Armação de Pêra: Courage, Mastery, Faith...

Armação de Pêra is a tourist town, of course, but its heart is fishing. I found this tribute to some of their more famous fisherman. It was covered with photos of these hard-working guys with words describing them. I translated them for you:

“Strength, soul, demand, obstinacy, courage, mastery, perseverance, faith, dedication, bravery, wild, tradition, complicity, dexterity, resilience, hardness.”  I can’t help but think of those descriptions as I look at these pics!

There’s no marina here, yet the beach is lined with boats that’ve been dragged up onto the sand by the big tractor. Some boats are for tours. Those are fun to watch coming in… reminds me of Mexico. The boat full of life-vested people cling to their seats as the captain hits the sand at full speed. They scramble out as the tractor hooks up the boat and drags it further up the shore.

The interesting part is how everyone on the beach stays out of the way—usually. Every once and awhile someone lost in their own little world keeps walking across the incoming boat’s path. The pilot skids to a stop (in the water) and heads back out for another try.

But fishing is really what it’s all about. Every restaurant proudly displays whatever was caught that day. Chalkboards have smudged out menu items that’ve been gobbled up by the masses. Big steaming pots are set in the middle of the table. The lid is lifted off and everyone leans forward to sniff the air appreciatively. They use big ladles to spoon out clams, mussels, chunks of fish, lobster, shrimp, and octopus.

Lots of menus brag about having cuttlefish with black ink. Why in the world would anyone want black ink in their food?

Down by the fisherman’s shacks are piles of netting. Little wood stools are occupied by silent men working on the nets or whatever else needs repairing.

Throughout the city are various grocery stores with excellent fish counters—twice as big as the meat counter. The most intense is the open market. Everyone is shouldering their way around each other to get a better look at that fresh octopus or golden bream. It absolutely stinks to high heaven, but no one seems to mind.

Joe got shamed into ordering sardines at a restaurant the other day. He’s glad he tried them, but they were too much work getting around the bones. I’ve had fresh cod several times (not a local fish anymore here in Portugal) and it’s much, much better than the bacalhau (the national obsession), which is dried cod that’s been rehydrated. Unfortunately, every time I’ve tried it, it has been stringy and chewy—not my favorite.

So, I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I did. :)