This place is for the birds!

Each morning when I go outside, the number of birds singing and chirping amazes me.  Did you know a cuckoo bird sounds just like a cuckoo clock? I know there are places in the US that also have a lot of song birds, but the Sierras do not. We have one bird.... the blue jay that makes one noise all day long.... cheeeese-BURG-er.... The crows don't count, as a caw is not a birdsong! I love to sit outside with my coffee or doing my yoga and just take it all in. There is also this gal, who really gets your attention when you see her fly overhead to her nest.

A stork! The nest is huge.

We are in far eastern Portugal, in what is a national park.  The area is full of ancient relics, including our back yard. Within a 20 mile radius, we can visit w castles and see innumerable ruins of Roman and Moorish buildings, walls built by farmers over the centuries that are still standing and skeletons of homes scattered everywhere.  That doesn't even include the still standing medieval villages.  Our current home's original structure is from the 17th century.... the walls are about 2' thick, and of course there is no central heat.  It is very cool inside, which will be very welcome when July and August roll around, but a bit cool now. Our little estate is a little slice of heaven on earth. 

This area is very sparsely populated, and today we rode a single lane road which we called our own private bike path.  Not one single car for 8 miles.

It isn't really a road to nowhere. One of these towns has at least 8 homes.

 My recurring ear worm song these days is either "County Roads"  of the theme from Green Acres.

She wouldn't look at me but let me take the picture.

You have seen those pictures of elderly Portuguese women that make the travel brochures?  Well, let me tell you, that is not an affectation on the part of the Portuguese tourist office.  The population is very elderly, as there is no real work to be had around here; mostly just some farming. The women wear the requisite housedress and apron, and spend a lot of time holding a rake or broom by the side of the road. Some will wave as we greet them on our bikes, but most just stare with open mouth.  Everyone has always been very friendly when we have dealt with them, but they are very stoic and taciturn when you see them on the street.

Thank you for reading, and leave a comment if you would like.  I would love to hear from you!

Rock on!

We spent Easter in Spain, in a medieval city (of course) and got to see the traditional Easter parade.  Their head wear is a bit different than that worn in the Easter Parade here....

 From there we headed to Portugal.  Saw a little mustard along the way.  We have our share in Napa and Sonoma, but this scene goes on for miles!

Taken from the car window at 70 MPH.  Poor composition.

We then made our way to Marvao, Portugal which is another medieval relic perched high on a hill with a 360 degree view of the valleys and plains below.  The original old castle is open to view, and the entire town is enclosed by stone walls.  This town was never conquered in all of its history.  Our question was; who would have wanted it?  But the people were protected from the Moors who were trying to conquer all in their path.
Currently  there is a Pousada within the walls and several small hotels. We stayed in the small, 9 room Casa dom Denis.  The streets are VERY narrow and cobbled, and you are surrounded by history everywhere you look.

 We had a wonderful day exploring.  Ziggy was greeted at the gate by this fellow, and they played all day long.  Once we went to the hotel, and settled in, she kept crying to go outside; something she never does normally.  She went looking for her pal, but he had gone home...

Indulge me, as I post some more pictures of this lovely little town.

Spring is here

Not for tall people

Quite the sentry post

We are now settled in our little house in the woods for the next 2 weeks, about 5 miles from Marvao.
It is very rural.  The "village" of Ramila, which does rate a sign, consists of 6 homes.  We are perched above the river, surrounded by rocks, scotch broom, wild flowers and wild lavender.

Next time, quercus oaks, and how you can keep Portugal thriving, while being "green" by drinking wine with real cork.
 bom por e obrigado por ler o meu blog.  (translation: good by and thank you for reading my blog)

It's easy being green....

We have departed Paris after 10 days of climbing 4 flights of stairs 4 times a day, eating massive amounts of fresh bread, and bathing occasionally in the freezing cold tub with a wimpy stream from the nozzle. We are now traveling for the next 4 months in our fun little Renault Clio Estate that gets 70 MPG.  Good thing as it just cost $84 to fill the tank.  As you can see, we are traveling light....

And, yes, it all fit!  And we all have a place to sit.  I am not strapped to the roof.

Last night we stayed in the most unique town; Vitora-Gastiez, Spain.  It was voted the greenest town in the EU, and I can see why.  It appears it was mostly built in the 1980's, with a great deal of thought put unto every thing they built.  There are over 160km of bike trails and lanes; all well defined and away from the roads.  Miles of wide boulevards, wide walking areas and every citizen lives within 300 meters of open space and a park.  There is also a cathedral from the 11th century.  They are very progressive with a very high "happiness" quotient.(And our hotel had an AWESOME shower!) Her is more about the town:
http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/ciudades-pueblos/otros-destinos/vitoriagasteiz.html

The old and the new.


Oh, for heaven's sake.  I can't get the ding, dang picture to go upright.  But it just goes to show that they are so "green", they even planted grass on the electric train tracks. So much better looking than the usual train tracks.  Also, no garbage everywhere.

And this is what happens to you if you put your garbage in the wrong spot....

Please excuse the sideways pics.  Larry and I have spent way too much time trying to correct the problem, and now I need to get out of our little apartment and see some of our new little town,
Happy Easter, everyone.

Joyeux Paques!
Paris is a beautiful place to be at Easter time.  The choclatiers windows are all beautifully decorated with beautiful creations.  The tradition here is to make bells and fill them with fish.  Teeny tiny little chocolate ones! And huge, gorgeous chocolate eggs.  You now see the occasional bunny, too
The reason for the chocolate bells, as explained by my www.Paris-walks.com guide is the following:

Church bells are silent as a sign of mourning for one or more days before Easter in The Netherlands, Belgium and France. This has led to an Easter tradition that says the bells fly out of their steeples to go to Rome (explaining their silence), and return on Easter morning bringing both colored eggs and hollow chocolate shaped like eggs and bells.
No stinking cheap baskets, gross peeps (yes, I am a peep hater) or fake grass. All very high end, and unaffordable to us on a budget.  But so beautiful.

