Day 9; L3: Portugal, Philippe, the Catskills/NYC

A sunny day, but windy. I didn't bother with the beach. So today's photos come from Nazare, Portugal - north of Lisbon, on the Atlantic Coast, and home of the biggest waves ever surfed. The giant waves here, generated by an underwater canyon, are legendary. Surf wasn't pumping when we were there (Aug 2019) as it's not big wave season, but it's a pretty spectacular place all the same.

The old square sits high on the clifftop with a lighthouse and fort jutting out to sea. To the north is the golden expanse of Praia do Norte beach where the huge Atlantic waves roll in (October to March) and, to the south, the more sedate Praia de Nazaré beach with its colourful beach shelters, terracotta rooftops, sun-worshippers and swimmers (pictured).

Praia de Nazare (the giant waves form on the other beach to the north)

The old fort on the clifftop houses a Surf Museum displaying boards that have survived the big waves and showcasing stories of the bold surfers who have ridden them. Quirky gull sculptures stand on guard upon the fort walls, adding a lovely creative element.

Here's a photo of Lisbon.

Twilight in Lisbon

LUNCH: Pics peanut butter and Maasdam cheese on an English muffin - a good taste sensation.

DINNER: The chicken/vege satay on rice I was intending to make last night but ran out of time to cook due to quiz. It was a Street Kitchen Asian stir-fry kit thing - you know the deal, they give you some sachets of sauce and spice mix etc. I don't usually buy this sort of thing but thought I'd give it a go as an easy lockdown meal. Hmm, it was okay but not great. I scoffed it down as I was hungry, but it wasn't satay as I know or like it. Won't be getting that again.

That's the second kit meal I've tried during lockdown (the other was butter chicken). Both were decidedly average. Next time I'll create from scratch myself. No more kit meals for me!

You'll notice a lack of Breakfasts mentioned - I've simply never been a breakfast person. Sometimes I'll have avocado on toast or a banana, occasionally some muesli and yoghurt but really, I'm not interested in food until mid-morning. Two meals a day works for me. Unless on holiday!!

As I ate my mediocre satay I watched "Man on Wire" about Philippe Petit, a very unusual French man, gifted with an array of magic and circus-style talents that elude most of us. He walked on a wire between the Twin Towers in NY in 1974. Bonkers! Not only did he walk from one tower to the other, he went between them EIGHT times! And lay down in the middle. Several times. And taunted the police officers waiting for him on each tower, going up close and then turning round and running away to the other tower! He was actually having fun up there. With no harness. For 45 minutes. On a misty breezy morning. Iconic scenes unfolding right there - and no one really knowing what's actually going on as it took the city by surprise.

Philippe, you are seriously talented and clever (they're different skills and he has both in spades) - and seriously bonkers!

This is a doco I've been meaning to watch for some time now - almost a real life cops and robbers story, as his walk was without permission and quite how they pulled it off, I still can't fathom. It was basically a well-planned heist of the top of the Twin Towers. The logistics to carry this out were enormous - and almost didn't come off, but it's like it was absolutely meant to.

It's a hugely engaging watch and that sky-walk changed many things in his life, not necessarily for the good - he lost friendships, split up with his girlfriend, moved to the US, has done many more wire walking feats. Did fame go to his head? Perhaps.

But I actually think he's from another planet!

During lockdown I've watched humans do amazing things: scale a rockface; walk across the sky; draw the impossible; dance to perfection; design breathtaking dresses, survive the unsurvivable ... getting my head around the crazy superhuman feats that some people get up to is as unsettling as it is inspiring.

I spent most of my day on the computer, quietly progressing projects and overcoming contortions of mind and spirit rather than body! I'll reveal more in due course. I'm just very glad the dining chairs here at Omaha are comfy, although they don't have the flexibility and mobility of an office chair - or a dancer or wire walker!

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:

New York ...

I've only spent a few days there, back in 2006 - not long enough but very memorable. I arrived into JFK (from Paris) on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. No one was travelling and the airport was deserted. So was my flight for that matter. Suited me! And was just as well as I had a bit of strife at immigration. They wouldn't let me into the country unless I could give them the address of where I was staying that night. I was heading straight upstate to the Catskills to stay with friends. I had all the instructions on how to get from the airport to Grand Central, which platform to head for and train to take, and where to get off - Poughkeepsie, which is where I would be picked up from. But ... and here's the problem ... I had no idea what my friend's actual physical address was as I didn't need to know it. Hmm. Problem. Big problem.

