The littoral zone

As I visit the beach each day and become aware of the daily changes, it occurred to me several days ago that it might be interesting to take some photos and say a bit about the ever changing littoral zone. But, though I took some photos and tried to find something to show and say, nothing of interest seemed to materialize.

I had pretty much given up on the idea until yesterday when, after the rain, I went to a slightly different part of the beach than I usually go (though I have been by this area many times this year on my way to old town) and found something new that made me think I might do the littoral zone thing after all. The above sunset photo does not show the new thing I am referring to but note the flat beach in this area.

I am sure everyone knows what the "littoral zone" is, but best not to assume - one dictionary definition is "relating to, or denoting the zone of the seashore between high-water and low-water marks". That's close enough.

As the littoral zone is constantly subjected to moving water, things like distribution of sand on a beach is always being revised. Fairly vigorous wave action and rain in the last few days have modified "our beach" substantially.

This is roughly the same area as the photo above and I hope you can appreciate the change from a totally flat to quite eroded beach.

Make sure to click on the photos to access a larger image.

It's interesting that this word, littoral, looks and sounds quite close to "litter", and in some ways what occurs in the littoral zone is a bit like littering, isn't it? The tide and waves wash in and depart leaving all manner of things behind, including our waste - note the plastic bottle here among the other debris.

Some of the leavings are food for the these gulls and, no doubt, for innumerable less visible residents.

In this low tide photo the littoral area is so smooth and clean except for  a few scattered shells and rocks. I particularly like this image.

And all this is fairly boring, which is why I hesitated to do this blog in the first place. So, speaking of shells and rocks, let's get to the bit that prompted me to do this post - it's these things you can see in this photo strewn along the beach in large numbers. What are they? 

Shells. Millions of them! What an incredible sight - all kinds of shells, all colours, sizes and shapes, piled on top of others and strewn for long sections along the beach. And when the waves roll in and out the shells make sounds like castanets as they are thrown against each other and shifted to a new location. 

In some of these photos you can see the shells under the receding water as well as on the sand; an indication of the extent of this accumulation of shells

Some of you who know the ocean much better than I may have seen this before, but it is a new and fascinating experience for me.

Why, suddenly, have all of these shells been deposited here now? They weren't here 3 days ago. We have experienced winds and significant wave action at other times like we had during the last few days but I don't recall seeing anything like this before.

I asked a Portuguese friend about it. She said that one possible explanation is the beach modification last spring that included bringing sand in from off shore. (see earlier blog) This no doubt stirred up the bottom freeing up a lot of material and the machines likely brought in, along with the sand, a lot of other ocean bed material. What the machines didn't bring in the water now seems to as all these shells get washed in and, presumably, out by the tide and wave action. Why they are there now and weren't earlier this year isn't so clear.

 

And, at this point in time they are shells but they were once part of the ocean life. Who knows when they became just shells.

What does seems clear is that when you change the ocean's littoral zone and modify the ocean floor in this way, you never know how the ocean will respond. Now there is more beach for people to walk on but they have to deal with the shells, beautiful for the likes of me to photograph, but not great to walk on, especially in bare feet. Can't beat the natural forces, at least not for long.

Thoughts of a practical nature

We have been here now for just over 5 weeks with 5 days left before we leave, so time to think about the coming days.

Don't forget to click on the photos to see the larger image.

It's quite amazing what two people accumulate in 5 plus weeks, in addition to the extra personal weight from eating way too much excellent Portuguese bread and desserts and, I suppose, too much food in general. But we have been very judicious about eating out and have done so, apart from on our trips, only 3 times since we have been here. Ruth has prepared great dinners with lots of vegetables and mostly fish for protein. That should be good, correct? But desserts, sangria, black olives, wine and snacks are clearly the enemy, so, in spite of walking 5 or more kilometres every day there is fairly clear evidence that too many of those calories have remained on board. Fortunately the airline will not count that in our weight limit. 


Accumulation of calories will definitely have to be taken more seriously when we get home.

And now we have to be attentive to what food we buy so that we can use it up, without over eating, before we leave so that we don't have to throw food out. Ruth has, as you might imagine, lists that make sure that is all sorted out.

The next accumulation matter for attention is that of things purchased while we were here - personal things and gifts, all of which must find a place in the available suit case space. It turns out that Ruth has accumulated more personal stuff than I and she has also attended to the matter of gifts more than I. So, in spite of an acknowledged significantly limited sense of how much will fit into any given space, she will also take responsibility for sorting out this matter of space. 

Fortunately, what she lacks in the sphere of space assessment she more than makes up for in the capacity to adapt to the impending crisis, from my point of view, when it appears that there may not be enough room to accommodate all the stuff in the closet.  One bag is already packed and, at least at this point, there is general, though cautious, optimism that the extra duffle we brought in my suitcase, the space freed up by removal of the duffle and the expansion capacity in my case will provide the necessary extra volume. 

