Sept 9 2017, Bom Sucesso

This morning Liam and I got up early and were off on a tour to the other side of the lagoon.  Liam and Suibhan’s home is on the east side of the lagoon of Obidos.  To get there we had to ride all the way to the south side of the lagoon and then follow the narrow strip of land up the west side of the lagoon.  This strip of land is called Bom Sucesso.   

Once out there you find a number of large property developments which suffered the same fate as the area south of the Trilogy we call area 51.   The area was completely ready to go with roads and utilities installed and then in the 2007 when the big crash happened all development stopped leaving these properties undeveloped and they are now over grown and falling into decay.  The one area does have a very nice golf course and a hotel so it may recover however the other area does not and the abandon guard house looks very bad.   The area is also suffering uncertainty as the expats who were purchasing these developments were primarily from the UK and the uncertainty caused by Brexit has all  but halted these purchasers. 

Once out to the end of the strip of land you have the most amazing views to the Atlantic and across the bay.  When we were there the tide was all but out so you could see the huge expanse of beach.  It was pretty windy there and the wind surfers were just flying. 

We turned and headed back home.  It was a short 50 kms ride but we still managed a 900 meter climb for the day.  

This evening we had a burger at one of the beach front restaurants and enjoyed the sun set.  What a great day. 

Terry  

Sept 8 2017 Lisbon

Today was a whirlwind tour of Lisbon.   We were up early and on the road by 8:00 am.  It is just over an hour’s drive to Lisbon from Liam and Suibhan’s home to Lisbon.   Lisbon is a city of just over 800,000 but parking and driving is very difficult.  So we parked at a large shopping mall on the outskirts of Lisbon and took the metro down to the city center.   There we transferred to a Hop on – Hop off tour bus.   This bus took us around the city and gave us an over view of the city.   The Hop on –Hop off tour buses always have the open upper seating and it gives you such a great view.  The bus tour took us out along the river front.  We jumped off to get a close up look at the Torre de Belem which is a small castle built right on the edge of the river bank.  From there we walked along the river bank and had a coffee beside the Padrao dos Descobrimentos.  This is a large monument to the great explorers of Portugal.  Vasco De Gammon is the on the front of the monument looking out to sea.   You can climb the stairs inside the monument to get a  view of the harbour however there was a huge cue and it was too hot to stand in line.  From there we jumped back on the bus and were taken down town.   We wandered around the inner city marvelling at all the shops and found ourselves in the an old market which is now a collection of fancy restaurants.  So we couldn’t pass this up and had lunch in a very nice curb side restaurant. 

After lunch we found a Tutuk which took us on a city tour.  The Tutuks are all over and drive though the tiny streets which the large tour buses cannot go.  This took us up the hillside to a number of the different cathedrals and to several city out looks.  The view from the lookouts was just tremendous.  We had a beautiful day for doing this as it was so clear you could see for miles.   The Tutuk dropped us at the Lisbon Castle but we were too tired to take the tour as we had been on our feet since 9:00 am and it was now 5:00 pm so it was decided it was time to head back to the car.  It was still a 20 minute walk back to the metro and there was a lot of discussion about which of the narrow winding streets was the best way.  Fortunately it was all downhill and it was pretty interesting seeing the old city. 

After taking the metro out to where we had the car parked we found an Indian Restaurant which was absolutely great.  Liam drove us home and I think everyone was pretty happy to be home as it was a long day. 

Terry  

Sept 7 2017 Tour of Obidos

This morning was a sleep in morning as we were taking a rest day from cycling.  So I slept in.  However the Marine Corp Marathon is not all that far off and it is well past high time I got my running tuned up.  Last time I did any running was May 29 when Mike B and I ran the Ottawa marathon.  So I pulled on a pair of running shorts and strapped on my Garmin and was off down the road.   Almost immediately I was experienced of stabbing pains in my chest,  legs, feet, arms and well just about everywhere.  As a struggled to the other side of the street, the pains started to subside.  By the time I had run about a hundred yards the pain had mostly subsided.  Fortunately is was mostly downhill.  I continued along the road and started down the path beside the lagoon.  It was actually very pretty and by the 25 minute mark when it was time to turn around things were looking good.   A few more runs and who knows I might actually make the time cut off. 

In the afternoon Liam drove us into Obidos.  Obidos is an enchanting hilltop village which is surrounded by 14^th century walls. The town is huge magnet for tour buses and the main street which is less than 10 feet wide is alive with tourists and souvenir shops.  The shops are hawking souvenirs with a Portugese twist.  Blue tiles, and pottery and sour cherry liqueur served in chocolate cups.    Within the walls is the 1143 castle which was constructed after the defeat of the Moors.   We stopped and had a beer and sandwich in the town square.  It was an excellent afternoon walking along and taking in the atmosphere.  

Tomorrow is off to Lisbon to do a hop on hop off bus tour. 

