life and times of the franciscotts

Even though we have 4 weeks here the time will fly in an instant so I'm trying to get as many people together at once as possible. I invited all the people with kids to Papachinos for the Monday pizza special and jeez have all the kids grown! They far outnumber the adults and was extra special to meet Leandro for the first time ❤ Duran and Josh also joined us and Nobanthu also came so was nice for the kids to see their mates too.

We were super nervous to come through customs because the kids only have Portuguese passports and were worried they would give us hassles again… which they did. The guy said they need to renounce their SA citizenship if they aren't going to travel on their SA passports but we promised and smiled and got through ok! We had an amazing welcoming party at the airport of my mom and Dada, keana and uncle Gert. Of course we couldn't find the car but eventually located the right floor and bay and were homeward bound. My mom made my fave - beef stroganoff - and we had 1kg of biltong each (it seemed like) and enough snacks to go up one pants size .. and this is only day one!

Due to the canceled flight we also got breakfast and lunch and then we're bussed back to the airport for our flight at 8pm that night. As the flight had been full of South Africans there was such a feeling of ubuntu with us banding together to help with luggage and minding kids and saving seats for each other. No matter where in the world you go, if you encounter a Saffa you are immediately connected. Emirates is such a stunning airline and I think it's probably the best meal I ever had on a plane. We all sat separately but after breaking the golden rule of proceedure for a good flight to have pillow, earplugs, mask (I had none of these) and then watch two movies and have 2 gin and Tonic (this I had no problems with) I hardly slept :( Dubai Airport was nice but fokkof expensive and we just had a coffee and Lola had onion rings and cheese sauce.

Even though it felt like we were counting down forever the day quickly came upon us and me and the kids and I were headed to South Africa! Jason dropped us off in Castelo and with a bitter sweet goodbye we caught the bus to Lisbon.

When we got to Lisbon we had to go for our Starbucks & Mexican fix of course and still in true Scott style we got to the airport 5 hours ahead of time and we just chilled until our 21h30 flight - surviving on vending machine food because an apple at the restaurant was €5! After 2 delays they canceled our flight but put us up in a swanky sea facing apartment in Costa da Caparica. Cruz and I thought we'd try go to the bar across the road but by the time he showered and got ready it had closed. We then walked down the promenade and sat on a bench watching the waves but got spooked when a group of people came down so we went back to the apartment at 4h30 am and as weay traveller's hit the sack to try it all again tomorrow.

The plan was to go for dinner before the kids and I left for South Africa, but unbeknownst to me, everyone had planned a surprise birthday party at the pool! We had a braai and everyone brought sides and drinks. Adriane baked a spicy brownie cake which was super delish. It was so touching and a really nice surprise I felt really loved 🥰

You know we love a good swim in a river and Jase knew this place in Castelo Novo above the river beach where we went for a delicious dip and cool down swim. The water was freezing but so refreshing

Quite different to our celebration last year in Porto .. and quite fitting to where this blog picks up again as that's the last time I wrote anything here... oops!

In our village if your name is João you have to buy sardines for everyone in the village and everyone comes together to enjoy a meal of sardines, broa (bread made with corn meal), caldo verde and wine. There was also a whole leg of presunto and other meats and cheese .. all for mahala! Wow what a treat.

Today we ambled around the town, heading back down to the river, meeting up with Sancho and met his gf Renata. She's such an awesome charismatic woman and dancing is defo in her Brazilian blood. We had some beers down along the river and after Renata heard the calling of some Brazilian music on this rooftop we went up and danced under the Porto sun, vibing on white port and samba beats. Just before sunset we caught the cable car up to the top of the hill and bought snacks and drinks, joining hundreds of other people who were on the hill to watch the sun set. Again there was a band of Brazilian musicians having a grand old time and every was dancing and just enjoying the free spirit of the portuguese summer. When the sun set everyone started clapping and cheering. What a stunning day. Thank you Porto we will definitely be back

The gang is converging in Portugal for a few weeks so to make the most of it we came up to Porto for 2 nights to experience São João Festival which is the biggest in the country.

Wow what a beautiful city and crazy celebration. Thousands upon thousands of people line the streets and have a big party drinking beer and eating sardines grilled on the street. Sardines are a big part of the celebration and also eaten over this time in our village where everyone who's name is João has to buy sardines for the village.

