Santo António seems to be everywhere on this island but it’s pure coincident that my ride today took me to a parish named after the ananas or vice versa. Neither nor obviously. The strong influence of Saint António dates back to the 12th century and ended in one of the most important public holidays in Portugal.
Leaving history behind, the ride itself also offered magnificent landscape.
Fair winds…
I have been to Rabo de Peixe last year and clearly remember how special and different this village was from the rest. It took me up to the point, that I felt uncomfortable spotting junkie needles lying on the road.
Netflix has taken the opportunity to produce a drama in this village based on true facts. Since today I have a Netflix account to watch the first series of seven episodes. As the movie got very popular in Portugal, it was decided a few days back to produce series two in continuation.
Not many film requisites needed, the village fits perfectly into the frame of the movie content. For me, a bizarre coincident.
Need to watch first episode now.
Fair winds…
At Santo António you will get to know everything about pineapple farming. Farming is on a low scale and dates back to 1911 but the fruit produced is of highest quality mainly consumed on the island itself.
The show room is stylish but simple and I learned that it takes 2.5 years to produce one pineapple of this quality. One pineapple per plant. Then you start from scratch. With 8-10 Euro per kilo it comes with a price tag.
Fair winds…
After finally getting some crackers, I was set to go to the Reserva Florestal National Park, long time on my list. Not approaching via the main road, there was a bit of cyclocross involved on a 1.5km stretch to get to the entrance of the park. Although this stretch is more suitable for mountain bike and hiking it is brilliant from a nature point of view but impossible to ride with a road bike, even a Roubaix.
The park itself captivated me from the first moment and besides lush green all over I got positively irritated by the sheer variety of plants, bushes and trees, not to forget the colourful flowers sticking out here and there. Fantastic.
Fair winds…
With the upcoming arrival and boarding of Sutje Jan here in PDL, a new chapter will be opened. Boating & Biking 2.1! How it all unfolded:
Sometimes there are too many attractive options around and it needs a deep and thorough evaluation to come up with a plan. From keeping the lady in Azores, Madeira or Canaries again, Galicia came up or even Algarve as new alternatives for the upcoming winter. The Orca situation and last but not least the question again and again, what do I really want, drove the decision to sail back into the Baltic Sea and take a rest. I also strongly believe that a journey should have a proper start and a proper end to keep memories in a defined framework. I need time to digest.
Once that was decided, it became clear, that our return has to go via Ireland & Scotland. The lady wants to dance on the Eddies.
As our journey so far has been closely accompanied by Petra & Jan from SY Sutje, I am happy, that Jan and myself now have the chance to share some adventures together on the way back to Kappeln.
We are planning to pass through the Caledonian Channel and visit the Open Yard in Ellös late August. Let’s see. First we need to get to THE ROCK – Fastnet Rock!
Looking forward to welcome Jan onboard shortly!
Fair winds…
SY Mah Jong from Vineyard Haven arrived here in town last night. While taking a look, I had a chat with the crew and found out what exceptional boat she is. A pleasure to look at.
Designed by S&S and built in 1957 in Hongkong, she was rescued and got restored in 2014.
No doubt, an exceptional sailing boat!
Where beauty hits the ocean!
Fair winds…
The plan made on 9th October 2022 in Puerto Calero got half realized today. The downside is that Cornelia, Volker and Ulrike are missing while the upside is, more Champagne for us, glad it is Friday. Elke and Ulli arrived with beautiful SY Christina today in PDL!
A lot has happened since we made the plan. It will take hours and days to catch up on the latest…
Have a great weekend, if you get there?!?
Fair winds…
Took an extra hour sleep this morning. The sun will help to clear this later today, if the weather forecast is right. It is still early in the season on the Azores. Best month are usually July and August.
Fair winds…
Talking Favorites – PDL and Azores will defintely be high on the ranks, if not #1. Besides its culinary attraction, climate, people, nature and culture are the other attributes continuously captivating myself. I am grateful that we have a bit more time here.
Fair winds…
