Good for the Soul

Sunshine, sand, good company, and a long (12,7 km) brisk walk. That’s basically what my day was all about.

André, Joanne, and I drove to the Faro airport, parked and then headed off on the boardwalk/path that hugs the Ria Formosa. The lagoon is a system of barrier islands that connects to the sea through six inlets. Our trail is basically right beside it until we reach the sea near Quarteira. There are a couple of places where you can cross lengthy boardwalks and access the Ilha de Faro but today we stayed the course and walked almost to the bitter end to Quarteira.

The path was quite busy, mostly walkers although we did see a few bikes. Many people were British with a peppering of French thrown in. We always know based on our greeting and the response!! For us it’s always in Portuguese but it’s rare that we get that back. The walk “going” was quite warm and it was wonderful to find a bunch of new things in bloom. Coming back however, the wind had come up a little and although it was sunny and blue sky, the nip in the wind was at times not pleasant. That said, we are three hearty Canadians and we do not allow ourselves to complain about the weather while we are here as we know what we are missing at home!

One of my favourite plants was out in bloom. It’s found primarily in costal sands and because of the blue, it stands out. It lined the dunes on both sides of the boardwalk for quite a distance……narrow-leaved blue lupins!

I was happy to see that finally the “powers that be” have seen the sense in trying to protect some of the land that runs along the Ria Formosa. On this particular walk they have now installed a subtle, but efficient fence that goes for kms and reminds people….

The furthest I had walked previously was to the Praia do Ancão but today we went a bit further and I’d say we probably still had another six kms to go to reach Quarteira but it was more than enough for one day, we discussed it and opted to turn back. When we finally reached the car we were quite happy we had made that decision!!

Colour was everywhere today with the flowers, blossoming trees, blue sky, golden beach, and the pounding sea. At one point I was directly in front of a very large colourful lantana bush, which was sitting in the shade of a fully blooming acacia tree, and behind that blue sky. I asked Joanne to take a photo of me but had decided in advance that I needed to have one with what Marc and I affectionally call….the Bonnie pose!!!! (See BSJ, we thought of you today).

I’m grateful everyday for this wonderful retirement and life I get to live. To be able to share it with family and friends makes it extra special. Hope you too enjoy it.