Marvao

After a long break since our last work exchange, it was a really good feeling rolling into the bus station in Portalegre, Portugal, knowing that our hosts would be there to pick us up. Our home for the next couple of weeks included our British hosts, Irene and Nick, their three girls, burping champion Meggie the dog, two horses and Frankie the foal.


In exchange for food and very comfortable accommodation in a separate studio apartment, we spent our mornings working on a variety of jobs, mainly constructing a fence for the planned jumping arena for the horses. This involved digging holes in hard and rocky ground with a pick axe and spade (think prison workline minus the cotton picking songs!), cementing the posts in the holes, cutting out rails from the cleared trees, and then attaching the rails using hay-bale wire. Hard work but we were pretty satisfied with our efforts when we left - we'd completed 2 full sides of the arena, ready for the guy with the tractor to come in and level the rest of the space for the other fence sides.


In our spare time we did a lot of lounging around watching videos (tv is a wonderful thing once you've gone without it), walked around and swam in the dam/lake, rode the horses, and visited some gypsy markets where the women compete to see who can yell with the loudest and most annoying voice. We also checked out the tiny town of Marvao and its castle perched high atop a hill that can be seen from Spain, and walked back to the farm via an old cobbled path down the mountain that has been there for centuries.


Next we're off to the Czech Republic for a brief visit before meeting up with friends in Munich for some well deserved beer.