Mafra: Riding the Waves

Another weekend comes, another trip happens. My study abroad program, API, has done all of us a service by including excursions into our cost of attendance. Last week, it was the beautiful Algarve, with its shadowed history and sunny beaches. They also take us on trips within the city, such as a cruise on the Rio Tejo, and an upcoming football match between Portugal (yes, I’m going to see Ronaldo!) and Luxembourg (a country smaller than Rhode Island). This past Saturday, it was a trip to Mafra, a small region about a 30 minute drive northwest of Lisbon. Included? A tour of one of the most extravagant national palaces of Portugal, a surfing lesson at the nearby beach town of Ericeira, and a delicious late-afternoon lunch. What more could you ask for? How about 16 amazing fellow API students? Well, we got that all. How would a day trip with 17 people exploring a new world for the first time? Read to find out.

What is Love?

Our first destination (after a timely breakfast stop, thank goodness for hot drinks) was the baroque-influenced Mafra National Palace, located right in the heart of the small town. As we arrived at about 9 am, the huge plaza in front of the palace was deserted, and the streets surrounding it were scarcely populated. The building in question, while having a grand air to it, looked in some state of disrepair. Scaffolding winding its way around the two symmetrical bell towers indicated efforts to reverse what I first observed. However, once we stepped inside, I was immediately blown away. The old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover” was proven once again to be true. The rooms inside were cavernous, and can only be described as majestic. The ceilings (probably about 10 meters above our head) were all painted, some with murals depicting the kings and queens of Portugal, some painted with religious imagery. The throne room contained a French style of art that made the figures painted on the wall appear to be sculptures (or the original 3D, as our tour guide stated). The massive library was probably the highlight of the tour, containing over 35,000 books, some dating back to the 15th century! To preserve the library, some genius settled a colony of bats into the library to help control pests that could devour this wonderful source of knowledge (that’s what I call thinking outside of the box). One must ignore the grandeur to get a true picture of this palace. The history itself is fascinating, and plays a part into the way this palace was designed. The church in the middle is designed so that King João V, who ordered this palace built, could watch the service from above, and so that the sun would shine behind him as the people left mass, making himself appear a godly figure (although the crucifix in the church was still higher placed than him to remind the people who truly was in charge). The two bell towers each contain a carillon (one with 45 bells, one with 47) because King João wanted to prove Portugal had money (they really didn’t). But wait Mr. Blogger Man. You’re forgetting something. You called this section “What is Love.” What do you mean by that? Well, I am not a philosopher, so I cannot answer that specific question. What I can answer is that this palace was also designed with the love life of the king in mind. That love life being non-existent. 220 meters of magnificent corridors separate the quarters of the king and queen. Their marriage was one of political convenience, not love. It took many years before the monarchs who resided in Mafra broke protocol, and shared a bed, nevertheless the same side of the palace. So what is love? Not what the king and queen of Portugal had. (That’s the best I can do. See a relationship expert for more details)

Wipeout

Hang 10, dude! Never again will I use “dude” in a sentence I write for this blog (I promise). But, its appropriate for what we did after our palace tour. It was time to go do something entirely unrelated! Learn how to surf. Erasmus Life Lisboa had offered cheap surfing lessons before, but I had shied away from them, having no interest. However, with these lessons being provided to us, I had no choice but to become interested in it. I’ll admit, I thought I had absolutely no chance of succeeding in this. Highly technical sports have never been my thing. It started out like I expected it to: a poorly fitted wet-suit (they just don’t make clothing for people who are tall and skinny that aren’t ridiculously expensive). We got down to the surfing beach in Ericeira, which looks like it was designed perfectly for surfing. Baby waves roll for meters in shallow water that is mostly sandy. Already there were large groups of beginner surfers wiping out in grand fashion. We made our way to the beach to get warmed up (including doing lunges in the water), and learned the technique to get up on the board. That only lasted 20 minutes. From there, it was about 45 minutes of failures in the water. I will admit I at least had some success. I was able to ride these waves a grand total of three times, with the first time being the best. I can’t really say I feel like I was that great. I felt I was more lucky than anything. But, it was still a fulfilling experience. I can’t say I will do it again. My hip popped out of place, and I pulled a hamstring, on top of getting bashed in the head by someone else’s surfboard. But, it was still fun, even though I’m made of paper.

Crew

I have to admit that this blog sometimes has a very narrow focus. It often doesn’t include the other characters in the story. There are 15 other people in this API study abroad program. All 15 of them are given the opportunity to participate in the excursions. And each and every one of them contributes to my perception of a day or event. I can tell you now it was much better that I had people to laugh off our surfing failures with. It made me feel better about failing. Although I would have gotten the same history whether by myself or with a group in Mafra, having people to joke about how dukes would wipe the king’s ass after he got the toilet brought to him (no joke) so they would be privy to insider information made that factoid more memorable. Yes, if I had traveled by myself, I may have had more time to personally reflect on what I was seeing. But, I’d much rather be talking about this or that with other people on the long bus rides to the various places we travel. I was grateful to have Shiloh to travel with when I went to the Azores. Likewise, I am grateful every day for this amazing group of fellow Americans who I can share these new experiences with, and go out and explore our surroundings! They make even the most tedious drives more enjoyable.

 

That’s it. No more surfing slang. No more odes to my fellow traveling Americans. This blog is completed. Thanks for reading it, as always. If anyone is new (which is unlikely, but still worth a shot) please subscribe if you want e-mail updates on when I post. Coming up are blogs about what the classroom environment is like at the two universities I am attending (as well as a MAJOR problem I have had with scheduling) and a blog about the football game I will be attending. That is sure to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life (as well as my first ever football game). Until next time,

Jeremy Caldeira