The Algarve in February

A couple of days to cover southern Portugal seemed like an ambitious holiday plan. The Algarve is best known for its seaside package-holiday resorts, such as Albufeira - but in February, we were hoping to see a more authentic view of Portuguese culture and life. It didn't disappoint.

We stayed at the Resedencial Dandy in Faro; a pleasant, rather quaint little place near the town centre. Faro itself is a pleasant enough Mediterranean town, with cobbled streets and a walled centre - but not particularly extraordinary. It seemed very quiet, and probably comes more alive in the tourist season.

On arrival at Faro airport, we picked up our shiny VW Golf and, rather than heading into town, headed east. First stop was an interesting Roman villa and temple at Milreu. This has clearly been well looked after by the Portuguese government, and had a very friendly and enthusiastic tour guide to show us around - I think she was quite glad to see us, as we might have been the only visitors that day! The site included some nice fish-themed mosaics, and a temple to Neptune, all surrounded by almond trees in bloom.

Next stop was Tavira, a few more kilometres to the east. This is a pleasant riverside town near the sea. Again, lots of windy cobbled streets, some nice churches and the remains of a fortress now containing a pretty flower garden. Also of interest is a bridge which, at least partially, dates back to pre-Roman days.

Further east, near the Spanish boarder, we stopped at Castro Marim. This is a slightly unreal-feeling village within sight of the developments on the other side of the border. The area is dominated by two hills, each with a castle on top. The one we visited had some lovely old walls and fortifications, now rather ruined; the one on the other hill looks much newer (possibly Napoleonic era) and tidier - slightly antiseptic. The village borders an area of saltmarsh that acts as a nature reserve - a singularly unimpressive place to visit, apart from the flamingoes!

After the coastal route, we struck inland. Following windy minor roads though the hills, we passed farmers with donkeys, vistas of cork oaks and almond blossom, and the occasional heard of goats. We stopped at a marked walking route, and went for a short wander though hillsides scented by herbs. Sadly we didn't get far before the weather took a turn for the worse. As we continued along the road it really closed in, shrouding the otherwise excellent views in cloud and rain.

The following day, in bright sunshine, we set off to the west. First stop (after breakfast at a little local cafe in Faro!) was Silves. This is an attractive town well inland, with an imposing red-stone castle at the top of a steep hill. The view from the top was pretty good too - and the storks nesting on the nearby crane seemed to agree!

Next stop was Monchique, a peaceful village surrounded by wooded hills. This had a relaxed atmosphere and some twisty lanes wandering up the hill, towards a ruined monastery. The owner of the site was kind enough to let us have a look around the slightly eerie, untouched remains, set amongst a grove of cork oaks. Nearby is the mountain of Foia which at 902m is the highest point of the Algarve; it certainly gave a good view!

Next to the west coast; a long rocky coast punctuated by excellent beaches that has largely been spared the development of the south, due to most of the area being a nature reserve. The first stop was at Arrifana; a surfer's beach backed by high black rock cliffs, with a single stack out to sea. The bad weather on the previous day made for impressive waves - better keep your eye on them if you prefer dry socks!

Next was Figueiras; a deserted beach with serrated orange rock formations, several kilometres down small roads and dirt tracks. Deserted, that is, until the small yappy dog turned up! After this we moved on to Bordeira; a wide beach at a river mouth, backed by reeds and sand dunes. Overlooking the beach are some high rocks, from which we got some of the best views of the trip, of Atlantic rollers crashing on the cliffs and along the beach as the sun started to set.

By the time we reached Cabo ce Sao Vicente - the south-westernmost point of Europe - dusk had fallen. None the less, it was an impressive location, jutting out into the Ocean - a fitting terminus to the trip.

One other time of interest - Portuguese food and wine. These were great; excellent seafood, and inland tasty pork and sausage-based dishes, all very reasonably priced. Sadly the cuisine is heavily based around meat and fish - for vegetarians, about the best thing that can be said is that the tomatoes are quite tasty...

Fire and Light

Over the last few months, Cambridge University has been holding a series of events to celebrate the 800th anniversary of its founding, by a group of scholars from Oxford. The latest event was a light show designed by light artist Ross Ashton, projected onto Senate House and Old Schools (the official centre of the university). This was a montage of images and video, covering the key points of the history of the university, and the discoveries and ideas that it has helped bring into the world.

In addition, the Cambridge University Fire Troupe performed a display - essentially a dance with fire, portraying a rather abstract view of the history of the university. The 'history' bit was of course pretty tenuous, but it was a spectacular show - with some very impressive moves. Ever tried hula-hooping with a burning hoop? Around your neck?

Stragill

As an antidote to all the cold photos, how's about a nice beach set? It certainly looks lovely - though the air temperature was still near zero! These were taken on one of our traditional family walks, along the beaches at Stragill on Inishown at low tide.

Winter Wonderland - from the air

A few sets of photos, including some spectacular views of north-west Ireland's snow-covered mountains.

The frosty weather has continued here in Ireland, after a slight thaw. On a clear day - or Irish clear anyway - David and I went on a short but beautiful hill-walk on Inishowen, at Moldy hill. There was still plenty of snow on the hills, and the small lake at the top (as they tend to be in Ireland, oddly) was frozen and picturesque.