Of course, we will only be sure next Tuesday evening when everything, even those things we have forgotten to include on the list, will have to find a place, or the gods forbid, be left behind.

Stay tuned.




The photos included may seem, on the surface, to have nothing to do with this somewhat frivolous commentary. 


But they were taken on my way to or at the beach this morning while I was trying to avoid thinking about the matter under discussion here. So, in that context, they are at least somewhat relevant.

Thoughts on things

Well, I thought that after the long piece on Évora I would be quiet for a while, but here I am winging it again. Not sure where this is going, so please don't expect any coherence.

I'm thinking about good things coming to an end as we leave here one week from tomorrow. Of course, it seems like we just arrived but also like we have been here for quite a while.

I am in that ambivalence zone, not wanting to leave, especially the warm, but also ready to be back home. And, strange as it may seem to some, I am missing Amber.

So, in this frame of mind I go to the ocean to look and listen. When the water is fairly quiet, I watch the water break on the beach then recede. I don't know if you have had the opportunity or been interested in this, but if you have you will know that it not only leaves interesting patterns in the sand, of which I showed some photos last year, but it creates endlessly interesting patterns of a mix of foam, water and sand.

I find it fascinating to watch these patterns develop and have taken quite a few photos of them, a few of which are here.

Here is another pattern that I quite like.

And this one, which you have seen before but I like it a lot so think worth showing it again in case you missed it.

And, at the other end of the action spectrum, the last couple of days we have had some wind and the ocean is pretty active, pounding the shore more vigorously than usual. So there is interesting spray to be seen against these rocks and,

aided by the folks who built the new breakwater, there is a new obstacle for the ocean to pound.

I know, everyone has seen waves raising mountains of spray and, especially for those of you on the west coast, these are ho-hum. But for a prairie lad and the photographer in me, it is endlessly engaging watching and waiting for the next even bigger splash.

So it seems that at times like this, I can spend a lot of time watching and listening to the power of the water and being here instead of thinking about leaving.



I must go down to the sea again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume and the sea gulls crying.

A verse from Sea Fever by John Masefield

One of my favourite poems (and one of the few of which I remember at least a bit) 

Évora 3

Tuesday evening we decided that, though there a quite a few listed "attractions" we hadn't seen, we would spend the next day exploring the city wall and the parks on our way to the aqueduct.

When I went out at about 6:30 am to check out the public park (which is just inside the wall) in the early morning light, it was about 3 degrees C. Fortunately, the sun was shining so the light was excellent, but the park was closed! Back to the hotel for breakfast. When we set out for the park just after 8:30 it had warmed considerably and the park was now open.

When you enter you are in a beautiful tree covered area with lots of flower beds around and a small outdoor sitting drinking coffee area. Then you come to this white building which is the remains of the 16th century Palace of Dom Manuel, also known as the Royal palace of São Francisco (the church of St. Francis is immediately next to the park). The original palace, built by the Avis dynasty, was a mixture of Gothic, Manueline, neo-Moorish and Renaissance styles. What remains here today is the Gallery of Ladies, where it is said that Vasco da Gama received his command of the expedition he led to discover the sea route to India. What is very recognizable in the photo are the Moorish arches both on some of the windows and in the portico at the end of the building. Remember to click on any photo to see a larger version.

Continuing past the palace remains we found totally unexpected moorish ruins - no indication of what they were. Likely built by the Moors during their "occupation" of this area but what it was is a mystery.

This area was also populated, for some reason, by peacocks wandering about freely and despite the apparent freedom they seemed not to leave the area.

Our intent was to stay near the wall so we moved on, still in a park-like area until we came to a picnic area where there were stone or concrete tables and chairs.

It was a beautiful setting and the tables and benches looked neat in the mix of sun and shade but I can't imagine they would be too comfortable. Neither of us tried sitting on the chairs, so can't comment on it.

We stayed along the wall, inside when possible, but there are very nice walkways outside the walls as well.

Part of the inside walk was a bit tricky as the street we chose was very narrow and the sidewalk equally narrow. Even so, we reached the aqueduct more quickly than we expected.

The aqueduct was built between 1531 and 1537 on the direction of King João III in order to supply water to the town of Évora. It was designed by Francisco de Arruda, the same architect who had designed the Belem Tower in Lisboa. The length of the aqueduct isn't entirely clear - the information I have found puts it somewhere between 9 and 18 Kilometers. Also, I am not sure of the water source so at the moment not at all sure of the length. And it originally terminated at Praça de Giraldo; it now ends not far from the wall in the northwestern part of the walled city, some distance from the Praça.

Under the arches of the aqueduct within the city wall people have built things, including homes, and one of those homes has a very nice chimney pot for my growing collection of chimney pot photos! Enlarge the photo and you will see it.

Having satisfied our objectives for the day early, we decided to check out the the Roman gate towers and the Largo das Portas de Moura, but first we took this street on our way to a very nice little cafe, Café da Violette for a sumos de laranja (orange juice).

