Edinburgh

The castle from afar / O castelo visto de longe

Edinburgh is not only the Royal Mile, as you might imagine. It is the meadows, a green area where people go and play, barbecue or simply lay down with a book. It is the uncountable pubs spread all over the city. It is Princes street and its shops. It is Arthur's seat and the gorgeous view from the top. It is entertainment (museums, festivals, musicals, comedy shoes, etc.). And much more. 

Edimburgo não é só o Royal Mile como podem imaginar. É também the meadows, uma area verde enorme onde se pode jogar, fazer grelhados ou apenas deitar e ler um livro. É também os seus bares incontáveis espalhados pela cidade. É Princes street e as suas lojas. É o Arthur's seat e a vista fantástica no topo. É entretenimento (museus, festivais, musicais, espectáculos de comédia, etc.). E muito mais.

Left: Princes street gardens - each bench has an inscription and it's in memory of someone who passed. Anyone can donate a bench to the city. A beautiful memory I say; 

Right: Scott Monument - a Victorian Gothic monument to the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the largest monument to a writer in the world.

Esquerda: os jardins de Princes street - cada banco de jardim tem uma inscrição e é em memória de alguém que já não está entre nós. Qualquer pessoa pode doar um banco à cidade. Uma recordação bonita acho eu; 

Direita: Monumento Scott - um monumento de estilo gótico e victoriano em honra do escritor Sir Walter Scott. É o maior monumento do mundo dedicado a um escritor.

Left: View from Princes street / Esquerda: vista de Princes street

Right: Princes street gardens / Direita: Jardins de Princes street

St. Andrew square / Praça de St. Andrew

 Botanic gardens / Jardins Botânicos

Backside of the Royal Palace. The church is in ruins, but it must have been magnificent!

O lado de trás do Palácio Real. A igreja está em ruínas mas deve ter sido uma igreja e tanto!

Holyrood park and one of the best skies we photographed this year!

Parque de Holyrood e um dos céus mais bonitos que já fotografamos este ano!

Holyrood park with a view over Arthur's seat.

Parque de Holyrood com vista para Arthur's seat.

Arthur's Seat is the largest of the three parts of the Arthur's Seat Volcano and is the main peak of the group of mountains in Edinburgh, forming most of Holyrood Park. The hill rises to a height of 250m and provides beautiful views over the city. Its top can be reached by any direction as there are many different paths around. The climb to the top is easy, especially if taking the most common path, from the east. Walking this path one gets slowly more and more of the view (below).

Arthur's Seat é uma terça parte, e a maior, do vulcão de Arthur's Seat e é o pico principal das montanhas que rodeiam Edimburgo, formando uma grande parte do parque de Holyrood. O pico está a cerca de 250m e oferece vistas fantásticas sobre a cidade. A subida até ao topo pode ser iniciada de qualquer um dos lados, uma vez que existem vários trilhos diferentes. A subida é fácil, principalmente se se fizer através do caminho mais comum, a este. Ao subir por este caminho vai-se lentamente vendo mais e mais da cidade (em baixo).

 View over the castle / Vista sobre o castelo

View from the north path, to a small lake and the Firth of Forth, the water that later becomes the ocean. (The photos just above and just below were taken 5 years ago.)

Vista do trilho a norte sobre um pequeno lago e sobre o Firth of Forth, o pedaço de água que mais tarde mistura com o oceano. (As fotos em cima e em baixo foram tiradas há 5 anos.)

The crags, on the way to Arthur's Seat. One can climb here, but a free license is necessary. 

Os penhascos a caminho de Arthur's Seat. Pode fazer-se escalada aqui desde que se obtenha uma licença que é gratuita.

View over the suburbs, with its typical few-story houses.

Vista sobre os subúrbios, com as suas casas tipicamente mais baixas.

Don't get scared, because the path is this one but it goes around the hill, not straight up. The people you see are climbing using the more straight way. 

Não se assustem, porque o caminho é este, mas continua em volta da montanha, não sobe a pique. As pessoas que se vêem na foto estão a escalar pelo trilho mais a direito.

