(Dis)Orientering

Orienteering is a big sport in Sweden, a country full of nature lovers. It basically consists of running between different checkpoints spread in an unknown piece of land, often a forest, using only a paper map and a compass. That's the serious version. For less athletic people there are other options, like the Hittaut app we found recently. The app shows a bunch of checkpoints spread all over the city's green areas (yes, because even if Gothenburg is the second largest city in the country it does have a lot of forests just at a stone's throw from the city - welcome to Sweden!) and using the GPS of the phone it is pretty easy to find the points. Once we get to the point, there's a code on a metal marker that we read and register in the app, which changes the status of that checkpoint to done. The goal is to do as many as possible and there are prizes every month. 

A orientação é um desporto bastante popular na Suécia, um país cheio de amantes da natureza. Basicamente consiste em correr entre diferentes pontos de controle espalhados pela natureza, geralmente numa floresta, usando apenas um mapa de papel e uma bússola. Esta é a versão séria, mas há outras opções para pessoas menos atléticas, como a app Hittaut, que encontramos recentemente. A app mostra os postos de controle espalhados por todas as áreas verdes da cidade (sim, porque mesmo Gotemburgo sendo a segunda maior cidade do país há muitas florestas a poucos passos da cidade - bem-vindos à Suécia!) e usando o GPS do telefone é muito fácil encontrar os pontos. Quando se chega ao ponto há um código no marcador de metal que lemos e registramos na app, o que altera o estado desse ponto para feito. O objetivo é fazer o maior número possível de controlos e até há prémios distribuídos todos os meses.

Sounds pretty cool, no? So we decided to give it a try, doing it my way... with an ice cream break in the middle.
Bem fixe, ah? E foi assim que decidimos experimentar mas à minha maneira... com uma pausa para gelado a meio.

We did 16 checkpoints running/walking a total of 13 km. The checkpoints are often in high points and we got beautiful views from up there. Sometimes I couldn't believe that was so close to the city! We also got to discover new paths and places. 

Fizemos 16 checkpoints e corremos/andamos um total de 13 km. Os pontos de controlo são muitas vezes em pontos altos e passamos por vistas muito bonitas. Às vezes nem dá para acreditar que estamos tão perto da cidade! Também descobrimos novos caminhos e sitios mais recatados.

J. always saw the markers first and there were times where the marker was right in front of me and I didn't see it! He also has a great sense of orientation knowing always his north, whereas I often guided us in the wrong direction... Such a great orienteer... But I did enjoy myself a lot!

O J. via sempre os marcadores primeiro que eu e houve vezes em que o marcador estava mesmo à minha frente e eu não o vi! Ele também tem um grande sentido de orientação e sabe sempre onde é o norte, enquanto que eu muitas vezes nos guiei para a direção errada... que grande orientadora... Mas diverti-me imenso e é isso que importa!

One of the funniest parts was when we had to cross a stream. Someone had set up a slackline and rope and it looked easy enough since it was a very small stream. 

Johan did it without a problem. Me too. Ok... not really. Halfway through I decided to question Johan's technique and find my own, which resulted in me almost falling into the water. Luckily I was close enough to the other side and J. could help me (after taking pictures of me of course!).

Uma das partes mais engraçadas foi quando tivemos que atravessar um ribeiro. Alguém montou uma slackline e uma corda para facilitar a travessia e parecia fácil o suficiente, já que era um ribeirito pequeno.

O J. atravessou sem problema nenhum. Eu também. Ok ok, não é verdade... A meio da travessia decidi questionar a técnica do J. e desenvolver uma técnica nova, o que quase me fez cair na água. Felizmente estava perto da mergem o suficiente para o J. me ajudar (depois de me tirar fotos claro!).

Before and after the moment I decided to rotate my feet... not a great decision...

Antes e depois do momento em que decidi rodar os pés... não foi lá grande decisão...

So, I'm no Tove Alexandersson (the Swedish champion in Orienteering), but I did enjoy the closeness to nature, the fresh air, the challenges of going through muddy places, jumping stones, crossing "rivers" and the variation that all that brings to my training, so I think I will be doing it more often from now on. 

Don't worry, if I come across some nice landscapes I'll share them here with you :)

Ou seja, não sou nenhuma Tove Alexandersson (a campeã sueca em Orientação), mas gostei da proximidade com a natureza, do ar fresco, dos desafios de correr pela lama, pular pedras, atravessar "rios" e a variação que tudo isso traz ao meu treino, por isso acho que vou fazer isto mais vezes.

Não fiquem preocupados, se encontrar paisagens giras eu partilho-as por aqui :)

Beer, whiskey and art

Spring is here and we have been blessed with sunny, although still cold, beautiful days. The return of longer days is always very welcome in Sweden and a lot of things start to happen a bit everywhere. Last weekend was a good proof of that. 

On Saturday we went to the beer and whiskey fair - OK, we spent a sunny day in a dark warehouse, but it was worth it. The fair was like any other fair, with loads of stalls showing off their best products, mostly beer and whiskey, but also cider, rum, gin, and other less known things. We got two glasses each, one for beer one for whiskey, and went around tasting different drinks, that cost from 1 to 4 euros (beer) or 4 to 12 euros (whiskey). Although we would only get a small amount to taste, there were really a lot of stalls and we couldn't taste them all, but it was the perfect opportunity to taste different things. 

We also participated in a new Guinness World record of the number of people tasting whiskey, with 2500 people tasting 3 whiskeys simultaneously. The whiskey lovers approved the whiskeys we tasted and said they were good (I tried but it's really not my thing), especially the last one in the tallest bottle. I'm not so surprised as a bottle costs almost €200!!

