How do you like my view, yesterday morning, on my 15 minute walk to the village? Nothing to complain about, right? ;<)
The plan was to have a coffee with a friend, before we drove to the area where I 'owned' my first ( and only ) house, from 2018 to 2021, for a multi-hour hike.
We sure picked the right day. It was not too warm, nor too cold, with only a bit of wind and no rain ( unlike today and the day before yesterday ).
It was also dry enough to not slip ( although both of us slipped once ) on the small, stony ( unpaved ) paths, little bridges, stairs carved out of the rock and so forth.
We talked fo(u)r hours and - at times - enjoyed the silence and the view, taking mini breaks, every now and then, to enjoy the simple pick-nick that we had brought along: oranges, cheese, bread and nuts.
In fact, both of us had brought cheese and oranges and we had bought bread from the bakery van that came to the place where we had our morning coffee, in the village.
I guess I look pretty happy, on the above picture. It was a magical moment, where we (re)connected with nature. Something I try to do daily, but am sometimes more 'successful' at.
Once we reached, this spot, we had basically reached the end of the trail ( about 4 hours of hiking ). We had decided to take off our shoes and feel ( the water ).
The water here was actually still icy cold, 5 Degrees Celsius, I guess but super invigorating.
And here you see me (not) posing in front of this pretty waterfall that I have visited 10 times or so, of which a handful of times with friends and family ( including my late dad, back in 2019 ). This later appeared to be the last time that my parents were in Portugal and the final trip outside of The Netherlands, for my dad before he turned into a little bird in August, 2022 and 'flew away' )
I also have fond memories of having swum in this water, in warmer months and playing with my niece and nephew, back when they were li'l kids, with funny water pistols and all.
The following picture gives you an idea of how steep some climbs were. You really need strong legs, be pretty fit and wear the right kind of footwear ( or go bare foot ) to climb or descend these kind of stairs.
And here's two pictures of my friend, who didn't mind me putting them/him on the blockchain.
The following happened twice. A bramble branch joked with me, by pulling my aoff 😁p off 😁
And here's a pic of cool, green house, that we discovered in the one village that we passed through. It was actually huge, the part on the right side was attached to it too.
I honestly didn't take many pictures because we were basically chatting loads and enjoying the view and the hike itself.
I felt great after returning home and I am pretty sure my friend felt the same.
Today another friend, @vindiesel1980 , is arriving in my hood, once again. The last time I met him here, was last October, a little over half a year ago.
I am pretty sure I will write about that in a future post.
And, who knows, @riverflows and her husband might make it here, too, one of these days. That would be awesome!
Enjoy your day, wherever you are and don't forget to connect with nature. After all, we are natural beings and real health can be experienced best out there and - as an added bonus - for free.⭐