Almost on top / Quase no topo

 Johan enjoying the view, almost at sunset / O Johan a apreciar a vista, quase ao pôr do sol

Since it was summer, sunset was quite late and we were too hungry to wait for it at the top. Still, on the way down we got another beautiful sunset sky. I don't know if the sunset is always beautiful like this or if Edinburgh simply decided to reward us for going back again. Either way I'm thankful!

Uma vez que estamos no Verão o pôr do sol era tarde e nós tínhamos demasiada fome para esperar por ele no topo da montanha. Ainda assim, enquanto descemos fomos brindados com mais um céu e pôr do sol lindíssimos. Não sei se o pôr do sol é sempre assim ou se foi Edimburgo que simplesmente decidiu nos premiar por termos voltado à cidade. De qualquer das formas estou muito agradecida!

I hope by now I have convinced you all that Edinburgh is well worth a visit!

Espero que por esta altura já estejam todos convencidos a visitar Edimburgo!

Stories of my world #6

He is a remarkable man. One of those people full of good stories to tell. He was our guide in the hike to Machu Picchu, in Peru. He had the steady pace of a person who has done the walk uncountable times. He had the calm look in his eyes of someone who knows the place like only locals can. Somehow, you could read wisdom in his eyes, although he was not much older than us. He taught us a lot about the mountains, fauna and flora, history and Peru itself. He played his flute for us to hear from afar, while we were walking. The magical music helped those who were tired and were making an effort up the mountain in the high altitude. He is a man of the mountains. A proud Peruvian. Proud of his land. Proud of his history. Proud of his job, in one of the best offices in the world, the mountain itself. At the same time he was very humble. He listened to our stories as well. He was thirsty for more knowledge, always questioning us about our own lands and our own lives. I remember very well us talking in the dinner tent around the empty table. Darkness filled the atmosphere and we would talk under a gloomy light, which somehow made everything more magical. He told us he also liked to travel but not just anywhere. He enjoyed visiting countries where nature was predominant. He visited New Zealand and Canada. He dreamed of visiting any country in Africa and some in the north of Europe.
We spent four days together and we shared so many things that it was hard to say goodbye. We were like family. Although, we all knew that after these four days he would move on and get another group. Maybe another family. Who knows. Of course, deep inside, we hoped we were the special ones. The ones he will remember the most. Maybe all groups hope the same. We exchanged contacts and we still write to each other from time to time. He had a knee injury and stopped taking groups up the mountain. We always told him we will be back one day. We do hope he can be our guide again and we hope even more that we can meet him again. We want to hear his new stories. Or maybe just the same old ones. But we want to talk with him. The special guide. The one we will remember forever. We want to meet Chris Condori and his flute again.

Edinburgh - Royal Mile

Edinburgh, in Scotland, is one of my favourite cities in the whole world. Its history can almost be touched in the air. Its beautiful buildings and gloomy skies give it a mysterious atmosphere. Its people make it friendly and cosy. And there's the memories of course. Johan lived in Edinburgh for 3 years. At the time was living in Poland at first, and then in Brazil. I visited him many times and being in Edinburgh meant I was with him, so I have the best memories of this gorgeous Scottish city. Five years later we went back. We spent a couple of days in the city and enjoyed ourselves revisiting our favourite spots and meeting with Johan's friends. I felt like at home and Johan felt that even more, of course. 

A couple of years ago I heard about Rick Steves, his guides and podcasts. Since then I have the Rick Steves app in my phone and I always check if he has any guided walking tour in the cities I visited. For Edinburgh, I downloaded the walking tour of the Royal Mile, the street that connects the Castle on top of the hill, to the Palace at the bottom. I learned a lot of new things and I noticed new details I hadn't seen before. To know more about the Royal Mile you can read here or download the podcast yourself (there are more details in the podcast). I can contribute with pictures of my experience. 

Edimburgo, na Escócia, é uma das minhas cidades preferidas no mundo inteiro. A história paira no ar e quase que pode ser tocada. Os seus edifícios são lindos e os céus sombrios dão-lhe um ar misterioso. As pessoas fazem da cidade um local amigável, onde nos sentimos bem. E as memórias, claro. O Johan morou em Edimburgo durante 3 anos. Nessa altura eu morava na Polónia e mais tarde no Brasil. Visitei-o muitas vezes e estar em Edimburgo foi sempre sinónimo de estar com o Johan e de estar feliz, por isso tenho as melhores memórias desta cidade escocesa. Cinco anos depois voltamos. Passámos pouco mais de dois dias na cidade mas revivemos locais e pessoas amigas. Senti-me em casa e o Johan ainda mais do que eu, claro.

