The greatest birthday gift I receive each year from my daughter is the gift of time. Now that we live in separate countries, the time together becomes incredibly precious and have come to the conclusion that we don’t need fancy trips to have a grand adventure, something we have carried with us ever since she was a little girl.
This year we remained in The Shire for the birthday week and have gone on daily walks, during which we always came home with flowers, twigs, rocks, branches picked along the way and fashioned them into what I call a progressive bouquet. I even collected some gorgeous pinecones which currently grace my dining table along with candles. It almost feels like Christmas, and in a way it is. Some people believe in scrapbooks, others in souvenir hunting in shops, but we lean more towards being human magpies, collecting odds and ends that catch our artistic eye. These have been laughter-filled days, catching up on everything that was never covered by the limitations of FaceTime or text messages.
Many years ago a friend instituted the tradition of ushering in a birthday at midnight, which I discovered is something many other families celebrate as well. True to form, at the stroke of midnight we raised our glasses filled with chilled rose wine accentuated with grated cantaloupe and a splash of cherry liqueur (the local ginja), since I am allergic to champagne. I promised myself that this new year was going to break all barriers and make the most of each opportunity, come what may.
On that note, we kicked things off this morning with a leisurely pasta brunch and then got to work making filipino Polvoron (shortbread). I have been wanting to make this sweet treat for ages, but never found it worth the effort if I was going to end up consuming all the goodies by myself. It was a delightful collaborative activity which we deemed a great success (except the individual wrapping). In the afternoon we decided to go on a birthday walk, and the plan was to order dõner for dinner along with a chocolate cake that I have been craving. After three years of living in Portugal I have developed a weakness for the chocolate Brigadeiro cake, which is very similar to the Austrian Sacher Tort in taste and texture, sinful in every possible way but worth going to dietary hell for! As we embarked on our hike and reach one of the first crossroads, I mentioned that the downhill path to the left is something I had never dared to explore on my own before, so we decided to take a leap of faith and find out what was down the path and around the bend. The path itself was stoney, steep and we both felt as though we were back on the Camino. For all intents and purposes this was truly a pilgrimage, a birthday pilgrimage and I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday and mark the beginning of the new year.
The further we descended we realised that it was going to be one hell of a climb back up, so we decided to march on all the way down to the village called Mafra Gare and seek out a local cafe. We had no idea what we were getting into, but it was a walk that Maike described was in true FrogDiva form: without a plan and to which I marched confidently ahead and put her in charge of navigation because as everyone knows, I simply can’t be bothered with maps! As you can see from the photos, we ended up in the middle of nowhere and it was absolutely the best place to be!
Anyone obsessed with plans, timetables and direction would have gone absolutely bonkers with us, especially since we stopped to take photos, collect stones, or inhale the fragrant aroma of fig trees. Since this walk was an unplanned one, the only thing I had in my pouch were garden clippers, tissues, my phone, and a plastic bag. Along the way I added a few rocks which made the bag heavier and at some point I remarked that wherever we ended up for dinner, we should avoid places with security checks since my two rocks and garden clippers might not be entirely kosher and were likely to set off an alarm or two. Think about it, if you were the security guard on duty and peered into my bag to find garden clippers, a plastic bag and two rocks, the natural conclusion would be that I was well on my way to commit an unspeakable act! The only think missing from this serial killer kit was rope and perhaps cables ties!
The angels led us down the hill without any problems, passing quaint farm houses and suspicious villagers. Once we reached Mafra Gare we were underwhelmed by the culinary options and decided to head into Malveira instead for some proper grub. As I said, none of this was planned and instead of the intended dõner and Brigadeiro cake we ended up in a cafe that served some of the best Pastel de Nata on this side of the galaxy, and a meal at Burger King.
We are both pleasantly exhausted by the time we reached home, but I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. No fuss, no plans, and all the thrills. What a way to begin my new year!
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