The church and cemetery of Samuel are situated in a beautiful spot. I have cherished memories buried there. We once held a surprise picnic on October 31 with the whole group. The whole cemetery was decorated with candles and flowers, with a majestic full moon above it. Good times. I’m quite early for this trip […]
Church bells jingleling Read More »
Although parking was a bit of a challenge due to the crowds, we were still fine on time. I invited a friend to come to this concert – I had seen the announcement of the Soweto Gospel Choir a few weeks ago – and I thought it would be fun, finally a cultural outing again,
Concert Soweto Gospel Choir Read More »
“Well, this is really worth the detour,” Yvonne says appreciatively, “I’m glad I followed Henriëtte’s recommendation. Nice to have a room all to myself for a few nights. Take a break.” Yvonne walks the pilgrimage route to Fátima, with stamp booklet and al She has already done the road to Santiago de Compostela. “It’s getting
The phone rings. A Luxembourg number. That’s not surprising, because a quarter of Luxembourg’s population consists of portuguese emigrés, who usually come to the mother country on holiday at this time of year. It’s not about what I expect: a question for a room reservation It’s about something completely different, and before I understand what
Turns out, the olive tree has another owner Read More »
L.S. After church service this morning, part of a chant (“where angels are rulers”) popped into my mind and I wanted to figure out the whole chant.For this I searched in the old hymnal of my sister Arta and also came across a map of a certain Willeke, also on behalf of Sebe, Welmoed and
Mysterious email and majestic music Read More »
When I turned 50, I thought it was time for a tea cozy. Fifty is a great age to introduce something like this into your household – the symbol of domestic swagger. Apparently others thought so too, because I got it for my birthday – with a lot of comment as well. He’s gone to
What’s missing? A portuguese apron! Read More »
Dear readers, I’m going to teach you a lesson about coffee this week. About the real coffee. Not the dutch version, not the english variety – which is probably lukewarm with a foam head on top – not the french soup bowls with colored water, not even over the well-known italian pep. Excuse me, but
A lesson about Portuguese coffee Read More »
After some texting back and forth, he figured it out: Harald is coming on Saturday. He found it difficult to commit because if you leave at random like he did, and you’ll see what happens, well … then … then you’ll see what happens. I had warned that it might be more convenient not to
Storms, monasteries, and all those things that bump in the night Read More »
“I don’t know if it will work, because they have only scheduled us here for one day,” says one of the three solar panel installers, “We are going to do our best.”“Maybe it’s because it’s going to rain tomorrow. At least that’s the prediction,” I answer, “but maybe I should call ahead and say that
Solar panels in the rain Read More »
P: Bonjour Ellen, I wanted to ask you something: do you mind if I park my beautiful Dacia somewhere on your estate for 3 weeks from Saturday morning? I go to take a portuguese course at the university in Coimbra but parking space is scarce there, so I prefer to park the car safely in
Crash course portuguese at the University of Coimbra Read More »