Há uns dois anos atrás ouvi falar de Rick Steves, dos seus guias e podcasts. Desde essa altura que tenho a sua app no telemóvel e antes de viajar vejo sempre se há algum podcast com um passeio explicado por ele disponível para esse local. Para Edimburgo há um passeio pelo Royal Mile, a rua que liga o castelo no topo da colina, ao palácio no fundo. Aprendi muitas coisas novas e reparei em detalhes que nunca tinha visto. Se quiserem saber mais sobre o Royal Mile podem ler aqui ou fazer download da app como eu fiz (há mais detalhes no podcast da app que no texto). Eu posso contribuir com fotos da minha experiência.

The Edinburgh Castle entrance. The castle sits at the top of a hill/cliff and the best view of it is from afar. Every August there is a Military Tattoo show and the patio just outside the castle was almost ready for it. That also meant we couldn't get the spectacular view over the city as there were stands blocking the way (below).

A entrada do Castelo de Edimburgo. O castelo fica no topo da colina e a melhor vista sobre ele é de longe. Em Agosto há uma parada militar e quando nós lá estivemos o recinto à porta do castelo estava quase pronto para o evento. Isso quer dizer que não pudemos apreciar a fantástica vista sobre a cidade como de costume, uma vez que as bancadas cobriam a maior parte do espaço (em baixo).

The Witches Well. A cast iron wall fountain that commemorates the place where over three hundred women were burned at the stake accused of being witches.

O Poço das Bruxas. Uma fonte de ferro em honra das mais de trezentas mulheres que foram aqui queimadas, por se julgarem serem bruxas. 

 The Royal Mile

 St. John's church / Igreja de São João

Gladstone's Land, a restored merchant's house (left), one of the first high buildings being built, back in the 1600s. A shop with a lucky pig (right).

Gladstone's Land, uma casa de um comerciante recuperada (esquerda), um dos primeiros prédios altos a ser construído, nos anos 1600. Uma loja com um porco da sorte (direita).

A passageway that can so easily be missed. When one walks through it ends up in a gorgeous patio where sits the Writers museum. 

Uma passagem que pode passar despercebida facilmente. Se a atravessarmos damos por nós num pátio agradável onde se encontra o museu dos Escritores.

 Writer's museum / Museu dos Escritores

Johan thought this appropriate as he claims Portuguese people call everybody cousins.

O Johan gostou desta frase porque ele diz que os portugueses chamam toda a gente de primos.

 Deacon Brodie's tavern, gentleman by day, thief by night.

By day, Brodie was a respectable tradesman, Deacon (president) of the Incorporation of Wrights and a member of the Town Council. Part of his job in building cabinets was to install and repair their locks, other security mechanisms and repair door locks. At night, however, Brodie became a burglar and thief. He used his daytime job as a way to gain knowledge about the security mechanisms of his clients and to copy their keys using wax impressions. 

De dia Brodie era um homem respeitável, presidente da corporação de Wrights e membro do governo local. Parte do seu trabalho na construção de armários era colocar-lhes fechaduras ou outros sistemas de segurança e reparar fechaduras de portas. No entanto, durante a noite Brodie tornou-se um ladrão. Usava o seu trabalho durante o dia para aprender sobre a segurança usada pelos seus clientes que depois roubava, copiando as chaves.

St. Giles Cathedral / Catedral de St. Giles

 Lateral view / Vista lateral

Did you know that the famous red telephone cabins were built in Scotland and sent to London?

Sabiam que as famosas cabines telefónicas vermelhas eram construídas na Escócia e enviadas para Londres?

 The Royal Mile 

When one gets to a gap in the Royal Mile gets a view over the Governor's house in Carlton Hill, used to be a part of an old jail.

Quando se encontra um espaço entre os edifícios do Royal Mile consegue-se uma vista sobre a casa do Governador em Carlton Hill, que antigamente fazia parte de uma antiga cadeia.

