crossing rivers.
Tag: algarve
a southern interlude.
today is the last day of march and i haven’t even posted february’s video yet… so here it goes, without further ado:
a month in our lives — february 2016 from meiadeleite on Vimeo.
february was a very normal let’s-get-work-done month with a few highlights in between. we got our xmas presents (plus the loveliest care package all the way from canada!), did a quick trip north to check on the family and had a nice Postcrossing meeting with lots of people who came all the way to the south! i also finally bought the domain name for project X, something i’ve been working on for quite some time now… hopefully soon it’ll be live! :)
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a bike for algarve
i’ve been bikeless for a year now, after selling my beloved raleigh when leaving germany. but a few weeks ago, i joined a local gym that is just far enough that i don’t want to walk there… and yet close enough that it would be ridiculous to go by car… hence, the final push for finally buying the bike!
after some searching, i’ve found a portuguese brand that does just the kind of bike i was looking for. meet the órbita classic:
it’s sort of a dutch bike, with not-quite-moustache handles but close. it’s simple, comfortable to ride upright and not too heavy. i miss the back pedal brake of my previous bikes, but this one has gears, which is a nice bonus!
it’s still missing the basket for the market trips, but so far, so good. i look forward to many nice rides around the ria formosa! :)
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via algarviana
we learnt to hike and love the mountains in slovenia… the solitude, the view and good food at the top of the hills, the clean air stretching our lungs, the dirt in our shoes and the sore, tingling legs on the days after. it’s hard and yet it’s so easy — one foot in front of the other, until you reach your destination. no distractions and no giving up in the middle… nowhere to escape but into our own minds and the greenness that surrounds us.
we picked the south mostly for the good weather year-round — the hills and mountains came as an added bonus, one that we might end up enjoying more than the beach itself. the via algarviana, the path that runs the length of algarve really is the cherry on top of the cake.
the scenery here is remarkably different from the one in slovenia. instead of glacial valleys, we straddle the serra and the barrocal, through the cork and holm oaks, strawberry and olive and almond trees, beehives and small vegetable patches.
300km of well-marked paths, with lots of circular one-day detours for when the mood strikes.
last year we walked section 4 with friends, and the circular path in marmelete on a separate occasion, and i look forward to logging many more miles in 2016!