The tying stone of the donkey

Just occasionally you take a familiar path in a familiar space and spot something that you have never seen before even though it has been there a long time. And such was the case last week with ‘A pedra de amarrar do burro’, the tying stone of the donkey in Alcoutim.Tying Stone opposite the Castle

And it wasn’t just the tying stone we discovered, there was also poetry. The poet is Teresa Rita Lopes born of Faro and now of Lisbon. She is also a playwright, literary professor, director of the Institute of Studies on Modernism and one of the founders of the New University of Lisbon.  Unfortunately though she isn’t one of the 28 Portuguese poets showcased in Richard Zenith’s new bilingual anthology, so the translation below is a combination of Google Translate and myself. I apologise now if through my lack of knowledge and understanding of Portuguese I have missed the nuances of this lovely poem.

I adore donkeys and so I certainly agree with Teresa that they add to the beauty of the Algarvian hills unlike motor cars. However having said that I am very aware we’d never get to Alcoutim if we had to travel by donkey, and the car is certainly easier for the locals too.

We made other new discoveries in Alcoutim last week and so I will be back again soon to share more. For now though let me encourage you to go exploring yourself. Regular readers may have spotted my title was six and that it is a Saturday, and so yes this is my Portuguese entry this week for Cate’s Six Word Saturday. Go on have an explore you never know what you might discover.

Author: BeckyB

It had been a good life walking, cooking, photographing, volunteering, blogging, and best of all spending time with MrB, family, & friends. Sadly it no longer is. Suddenly and unexpectedly I have become a widow.

20 thoughts

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  9. It is one of those things that you can easily miss, isn’t it? I think I was inside the castle one time and when I came out there was Mick admiring it. 🙂 Ever the observant one of us two. Happy Saturday, hon! All well in your world?

    1. So glad I finally spotted it! All well in Portuguese world, but English world not so brill . . .will tell you all about it when we next meet up. How’s things with you both?

        1. Glad all ok with you and that you are enjoying Christmas indulgences already 😊
          And yes sort of….hopefully by Christmas will all be settled

    1. Thanks Dina, he/she really was . . . . could happily have a tile like that in my home and even a donkey in the garden!

      1. Me too. Ever since I met the Herdwick sheep in the Lakes I keep thinking how lovely it’d be to have a couple in the back garden … 🙂

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