My Birthday Month has Begun!!!

What better way to celebrate my birthday month that a wonderful morning hike at Fonte da Benémola Trail. Perfect sunny blue sky, a hearty breakfast, good company, and a bounce in my step because of all those things and a general happiness in life.  

Yesterday was a busy and full day with errands, house-cleaning, cooking, and cards at Pat and Gary’s last night. My first task of the day was to go and add air pressure to the tires as I had received a warning on the dash display. That took a bit longer than I thought but what a difference it’s made to the comfort of the drive, especially for those relegated to the back seat. A purchase of fresh bread, warm (just baked) chorizo buns, and a special treat of ” pain au chocolatine” for Marc and Joanne. What wonderful smiles I received when I took them out of the paper sac.

As I was walking down the drive yesterday morning to open our gates, I was accosted by a large flock of these beautiful green/yellow birds and then I looked them up. I’ve seen them a couple of times since, including at the Fonte da Benémola today. When they spread their wings it’s simply a blur of green flitting about, very lovely.

The Fonte da Benémola trail appeared to be busy today based on the number of cars in the parking lot however we only ran into two small groups on our journey, which was wonderful. The quieter it is, the more you get to appreciate all the birds, the babbling river, and the rustling of the wind in the bamboos that line the pathway and riverbank.

The guidebook claims this path is 5,1 km however by the time we finished, with all the exploring side trails, old abandoned buildings, etc., we had clocked up 7,2 km. Just the perfect distance for us as the sun was fairly warm and we were starting to work up a bit of a sweat. The return path also provided us with a bit more colour as we came across a few things either blooming now, or left over from last year.

As we finish the trail and headed out to the main road, and back to our car, the roadside is lined with a large sluice, that runs probably about 250 meters. In all the years I have been hiking this trail I have never seen water in the sluice however today it was full to the top and flowing rapidly then spilling out at the end back into the river. A testament to how much water they’ve had here this year.

We had thought, after the hike, to return home, collect Marc, and head into Moncarapacho for lunch (they way Jackson could sit with us on the square) but at he last minute James opted to head back home so……we did collect Marc, who was patiently and “hungrily” waiting for us,

and instead headed back into Sao Bras for lunch at Luis dos Frangos. It’s another place we enjoy very much and last night Pat and Gary mentioned that they had gone so…..it was in our minds.

I had the Ensopado de borrego (more or less, lamb stew). Succulent pieces of tender lamb served on a bed of toasted, day old bread, sitting in a dense tomato garlic sauce and covered in fresh mint. Yum yum. Both Joanne and Marc enjoyed the house speciality, Frango no Churrasco, grilled chicken piri piri. We were very happy campers and I can attest to the fact that we all licked our fingers more than once! Dinner will be late and light tonight.

At home now it’s all about digesting and relaxing. Joanne on the terrace in the sun squinting and reading, Marc listening to jazz and playing a computer game, and me, here I am chatting with….well you if you’re reading this!