Mo, the seagull

After our last blog post almost three weeks ago, we headed north and finally managed to leave the Algarve. On the way, we spent two nights at a parking space where I took the opportunity to remove a few small rust spots on the roof and door. They are only superficial things, but in Portugal's winter, despite the often warm days, it can get very cold and damp at night, and rust loves that.

A few days later, we reached the Bianca animal shelter near Sesimbra, where our Filou lived for 6 months before we adopted him. The director could still remember him, but Filou apparently couldn't remember her. We spent a total of two days at Bianca and were very positively surprised. There is a large facility for the dogs with several "parks". The kennels are generously built and cleaned every day, during this time the dogs are allowed out and can move freely in the park. There is also a cat house with different rooms - one for the younger kitties, one for the older ones, one for the sick ones, etc. Hygiene is strictly observed, for example, you have to disinfect your hands before changing rooms in the cat house. But as nice as everything sounds; due to some recent changes in the law, many animal shelters in Portugal are overcrowded, including Bianca. One change in the law states that dogs are no longer allowed to be killed, which is great in itself, but there are still just as many animals. Another law has recently come into force, which requires every dog to be microchipped and registered. The aim of this law is that no one can simply abandon their dog, as the owner can be easily found. The flip side: since the introduction of this law, many people have been abandoning their animals because they find the registration fee of about 30 euros at the veterinarian too expensive.

On the first day, we were given a tour of Bianca and then allowed to photograph and film independently. We have already edited a small film and uploaded it to Youtube, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLyRH46fLeg

It would be great if you could share this video with people who are looking to get a pet. Maybe someone would rather give a home to an animal from Portugal instead of buying a purebred dog from a breeder. And for those who now say, "why get one from abroad, we also have animal shelters here in Switzerland" --> true, but: the demand for dogs in Switzerland could not be met by Swiss animal shelters alone, because there are too few dogs in the shelters. The Swiss animal protection organization STS confirmed this to me just last week. So there are only two options left: get an expensive purebred dog from a breeder or adopt a dog from abroad. Everyone should choose for themselves what they want, but I think you should at least be aware of all the options. If anyone wants to adopt a dog or cat from Bianca, they can do so through the Casa Animales animal welfare organization (www.casa-animales.de) or simply inquire directly at the shelter (www.bianca.pt).

For our report, we then conducted an interview with Ana Duarte, the shelter director. She does her work voluntarily and unpaid, alongside her 100% job, which she does elsewhere in an office. She hasn't had a vacation in over 10 years and does her work for Bianca with a lot of passion. But we don't want to reveal more at this point - our report will be finished soon and we hope to find a suitable editorial team to publish it in their magazine, so you can read everything there. We'll keep you updated.

On the second day, we helped clean the cat house in the morning. It was quite fun because cats kept coming, rubbing against our legs and climbing on us.

In the afternoon, we continued driving to a parking space on the outskirts of Lisbon and stayed there for 5 nights. The parking space was right next to a pretty alternative "artist's house" that had several rehearsal rooms, a small theater, a bar, a restaurant, and a large library. There were live concerts there on the weekends. The night cost 15 euros including electricity. We met a Swiss couple there - Simone and Jonas - with whom we spent a lot of time. They are also traveling with their camper for a year and have a similar route to ours. Maybe we'll meet them again further north. We also made a furry friendship, namely with a small female pit bull named Bisquette. She belonged to another camper at the parking space. We usually have a lot of respect for so-called "fighting dog breeds", but Bisquette was simply adorable. The way she looked at you and approached you was simply irresistible, she had something loving about her. Once, when Sarah went to the nearby park with Filou, she suddenly followed her - she had followed Sarah across a busy street. We meet dogs every day, but Bisquette was something very special.

In Lisbon, we visited the Alfama and Belem districts, and Sarah also visited the history museum, which she really liked. Lisbon impressed us a lot, especially Alfama with its narrow alleys and colorful houses, and of course the old trams that are still in operation.

After Lisbon, we drove north towards Sintra. We actually wanted to visit the Parque da Pena, which houses an impressive palace with a kind of fairy forest. We drove up a long, winding road to this park, but then the police suddenly stood there and sent us in another direction without explanation. And somehow we got completely lost and suddenly ended up at the westernmost point of Europe - Cabo da Roca. There is not much there other than a lighthouse on the coast, and yet there was quite a lot going on. The whole square was crowded with Asian tour groups. We didn't stay long - somehow we were a bit worried about the coronavirus. So we continued driving and finally ended up at a secluded lagoon on the outskirts of Peniche.

