I just have to set the sail and let the wind take me where I need to go, learning the lessons along the way.