Curve, counter-curve. Curve, counter-curve.
The car stopped for my sister to throw up.
Curve, counter-curve. Curve, counter-curve.
And finally, we arrived in Gerês.
We were by a lake, the water was so transparent, but it was deep... And I played with my cousins freely, sometimes in, sometimes out of the water.
At that time I think parents were more carefree, they made us feel at ease, maybe too much at ease... I'm not sure how, but suddenly I was drowning.
I remember moving my arms trying to reach the surface, but I kept going slowly to the bottom... and I was suffocating.
Out of the blue, a hand grabs me and pulls me out of the water. My uncle saved my life.These vague memories are the only ones I have from my first trip to the Peneda-Gerês National Park, on a family trip that has never been repeated. There was no further relevant detail. I remember that it was all green and that it smelled good, but I have no memories of that day other than the ones I am telling you.
I should have been four or five years old at the time.
The truth is that it didn't traumatize me, nor do I have a deep memory of that incident. It was only years later that I began to think about these events. And only then did I remember that place again. The “Gerês”. But my parents didn't have a car, so I couldn't go back there at the time. I was left with the memories.
Stay with me, travel in my heart's memories to know my unconditional love for our only National Park...
This story continues...
Pedro Caldas
2 comments
Amigo, pareces o Sam a ser puxado das águas pelo Frodo. Que encanto. Que herói!
Espero que realizes os teus sonhos e te tornes no Sam, Amigo.
Não conhecia esta história Bro. Marcante primeira visita ao Parque.
Já a minha como sabes, ou a que melhor me recordo, foi a primeira vez que fui a pé ao miradouro da Pedra Bela com o meu pai, decorria talvez o ano de 92/93 (tenho de confirmar isto). Sei que já tinha visitado o Gerês antes, mas ao contrário de ti, e infelizmente , não fiquei com memórias sensoriais.
Mas tenho a felicidade de saber que Gerês foi uma palavra que aprendi ainda eu era bem pequenino.
Abraço.