The following day was a family outing to Downhill, on the Northern Ireland coast. This was the bishop's residence, back in the day when the bishop was really someone - as you can see from the remains of the house. Impressive location and gardens - but rather bleak on a cold grey day in winter. It was however clear enough to see Scotland across the sea - or at least Islay and the Paps (mountains) of Jura.

On a rather sunnier day came one of the highlights of my holiday, in photographic terms at least. Alistair, my eldest brother, booked a plane at the local flying club; a Piper Warroir with a top speed of 125 knots. After a careful start at the icy airfield, we flew south-west to Donegal town, Killibegs and the 1500-foot cliffs at Slieve League. Thenn up the north-west coast, with a great view of the Derryveagh mountains, and especially Errigal (the largest mountain in north-west Ireland) and Muckish mountain. The snow on them made them look impressively alpine - not much like how they were when we used to climb them during our summer holidays! Then back over Glenveagh lake, and over Derry itself, dozing in the sunset on the banks of the Foyle river.

Winter Wonderland III

Some more winter-themed photos, from the Irish countryside.

The first set are from on Moldy hill, near Fahan in Donegal. Not a sunny day; we got quite heavy snowfall towards the end of the walk.

The next set are from Doagh island. The castle towards the end of that group is Carrickabraghey Castle, built by the O'Dohertys, probably in the 16th century.

The final set are from the curiously-named Blanket Nook, a lake formed by an old sea wall, on a frosty afternoon.

Winter Wonderland II

More Christmasy photos - most of these were taken at Enagh lough again, after a hard freeze. The previous night it got down to -8C; it was still below 0 when these were taken.

A few near the start were taken near Inch island in Donegal, at Fahan beach (also quite near Inch island), or around my parent's garden.

Merry Christmas!

Winter Wonderland

After a snowy day in Cambridge making the Christmas trip back to Ireland somewhat more laborious than usual (thanks to the British railway system!), the snow then decided to come to Ireland for a holiday too! We got an inch or two overnight, leaving everything crisp and sparkling in the morning.

The photos below consist of:
- A few from Cambridge
- Birds in the garden, and near my parents' house
- Around Enagh lough with my brother David and Chester the dog
- At Inch lake with my parents, David and the dog

The dog especially loved the snow - running around like a crazy thing, and rolling in it. A lot better than some of the things he rolls in! David also got some good photos of the snow.

Photos: Near Madingley, December 2009

On a sunny December afternoon, I took my camera for a walk out towards Madingly - north-west of Cambridge, along an old right-of-way though farmland and woods. Though not quite frosty, the atmosphere was still quite crisp, and the low winder sun put on a bit of a show at sunset. Then home for tea and mince pies!

Crouching Kestrel II

Back in Spring, I ran a sailing trip from Ipswich, whose nominal target was south to the river Crouch. Predictably, we ended up going in the opposite direction, north to Lowestoft. In an optimistic frame of mind, I decided to run another trip with the same plan - except this time at the end of November...

Most of the crew arrived at the boat on Friday evening, as did the tesco shipping - all went smoothly this time. Unsurprisingly the forecast wasn't great, putting paid to the original idea - but as we weren't leaving that evening, it was a case of wait-and-see what the conditions were like in the morning.

After heavy rain overnight, the morning brought sunshine - and a stiff breeze. The forecast was still looking rather windy and rough, so we decided to head downriver and maybe go to the deben river, depending on conditions at sea. After a very relaxed start, we got under way before 11 and had a pleasant cruise down the orwell in 15-20 knots wind.

As we approached Felixtowe, the wind picked up, gusting to 25 - a sign of things to come. We switched down sails (the no.2 somehow picking up a tear in the process), and decided to have a nose out into the North Sea to see the conditions. We set off in the direction of Sealand, but the wind quickly picked up to 30 knots, and the sea was fairly choppy - not big waves, but fairly sharp - and soon afterwards people started feeling a bit rough. I decided that given the billing as a relaxed cruising trip, there wasn't much point in making everyone seasick. We about-turned and returned to the shelter of the rivers, and sailed up past Levington before heading to Suffolk Yacht Harbour as darkness fell. We had a very pleasant evening there, with a very tasty pasta bolognese, wine, and a slightly surreal Queen/hip-hop mashup of "A night at the hip-hopera" on the stereo! The evening was rounded off with a quiet visit to the Lightship, the local pub-equivalent.

After another stormy night and a wet morning, the next day we decided to wander down-river towards the sea, and up the stour river for a change of view. Despite the occasional force 6-7 gust, it was a fairly gentle and pleasant day's sailing - much less seasickenss involved! The wind started to drop as we returned up the orwell towards Ipswich, which we reached shortly after dark - all in all a very pleasant, relaxed, and even somewhat sunny day's sailing!

All in all, the weekend was good fun; the weather pretty much guaranteed that our scope would be limited, but we were fairly lucky in avoiding the heavy downpours and the worst conditions. Looking forward to Crouching Kestrel III - maybe when it's a bit warmer and calmer...