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I'd buy a fancy phone just to be able to take photos like these all day long

Snow is white and my face is red

I think we are a bit off with the weather: if last weekend we spent it on the beach, this weekend we spent it in the snow with the company of Sam and Susanna. On such a last minute arrangement, I posted a “who needs a ride to Covilhã?” on the Couchsurfing website only 3 hours before leaving and Sam said “We do!!” So we were a foursome ready to hit the mountains.

The day before we went to buy waterproof boots and matching jacket which made me look quite dandy and very professional! I think Pete was proud of how great I actually looked!!(Either that or he was just being nice!) I missed snow: the cold, the wetness, the crunchy sound when you walk, the white brightness.

The plan was to hike across the Serra from where we were camping (Covão da Ametade) to the Torre, the highest point and by far the ugliest spot in the whole Serra, but nonetheless, our very own summit!

We had been told that it had snowed the previous night, so the Covão was nice and white. The whole “let’s sleep in the snow” was bitterly amusing: bundled up with only our face poking out in hope that the tent and sleeping bags were waterproof, looking forward to the hot tea in the morning.

Saturday there we were ready to venture into the wilderness in a soundless march towards “the tower”or as Sam put it “the intrepid explorers crossing the snowy waste”! There’s something about the immensity of the mountains that is so compelling which really makes me want to come back. (But this time with sunscreen!)

In the mail

Just got home, opened my mailbox and ta-dá... postcard from Christine. She wrote it in deutsch with a catchy opening phrase: "Just ask google!"

sunday afternoon

you definitely complete me

Diagrams

50 km by bike

From Caldas da Rainha to Óbidos a ride with scenic views that made me forget that I have 99 pages to write until I finish my thesis and reminded me that I have to buy myself a bike (# 36 on my list).

Sergio, a rider habitué, kindly organized the whole thing: a train ride to Caldas da Rainha, from where we parted to São Martinho do Porto (Portugal’s tinny tiny version of Rio de Janeiro) and stopped to go fossil hunting; then all up hill (very painful) following an amazing downhill (very pleasant) until Foz do Arelho; a small inconvenient detour of 5 riders, Pedro and myself included; a smooth ride around the Óbidos lagoon discussing my near future; to finish off, some more ups and downs until Óbidos.

Óbidos has this annual International Chocolate Festival and Sunday was the last day. So you can imagine families hurdling themselves into a small medieval village and not mind paying 7€ for an entrance.

After going for a drink and relaxing a bit from the trip, we let the festival close down and everyone leave and that’s when we decided to go have a sneak peak at what had been the chocolate fever festival. We got so lucky: since the vendors were closing down and beginning to pack up, we decided to start asking for free samples and they started offering us all the chocolate we wanted! Soooo gooood!!

And what did I learn from all of this?

One: I need to exercise more.

Two: always visit a chocolate festival right after it closes!!

PS: Thank you Sergio for sharing your photos :)

In the mail

I was in debt with postcrossing. Today I finally sent out the 5 cards: Finland, Spain, Vietnam, USA and Russia. Since we are commemorating the 100 years of the republic revolution, all the cards were replicas of vintage cards from the beginning of the 20th century. Considering that a great number of the population at this time was illiterate, the republicans used image based propaganda to spread the news about republican ideas and how the revolution was carried out. I really enjoy sending out these type of cards rather than boring scenery and views of Lisbon. I just hope the recipients enjoy them as much as I do.