[YEAR 7!] Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...
- Thread starter lightcycle
- Start date
lightcycle
Nomad
Thanks so much for all the well wishes, guys! Neda is feeling a lot better now!
Hi Andy, thanks so much! We've not had any problems with Internet access thus far. Will check out your site.
Africa! :bike_rider:
Hi Andy, thanks so much! We've not had any problems with Internet access thus far. Will check out your site.
Africa! :bike_rider:
lightcycle
Nomad
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/204.html
We originally wanted to head further north into Portugal to visit Coimbra and Porto. Marco had given us a list of all the touristy sights that they were going to see and we wanted to follow in their footsteps (albeit a bit more slowly) and possibly meet them as they made their way back to Lisbon.
They were our advance reconnaissance team, and when they reached Porto, Lori PMed us and told us to stay in Lisbon. It was cold and rainy where they were - still too early in the season to take motorcycles up there. They also tell us that this is unseasonably frigid and wet for Portugal this time of year. I replied, "Yep, RideDOT.com in da house".
So we're off to someplace warmer and drier. Not north.
Bye bye, Lisbon!
In addition to the crappy weather and Neda's lingering chest cold/bronchitis/pneumonia/ebola (thanks ADV doctors), we're also a bit down because all of our gear is slowly disintegrating around us. In the space of a couple of weeks, we've lost bike covers, various zippers on our luggage liners have come apart, my riding jacket zipper unzips by itself from the bottom-up turning itself into a cape, Neda's tankbag has holes in it and so does her motorcycle seat so the foam inside is waterlogged all the time, her sidecases are cracked at the bottom and leaking, my indestructible yellow dry bag has a tear in it. All of these problems are made worse because it's constantly raining here and water is getting in and soaking everything.
It's as if the warranty for everything we own just expired all at the same time.
Normally, I'd be serving cheese with all of this whine, but Neda is lactose intolerant... Add *that* to the list!
Dropped into Touratech to check out their bags and see if they have a replacement seat for Neda's bike.
No luck, but we did get our picture taken for their Facebook page.
Visted the Ducati dealership in the pouring rain.
Not to buy anything, just to look at bikes because that makes me happy...
We originally wanted to head further north into Portugal to visit Coimbra and Porto. Marco had given us a list of all the touristy sights that they were going to see and we wanted to follow in their footsteps (albeit a bit more slowly) and possibly meet them as they made their way back to Lisbon.
They were our advance reconnaissance team, and when they reached Porto, Lori PMed us and told us to stay in Lisbon. It was cold and rainy where they were - still too early in the season to take motorcycles up there. They also tell us that this is unseasonably frigid and wet for Portugal this time of year. I replied, "Yep, RideDOT.com in da house".
So we're off to someplace warmer and drier. Not north.
Bye bye, Lisbon!
In addition to the crappy weather and Neda's lingering chest cold/bronchitis/pneumonia/ebola (thanks ADV doctors), we're also a bit down because all of our gear is slowly disintegrating around us. In the space of a couple of weeks, we've lost bike covers, various zippers on our luggage liners have come apart, my riding jacket zipper unzips by itself from the bottom-up turning itself into a cape, Neda's tankbag has holes in it and so does her motorcycle seat so the foam inside is waterlogged all the time, her sidecases are cracked at the bottom and leaking, my indestructible yellow dry bag has a tear in it. All of these problems are made worse because it's constantly raining here and water is getting in and soaking everything.
It's as if the warranty for everything we own just expired all at the same time.
Normally, I'd be serving cheese with all of this whine, but Neda is lactose intolerant... Add *that* to the list!
Dropped into Touratech to check out their bags and see if they have a replacement seat for Neda's bike.
No luck, but we did get our picture taken for their Facebook page.
Visted the Ducati dealership in the pouring rain.
Not to buy anything, just to look at bikes because that makes me happy...
lightcycle
Nomad
So we didn't manage to get anything replaced or fixed in Lisbon...
kthxbye.
The town of Évora is only an hour away and is where we are meeting Marco and Lori as they finish up their tour of Portugal
Azulejos, which are these ceramic tiles, are commonplace all over Portugal
Azulejos are tin-glazed ceramic tiles which are used to decorate the outsides of buildings, walls, floors and even ceilings. They're not only ornamental, but also serve double-duty as a sort of insulation for temperature control.
Church of Bones! Well, not the entire church, just a Wing of Bones...
The Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) is one of the most well-known tourists sights in Portugal. It's not built from bones, just the interior of one of the wings is lined with human skeletons. It was quite creepy to think how many dead people were being used as wallpaper here. And probably not serving double-duty as insulation...
Skull protrudes from a pillar. This was somebody's head attached to a body at some point.
lightcycle
Nomad
More human skulls lining the ceiling
Thousands upon thousands of bones stacked up againt the wall.
The Chapel of Bones was built in the 16th century by a monk who wanted to bring home the point that life is transitory. The bones are the remains of his fellow monks. Perhaps there could have been a less creepy way of making his point?
At the entrance of the chapel there's a sign that reads, "We bones, lying here, for yours we wait".
AHHHHHH!!!!
Walking around the historic centre of Evora
Abstract sculpture overlooking the town
Clothes being hung out. To dry?
No, it's raining so much here, this is the wash cycle...
lightcycle
Nomad
Ruins of a Roman temple in Portugal, beautiful churches and castles surround it.
