Sofia

absolute mega report! thank you! had no idea of this place, really enjoyed the read and the picutres.

He does and his mind is super sharp! Like David Attenborough and the Queen, there was something in the air around 1924!!!

nope, too much love between him and Lea for that to happen! He is her favourite person since she was a puppy, mainly because he was the only one throwing the ball for her!

totally love the tower bridge!! thank you @yen_powell!! Miss the UK SO MUCH!!

So, one of our favourite people in the World was over for a visit and we were treated to great food and great company as always! I did not take many photos, thank God cause I am rubbish at it (!), but here are some of Pedro's food, very good indeed! A little starter prepared with care to eat while seating on the balcony enjoying the end of the day with a glass of wine Followed by spaghetti with a type of mackerel, a very subtle and truly delicious pasta! Another end of the day, another starter! This time goat's cheese with pumpkin jam I made and, I have to say, turned out very delicious! The combination of these two things is a very traditional Portuguese affair and works marvellously! The doggies agreed!! Day off equals pic-nic! So we went to a nice spot with 100% Pedro's choice of delights! Northern Portugal pork smoked sausage, ewe's milk cheese, local bead and Vinho Verde! Could not be more typical of Portugal!! One doggie already positioned in the drop zone... One never knows what can fall from the Human hand! Although they were catered for by the thinnest and cutest slices of carrot Pedro prepared for them, they loved it! The following day, on returning from a morning of surgeries, lunch was waiting in the form of a carefully selected group of dishes: dahl, fried rice, salted cod in olive oil and garlic and a southern style tomato salad, followed by a desert of strawberries in chocolate sauce!! delicious at the best of times, but on the back of a busy morning it was even better!

Always Pete, thanks for asking! I am trying to live by the motto, always well and if it is not, make it so!!

I was summoned to take the bike for an inspection to finalize the importation from Germany. A mere 200 kms from home, in the Summer heat! It was the perfect excuse for 2 days ridding through my roots once again!! Alentejo in the Summer is a scorched land, very yellow, burned by the intense heat that on the day reached 42C. Went to all my favourite places and tried my best to cool the bike by almost taking it for a swim!! Always enjoyed ridding by myself, following my intuition or my belly, depending who is louder!! There is such peace in solitude, specially when seating next to water. All those Zen Masters are always seating by a lake or next to a water fall for a reason!! But I wasn't totally alone, Estrelinha was there bringing up the rear nicely! A traditional Alentejo house, called Monte da Morcega, one of the many places I can call home around the World!! The first Vet I worked with spends the Summer months in this farm house because, although it does not have AC, you will not find a cooler place to be. Built around 200 years ago, with traditional technics and very thick walls, its a great place to be on the hottest days of the year. The whole family is into motorcycles, and the next generation is already on it!! It was very hard to convince little Carlota to get off, she was not budging! I explained to her its at the front she should be, with the odd pillion ride with someone that is worthy of taking her! "Never under estimate the power of a seed"! To be fair I was her age when I become fascinated with motorbikes, so there is hope!! The Vet, my favourite Vet, at 97 still fresh and funny and wise as he always was. So much respect and so much love for this absolute Gentleman of a man!! The beginning of my Professional life was with him, he was already 76 years young, and I was privileged to learn so much while doing the job I loved the most, farm practice, going out to the countryside every day, always unpredictable and fun. I was the first woman to work there as a farm vet, he believed in me and supported me even when some farm hands did not want a woman treating their beef cattle. I never turned back, did my job and got lucky a few times, transforming me from the young girl fresh from vet school into the doctor they requested to fix their animal problems. My Vet was proud of me as much as I looked up to him and it was with great sadness I left this life behind to emigrate to the UK. He also supported me on that decision, he knew I have a gypsy soul and I needed to see the World!! I go back time and time again, always welcomed like one of the family and that surely is one of the most amazing blessings anyone can have, One of our favourite things was always to seat and enjoy an afternoon snack and we kept our tradition! And seeing I was there, went to see some cows!! The heat was quite something so the best place to go was the big lake, Alqueva. Rode pass a busy village with its artificial beach and turned of to a sign that said Cemetery! Turned out to be a magical place, very peaceful and quiet, with some shade and a ramp that tempted me to wet the Supercorsas while avoiding disaster! My belly dictated it was time to go, so headed to a favourite place of mine and @Pedro for a toastie and typical portuguese soft drink. It was delicious as always and with the bike well parked under the shade, enjoyed a couple of hours of my own company, thinking of nothing and just being. One of the best days of my life!! BONUS! The bike passed its inspection!!

Gorgeous and sad... decaying history is a common find in Portugal. Philosophically Portuguese are outward and forward looking, not really interested in the past or learning about history, in a remarkable paradox seeing that Portugal has magnificent history! A People more curious about foreign lands then their own. There is a beauty to this, a freedom that comes from not being weighted down by the responsibility of looking after something, just accepting its death and decay and moving on to discover new things. If I had the money, I would love to buy it and restore it!

All amazing and delicious and trully caring. Very sweet indeed!

Small humans as in midgets! Very hard to find, hence costly! The chinease are working on a robot

Trully miss the UK. Unexpected event at every corner!!

Must be collected by humans with very small fingers

It can be done and was done! Very delicious beef rib just with sea salt and meaty tomato, all @Pedro 's seasoning. It was extremely nice.

It was absolutely delicious!! The best thing @Pedrohas ever cooked that I have eaten. Should open restaurant!

Just my thoughts exactly!

You are not too bad, but wrong bike...

Do us all a favour and open a restaurant!!

They are very good in so many ways, standing out is the engine. After having a few, personal preference goes to the 2005 edition, first 1050.

Really?? Please do tell! Is there yet more dirty, infantile expressions I dont know of after so many years of dealing with depraved british men?!

Did it once, on a DT 2 stroke, was not a good day .. its my intention to learn so im looking for a few training days at accademy of a friend. Its good to improve ridding anywhere. I just never liked the look of any trails, and although i dont want a GS like @Pedro, it is the best bike in the World. C'est ça!!

Good choice for the sporty side of you

Nice!!! Went there in 2008, very enjoyable. Lovely to see it again, thank you

Dont want Pedro's bike either. I really never liked trails... Sorry

Amazing!!

Would have the little Honda CRF from someone... I cant remember who, sorry... Would never have @XTremes bmw, ever! Or an Himalayan, sorry....