There was a small brown and white dog - we named him Woody - without a collar and with eczema under his armpits. He was rummaging through the trash when we arrived. I know we have to be careful when we encounter stray dogs with Filou, but we have never had any problems so far. Firstly, most stray dogs are very peaceful, and secondly, Filou is vaccinated, has a Scalibor collar, and if he does pick up a few fleas, they will be gone quickly with a spot-on treatment. Filou and Woody played together a bit, we treated Woody to dinner, and at the same time, we contacted Gabriela Clemens from the Casa Animales animal welfare organization to ask what to do with Woody. A little later in the evening, she wrote back to us, telling us to take him into the camper so that he wouldn't disappear, and to drive to the Bianca shelter the next day. It was dark by then. So I went outside with a flashlight and called for Woody, suddenly two big dogs were standing in front of me, barking and growling. I quickly jumped back into the camper and turned on the headlights. In front of our camper stood two big, massive Labrador mixes, one beige and one black. Neither of them had a collar on. I called Gabriela again and told her that there were more stray dogs and that I was a bit scared of the two. She said that the dogs probably wouldn't hurt me. With renewed courage, I went outside again, and when the two dogs approached me growling again, I quickly threw some treats on the ground. And behold, the growling stopped, the dogs greedily devoured the treats, and then came wagging their tails towards me.

We went to Leiria the next morning. We decided to do a challenge called "100 Days of Sweat". The goal is to break a sweat every day for 100 days in a row. We started with a 40-minute swimming session at the indoor pool in Leiria. In the evening, we watched the movie "Jojo Rabbit" in a cinema at a shopping center - highly recommended!

After the movie, we actually wanted to continue driving to a nice spot on the beach, but as soon as we started driving, we realized how tired we were. In the darkness and rain, visibility was also very poor, so we returned to Leiria and spent the night near a skate park.

The next morning, we continued driving to Gafanha da Boah Hoara. There was a parking space there for 10 euros including electricity, right by the sea. We stayed for two nights and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and warm temperatures. After nearly a week of rain, the sun did its best, and we felt like on a wonderful late May spring day in Switzerland. It makes jogging really enjoyable.

Today, on the highway, I - unfortunately, Sarah was on her phone and didn't notice - experienced an incredibly scary situation. We were driving 120 km/h on the highway. A large truck was overtaking a small car in front of us. For reasons unknown to me, the truck kept moving further to the right as if he wanted to change back to the right lane, but the small car was only halfway past. And then he actually collided with the small car! Luckily, the driver of the small car reacted quickly. The car swerved to the right, but she managed to steer it back and regain control. Man, that could have gone really wrong. Knock on wood!

Meanwhile, we are on day 6 of our challenge. We have never exercised for so many consecutive days before, and so far we are having a great time, we just feel great. But 100 days is a long time, I'm curious if we can really keep it up for that long. So far, we are highly motivated.

By the way, an addition regarding stray dogs. The further north we drove, the more stray dogs we saw. Just yesterday, at three different locations, we spotted a total of 8 stray dogs. It's pretty sad.

And finally, we have a small announcement: we know when we will be back in Switzerland! Our route until summer is more or less clear. In the next two weeks, we will be hiking the Camino de Santiago from the Portugal-Spain border to Santiago de Compostela with Sarah's mother. After that, we will drive to Holland to visit Sarah's grandparents within two weeks, and at the end of March or beginning of April, we will go to the United Kingdom. For 2-3 months, we want to explore England, Scotland, and Ireland in our camper, and then leisurely return to Switzerland - at least temporarily. There are various reasons for this. On the one hand, we think that summer in Switzerland is simply great. Relaxing with friends at the swimming pool, having a BBQ, hiking, swimming in the lake - yes, we are a bit homesick! On the other hand, we think that it is pretty inconvenient to travel around with a dog during high season. On the one hand, due to the heat, we can't leave Filou alone in the camper, so we have to take him everywhere. On the other hand, there are many restrictions for dogs, especially in the summer. Many beaches do not allow dogs, although there are dog beaches, but it's not really relaxing when you're lying on a full peed-on meadow with 20 other dogs and one keeps running over your towel. So the plan is to return to Switzerland sometime in July or August and travel around in our camper for 1-2 months, visit friends, and discover new places in Switzerland. Maybe we will also start looking for an apartment, which is not so easy in Zug. Whether we will stay in Switzerland or go on another trip for 2-3 months in autumn is still open. It also depends on the financial means, and predicting that is not so easy.

In two days, we will meet Sarah's mother in Porto and then head off to the Camino de Santiago. While Sarah and Irene will walk a total of 100 kilometers, I will move the van from place to place and walk towards them each time. It will definitely be great Days of Sweat!

Until next time!

Author: Stephanie Köllinger