I did have my friend's phone number and I did have an old cell phone, but it didn't work - can't recall the details but I couldn't get through. Things weren't quite like today with roaming and whatnot. I suggested they might call her to verify that I did have somewhere to stay. Here's her number, right here, I said. No, they wouldn't be doing that. And just left me standing there. I gave them the name of the Hotel in NYC where I would be staying when I returned to Manhattan in a few days. Showed them my booking details. (The Lexington in midtown Manhattan, a good option BTW). They weren't having a bar of it, they needed to know the exact address of where I was staying TONIGHT.

Yikes, this was getting a bit serious. Think, Sally, think. I've got myself out of worse tangles and was sure I'd get myself out of this one. But I admit I was getting a little worried. I can still see myself standing at that desk wondering what the hell to do next.

It was an impasse. I really had to gather all my resources and positivity on this one. This address thing must have been an extra post 9/11 security thing I wasn't aware of. Hmm. It was very frustrating as, given 9/11 stay-away-syndrome, these guys were really just standing around doing nothing much. Come on guys, help me out here ...! Thankfully, they eventually relented and rang Ro, who verified me and gave them the address they needed. Phew. I was finally on my way. Ultimately not so hard. But boy was it hard!!!

Moral of the story - always know the address of where you are going to stay the night of arrival in a city - even if you don't need to know it!

I'll never forget making my way through Grand Central Station (wow), or that train ride up the Hudson ... and that was just the beginning of my short 5-day stay in New York state.

I had a wonderful time with Ro and her family in the Catskills - lots of laughs, drinking home-made wine, chatting for hours into the night in the spa pool, visiting her creative friend with the most astounding studio, seeing the countryside, a bit of shopping. They live not too far from Woodstock. But mostly just getting to really know each other.

How do I know Ro? We had met online in 1996 when we were pregnant with our second kids - babies due in May 1996. It was in the early days of the internet and a global Maymoms group was set up which I got wind of and joined. Mostly American women, but also from all around the world. There were two Kiwis, an Australian, a handful of Europeans and Canadians, but mostly Americans. About 60 of us I think, although maybe more. We used to exchange stories of how our pregnancies were going, older kids, family life, where we lived, what we did for work etc. Our frustrations, difficulties, joys and elation. It was all via a sort of broader email thing from memory. And a kind of pregnancy therapy in its own way! Absolutely groundbreaking at the time and I think we were the first group of its kind.

Of course, we all shared tales of our births and May babies and their progress and our challenges. We shared tales of our DH (dear husband) - the "dear" could have ambiguous overtones and we all understood, in the context of the writing, which way things were going!

Our Maykids are all now 24, or about to turn it. Just about everyone from the beginning days is still active and we still keep connected via Facebook. Those who live reasonably close to each other catch up in person when possible.

Many are active on FB and even though I don't post a lot myself, I love reading their posts and feel connected to these women and their families, who I've known, pretty intimately, via the internet for 24 years. What a privilege.

And so this is how I got to know Ro and how I came to stay with her and her family in upstate NY in 2006.

Also, in 2003 Brett and the boys and I had a ski holiday in California and we met up with some Maymoms and kids in LA area at Universal Studios. Great fun.

Maykids have graduated, travelled, got jobs, got married, making their way in the world. Alas, some Maykids and Maymoms have been lost to this world, now precious memories.

I know that, wherever I go in the world, if a Maymom lives there, I'll be welcome. And they'll always be welcome here - except we're so far from most of them. And even further, right now, than ever before. For some time to come. But 24 years of global group connection via computer has to be something of a record I think. Actually, it would be 25 years as we first connected in 1995 when we were all pregnant.

So back to the glories of NYC - wow, what an amazing couple of days I had in that city, all too short. Empire State Building, boho shopping areas, the subway, walking, food and pinch me moments on every block! Due to the short time I had there, it was more about just experiencing being there, rather than ticking off sights. The most poignant thing was a visit to Ground Zero and the Tribute Museum. Being the fifth anniversary, and still quite raw, it was very sobering.

I met up for dinner with a friend I'd worked with in London. And on my final morning, I ran around Times Square in the rain (bought an umbrella), popped into the Guggenheim, walked more than a few blocks looking at shops, people watching etc. And still pinching myself.

Oops, I lingered a bit too long, savouring every last taste of NY. Got back to my hotel, checked out and, Oh help - due to the rain, there was a long wait for a taxi. Yikes. Thanks to the very nice hotel doorman (who saw me fretting just a bit), I managed to share a ride with the very nice couple in front of me who were also airport bound. The taxi driver cast a bit of magic and I made it with time to spare. We all had a blast en route and it was one of those potentially dicey but ultimately rewarding travel moments you remember - all these 14 years later!