Pedro Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Had the whole day to myself and nothing really to do, weather is warming up but at the same time woke up to a very windy morning. Not wanting to go on a big ride, I decided to go and explore an area close to home with which I was not familiar at all. First a stop by the Dainese shop to research on my next winter jacket, and a little expresso as you do Continued on and stopped near some horses to check navigation. They were mostly very young and mares, some of them still looked pregnant. As soon as I shut the bike down they got curious After a few words they came to say hello from up close, some of the mothers not letting the little ones explore their curiosity It's a nice road, the N114 between Santarém and Rio Maior, check google maps if you want Got off the main road and did a little detour to visit Azambujeira: Azambujeira is a really old village, it was started in 1633 and was head of the municipality until 1836. By 1836 the council was merged with Rio Maior which is a proper big town. Azambujeira has been refreshed and is kept in pristine condition, which is nice to see in an area with sometimes forgotten villages and decaying places. The house of an old important lord, rebuilt and kept looking original, now a small museum, it was closed The Junta de Freguesia is the equivalent to the town hall for small villages, next to it there's a memorial to fallen men from here that died overseas in the colonial war, big numbers for a small town. It's a small unassuming place but having such clean houses and long history, it was a pleasure to visit. Thinking of @yen_powell, I decided to check out the cemetery before leaving. It was next to a field with old cars that makes you think time has stood still since the 70s: I suppose it must only open on weekends: Painter was probably thinking Jesus hit the gym a lot, the Romans couldn't believe how ripped he was as he came back to life Back on the road for not more than 5km and I stop again, this time to see a special looking church. This tower was built by moors at an uncertain time, estimated around 1100, next to which the church was built while at the same time not really absorbing it but instead helping to preserve it. I like that, it's a cool place to visit. Continuing with the theme, I checked the cemetery, it is something I usually don't do but it was just there behind the tower. Somehow I went from not really caring about taking pictures for a ride report of a little ride near home to full on ride report mode The writing on one of the above picture's graves, with the flower closer to the bottom right of the picture reminded me that a cemetery is not just another touristy location and brought spirits to a more serious note, it says: "here sleeps the eternal sleep the little boy Luis Miguel dos Santos Silva, born 10.3.1973 and passed 20.3.1977, the next poem rhymes in Portuguese: dear son of my soul, your body I come to visit, you suffered so much in the world, and I couldn't save you." After a sobering moment I went back to the bike. By now I was a bit hungry and looking for a spot to have lunch, took a GS'y road heading for another little village, this one with a couple of open eateries Parked in the shade in a place that seems to be preparing for popular festivities, and sat outside after ordering a steak. Lunch was a real surprise, I was hoping for a simple pork sandwich or something simple like that but the day's special was "alcatra" steak with pepper sauce. I just looked it up because I am considerate like that and you call it rump steak in English, it turned out to be an amazing meal, with some local olives to start, a good steak with some delicious whiskey and pepper sauce, and the best chips I remember eating. The people managing the place were super friendly, and I'll surely come back often. After lunch I had a short walk around the village centre. Heading out towards home with another stop on the way. It was starting to get a little warm at almost 2pm. not more than 15 minutes later, stopped at Manique do Intendente to look at a decaying palace. The Palace of Pina Manique has an interesting story as it was never finished. On the center you see a chapel that is the only really finished part of it. Pina Manique is the name of the Intendente who planned on building and started with it in 1773. An Intendente is a sort of representative to the king, that acts on the king's behalf sorting all kinds of matters. When Diogo Inácio de Pina Manique's career went wrong and he no longer was the king's Intendente he ran out of funds to build it, and that was it. The rest of the town kind of echoes that mood too. Current inhabitants of the palace are mostly pigeons, plus some lost soul that probably uses an old mattress I spotted inside next to a couple of chairs. Moving off I stopped by a nature reserve, there is no big river flowing through but a series of small streams create this series of ponds that were used for ages as a means of flooding farming fields thus making them good for farming in a place with typically dry weather. It's very rich on wildlife, mainly birds, but the current draught isn't being kind to the Paúl de Manique do Intendente: It has looked like this: Let's hope for plenty of rain in the winter and a more uplifting visit next year... the entrance to it is looking properly sad and abandoned, I guess that's one way to keep the wildlife unbothered Overall, I think I never got more than 30 or 40 minutes away from home and still managed to see new cool places and act a little like I was on tour. Good surprising little ride. Coming back home I stopped by the supermarket for fruit, and got home to a little bit more warmth at around 30 or 32º but with a lot of wind and a strong smell of smoke, as I write this report the skies slowly turned and revealed that what I smelled was a little more than a little fire. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Excellent ride report @Pedro, you seemed to fit in an amazing amount of stuff considering how close you were to home 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 I'm loving the Renault 4, back in the day I remember them for having the slowest 0-60mph speed of any car on the road That particular one is ace as the registration plate could be interpreted as saying ' oh 60 ' !! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Why is Jesus holding a flag of the cross of St. George. I never had him down as a football hooligan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 1 minute ago, boboneleg said: I'm loving the Renault 4, back in the day I remember them for having the slowest 0-60mph speed of any car on the road That particular one is ace as the registration plate could be interpreted as saying ' oh 60 ' !! The Express in the other picture, being a diesel probably isn't much faster The 4 is still very a very common sight in inland rural southern Portugal, a lot of them clearly original and with not a lot of restoration gone into them. 5 minutes ago, boboneleg said: Why is Jesus holding a flag of the cross of St. George. I never had him down as a football hooligan No idea, I put it down to artistic liberties, but that isn't originally St. George's flag. It was used by some crusaders before him, and in Italy even before that for something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Great pics and report, enjoyed that. Six pack Jesus bet he was popular. Glad you were only “a little hungry” because that lunch was tiny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Whats the smoke then? Have you had any rain yet? Edit- just saw your comment on another thread saying you need rain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 1 minute ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Whats the smoke then? It's a fire... https://fogos.pt/fogo/2022100052133 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Great report Pedro! And I see you've now started on the Graveyard Shift as well! