Colours of Scotland
Thursday 23 March 2023
Pink statues in Santa Cruz Static festival
Thursday 23 February 2023
Pink cat running in white wall at the Bang awards
Thursday 16 February 2023
Redinha, next to the white chapel
"This climbing wall is in Redinha, next to the chapel named Nossa Senhora da Estrela. It is on the top of the hill with a beautiful view over the protected landscape of Serra de Sicó. Even in the summer there is always a breeze up there and the site is popular, mainly among the young climbers, probably students from nearby Leiria Politechnic or Coimbra University. There is a tarmacked road up the hill, which is common in Portugal. To its hill its road. Therefore it is not surprising that the site is popular among young climbers, who are maybe less likely to walk far from the road to go climbing, and also to weekend drivers, who usually appear after lunch to see the view and get the fresh air. This photo was taken by one of these car visitors. She was impressed with the climber skills, myself, and clapped while I was coming down, offering me the photo via whatsapp. From the top of the hill, an invasive feature on the landscape can be observed, the forever unfinished Interpretation Center and Museum of Serra do Sico, which is no more than a scar on this protected landscape.
Wednesday 13 July 2022
A summery winter day in white Sesimbra
Friday 17 June 2022
Turquoise water at Portinho da Arrabida and Fenda
Sunday 5 June 2022
Blue sea and orange sunset at Guia, Cascais
Since we have decided to start to explore climbing spots in Portugal we have been surprised by the variety, beauty, and uniqueness of some of these spots. In Guia, Cascais, the surprise came from the fact that, from the road next to the sea I never imagined what was going on down there. When I went down the stairs for the first time I found a completly different environment, whith climbers from different nationalities climbing routes with funny names (e.g. Nestum com grelos, Striptease). From that day onwards, we have been back several times, as it is just an hour from my seaside village in Portugal. This climbing spot can be very busy during the weekends, as it is just in the outskirts of Lisbon, and acessible from the city centre on a 30 min train journey. In the week days, and especially if it is a coollish day, it can be very quiet. The cliffs face South, so it is a perfect location for the winter as it catches the sun and it creates a microclimate, with the temperature feeling like 20oC. Sometimes at high tide, the rock can be a bit wet at the bottom and because it is a very popular place, the rock gets polished and it can be very slippery to start with. The sunsets are beautiful and worthwile waiting for. The views from the cliffs include some landmarks South of the Tagus river, such as Espichel cape and also the Arrabida mountain range.
Friday 22 April 2022
Escarpas Walkway (Passadiço das Escarpas) in Maceira-Porto Novo, Torres Vedras
Monday 4 April 2022
White stone in Montejunto Novo
Thursday 31 March 2022
Climbing in Azoia - Sesimbra (Cova Mijona)
Friday 25 March 2022
Women's day in Cambelas
Since 2019, and because I have been spending more time in Portugal since then, I have established a the tradition of celebrating the 8th of March in my house with few women of different generations. My mum and two other women of about her age, and myself and another two women of about my age. The result, apart from the beautiful food that everyone prepares, is the sharing of experiences and the learning from older times that we, the youngest women have not experienced. The older women, lived until they were adults without electricty, running water in the houses, tarmaked roads, public transport, access to secondary schools, during a dictatorship and one of them even without national health system care during pregancy and labour. It is amazing how behind rural Portugal was only 45 years ago, even for a village that is located only 60km away from the capital, Lisbon. The worse deprivation in my opinion was on access to education after primary school, but this is mainly the assessment of someone like myself with a PhD degree since the older women cannot even understand what they were blocked from getting: knowledge about the world, literature, learning of different languages, the ability and confidence to travel on their own. On the other hand, they lived in a time where every little thing was valued, the new clothes premiered in the religious festivities, the balls in neighbouring villages, the walking to the balls at night in groups and via narrow and muddy footpaths, the watching of the first Brazilians soaps in the village cafe as none of them had television at home. They also kept an unique vocabulary only used in Cambelas, which should never be forgotten. These older women are the pillars of ourselves, younger women. Their strength, resilience to hardship and love for their children is what allowed us to become independent women nowadays. I hope to keep this tradition of celebrating the 8th of March for many and healthy years.
