Serra racing
One thing about Serra da Estrella that I didn't know before, is that it's a place for some serious car races. For those that are not aware - Serra da Estrella is of course the mountain (la montanya!), which tops over Covilha. And because of its curvy and tricy roads, it has been a challenge for me and my Uno to get on top :-) Turns out that I was not the only one to race on the top!
So actually what happened, was that we wanted to get to Serra for some sunbathing and picnic. Again, like usually, the team was me, Ania, Swiezy and Mart :-) Somehow, we just didn't change that since Aveiro. And then there just was a policeguy on our way, saying that we cannot go up. Only that we reminded ourselves - oh yeah, racing.
So we stopped the car and went to look around. I gotta say, the surroundings looked nice. And there was no problem with going just next to the cars, to see everything with your own eyes. We took dozens of pictures, saw many cars and heared some really, really loud engines! We went to the place where the cars were starting, man that was loud. Finally, we stopped at a place on the track, on a quite steep heel, after which there was a quite curvy-curve :-) After a moment we took off, as the noise was to big to bear :P Pictures are comming soon!
Peniche
While staying in Aveiro, two weeks ago, we have been asking some people about good surfing places in Portugal. Most of them answered the same - Peniche. It's a small city close to Santarem and Rio Maior. It is exposed to all the waves and winds that can come to Portugal! So the conditions for surfing sound promissing!
The crew was the same as last time, me, sweet Ania, Fresh Milk and Marta. We took my drive and loaded it up with tent, sleeping bags and clothes again. As we didn't want to pay the highway tolls, we stuck to the nationals and heh, that's why the way took a little longer than we expected. But without beeing lost too much, we arrived friday night to Peniche. We established a base at Campismo Municipal and actually went to sleep, cause it was late and we were tired. Oh yeah, before that we took a trip to a chinese restaurant, which was really good! When you hava the chance, try fried chicken with almonds!
Next day we went to the beach, which was really nice. The water was so clear, it seemed like Bahamas or something. We had a wind screen so we could stay there all day without being cold. In the afternoon me and Milky Milk left our sweet girls on the beach and went to look around a little, to spot surfing equipment for rent and good places to surf. We found a nice talkative guy again, who explained us how the Paniche water helps you get tanned and stay that way for couple weeks, how he runs the kite-surfing and surfing rental shop and what he's doing there, and many other things. He told us where are the best conditionds that day, we took some equipment and took off!
And the fact is that surfing is not easy! ;-) We were struggling to even stand for a moment on the board, without falling down on the face or being slapped by the board. And also now I know where those surfer guys get their nice bellies with sixpacks on them. It's hard, difficult and very tireing. And most of all - a lot, a lot fun! I regret that I don't live closer to the ocean, but hey - I have plenty of places to go to the beach, I'll be allright. And I am going again soon, that's fa' show!
Peniche Surf Camp!
These are the pictures from last weekend Peniche trip. No time for detailed report, but it's comming up soon :-)
http://www.tlen.w.tkb.pl/Paniche/index.html
Aveiro trip
Aiight time for some real action!
Milk got back from Lagos with Marta. They had a nice couple days there and they said it was great - so I have to go there soon :-) But first we decided to do some closer trips, he suggested Porto. I added Aveiro there, cause I know it's a beautiful place with great beaches. Like usually, witout planning too much, we jumped into tha Uno and took off. We had a tent and sleeping bags, that was pretty much it. When we arrived in Aveiro it was not great, the wind was strong and the water quite cold. We spent some time in the beach but quite quickly decided to take off and find some place to stay, something to eat, etc.
So the camp we found was really nice. All covered with grass, had lights, electricity, grills everywhere (!) and nice showers and bathrooms, except that water in the showers had almost no pressure at all :P But we bought some coal, some meet and had a really nice grill evening. By the way, beer with Brendymel tastes great!!
Next day is where the fun starts! As we wanted to try some watersports, we found a nice surf shop called Tribo do Sol, with a great guy inside. Luis was his name and we spent some quality time with him, talking about surfing, bodyboarding and many things connected. After a while we decided to take a pair of bodyboards and wetsuits, as the best thing for beginners. We got a good price on that and went to the beach. And then, oh yeah, we took of for the waves! It is really hard to describe all that, but it was amazing. You notice the power of the waves only when you swim right into it. It can flip you around, turn every side and in the and slam in the bottom of the ocean :-) But after that you just come out and feel great! Then you come back in again :-) See the pics, but they won't tell you everything, it was really amazing!
http://www.tlen.w.tkb.pl/Aveiro/index.html
Salamanca y Madrid!
We wanted to see some Spanish grounds and mostly because of the geographically issues - we chose Salamanca and Madrid. It's quite close to Covilha, Salamanca is closer than Lisbon, so we could just jump into Uno and without too much planning, hit the road.
Salamanca was great, just as I remembered from last time. The city is fabolous and it kills me each time that I think I could study there! But before you call me a looser for choosing Covilha - if I wasn't here all would be totally different, and let me remind you that I love the way things are right now! ;-)
So we went to see the cathedral, Plaza Mayor, all surroundings with libraries, shops, parks and streets. All the time I was in touch with Fatima, cause I wanted to meet her, for old times sake. But she was kinda busy, and could appear just in the late evening, and the possey decided to go to Madrid before night, so the meeting was impossible :/ Next time, Fati, I promise!
We spent some more time in a pub next to Plaza Mayor, to see Madrid - Barcelona. Shit, I don't even remember the score right now ;-) But the game was nice and the atmosphere as well. Except the habits of spanish guys, to pat each ather on the asses and do similar stuff :/ Man, I prefer our way - "those areas are reserved for girls!". And at midnight we opened up some beers in the middle of Plaza Mayor and sung "Sto lat!" alltogether as it was Ania'a b-day! :-) Sweet Kisses for you! Martini was going down the throat, except the driver, who couldn't drink of course :-/
Madrid was kinda boring. Everybody wanted to see Santiago da Bernabeu, and as I didn't see anything interesting in that (and what by the way costed 9€), me and Ania spent some time walking and sight-seeing, then we had some lunch, saw some parks and a Corrida (from the outside, as I really wouldn't like to see what's happening inside :/) and we took off. We were back to Covilha in the night.
Nice trip except a little too poor planning for Madrid and unsuccesful meeting with Fati :-)