The Scotts are highly proud of their whisky. Cadenhead's prides itself on bottling pure whisky without watering it down or adding cosmetic colouring.

Os Escoceses são muito orgulhosos do seu whisky. Os donos de Cadenhead's orgulham-se de vender o mais puro dos whiskys sem lhe adicionar qualquer tipo de corante.

 The Graveyard at Canongate Kirk / O cemitério de Canongate Kirk

 Another cute close / Mais um recanto encantado

At the end of the Royal Mile we meet the Palace of Holyroodhouse, one of Queen Elizabeth's official residences and the home of Scottish royalty, including James IV and Mary, Queen of Scots. 

No fundo do Royal Mile encontramos o Palacio de Holyroodhouse, uma das residências oficiais da rainha Elizabete e a residência da familia real Escocesa, incluindo James IV e Maria, a rainha dos Escoceses.

The access to the interior is limited but it is possible to visit some of the rooms. Those who do not wish to visit the interior can take a few pictures through the gates (like we did).
O acesso ao interior do palácio é limitado mas há visitas a alguns dos aposentos. Os que não quiserem visitar por dentro podem tirar algumas fotos através do portão da entrada (que foi o que nós fizemos). 

Across the palace there's a building remind us of the modern times: the Scottish Parliament. After 300 years of being ruled from London, the Scots regained their own parliament in 1999, and a few years later built this striking, eco-friendly home for it. It's a very interesting building.

Em frente ao palácio está um edifício que nos lembra que estamos nos tempos modernos: o Parlamento Escocês. Depois de 300 anos a serem governados de Londres, os Escoceses recuperaram o seu parlamento em 1999 e poucos anos depois construíram este edifício fantástico e ecológico. É um edifício muito interessante.

The palace is the last building in the Royal Mile. Besides the things pointed out above there's many many souvenirs shops and many many tourists all along the Royal Mile. Although crowded it is one of the most iconic sights of Edinburgh and well worth a visit.

O palácio é o último edifício do Royal Mile. Além do que escrevi acima, também se encontram por lá muitas e muitas lojas de lembranças e muitos e muitos turistas. Ainda que cheio de gente é um dos pontos icónicos de Edimburgo e vale mesmo a pena percorre-lo.

Later that day in a narrow gap between two buildings we saw this gorgeous sunset. It would be impossible not to share it here...

Mais tarde nesse dia vimos por entre uma falha estreita entre dois prédios este pôr do sol fantástico. Seria impossível não o partilhar aqui...

I hope you enjoyed the walk with me.
Espero que tenham gostado de passear comigo.

Scottish/Irish humour

For those who are not even a little bit interested in running and are now wondering why the hell are they following this blog, here is a sneak peak of my latest trip to the islands. More (and better) will come, but I have over 1500 photos to take care of first. I love funny signs so I put together a small collection for you. 

Mauds, ice cream shop

This one is not funny, just very very polite.

Who wouldn't want to shop at something fishy? Fresh fish everyday!

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Dublin - review

The Rock 'n' Roll series is a running event present in many different cities and countries, all over the world. The concept is fun and in each city there's a bunch of smaller events happening usually in two days. It's perfect for amateur runners who just want to have a good time and have a good excuse to travel abroad. It was my first time in a Rock 'n' Roll race and we, me and the usual gang, chose Dublin. I was coming from an knee injury, Johan sneezed the week before and got his back injured (this is the shorter and funnier version of the story) and D. did not feel in great shape either. Still, we all made it relatively well. Especially D. who was the first to cross the finish line, despite of having the French guy stalking him (story here).

 Phoenix park

Getting ready

Positive

Registration - Easy and relatively cheap. It included cool Rock 'n' Roll t-shirts.

Races - There was 5k, 10k, 21k and a Fun Run of 1 mile. Distances for everybody.

Pickup - It was well organised. It was inside Trinity College, one of the main sights in Dublin. A good start of the weekend.

Toilets - Best portable toilets I have ever seen! You could flush them! Believe me that makes a huuuuge difference! 

Start - Divided into groups according to estimated time. There was a small break in between start groups so it wouldn't be a too big mess on the road. It worked out nicely.

