Portugal - PRAIA da MARINHA & 7 HANGING VALLEYS WALK & CARVOEIRO BOARDWALK - MyShadowProductions #200

Well, for the 200th time, Hello Everyone!!

200th because this is MyShadowProductions post #200 :)

Like I said in #100, I don’t know if I had a goal when I started this Blog but I am grateful/surprised that I have made it to #200, that I have learned a few things and have been able to share some of the experiences that have passed my way.

Remember, it all kind of started when I was reading the book “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brené Brown (how I got the book is a story of fate in itself) and a couple of sentences on page 53 stood out:

“…… Our unexpressed ideas, opinions and contributions don’t just go away. They are likely to fester and eat away at our worthiness. ……. Caution: If you trade in your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment and inexplicable grief.” I mentioned this before along with some other “history” of MyShadowProductions, click here for Post #134.

With that in mind I “decided to get expressive” and this Blog has grown from that impetus.

Ok, back to the never ending photos from Portugal :)

On Friday, January 31 I walked the 7 Hanging Valleys Trail and the Carvoeiro Boardwalk, located about 25 minutes east of Portimão. The weather was great, mostly sunny, a little windy and temperatures between 50 and 60.

Low Season was ideal for me.

I walked the Trails East to West, starting at Praia da Marinha, the 7 Hanging Valleys Walk and then the Carvoeiro Boardwalk, Praia and a few Streets.

CLICK HERE for a Video created from my photos at Praia da Marinha.

Click here for a 7 Hanging Valleys Walk Video. (3.5 miles) I didn’t try to identify each of the 7 hanging valleys, sorry, let me know if you understand what a hanging valley is in Portugal :)

The following info on the 7 Hanging Valleys Walk might help?

Geology: Stunning. Landforms include both small and massive sinkholes, islets, ravines, confined valleys, and layered cliffs whose vibrant shades of yellow and orange come alive at sundown.

Good to know: The ‘hanging valleys’ were created by the erosive action of seven seasonal streams. These valleys are now ‘hanging’ because the soft, calcareous coastline has receded quite abruptly in the past, leaving the watercourses’ mouth not on the beaches but rather on the cliffs higher above.

One more, Click for Carvoeiro Boardwalk, Praia and Streets (includes some special guests grazing :)

What a way to end January! Believe me, the photos do not do the area’s beauty justice.

Just like in the USA, February comes after January in Portugal too :)

I still have some interesting adventures to share from my last 5 days in Portugal (Feb 1-5), so this stream of “Day Trips” will continue into March :)

The dark oval sign is quite a coincidence as well, more later :)

Lagos

BOM DIA  MEUS AMIGOS !!

(Good Day My Friends)

Portugal - PORTIMÃO & OLD VILLAGE of FERRAGUDO - MyShadowProductions #199

Hello everyone!

On Wednesday, Jan 29 I took a train from Lisbon’s Oriente Station south 3 hours to Tunes and transferred to a local train there that took me the half hour to Portimão.

Portimão is the largest city on the South Coast of Portugal (the Algarve). I chose to stay there as my base because of the train station, it is centralized on the coast, I could rent a room within 2 blocks of the beach and there were grocery stores nearby.

First, I want to give a little information about the beach(es) at Portimão. Yes, this will definitely be on the Final Exam :). 

The main beach is called Praia da Rocha (Rock Beach). One article I read mentioned some “construction” at the beach in the past that allowed many, many more people to enjoy the sand. I googled a little bit and a brief summary is that the beach was artificially enlarged. THIS ARTICLE explains the evolution of Portimão (& the Algarve) and Praia da Rocha. (After opening the Link you can scroll down for the English version:)

Here are my photos marked up for a simplified “story”:

Good, bad or ugly???, they didn’t ask me :) Fortunately the area and beaches that I explored to the east and west all had plenty of individuality and beauty (x2).

I feel like I did a fair amount of exploring for six days but there are still more areas that were available. Here is a brief listing of “places” I didn’t get to:

Albufeira, Faro, Border with Spain, Silves, Tavira, Burgau, Sagres, Vilamoura, Alvor, Golfing, Kayaking and “others”.

I did “explore/walk” the following places:

Portimão’s beaches; Praia da Rocha, Praia dos Tres Castelos, Praia dos Careanos, Praia do Vau, Praia do Alemão, Praia de Boião, Old Village of Ferragudo, Praia Grande, Seven Hanging Valleys Trail, Carvoeiro Boardwalk, Old Town Lagos, Miles and miles of Trails along Lagos Coast, Old Town Portimão, Monchique in the mountains, Portimão Municipal Mercado (market)

CLICK HERE for a Video - Lisbon to Portimão & Intro to Portimão & Praia da Rocha. I apologize for the dirty windows on the train and not so great videos from the train but I think you can get some idea of the countryside? Also, watch for the Rainbow in the Wave Spray at 6:53 in the Video :)

Click Here for a Video of Old Village Ferragudo

Quick little story. To get into the Hotel I had to use a 4 number code. The code was 2468. I usually memorize things like that in twos, like 24 - 68. I thought about it on like the 5th day that I should have used the old High School Cheer to remember it:

2-4-6-8 Who do we appreciate?

I know, I am not all there, that’s why I am here :)

Never fear, there are more Portugal Posts and Videos, dishing them out one at a time :)

BOM DIA !!

Cork Tree

Portugal - Day Trip to SINTRA from Lisbon - MyShadowProductions #198

Bom Dia! from Cold and Snowy Aurora, IL :)

Just Starting Wednesday Morning 

Seems like a great time to continue sharing more Portugal adventures and maybe “feel” some of the great weather there.

On Tuesday, Jan 28, I took a Day Trip from Lisbon to Sintra via a train from the Metro Oriente Station.

