621 – Buddha Eden 

Farewell to Santa Susana – northward bound… We had met an American lady (living in Portugal) at Bacalhoa near Setubal who told us about Buddha Eden – wow factor again!  Thousands of hectares devoted to Buddhism, peace and tranquility – perhaps Mr Trump should visit?  

Dogs (of peace not war) were allowed in the gardens – Oscar is eminently qualified…  K question – why is Buddha always male?  Someone out there will know.  Our K is always peaceful and tranquil – eh, Oscar?.  Even when you, Oscar snaffled the bag of treats in the van when K’s back was turned. Less rations in your dinner then, O.

Once again, no apologies for letting the photos do the talking…  I know we’re old fashioned – but when did we stop calling our pictures “holiday snaps”?

On to Peniche – home of Dictator Salazar’s prison and ‘interrogation’ chambers, fort, old town and harbour.

“Knock, knock” – “Who’s there” – a local fishermen selling fresh fish – £0.85 for a meal!  We are in Portugal…  K here:  think it may be sardines, but they all need gutting whatever they are!

Sorry, Oscar wants his say – again…..

 

Oscar’s Diary

Hi there – me again – just a quick catch up – I need to be on my paws in case her nibs leaves the bag of treats unattended – again!  Why should I get blamed if K is a bit remiss?  OK – 7 may have been a bit much to grab in one go – but… no, James – it was definitely not 17!!!

I can’t remember if I mentioned how nice it was when Alison stayed with us for a week?  Maybe I’m repeating myself – but – she’s nice – called me ‘darling’ a lot.  Made the hairs inside my ears stand horizontal. I know with humans it’s ‘hairs on their necks standing up’ – but, we’re well, different.  Nice warm feeling – pity she had to go back to a very cold place called Bath?  Imagine cold Bath(s) in January… 

K and J are still OK (I’ve stopped calling them my owners – they know their place, I think…)  They are really kind people per se (I learned some Latin too) – philantropical or philandering, maybe – philaundering?  Fil-Something – filofoxily – wily old birds…

James has this geetar instrument that K kindly gave him for Christmas – let’s say, he practices most days. Now, I’m no great musician, me – but I do have an ear (or two) – and I say quietly, he needs to expand his repeatery, sorry repertoire…  He doesn’t censor my diary, I hope.  Sometimes, he quotes Shakespeare/Marlowe (don’t get him started on that subject!) – like when I knocked over something trivial – his wine!  “Get thee to a K9ery” he said!  I don’t want to be a nun, or a monk, either…

Gotta go – I heard my doggie bowl being lifted out of the saucepan cupboard… They have given me new dog food – reduced rations – 160 g down to 125g (!) – K has rebuked me for taking her fresh nail varnish of with my teeth when she offered me a measly (one) treat!  What lady applies nail varnish before K9care?  I’m hungry, a growing dog, after all…

 

Bye for now…

Oscar

xxx

Notes on Buddha Eden

35 hectares of Peace Garden created by the wealthy Portuguese Berardo (made his money in Africa, collects art and owns various galleries as well as wineries … don’t know what else) in response to the “cultural barbarity that forever erased masterpieces of the late Gandhara period from the C6th AD.  In 2007 around 6000 ons of marble and granite statues were commissioned in China to create this monumental homage to peace.”  What an amazing vision and generosity to share so much art with people and sponsor so many artists.

The Palm Lake.

The African Sculpture Garden dedicated to the Shona people of Zimbabwe, who have been hand sculpting stone for a thousand years.  They believe that every stone contains an ancient life spirit which influences what the stone will be carved as.

A right royal King.

We saw some of the blue terracotta army at the Moscatel winery near Setubal.

Amazingly, people had scratched their names into the gold paint … Grrr!

21m high and overlooking the whole park.

Tile map of the wine regions.

Both parts of the sculpture moved with the wind at different speeds.