Course - The course was fun. It started in the docklands and ended in Phoenix park, the biggest park in Dublin, a bit outside of the city. For me, any race that starts and ends in different places is always better. The course went along the Liffey river and it crossed the most emblematic places of Dublin like Temple Bar, Christ Church, Guiness brewery, museum of modern art and its gorgeous gardens. It did have some hills but doable.

Water - There were only 4 water/powerade station. At first I thought it was very little, but Dublin is not that warm and it was enough. In the 2 last stations the drinks came in bottles so one could actually run with them if necessary.

Bag drop - We left our bags at the start and they were transported by the organisers to the finish line. Everything worked our perfectly. At least for us.

Remix Challenge - One could run 5k on Saturday and then run either 10k or 21k on Sunday and get a extra medal for completing both races. We did it. It was fun to have two race days in the same weekend.

Medals - The medals were really cool! The one of the Remix Challenge was the most fun as it was a miniature of an electric guitar!

Festival - There were a lot of tents with food, drinks and souvenirs and a live concert. We didn't take advantage of it too much because we were too tired and it was cold. Still it looked fun.

Shuttle buses - Connecting the start/finish to the corner of the park, where one could take a tram or regular bus. There were many shuttles and although they were full, there weren't any big queues to get in one.

Me after finishing the half marathon, wearing my club's shirt, CDC Pinheiro and holding the flag of my country.

Negative

Swag bags - Ugly. Uncomfortable to take. Ridiculous.

Start time - 8h30 in the morning, which means we were eating pasta at 6am. A little bit later would have been better.

Weather - It was crazy windy. So strong in some spots that it actually made miss a step here and there. Fortunately, it was not windy the whole race and it didn't rain.

Bottles - It is true that some runners enjoyed having bottles of water and powerade instead of the usual paper cups. Although, most runners took the bottles, drunk a few sips and threw them away. It was a huge waste! Maybe having both paper cups and bottles would be the solution?

Trams - Both the start and the finish were far from the centre, where most runners were staying. The trams were free but this was not informed in advance. We, and many other runners, learn this only after buying tickets.

Adverts - We got many emails advertising the different challenges, packages, other smaller events, photographs, and races. We got them over and over again, sometimes just repeting the whole thing again. Singing off wasn't an option because one didn't want to miss important information, provided in the same way.

Us three after finishing two races and therefore holding cool guitars!

All in all, I would totally do it again! 

If you are a runner and want to have fun you should try one of the events in the Rock 'n' Roll series! 

Running update

From February to May I trained a lot and well. So well that I got overconfident and I ran the race in Gothenburg too fast becoming exhausted and ill.

After that race I also fell and hurt my knees against a concrete block.

I felt terrible.

I went to Portugal and I decided to take a break, running only a few times, just to enjoy myself.

I kept having pain in one of my knees.

Last February, I had taken an online course about exercising. When I understood that the pain I had was not from the fall, I went back to the class about knee injuries.

I recognised mine as a common injury caused by running or cycling.

I had ran hundreds of kilometres and I had only cycled 10 minutes a day, not even every day, going to the supermarket, and occasionally for about 1h in the weekends.

The injury had to be from running, right? Wrong.

I stopped running for 2 weeks, but I kept cycling.

I got worse.

My injury was from cycling!

I understood later that I had my bicycle too short. It had actually been mentioned in the class that a wrong bicycle fit is the number 1 cause of knee injuries in cyclists.

Then, I had 4 weeks to go until the next race and I had a lot of knee pain.

It was time to stop, think and train smartly.

I stopped completely for a week.

I started running very short and slow runs in the second week. I noticed that it stopped hurting after 1 or 2 km, which was an indicator of mild injury, one of those who can be heeled at home (rest, ice, compress, elevate = RICE).

I ran a few more times in the third week, including a semi long 14 Km, to give me confidence.

In the fourth week we were already away. We walked a lot never ran. I did not feel the pain again.

I still had no idea if I would be able to run a half marathon in Dublin. 

On Saturday, the 5K race went slow and nice. No pain.

On Sunday, the 21K race went also slow and nice. I didn't walk once. No pain.

