When touring, it pays to expect the unexpected. That way it’s not unexpected. Is it? With a one in a million chance of being struck by lightning, you’d think the saying ‘It never strikes twice in the same place’, would hold true. Yet, try telling that to Roy Sullivan. A Guinness Book record holder.
We’ve enjoyed the luxury of this peaceful site and its pool, but it’s time to move on.
Day 30 – This morning’s intentions to head northwards again are brought to a halt. Even before a twist of the ignition key. Mr S’s beady eye spies another pointy trespasser. Embedded in the very same front tyre. More chunky than his compatriot. But a potential problem nonetheless.
Time to phone Jorge Jesus. “OK. Can you come this afternoon? No? OK, come now”
Another queue of hopeful customers stand in a ragged line at the entrance to his workshop. Jorge calmly juggles the different problems presented to him. His quiet calmness infectious. He seems to float between each expectant with a masterful air. All ready to bow down at his beckoning. Every new arrival acknowledged. Patience pervades.
Four Asian men, their car jacked high on a lift, need a new alternator €250; an old teenager enquires about his repaired bumper. “Come back after lunch, I’ll have it ready”; a German man, here for the surfing, calls in on spec. His hired campervan has a defunct leisure battery. Fridge and freezer contents on the melt. Jorge makes a brief phone call “Come back at 5pm – I’ll fit a new one. €290”. Other vehicles are backed up. Overlap the entrance. Spill out onto the main road. Called to their messiah. Frequent queries from his small army of workshop disciples intermingle and are efficiently dealt with. Meanwhile he’s supervising a young novice. Delegated to deal with the metal intruder. A form of initiation test. Like a tooth under anaesthetic, the extraction is painless. It hasn’t pierced the tyre wall. No air escapes. It’s taken for a baptism. Full submersion. To be on the safe side. Not a single bubble rises to the surface. A miraculous healing. Alleluia!
“How much Jorge?” “No charge” – that’s painless too. Very. Somehow not unexpected.
Day 31 – Yesterday’s blip, yet another example of the future becoming the present, then the past. On our way to tonight’s stopover at Parque de Campismo Orbitur Foz de Arelho (I could simply have written campsite, but this sounds much more exotic), we spend a lovely afternoon exploring Buddha Eden. The largest oriental garden in Europe. It’s a massive outdoor exhibition sprawling over 86 acres. Undulating and manicured to perfection. Created using over six thousand tons of marble and granite. Buddhas, stone sculptures of all shapes and sizes, blue terracotta soldiers, metal herds of African beasts are scattered throughout the garden.
Created by art enthusiast Comendador Jose Berardo as a reaction to the 2001 Taliban destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
