Pedro

So, carrying on with Pete's help... Stopped at Arraiolos' Castle ruins, can you say vista? This is Alentejo in it's best. It's known as being hot and dry, and indeed a lot of people only travel through it on motorways going to the Algarve in the summer, and see yellow dried out plains through a car window, to me both the Alentejo and the Algarve provide the best motorcycling roads Portugal has to offer, and although I'm from the north, I feel at home only with big horizons. Shortly after, I stop for lunch. Knowing I would find little offer for lunch on the 25th December, I packed a lunch from home and found a stop to enjoy my crackers, spicy tuna, apple and almonds: Shortly, back on the road: Stopped at the Alqueva dam, huge manmade water reservoir, an amazing sight: And stopped for another expresso next to the water. The lack of cars is refreshing. Heading south from Alqueva: Sun was starting to set, so I decided to stop and check booking for somewhere to stop. Although it wasn't late, this is deer and wild boar country, and it was starting to get cold: Found a nice place to stop and sleep for quite cheap, parked and enjoyed hot shower: Headed out for dinner and walked the deserted streets looking for somewhere open, after a nice unfruitful walk came back to the cafe closed to the hotel, and settled there. No pictures of the food, but I found it funny that their definition of "just a little more wine" was this: Had an early night, cold deserted streets were not inviting so went to bed and watched some TV. Early on, got on the bike and headed out. A lot of night moisture made for a wet bike with a wet cold seat. Made quick work of it with the hotel's towel since sitting on a cold wet seat wearing jeans is a nice way to ruin your morning! I slept a little north of Mertola, but instead of heading straight there, took what looked to be the scenic way there, and wasn't disappointed. This was a dead end, but well worth it This reminded me of Morocco: Except you have nicer roads here, heading to the Guadiana river: Damn brits, they're everywhere: Made way to Mertola via a really nice dirt road. The kind of dirt road you don't find often, grippy, moist, compacted well maintained dirt that is fun to ride but doesn't even get your bike dirty: After Mertola, a little ways down, road was too good to stop for pictures, lunch stop in Alcoutim. On the other side of the water, you can see Spain: Had some nice Biqueirão for lunch (don't know the name for it in english, small fish, with olive oil, garlic and vinegar, little bit of bread and there you go! We are after all arriving in the Algarve, so you have to go Mediterranean: As soon as my plate arrived, these guys came asking for their share: After lunch, I followed the Guadiana river south, but didn't feel like taking pictures. Starting to get closer and closer to the sea, I stopped in the hills a few seconds after crossing the top to see the ocean in the distance: In the distance, you have Tavira, which is a charming Algarve town. Made my way to Faro where I would spend a few days, and went to the beach to enjoy the end of the afternoon while sipping something cold: More to come...

I'm a little inept at this, I'll figure out a way to makes the pictures smaller and carry on in a little bit

Carrying on,

This isn't meant to be a commiserations thread, but riding my bike has literally saved my life over the last two years. I lost my wife to be months before we married, two years ago on February, and life hasn't been easy since. Riding a motorcycle is great therapy, and riding the motorcycle that we both shared on trips all over takes me somewhere special. I wasn't feeling sad on these days, riding the bike. Last year I spent Christmas week drinking wine and crying at home, this year I pushed myself to do something different, and I was feeling like going on a trip. The weather was crappy during Christmas Eve's day so I stayed in, but coming the 25th I couldn't wait anymore, and took to the road, taking small roads from my home in Azambuja to Faro, going the long way through deep Alentejo. Look it up in google Maps using locations I name, and it'll make sense. Woke up late, and got on the bike even later, slightly tired and hungover, it was the 25th so everything was closed, I fueled the bike the previous day so I could ride for more than a day on slow roads, but my body was lacking an expresso. Found one after 11AM in Mora on a typical Alentejo lazy Xmas morning: Rode on, and stopped exiting Mora to say hello to local farm animal life, the great thing about riding the December 25th is that I stopped for 10 minutes and no car came by: My pictures are too big, I'll continue right away

Bob! We've never met, but it feels like we did. Glad you're alive!

Nice roads, clean bike. How far away from home was that?

I agree. I'll post a couple of ride reports. There are some most excellent roads here.

Ren on a ZRX, good to see some things don't change.

My 2015 R1200GSA, now with 50000km. Riding it is therapy. Pictures below taken on February on a ride to the south, I love to go south.

Well, for several reasons, I don't do facebook or any other social media except browsing youtube, this is a welcome chance to keep up with old friends. Hope everyone's doing ok

Not sure about big names, but it is I ?

Hello guys, I'm back!