Sintra is a very popular destination just 40 minutes away from Lisbon. It is a town and municipality located in the foothills of the Sintra Mountains northwest of Lisbon.

“Sintra was the first European site listed by UNESCO as a Cultural Landscape” per the World Heritage website. The Sintra hills enjoy a unique microclimate that provides an ideal setting for the palaces and gardens spread throughout the area.

I boarded a HopOn HopOff bus near the Sintra Train Station and then “hopped off” to experience portions of the Pena Palace and it’s gardens and walking trails past views of the Moorish Castle and back to the Historic Center to board a second HopOn HopOff bus that I took to the Park and Palace of Monserrate with great gardens and waterfalls (definitely one of my trip’s highlights).

In hindsight it may have been a good idea to spend 2 or 3 days in Sintra but one full day was great! I feel very fortunate to have visited there in “Low Season” as the crowds in warmer months would most likely make it less enjoyable for me.

I have created 3 videos from my photos, it was that kind of a day!

Click here for Video 1 of 3 

Click here for Video 2 of 3

Click here for Video 3 of 3

If you remember, the following day I returned to Sintra for a while and then took a bus to Azenhas do Mar to see the extreme waves on the Atlantic Coast. I already Posted about that in MyShadow Post #194.

The second half of my Portugal trip then started on Jan 29 with a 3.5 hr Train ride from Lisbon to Portimão in the Algarve of Southern Portugal.

I was able to visit some pretty cool areas there and look forward to sharing more in the upcoming days and Posts.

The following photo was not in the Algarve but it needs to be shared :)

The CatsMeow !!

Ciao for now !!

Spring has Sprung inside Garfield Park Conservatory :)

Portugal - LISBON BOTANICAL GARDEN and RANDOM WALK - MyShadowProductions #197

Olá again, I am back in Aurora, IL.

Thankfully, Thursday February 6 was uneventful, just filled with a lot of walking, waiting, sitting, checking the United App, etc., aka a Travel Day. Lisbon to Newark was about 7.5 hrs in the air and Newark to Chicago about 135 minutes :)

As expected, back to much colder temperatures, different kinds of precipitation (snow, sleet, freezing rain) and  cloudy skies, but I regained the 6 hours “of my life” that I lost on the time change going :)

Before I share more about Portugal there are a few little things I want to put out there.

I guess I flew on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Newark/Lisbon flights because the planes had “dimmable windows” not the pull down/up shades. It seems like a good idea, but either design I wish the person sitting at the window seat would keep the shades open so I can look over from my aisle seat and get a few glimpses of “the outside” :) 

Because of the long flight times from Newark/Lisbon there was a meal service. On the way there the Flight Attendant said the choices were Chicken or Pasta, a passenger in front of me asked what kind of pasta, the Flight Attendant said he wasn’t sure but it was “curly”, really?? I chose chicken :)

There are more things I could “get off my chest” but life goes on :)

Ok, back to Portugal. Sunday, Jan 26 was probably my least active day, it just turned out that way. It was less active but still interesting.

Lisbon has several “botanical gardens” and I chose the Lisbon Botanical Garden (also called University of Lisbon Botanical Garden?) because it seemed less “formal” than the others and worked out well logistically with my hotel location and walkability towards older sections of Lisbon after the visit.

Click Here for a Video created from my photos on the Botanical Gardens adventure. It was a windy day and some of those very tall palm trees were shedding some of their dead palms :), it all worked out though, just added to the adventure. It also turned out that Admission was free that day, a nice little treat even though their regular admission fee of 4 euros for seniors seemed very reasonable.

After the Gardens I chose to just meander my way through Bairro Alto, the Bica Funicular, the Miradouro do Adamastor, underwhelming Green Street and plenty of Street Art ending up at my favorite Metro Subway Station (Baixa Chiado) with its series of 4 long escalator sections to get to the “underground” :)

Bica Funicular

Green Street

Fixer Upper??

CLICK HERE for a Video created from my photos on that little trek.

Maybe you noticed the Street Art with the blue and white tiles? Like these:

The artist is O Gringo (click for his website) and I just thought his art was cool, sometimes taking a few minutes to focus on and see what was being represented.

Here are some photos from my next Post:

Have a great day, raise your hand when you have digested this Post, more to come !!

Portugal - CACILHAS & SESIMBRA from Lisbon - MyShadowProductions #196

Bom Dia and Olá, I kind of just say them both because whichever one I choose to use the Portuguese person generally says the other :) I thought noon would be a cutoff for Bom Dia but it seems “good day” means more than “good morning” :)

Well, I am writing this Post from a hotel in Lisbon, made it back to Portugal’s Capital thanks to the trusty Portuguese Camboios (trains). It is Wednesday night, February 5 and my return flight leaves tomorrow at 10:15am.

Obrigado for the Comments and thanks for “following” along.

Believe it or not, I still have 3 different Day Trips to share that happened before I went to Portimão and then I stayed pretty active in the Algarve province so you can expect another 5 to 7 Posts from that time, if you are so willing :)

In this Post I am sharing a Day Trip from Lisbon’s ferry docks to Cacilhas and then a 1.5 hr bus ride to Sesimbra on the Atlantic Coast. It is pretty much a stand alone beach resort with the Parque Natural da Arrabida and its mountains as a neighbor.

It was a fun Day Trip, I walked, rode the subway, rode the ferry and rode a bus.

I found time on the beach to “create” MyShadow Beach Art #4:

The cliffs along the beach face South and it appeared they had their own little desert ecosystem going on.

CLICK HERE for a Video created from my photos during the day.

Here are a few more photos from areas of the Algarve that will be in future Posts:

                              Soccer stars ??

                       Your guess is as good as mine :)

CIAO for now !!