Portugal, Cork

As we drove through Portugal (and through Corsica and Sardinia) we saw acres of cork trees, huge piles of cork drying in the sun, and there were always cork products for sale in the stores. To my eye, the cork trees look something like olive trees. To harvest cork, the thick bark is sliced off the tree trunk, dried in huge piles, then made into various products, the most familiar of course being bottle stoppers. Although we didn’t learn how often the cork-bark is harvested, the process of removing the layers of bark reminds us of shearing sheep once a year.

The stores in both Corsica and Sardinia had interesting cork covered pottery, and other cork items for sale. It was interesting to note that many of the cork products in Corsica were labeled, “Made in Italy,” and were priced at least double the cost in Sardinia.