Then on to Praça de Giraldo en route to the towers and Largo das Portas de Moura, with some shopping along the way. We had excellent help from an extremely friendly and enthusiastic young man who has worked in his mother's small gift store for 22 years!

There was no problem understanding the Roman gate towers. Here you can see the two square gate towers with the cathedral towers behind. But the Portas de Moura was another matter.

The Portus de Moura were quite obvious and attractive but exactly what their presence here was about was not clear to us, though much is made of this Renaissance style fountain of the 16th century.

But nothing we could find explains the Moorish gates, seen more clearly in this photo.

Near this square we sat under a sun umbrella and had a relaxing late lunch of tosta com presunto e queijo e sumos de laranja (essentially a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and orange juice) at a small outdoor cafe. Then we made our way back to Cafe Violette for treats,

a brief rest in a Largo nearby (where we saw this tree against the very blue sky) before walking to the bus terminal and the 3 hour bus ride. So, the end of a couple of excellent days!

Évora 2

One of the really great things about this visit to Évora was that we were on our own - no schedule - so we were free to do what we wanted, change our minds, just wander leisurely. And that's what we did.

We arrived at around noon on Tuesday after a 3 hour bus ride and, as I mentioned in the last blog, had lunch in Praça Giraldo and made plans to visit the Cathedral, the Roman temple and the Palàcio de Cadaval - which we did. And, of course, a little shopping happened in there somewhere. I talked about the cathedral in the last blog so on to the temple and the palace.

The Roman Corinthian style temple of Évora, often erroneously called the temple of Diana, was likely built in the 1st century AD in honour of Emperor Augustus who was venerated as a god. In the 5th century Évora was invaded and the temple was essentially destroyed. The ruins were incorporated into the Évora Castle during the middle ages. They remained embedded in the walls of the medieval building, which was allegedly used as a butcher shop from the 14th century, until 1836. The incorporation into the medieval wall likely helped preserve the ruins from further destruction until 1871 when restoration began and the layers of the wall were removed.

The complete base (the podium), the columns and the bit between the capitals and the roof (which I learned are called architraves), are granite while the base of the columns and the capitals are marble, thought to be from a quarry not far from here.

It's quite a surreal feeling to stand next to a structure like this that was made by the Romans over 2000 years ago. Awe, I guess, is the feeling, realizing the sophistication of the engineering of the entire structure, but especially the nearly 8 meter high granite columns the shape of which is precisely designed to bear the enormous weight of the upper part of this temple. And, though the temple has had some help of the centuries, part of it is still there to be seen over 2000 years later.

Palàcio de Cadaval - This photo shows a bit of the courtyard and the stairway we used to get to the second level of the Palàcio de Cadaval. This building is a remnant of a palace which burnt down in 1384 during the people’s revolt. It now has a 17th century front, dominated by the architectural style of the Manueline-Moorish period, and the Tower of Five Shields, but we failed to note or recognize either of these.

Previously the palace of the governor of Évora, it was also used in the past as a royal residence. Much to the annoyance of the folks in Lisboa, several royal personages apparently chose to reside much of the time in Évora. The Duke of Bragança, D. Fernando II didn't fare well in Évora though as he was apparently sentenced to death here in 1483.

This image looks across the courtyard to the tower of the Lóios church and convent (now a Pousada - sort of a hotel) adjacent to the palace and to the view beyond. Note the small conical structure and the moorish arch over the doorway (did you click to enlarge the photo so you can see the arch?). We're not sure what this is, but it could be what remains of an oven or cooking area related to the old Moor building, described as a "primitive castle" in one piece I read, behind the palace. We didn't explore this structure further.

Though some of this "palace" was quite attractive (see some of the photos), overall we were both puzzled and disappointed in this place.

It is identified as a palace, but it certainly didn't fit our expectations of one. It rather seems to be a large old building decorated with old paintings and artifacts, none of which provided any real coherence that we could find. We enjoyed all of our other experiences in Évora so much, but this one did fall short of expectations.

This photo taken from the balcony outside the entrance to the palace, includes the upper part of the temple and the towers of the cathedral in the distance.

This was the end of our planned day so we decided to walk back the Giraldo and then to our hotel, the Dom Fernando.

On our way to the hotel we passed the Church of St. Francis (tower of the church in this photo) which houses the Chapel of Bones, neither of which we had time to visit (we had seen a chapel of bones in Faro and visiting another was not high on our list).

When we first arrived at the hotel at noon, we noticed a very interesting structure across from the hotel. As you can see from the photos, it is very unusual and we thought it must be one of the attractions in Évora, but we were completely wrong. It turns out, as far as we could tell, to be just an interesting looking church.

I went out before dinner to explore the city wall which was just a block away (our hotel is outside the city wall) and found some interesting things in the beautiful public park just inside the wall.

Later, we had a nice dinner of regional food and planned activities for the following day. More on that in the next blog.