Tuesday 11 May 2021
Blue carnival in Cambelas
21-26 February 2020 was the last big Carnival in Torres Vedras. This Carnival is said to be the "most portuguese Carnival of all carnivals in Portugal". It is non-stop partying, day and night, with thousands, if not millions of people visiting every year. Men dress like women, groups of people join to dress up acording to the theme of the year, there is a parade with kids from all schools in the municipality who dress up thematically, and there many other carnivalesque activities. The traditional protuguese saying "life is two days and Carnival is three days" does not apply anymore, as Carnival now lasts for 5 days. This Carnival is promoted by the Municipality of Torres Vedras who invest a great deal of money in the organisation of the event. In Cambelas, however, there is usually a smaller Carnival, organised spontaneously by some people in the village and very bottom-up. For the few years, many village characters appear by magic in the village corners. These represent distinctive people in the village and it is usually easy to identify who are the people characterised. These characters can be close together without the danger of catching Covid-19. Unlike the big parties in Torres Vedras which had to be cancelled in 2021 due to the large amounts of people packed like sardines and the huge risk ouf Covid-19 outbreaks, Cambelas' small, simple and spontaneous Carnival went ahead! The pandemic just proved that the small and simple can be good!
Thursday 15 April 2021
Colourful handmade nativities
This place holds some magic. This is Cambelas wash house, lavoir or public basin, where the women used to wash the clothes before water was piped from the grid into the houses in the late 90s. There was also a public cattle drinking basin and a fountain for human water consumption. Many years have passed, the women have left, there is no cattle to water, people now buy bottled water and tarmak arrived (What for?). Recently, someone in the village had the idea to display a handmade nativity here during Christmas period. Many families adhered to the idea, and the result was more than 40 nativities presented and many visitors from outside the village. Before the pandemic arrived, families also got together here in Christmas eve to toast and to sing Christmas songs.
Wednesday 14 April 2021
Green at Bacalhoa Buddha Eden
The Bacalhoa Buddha Eden is a garden near Bombarral, in center Portugal. I have heard about it some years ago and always wanted to visit it. I went there in the beggining of 2020 and was surprised to see so many people inside the walls. I was also surprised with the 5 Euros ticket they asked to entry the garden as it used to be much cheaper before. I thought this could only be the result of the tourism boom in Portugal after the 2011 crisis. The current COVID-19 situation returned Portugal to the Portuguese.
Friday 6 November 2020
Blue water at the Tunstall reservoir
Friday 11 September 2020
Colourful Pennan
Pennan is a small fishing village in the coast of Moray, in Scotland. To arrive there we have to drive along winding roads down the hill towards sea level. The colourful houses are exiting and fresh and not grey and boring like the granite and colourless houses in Aberdeen. The village is inspiring as it is by the sea and we can seat in one of the outdoor benches and look for dolfins, seals or seabirds. In the winter, when we mostly visit Pennan, we always try to have food at the Pennan Inn (made famous by the movie Local Hero) but we are usually disappointed by its low season closure. We like to walk to the next village Gardenstown, trying to capture the exquisite decoration of the small houses through their little windows, appreciating their little gardens, and envying the kayaks laying on the sides of some houses, waiting to have some fun at the sea. I usually look up to the imponent Auchmedden Church, placed at a higher point, overlooking the villagers' steps and reminding them not to sin. The village is quiet but gets its portion of weekend visitors and holiday makers. In the late 19th century, the North East was living the herring boom and Pennan was a relatively prosperous and bursting village.
Friday 21 August 2020
Golden Cairngorms
Thursday 23 July 2020
Blue T-shirt in Duddon Valley, Lake district
Friday 10 July 2020
Blue European Flag
Friday 8 May 2020
Green, cool Brixton
Friday 17 April 2020
Grey sea and sky by J.M.W. Turner
Thursday 16 April 2020
Grey smoke from muirland burning
Friday 27 March 2020
Green Rio Sizandro
White Maroon Bells
Sunday 31 March 2019
Green, blue and rocky around Dunkeld
Grey in Beinn a' Bhùird
Nab Crags in blue
Tuesday 25 September 2018
Imponent golden Bowes Museum
Blue ocean in Gruinard Bay
Great climbing spot. In a hot day the sea and the spring are just there for an after climbing dive.
Saturday 28 July 2018
Green Holy Isle
Yellow and warm sunset in Cir Mhor
"Cir Mhor (Big Comb) is the last of the Corbett peaks of Arran and sits at 798m high. The name comes from the peaks resemblance to a cockscomb. Although not the highest peak in the range, Cir Mhor is justly described as the finest peak in the range. It forms, roughly, a triangular pyramid shape that faces one side towards Glen Iorsa, another to Glen Rosa and the third to Glen Sannox. Cir Mhor provides some of the best rock climbing on the Island." (In: https://www.summitpost.org/the-isle-of-arran/458606)