Comparing both half marathons, I did it slower in Gothenburg than in Dublin (by 1 minute), just because in the first I got so exhausted and I had to walk a lot. A good example of a Portuguese saying the faster you do it, the slower you end up doing it. I also enjoyed it much more in Dublin, although the Gothenburg race has a much better atmosphere. I'm guessing not being exhausted to death helps!

With the hard times come good lessons and I did learn from these experiences.

I also registered for Gothenburg's half marathon next year. It won't beat me. Not again.

De Fevereiro a Maio treinei muito e bem. Tão bem que fiquei demasiado confiante, correndo depois a meia maratona de Gotemburgo demasiado rápido, ficando exausta e doente no final. 

Depois dessa corrida também corri e magoei os joelhos contra um bloco de cimento. 

Senti-me péssima.

Fui a Portugal e decidi parar de correr. Corri só algumas vezes, só mesmo porque o adoro fazer.

Continuei a ter dor num dos joelhos. 

Em Fevereiro tirei um curso sobre exercício físico. Quando percebi que a dor no joelho não era da queda, revi a aula de lesões nos joelhos.

Reconheci a minha como sendo a mais comum entre corredores e ciclistas.

Tinha corrido centenas de quilometros, enquanto que só andava de bicicleta 10 minutos por dias, nem sequer todos os dias, a caminho do supermercado, e às vezes dava uma volta de 1h ao fim de semana.

A lesão tinha que ser de correr, certo? Errado.

Parei de correr durante 2 semanas, mas continuei a andar de bicicleta. 

Piorei.

A lesão era de andar de bicicleta!

Percebi depois que a minha bicicleta estava demasiado baixa. Essa foi de facto uma das coisas ensinadas na aula. Uma bicicleta mal ajustada é a maior causa de lesões entre ciclistas. 

Nessa altura faltavam 4 semanas até à minha próxima corrida e eu com dores no joelho.

Estava na altura de parar, pensar e treinar também com a cabeça.

Parei por completo durante uma semana. 

Na segunda semana comecei a correr devagar e por pouco tempo. Notei que a dor no joelho passava ao fim de 1 ou 2 Km, o que é indicação de lesão suave, que se pode curar em casa com descanso, gelo, compressão e elevação.

Corri mais algumas vezes na terceira semana, incluindo um treino semi longo de 14 Km, só para me dar alguma confiança. 

A quarta semana já foi passada em passeio. Andamos muito mas nada de corridas. Nunca mais senti dores.

Não fazia ideia se seria capaz de correr a meia maratona de Dublin ou não. 

No Sábado foi a corrida de 5 Km, que fiz devagar e sem dores.

No Domingo foi a corrida de 21 Km, que também fiz devagar e sem dores. Não precisei de andar nunca.

Comparando as duas meias maratonas, fiz a de Gotemburgo em mais tempo do que a de Dublin (1 minuto a mais), apenas porque fiquei tão exausta que tive que andar vários quilómetros. Acho que qui se aplica o ditado quanto mais depressa mais devagar! Também aproveitei a corrida em Dublin muito mais, ainda que em Gotemburgo o ambiente seja muito melhor. Suponho que não estar cansada de morte ajuda!

Com os tempos difíceis vêm as grandes lições e eu tirei várias destas experiências.

Também me registrei para a meia maratona de Gotemburgo do ano que vem. Desta vez não me vai bater. Outra vez não.

Stories of my world #5 - special Dublin

There was a half marathon race. He was running. I don't know so much about him. In fact, I only saw him in pictures. He was wearing blue shorts and a white t-shirt. For reasons unknown to any of us, he decided to do his race only a few centimetres from one of the boys in my team, D.. He literally became a shadow of D. for almost 20 Km. For about 1h30 he was always in his step. When D. slowed down, he slowed down. When D. stopped to drink, he stopped to drink. It was only in the last bit to go that he decided to speed up and pass D., that got so angry with him that ran with all his power and sprinted him out. None of us understand why someone would do that. We found later, through the race results, that he was french. The boys were both wearing shirts from the half marathon in Portugal. Could this have been a revenge for the Euro tournament final, in which Portugal beat France in Paris? It would be a very silly reason for a grown man to do that, but right now I just can't think of any other reason. Theories...