Grumpy Old Griffithses

Today we didn't wake up grumpy even though we fancied going out for a walk and the weather forecast was mostly for "precipitation".

We didn't let the weather get us get down though, as we had two tasks.

One: Get money from the cash machine (as when we tried the one at Lidl on Saturday 2 January, it wasn't working. That wasn't too surprising seeing as it was after the Bank Holidays). Two: Go to the main post office at Galizes AGAIN to see if is open to collect a parcel that we have been trying to collect since Christmas.

One: Lidl cash machine still out of action. We then drove down to Intermarche at Oliveira hoping that their cash machine was working. Thankfully it was. Trouble was, our timing was wrong and we turned up just as the senior school next door to the supermarket was emptying for lunch. This means the cafe at the Intermarche and the queues at the till are full of testosterone infused lads and giggling girls. We ask ourselves, we were that irritating as teenagers? Er....yep!

Two: Our visit to the the Post Office was a failure AGAIN as it was still shut. It has now been closed since 24 December! The card we had left in our post box on Christmas Eve to tell us to collect a parcel had some printed data on it about dates and times but we didn't fully understand it. So when we tried on the Monday after Christmas and the post office was shut, we were philosophical, ah, of course it was shut until...Saturday. Saturday came, Post Office still shut. Our card, at a guess, said it would be open on Monday (today) from 0900 hours. No, still shut...but sign on the door now saying it would open at 1400 hours. As you can imagine we were doubtful. If this Post Office ever opened again it would be a miracle.

So, all in all, by now, we were feeling pretty grumpy.

Anyway, the good news is that when we went back after 2pm the Post Office WAS open at last. There was a lovely long queue of people waiting to have some service. The girl tried to be pleasant but we weren't in the mood. We managed to strangle a "Boa tarde". Anyway, we retrieved our parcel successfully on showing Jon's passport, and managed to post some letters off to the UK. Cue fanfare!

Back at the cottage, there was a break in the rain. With the warm sunshine on our faces and the birds singing in the trees you could almost believe Spring has arrived.

Jon opened the parcel that had a Christmas card and lovely gifts from Laura and Graham. Grumps immediately gone. A ray of sunshine just when it was needed most.

Woodland Walk

We visited a place called Mata da Margaraça, in the Serra do Açor today, to do a geocache. The place was was another geocaching gem.

We managed to find an English written book in the information centre on fauna and flora of the Serra da Estrela mountain range. We had a quick walk down to the river, collecting sweet chestnuts from the ground as we went. We also managed to get a booklet from the information centre indicating 5 other short walks in the local area, and we are looking forward to attempting these.

Another glorious day, still too hot for us to do any serious walking.

On the way back home we made a diversion to Arganil to do a little bit of shopping at Intermarche. We are now equipped with one of their loyalty cards that enables you to get some items at a lower price, as well as collecting points to spend on electrical equipment.

En route we stopped at the Mendes Bar at Secarias. Jon was feeling ravenous, and brave enough to face the prospect of trying to order some food in a Portugese establishment.

In the end we enjoyed a three course meal, with wine and coffee, all for the princely sum of 5.50 euros each! Amazing. We were convinced they'd undercharged us but they were insistent!

Can't believe it's Thursday again, the weeks go so fast!