The best vantage point is below the bridge do we made our way down along with thousands of othere in droves. A big part of the festival is getting a martelo and hitting everyone on the head with it to knock their bad luck out or to tickle people with long heads of garlic. There was this lady having the time of her life running the garlic stem up peoples legs, lifting skirts and tickling necks. We stood by her for ages andmlaughed our heads off. People also set off paper lanterns and make a wish. It was really magical to see all these tiny flames in the sky but shudder to think about the poor birds and marine life which will be affected by this ... but hey it's all in the name of John the Baptist so yeah.

The kids had a great time at de Sandeman dancing and waving their hammers in the air. Lola was even asked to come to the front to show everyone the moves to the macarena lol. The hilight of the night was a 16 minute fireworks show which happens over the river and also above the bridge which was totally insane and must have cost millions. Damn seagulls must be so hardy to withstand that wow.

Getting home was a challenge and a bit scary as they closed the bridge and wouldn't let people off but more and more people kept streaming from the other side. It was a touch and go stampede waiting to happen but luckily all good in the end!

We went through to Tomar to meet uncle Rui, Ida and vovo for lunch. We met at Fernando's Cervejaria which seems to be super popular and had a queue outside. I wanted my fave (alheira) but Jason talked me into getting the steak with mushrooms and Templar sauce which I figured might be like Troyeville's Bife Caçarola - but sadly wasn't lol - nothing can top that. Vovo was so happy to have both her grand sons there and it's hard to believe she's 90! After lunch, we went to the park and Carlo & Uncle Rui went on the zip line over the water. Super brave of them as they could legit have fallen in. We spent the afternoon chatting and walked back through the streets of Tomar. What a beautiful day ❤️

The Festa season is in full swing now and this weekend wad our village's chance. We've had a late spell of rain which put a slight damper on the events but nothing can hold us Atalaians down! I love the traditional dancing and the entertainment it's such a vibe with great food and drinks and everyone dancing (well us in any case but yeah). The kids were there with their gang of friends too and it was the first festa where Lola begged not to go home (definitely our child).

The bombas (drum groups) always kick the weekend off and it really turns into a battle of the bombas as the nearby regions come to play. There was a brilliant percussion band called Moustache Band (none of them had mustaches- go figure) and the Fado singers were a great experience. Also loved the guys on the little guitars roaming the street and playing.

There were also demonstrations on how you make chouriço, alheira and morcella and you could buy one and grill on the fire. A great weekend was definitely had by all and just another reminder of how lucky we are to have been welcomed into the village with open arms and made some great friends along the way.

Today was a chilled event. Lola made me a lemon cake (my best!) Jason picked me a beautiful bunch of wild flowers and Cruz gave me a kiss. We got Mc Donald's and watched the Arsenal game on the laptop. When I said to Lola (hinting) I really don't think I should be doing dishes today she said 'You're right! Do them tomorrow' Hahaha

We've always heard you can book dinner to have at Santiago's Cafe in the back room so Alex went ahead and booked aperitifs followed by dinner of pork cheek and omelets and then drink as much as you can wine - clearly this was not going to end well haha. Had a brilliant dinner and a dance party of our own followed by drinks at Casa Velha. The Atalaia massive rocked out big time

(This one's for you Jax .. my inspo to continue the blog!)

On Saturday (like 5 weeks ago because my flow through is zero sorry!) I told whoever was keen to meet at Quondam for drinks and chill. Was so awesome to be back with everyone really had the most stunning day. Jeppe has really upped its game with a cosy fireplace and outdoor shade but still the best toastie in town! We watched the rugby but kept getting stink eye from the other people as we were talking and being raucous but oh well what u gonna do! Was amazing to see the crew again love ya's

Deal for Manuel to take our olives was that we help him on Sunday so round two here we come. We did the more difficult trees with the brambles yesterday saving the best for last. Problem is that out first 2 trees of the day had so many olives that we ran out of buckets 🙈. Manuel had a real operation going next door with guys pruning and 10 or more nets and people just helping all round, combing olives off the pruned branches and pulling nets to gather piles of olives to bag. We have come to realise when someone offers you help it’s rude to refuse, so while Manuel accepted our help he definitely didn’t need it! Working together everyone quickly picked enough to fill his little pick up and then broke for a lunch of feijoada, bread, cheese, wine & olives. It was hard to get the energy to pick after a full stomach and wine in the veins but yeah we made it .. just.