I feel I have walked about 5-7 miles a day, done our 68 stairs up and down at least 4 times a day and have immersed myself in Paris for the past 9 days.  Can't wait to come back....without Larry.  He is just not a fan of cities.  I have taken advantage of two wonderful guided tours, and could have done many more.  The first, Paris-Walks offers 2 tours a day, for a reasonable 12e per person per tour, lasting about 2 hours. I also did a one on one tour with a group called Paris Greeters.  They are volunteers who will give you a walking tour. Typically you buy them lunch and offer a small gratuity.  It was a very interesting day, and gave me a lot of insight into French life. Do not believe the hype about the 35 hour work week that we hear about here.  They work hard, and so many people are self employed, and many of you know how difficult that can be! I would guess that on our block alone, there are at least 25 shops where the owners are there all day long.

The tourist areas of Paris are under siege daily, but especially now, during Easter week.  But we managed to find a few minutes of quiet at the Jardin Tuilleries.

Poor Zigs is ready to leave the city.  Despite the fact the smells are so overwhelming and enticing, the lack of grass and time off leash to really run are making her restless.  She so wants to run!  Yesterday she stood in front of a fenced off grassy area and just stared and tried to get in, to no avail.

Here she is locked out of the grassy areas at Parc Monceau, which is one of the most beautiful parks in Paris; way off the tourist track.

Off tomorrow heading south.  Next post from Portugal, I think.

Locks of Love

I guess it has been a long time since I have been to Paris, as last time I was here, this was not all the rage.  These locks go on for about 1/4 mile on both sides of the bridge.  It has become a cottage industry, with photographers there to commemorate the moment, lock sellers and general tourist paraphernalia.

Our apartment, dans la 17th arrondisment  is tres, tres, petit.  Also up 4 narrow and steep flights of stairs.  I had hoped for an immersion experience, and baby, am I ever getting it! From the kitchen the size of the back seat of my Hyundi to the awesome street scene outside my door, I am all in.  Our neighborhood has seldom seen an American tourist, and is very hip and chic.  Not ritzy, but authentic. Keeping it real, you know.

Today was tourist day.  I was lucky enough to meet up with friends and we tore up the pavement.
Le tour Eiffel.  To the top!  Not worth it, in MY humble opinion, but glad I have done it.  I have always just gone to the 2nd level, and always walked before. Spun our wheels for a while in the St. Honore, Place de Vendome area, then we took the metro up to Sacre Coure. What a beautiful day for a walk and lunch outside, with a few thousand of our new best friends.

I have been just nailing the metro system!  Many of you know I love my word games and puzzles, and once you figure out the system of the Paris metro, you see how truly inspired and creative the developers of the system were.  The people watching is so great, the temps at this time of year are very pleasant (I have been here in July and August, and that is not usually the norm) and all of the music available is just a bonus.  What they say about the acoustics in the metro is so, so true.  However, the impromptu concert in our subway car was completely unexpected.

Need to go walk Ziggy, so up and down the 68 steps.  Keeping it real.

Adois los Canarios, bon jour Paris!

We have had 3 fabulous days of riding. Sunny skies, moderate temps, and typically light winds. 

Here is finally a picture of the volcano, up close and personal.  You cannot go to the top on the road, only by the teleferique, and then by hiking the last 1/2 mile, by permit only.  The views are daunting from every direction.

Some things I have noticed about the Canaries that may be unique to here, or may be found all over Spain.  For one, they love their mayonnaise.  I wish I had a picture of one of the popular lunch dishes, which is a giant pile of fries, covered with cheese, shredded meat, mayo and maybe some tomatoes.  Another favorite item found in all small cafes is packaged donuts. But there is not a donut shop anywhere around.   The beer in  the grocery store is so cheap it almost doesn't make sense! Under 2e for a 6 pack.  And wine is also a bargain.  I am not saying it is all good wine, but it isn't bad, and usually under 3e. It gets the job done.... Fruits and veggies are very reasonably priced  and they are not treated with all the preservative chemicals like ours.  Your potato will sprout in just a couple of days, oranges even in the refrigerator will get some green on the skin.  But the flavors are so intense. 

A popular pastime for the retired generation is what I call wall and bridge sitting.  You stake your claim, and several hours later when we come by again on our bikes, they are still there.  Watching the world go by, and all of their cronies stop by to chat. 

Songbirds never stop all day long.  So lovely to sit outside, play with Zigs and listen to them sing.

 So, adios los Canarios, and look out France... on y va!

Buena vistas!

After 2 more days of rain and wind, we had a gorgeous day to ride from the coast yesterday. 

What I am looking forward to in the days to come is a small portion of flat riding.  I think I will do a Fat Tire Bike Tour in Paris!http://paris.fattirebiketours.com/
As I have mentioned before, this island is so similar to California's Central coast in weather and flora.  I see so many plants along the road that are found in Monterey county.  Often they are plants growing wild that have been carefully cultivated to grow in gardens there, especially succulents. One plant you will not want to find there is this giant dandelion plant that grows everywhere.  Imagine getting that out of your lawn on a regular basis!

And what better than an after ride lunch at La Negrita again.  We get a Pollo USA sandwich which is shredded chicken breast, an egg and ham with way too much mayonsa, tomato and lettuce.  Add a Coca-Lite and we are full and all for 4.20e.  Just one more picture from our favorite lunch spot.

Off to the volcano!
Later, gators.