We found out that Évora is a UNESCO town, ie. total GringoTrail Town. Main economy: tourism.
Marco took us to his favorite restaurant in Évora. It was so well hidden, we worked up an appetite trying to find it!
For dinner, the restaurant served Black Iberian Pig, which was indigenous to the Évora region, and it was all-you-could-eat. Marco's gluttony was contagious and we all gorged ourselves silly on all this delicious food! It was a great way to end a fantastic time with our old hometown-friends.
But now with our plans to explore northern Portugal stymied, we had to figure out where to go to escape the cold weather.
lightcycle
Nomad
Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/205.html
No place to go but south at this point.
Since we left the Algarve region in a rush to get to Lisbon last week to meet our friends, we're going to return to see it properly. Neda says she feels that her cold (or bronchitis we suspect) is in its final stages, so we both agreed that we shouldn't travel any more until she is 100% better. I think all this moving around and going out sightseeing in this cold and wet weather has actually prolonged her illness.
Heading south back to the Algarve
On the way, we pass through some quaint Portuguese towns...
...as well as some picturesque roads
After a prolonged absence, the sun joined us on our travels. The last couple of weeks without the Pula Girls have resigned us to rainy rides and when the weather actually clears up we are pleasantly surprised.
Our destination in the Algarve region is the very popular tourist town of Lagos. Tripadvisor says it is the #1 vacation destination in Europe. Which means that we are staying just outside of it, in a tiny beach-side suburb called Luz, because our Canadian pesos have informed us that we can't actually afford to be swanky, European vacationers...
I forced Neda to do this for a few days. There was little resistance
This cold/bronchitis has lasted for two weeks now. While her chest still hurts, at least the coughing has subsided and no more dark green loogies. We think the worst has passed, but just to make sure she is confined to bedrest, or patiofurniturerest in this case. We're getting a lot of sun down here, which is also helping to lift Neda's spirits.
No place to go but south at this point.
Since we left the Algarve region in a rush to get to Lisbon last week to meet our friends, we're going to return to see it properly. Neda says she feels that her cold (or bronchitis we suspect) is in its final stages, so we both agreed that we shouldn't travel any more until she is 100% better. I think all this moving around and going out sightseeing in this cold and wet weather has actually prolonged her illness.
Heading south back to the Algarve
On the way, we pass through some quaint Portuguese towns...
...as well as some picturesque roads
After a prolonged absence, the sun joined us on our travels. The last couple of weeks without the Pula Girls have resigned us to rainy rides and when the weather actually clears up we are pleasantly surprised.
Our destination in the Algarve region is the very popular tourist town of Lagos. Tripadvisor says it is the #1 vacation destination in Europe. Which means that we are staying just outside of it, in a tiny beach-side suburb called Luz, because our Canadian pesos have informed us that we can't actually afford to be swanky, European vacationers...
I forced Neda to do this for a few days. There was little resistance
This cold/bronchitis has lasted for two weeks now. While her chest still hurts, at least the coughing has subsided and no more dark green loogies. We think the worst has passed, but just to make sure she is confined to bedrest, or patiofurniturerest in this case. We're getting a lot of sun down here, which is also helping to lift Neda's spirits.
lightcycle
Nomad
Hiking around Ponta da Piedade (Mercy Point)
When Neda is feeling better, we ride down to Ponta da Piedade, which is a small cape overlooking very scenic beaches 60 feet below some spectacularly-striated cliffs, with the same patterned rocks rising up just off the coast out of dark blue-indigo waters.
The sands collect in beaches between the cliffs like the webbing between your fingers[/size][/b]
Pillars of rock poke up above the waters all along the shoreline with the city of Lagos in the distance
In the summer, these beaches are packed to the brim with tourists
Because we are traveling in the off-season, it's not warm enough to go swimming or lie on a beach towel in a bathing suit. But part of the reason we are even able to stay here is because the prices are so cheap this time of year and we have the entire place to ourselves!
A break in the cliff walls lead to the next beach
lightcycle
Nomad
Birds have a nice place to hang out
We were hoping to get some nice views of the beaches at sunset, but we should have checked a map to see how Ponta da Piedade was oriented: the sun sets on the other side of the cape! All we saw were the shadows of the cliffs. So we rode back the next morning bright and early to catch a sunrise:
The only picture that worked out because 10 minutes later, it started raining. Of course.
The next day we headed into the historic centre of Lagos to check it out
More of the pretty Portugeuse ceramic tiles covering most of the buildings here
The reason why Lagos is so popular with tourists: lots of restaurants, bars and nightclubs here
We splurged a bit and found a nice Indian restaurant down here. Indian food is one of Neda's favorite foods, so this indulgence was purely medicinal. Hopefully it'll help flush (literally) whatever is making her ill out of her system.
lightcycle
Nomad
The older part of Lagos is walled off, and they've put some funky lights on the top of the walls
Looks like a video game!
Ok, I think we're done here.
I've reviewed the last few entries in our blog and it seems we've both hit a low point in our travels with all the bad weather, illnesses and our gear falling apart. Perhaps we need a change of scenery? We are at the western-most tip of continental Europe. We've already explored most of Southern Spain and it's too early in the season to head north.
Only one option left, really...
Landogriiffin
New member
I have been following all of your blog entries on your web site. Loving following your travels and living though your photos. An excellent read by far, keep up the good work.