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 15 minutes ago, Pedro said: It's a fire... https://fogos.pt/fogo/2022100052133 Hope its under control, not too close to where you live and theres rain on the forecast soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yen_powell Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 I like Portugese cemeteries, I think it's nicer to have a picture of someone rather than just a name and I also like that some coffins are on show inside the small buildings. It may just be the sunshine, but I see them as cheerier than our home grown ones which can be rather forbidding even on a warm summers day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 29 minutes ago, yen_powell said: I like Portugese cemeteries, I think it's nicer to have a picture of someone rather than just a name and I also like that some coffins are on show inside the small buildings. It may just be the sunshine, but I see them as cheerier than our home grown ones which can be rather forbidding even on a warm summers day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel le Moose Fondler Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 2 hours ago, boboneleg said: Excellent ride report @Pedro, you seemed to fit in an amazing amount of stuff considering how close you were to home Took the words out of my mouth. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel le Moose Fondler Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Excellent report Pedro. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 1 hour ago, yen_powell said: I like Portugese cemeteries, I think it's nicer to have a picture of someone rather than just a name and I also like that some coffins are on show inside the small buildings. It may just be the sunshine, but I see them as cheerier than our home grown ones which can be rather forbidding even on a warm summers day. To me, I’d like them to be greener, it’s all stone and marble, but unless you water grass it wouldn’t work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 1 hour ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Hope its under control, not too close to where you live and theres rain on the forecast soon There’s 5 helicopters fighting it, plus people on the ground. It’s windy too and dry grass around so far from ideal. There’s no rain in the forecast. There’s not goingto be proper rain in the south until mid to late September at the best,and lately “at best” isn’t the reality for rain. For proper rain that has an effect on water levels and fields hidration, that’s October or November at best. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 The coolest cemetery I ever saw was an old one in Malmo in Sweden. Only a few timesafter walking next and through a park with trees did I notice there were headstones near some of the trees and amongst some bushes. All stone and marble has a very cold and austere feeling to it, plus on a bright sunshine day they’re sometimes blinding with brightness from reflections. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 Took @Sofiaaround on a little ride around these same locations, this time starting quite farther away than my place. And saw the same things a little differently Brief stop over our local favourite location for a cool picture Can't deny there's a little bit more style in the Speed Triple than the GS Overgrown fig tree was running out of space inside this old house in ruins Split in three, this originally one olive tree flourished through the ages Priest's residence near the old church has a lovely garden in front, seems like something out of an old book. Lunch was delicious, on the same café as last time but this time wine garlic and sweet paprika marinated pork with an egg on top (bifana com ovo a cavalo) The little square was empty this time, festivities had come and gone 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 2 minutes ago, Pedro said: Took @Sofiaaround on a little ride around these same locations, this time starting quite farther away than my place. And saw the same things a little differently Brief stop over our local favourite location for a cool picture Can't deny there's a little bit more style in the Speed Triple than the GS Overgrown fig tree was running out of space inside this old house in ruins Split in three, this originally one olive tree flourished through the ages Priest's residence near the old church has a lovely garden in front, seems like something out of an old book. Lunch was delicious, on the same café as last time but this time wine garlic and sweet paprika marinated pork with an egg on top (bifana com ovo a cavalo) The little square was empty this time, festivities had come and gone Very nice shots Pedro! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Fallsalot Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 47 minutes ago, Pedro said: Lunch was delicious, on the same café as last time but this time wine garlic and sweet paprika marinated pork with an egg on top (bifana com ovo a cavalo) Isn't that just a posh way of saying ham egg and chips 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 21 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said: Isn't that just a posh way of saying ham egg and chips It's not ham, though, if you say ham here it means that thinly sliced smoked stuff you buy and put directly on sandwiches. But I get it, the translations don't work very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Fallsalot Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 2 minutes ago, Pedro said: It's not ham, though, if you say ham here it means that thinly sliced smoked stuff you buy and put directly on sandwiches. But I get it, the translations don't work very well. Yes that's the same here what i meant was gammon oops LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yen_powell Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 I want a pair of those boots.....Does that make me a tranvestite? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 12 hours ago, yen_powell said: I want a pair of those boots.....Does that make me a tranvestite? No, just a complete gay boy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 12 hours ago, yen_powell said: I want a pair of those boots.....Does that make me a tranvestite? I don’t think it does, it’s 2022 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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