Autumn is here

Despite the weather forecast, it did not rain all the time.

Just while hiking.

 

And while cycling.

But we had sun while climbing :-) 

And we've been away

When temperatures hit 35+ degrees, it's time to go someplace else. 

 So we did :-)

There were also 35+ degrees, but we had this wonderful sea to cool down. 

And plenty of shade. And ice cream. And granita :-D

What a month!

Last month was /still is/ an extremely busy month. 

Exhausting.

But we managed a lovely day trip to Sveta Gora and Trieste.

And we saw this beauty: Amerigo Vespucci. 

I feel a special bond with this ship as we had a photo of her in our living room for decades. 

Away again

About a week after returning from Portugal, I was off again. 

To the South of France.

When can I start calling it my second home?

Away

One of the reasons why there were no posts in November is that we took a lovely autumn break and went to Portugal.

Still beautiful, still fascinating, yet way more crowded than ever before...

If I counted correctly, this is the seventh time I visited the country.

But I will visit it again, for sure :-)

And no, I haven't yet had the courage to try wave surfing, my men, however, loved it!

Antibes

Not that I need any reminders on what a wonderful place Antibes is - but I am nevertheless happy I got this painting at the flea market :-)

It goes surprisingly well with other pictures and maps on my wall, showing Southern France, Nice, and Biot ;-)

Côte d'Azur

Well, I was away.

There is something special about this place.

 

And it makes me happy.

So pretty!

 I found the images of this beauty on my phone, from the recent trip to Aquilea:

The pieces fit so perfectly together, you can hardly believe this is a jigsaw puzzle!

Oh, yes, it is. And a beautiful one!

Something scary on Halloween

You want to hear something really scary for Halloween?

Almost 29 degrees in my country.

On the 31st of October.

 

But then again, if life gives you good weather, make the best of it, right ;-)

Sea and ceilings

Well, first of all, I was away. 

The coast was beautiful ...

... but the beaches even nicer when immersed in fog!

 

I've seen also a lot of interesting ceilings. For example one in Batalha:

one in Monserrate:

 

 and another one in Sintra:

 

Frustrating waves

I've always been a fan of tiny puzzles. The cuteness of the pieces gets me every time.

However, a tiny puzzle needs to be of super high quality. And this one unfortunately isn't. The shapes are repetitive, sloppily designed and probably even badly cut. The contrast on the colours is poor. There are so many false ways these pieces 'fit' together that it's becoming frustrating. I will of course solve it but it is not the fun I was hoping it to be.

Oh well.

Holidays!

 Aaand... we've been away again.

 A family of "cinghiali" crossing our path in broad daylight!

 

Crowds at the Elviscot shipwreck.

 

The wreck itself is impressive. 

Creepy. But impressive.

La mer

La mer ...

 

 

... qu'on voit danser 

le long des golfes clairs 

a des reflets d'argent...

Windy. 

Almost wintery.

Definitely silver.

But super pretty.

 

I'm happy.

A lovely autumn

 We've been away. Not very far, but it was wonderfully relaxing.

 

Of course we were very active: kayaking, climbing, exploring the caves, even mini golf :-)

 

 

A colourful bouquet

 A colourful bouquet of kayaks, of course ;-)

They are pretty, you have to admit.