Category: weeknotes

a week in tuscany, working and exploring! we saw many churches and towers, enjoyed walked the streets of these yellow and red tinted towns and slurped many a pasta and pizza and gelato, as one does. ended up visiting exactly zero museums, but both the big cities and the small countryside hamlets were brilliant. and though it rained a bit, there was still plenty of sunshine and warmth to enjoy.

the theme of the holidays seems to have been “lao gan ma” though, as we consumed an inordinate amount of the stuff with all kinds of veggies at home. our friends have been really into asian supermarkets lately, and we visited a few throughout our stay, bringing home lots of strange delights to try.

one of the nice discoveries of the trip was this wafer from montecatini, unbelievably light and crispy and filled with sweet almonds. yum!

the week started with a huge energy blackout on monday. we were at the boy’s parents in the countryside, and spent half of the day without electricity, phone or internet. it felt weird, refreshing and also a bit worrisome — especially the part about not knowing whether the website was up or down and having no way of checking. so we read, listened to the birds, tuned into the news on a battery-powered radio, talked and puttered around uselessly on our laptops, slowly draining their battery.

interestingly, some months ago we had watched a video on practical engineering about re-starting power grids and remembered how complicated it was. so we just waited, grateful for modern infrastructure and all the people working on it, grateful that we were not stuck in elevators and did not need need refrigerated medicine at that moment.

being with laura this week meant we got the opportunity to give her one of the best children books’ discoveries in a long time: rotraut susanne berner’s “wimmelbooks” — books with lots of stories and no words.

it’s been such a joy to discover children’s books through her eyes! i hope she’ll be a reader one day. :)

later in the week, we took a flight to italy, to spend some time with our friends who live here. we picked a place in tuscany up in the hills around pistoia, where there’s quiet all around us and the views are just breathtaking:

we spent the weekend exploring the nearby cities of pistoia and florence, in awe of the many tones of yellow in the buildings, and at the churches and towers at every corner.

while i’m looking forward to exploring tuscany, the best part is just spending time with our friends. the older i get, the more i realize friendships need time together and active nurturing, if they are to be kept — it’s too easy to just be lazy and not keep in contact… and then regret it later. my dream is to find a big place for us to retire with friends when we’re old, living and doing things together, supporting each other, inviting other friends to join us. we’ll see! :)

a week split between south and north. the weather in algarve was amazing. i wore shorts and a t-shirt for the first time this year, which is always the moment i think of as the official start of summer.

we drew hands in art class, in all sorts of positions, in pencil, pen and ink. they all looked funky in the moment, but now i like them — they grew on me.

my parents were around this week and dad found a goldfinch nest in our olive tree! i had noticed a pair of goldfinches flying away every time i walked by the tree, but now i can actually see the nest. how cool! i hope soon we’ll see some babies there as well.

it was 25 of april and my carnations bloomed just in time! <3

on sunday, i ran the 10k in aveiro, without stopping and without dying! i did my best impersonation of a japanese grandpa, shuffling through the streets at a steady slow pace — the slowest i could go without walking — and it felt ok! i managed to do the whole thing at that comfortable pace, taking the time to look around and get myself acquainted with aveiro. meanwhile, other friends and family ran the 10k at a faster or slower speed, the boy and my brother did the half-marathon and another friend surprised everyone by doing the marathon! it was a nice family affair, that i look forward to repeating at some point. :)

the week started with a 6km run through the rain in manta rota, and then a 19km hike a few days later, between lagoa and albufeira. this was the last hike of the “walk-the-whole-algarve-coast” project: we’ve now walked all the way from vila real de santo antónio to sagres, and from sagres to porto covo too, which is pretty neat. :) it took us a few years, but we did it! it’s the perfect season for hiking here too — the views and the nature are just beautiful.

now we’re looking for some other long-distance paths to do! we kind of like coastal paths… so maybe this one in menorca? if you have tips or suggestions, let us know!

my parents are in town for some days, and we took them to see the easter procession in são brás, which we had never seen ourselves.

reading-wise, yu hua’s boy in the twilight was a disappointment, the stories too violent and non-sensical (and yet somehow, so chinese?). i’m giving him another chance though, with a non-fiction book about 10 chinese words that seems more promising. i finished listening to john green’s everything is tuberculosis, and although most of the stories and context were familiar already, it was still very enjoyable to listen to — especially narrated by john himself.

after months of the boy watching short clips from suits suggested to him by youtube, we finally started properly watching the series. :) it’s light and fun so far, but i’m not sure we’re going to make it through 9 seasons… ?

finished reading limpa, via biblioled, the new portuguese digital book lending service. on one hand, it was nice to read a chilean author, and to do so in portuguese for a change… but it was a strange book with a heavy story. i forced myself to finish but didn’t really enjoy most of the time. oh well.

the week had a few nice meals, including brunch in olhão, on our way to faro to get the boy some new running shoes.

i ran only once this week, in the walkways around manta rota beach, which are almost exactly 5kms. sometimes i forget we live so close to the sea, and what a privilege it is to have all this beautiful coast to ourselves in the low season.

we fixed the electric bike, which had a lame tire/pump issue and i’ve been using it to speed to the new gym, which i found out, is also open on the weekends! speaking of the gym, i unexpectedly started training with a personal trainer there. turns out, the gym has a PT standing by at all times, just waiting around to help people. i’m a bit shy about these things, but the person seemed so eager to help that a simple question prompted her enthusiastic assistance. :) it was nice.

omg! apple tv is launching a series based on the murderbot diaries and i’m so here for its moodiness and snark!!

for entertainment, we re-watched hidden figures, because the boy didn’t remember watching it. still a good movie! and i did some body sketches in art class this week, which was a fun challenge!