Terry

Sept 6 2017, Spoke ride to Odidos, Alcobaca, and Nazare

This morning Liam and I were up and on the road at 9:00 am.  The fog had rolled in and it was kind of damp and had a chill in the air.  So I started off with a set of arm warmers and a light cycling jacket.  The cycling jacket did not last long but the fog hung around for until almost 11:00 am before the sun gained enough strength to burn the fog off.  

Liam took me over to Obidos to see the castle and aqueduct which was built in 1148 by Afonso Henriques after he captured the town from the Moors.   The fog obscured the castle but the aqueduct was quite impressive.  The roads were we rode on were all quite back roads which were beautifully paved with almost no traffic.  However they builders had no sense of vertical as around every corner was a 14-18% incline.  

After a couple of quick photos we were off to Alcobaca.  This is the home to Mosteiro de Santa Maria ra which was consecrated in 1153.   This huge monastery is now a UNESCO world heritage site.   Liam and I sat in front and had a coffee and Pastel de Nata which is a traditional custard tart.   I poked my head in and took a couple of pictures.  To say it was impressive is a huge understatement.   

From there we rode up to Nazare.  In Nazare we meet Agnes and Suibhon for a lunch od sardines. They came on a huge platter with salad and boiled potatoes.   The view from the top of the cliffs was absolutely unbelieveable.  It was at least 600 feet down to the main city and the beach.  A funicular ran up the side of the cliff to the upper town.  Nazare is home to the world’s largest surf and is home to the word surfing championships.  I was a lot of fun sitting in a cliff side restaurant looking out.

After lunch we headed home.  We had a good ride covering 94 kms and 1500 meters of climb with and an average speed of 18.8 kms/hr.  I thought that was a good speed considering that a high percentage of the climb was up slopes that exceeded 14% and almost none of it was below 7.5 %.  I was really glad Liam's bike has great climbing gears.  

What a great day of cycling.

Terry

Sept 3-4 2017 Kelowna to Portugal Sept 5 Liam's Place

The flight out of Kelowna didn’t depart until 12:05 pm (Pacific time) so we didn’t have to get up super early however as there is always a few last minute items to take care of we were out of bed by 7:00 am.  The taxi was 15 minutes late and this added fuel to the overall travel anxiety.  However as we are only a few minutes from the airport we still had lots of time and Kelowna’s airport is pretty small so the ten people in security line seemed like a lot.   

The flight to Lisbon was Kelowna to Toronto and Toronto to Lisbon.   The first leg was pretty smooth and the flight actually got in to Toronto 13 minutes early.  As the Toronto airport is huge we had a three hour layover.   If you have to run across the airport and then clear security and go through US customs the three hours may not be quite enough. We did not have to do any of these and then the flight was delayed by an hour so we had four hours to kill. The flight didn’t get off the ground until midnight. 

The Air Canada plane turned out to be an ancient old bird.  You could see where they had painted over the bombing missions on the nose and where they had put out the many engine fires she had sustained over the years.  The overhead bins were tiny and there was huge competition to get one.  Agnes and I elbowed our way to the front of the line and got one. 

Once under way we did half an Ambien.   They worked great and we got about 5 hours sleep on a 6.5 hour flight.  

Once in Lisbon we were an hour late so we missed our jet way and had to park on the tarmack.   They didn’t have enough buses to get everyone off the plane but Agnes and I made it on to a plane.  Once in the terminal we joined the 1.5 hr cue for immigration.   

It was so good to get to the other side and find Liam and Suibhan waiting.  The drive up the coast to their place was so relaxing. It was great to be here.  I don’t exactly know the total elapsed time from door to door but I am sure it was more than 24.

Sept 5 2018 Liam’s Place

Agnes and I totally crashed and didn’t wake up until 11:20 am this morning.  It must have been some of Liam’s Portuguese brandy. 

Liam and I were off on a little bike ride up the coast.  I am using his second bike which is a Giant.  It is very similar to my Giant back in Kelowna. It is fitted with a triple in front and a 9 speed rear cassette. The front granny gear however is only a 26 cog gear and the rear cassette goes up to a 27.  This gives the bike great climbing ability and it is really needed here.  The road up to Liam and Suibhans place reaches 17%.  

There are a lot of ridges along the coast so as you follow the coast you are either riding up one ridge or descending down into one of the valleys. Liam and I rode down a bunch of small back roads and came to a small village.  There Liam took us though this tunnel which leads to a look out over the ocean.  Liam was saying get a picture of the big waves coming in from this direction and then there was a huge wave which came in from the other side and crashed up the lookout totally soaking both of us, just as I took the picture.   The coast was very beautiful and it was a very nice day although the wind was just howling out of the north.  This meant that we had a wonderful tail wind all the way home.   We managed to cover 42 kms and did 465 m of climb so it was  great shake down ride. 

This evening we drove to an excellent local restaurant.  I had the pork ribs which are one of my favorites.   

Terry