On Sunday we went to the "walk of art" in Majorna, the artsy part of Gothenburg. Once a year the artists open their ateliers to the public and show off not only their pieces but their workspaces as well. That's actually my favourite part, to see how and where they work. Some artists need organization and structure, while some work clearly better in chaos. I also enjoy seeing the pieces of art not in a museum-like atmosphere, but in a more realistic way. 

Left and middle photos are nice displays, whilst the right photo has a bit of behind the scenes.  

Left: Hammers ad pressing machine? What does the artist do? Delicate jewellery...
Middle: we didn't understand if the hanging sofa with the wine bottle was an art display or just a place for the artist to rest.
Right: Art with leftover materials?

Organised and inspiring spaces. At least once a year.  

Some nice pieces. 

There was a bit of everything, from paintings, sculptures, ceramics, bronze, fabrics, etc. The highlight for me was an artist who decided to paint paper coffee mugs with coffee. Pictures were not allowed, but you can trust me that the mugs were beautifully painted with well-known images, like Einstein, Martin Luther King, Frida Khalo, among others. Very creative and well executed. 

After so much art we got hungry and settle for a nice snack in a sunny cafe by the river, watching the boats go by, including one giant ferry that always makes us nervous because it feels like it's not going to fit under the bridge. But it always does.

How was your weekend? 

Escape in Douro

After a couple of very intensive days all we wanted was to rest and take it all in. We spent two nights in a spa lost in the middle of nowhere in the Douro region. The surroundings were beautiful, the food was great and locally produced and we had the best full body massage ever (although the spa itself was quite disappointing). 

Depois de alguns dias muito intensos, tudo o que queríamos era descansar e processar tudo. Passámos duas noites num spa perdido no meio do nada na região do Douro. Os arredores eram bonitos, a comida era óptima e os ingredientes produzidos localmente. Ainda tivemos a melhor massagem de corpo inteiro de sempre (embora o spa em si fosse uma desilusão).

The herb garden for the restaurant / O canteiro de ervas aromáticas do restaurante

Unfortunately, it was not warm enough to use the outdoor pools.

Infelizmente não estava calor suficiente para usar as piscinas de fora.

We were spoiled and enjoyed our balcony with a view.

Fomos bastante mimados e aproveitamos a vista da varanda.

View from the balcony (the second day was sunny!).

Vista da varanda (no segundo dia fez sol!)

Baby grapes / Uvas bebés

Walks in the garden and vineyard / Passeios pelo jardim e vinha

Starters, mains and desserts at the restaurant. The photos are not great but the food was delicious and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore. 

Entradas, pratos principais e sobremesas no restaurante. As fotos não estão grande coisa, mas a comida era deliciosa e comemos até que não poder mais.

We left the spa hotel and caught a train to Porto in this gorgeous train station, right by the river. A nice way to finish our lovely and quiet stay in the Douro. 

Saímos do hotel e apanhámos um comboio para o Porto nesta magnífica estação ferroviária, mesmo junto ao rio, o que foi uma boa maneira de terminar a nossa estadia tão boa e tranquila no Douro.

Quinta do Vallado - Régua - Portugal

This is far from a restaurant or hotel review and even less an ad but I just can't hide from all of you my favourite place in the Douro Valley - Quinta do Vallado. 

Me and Johan found Quinta do Vallado in 2015, during our first visit ever to the Douro Valey and Peso da Régua. We had bought a cruise package that included a guided tour with wine tasting in a vineyard, which was by chance Quinta do Vallado. This vineyard is on a slop, not overlooking the river, but beautiful anyway. We tried a few of their wines and absolutely fell in love with their 10 years tawny Port wine. Port can be very sweet and overwhelming and usually a small glass is enough for me. Vallado's Port, however, is different and delicious, and it is the only until now that makes me want to go back for more and more. 

Our favourite Port wine (photo from the internet)
O nosso vinho do Porto preferido (foto da internet)

Quinta do Vallado is also a restaurant and a hotel. We have never stayed there yet and I was dying to try their restaurant. Their food is made with local produce, many of the ingredients come from the property itself and their wines are just great. Our wedding party would have been at Vallado if all our guests could fit there. Since we couldn't squeeze them all there, but really wanted to include this place in the program we decided to organise a dinner for guests coming from abroad the evening before the party. 44% of our guests travelled more than 1000 Km to be with us, so it was only fair to spend some extra time with them. 

We booked the dinner and chose the menu, going for portuguese dishes, but there was a lot more and it was very difficult to pick because everything sounded delicious! I confess that we had quite high expectations for the dinner, but it was all even better than expected. We got to taste a few of their wines again, their olive oil, bread, olives among others. 

Appetizers: alheira (bread/pork sausage), olives, roasted almonds, focaccia and broa (corn bread)

Aperitivos: alheira, azeitonas, amêndoas tostadas, focaccia e broa

Cold melon soup with smoked ham

Sopa de melão frio com fiambre fumado

Iberian Pork Tenderloin in Port Wine Sauce, potatoes, season vegetables

Lombo de porco ibérico em molho de vinho do Porto, batatas e legumes da estação

Chocolate fondant and ice cream

Fondant de chocolate e gelado

If before I was dying to try their restaurant, now I'm dying to go back and try other dishes. I wish we could go there more often, but it's probably good that Quinta do Vallado is far away. That way it will never stop being special.

Pinhão - Portugal

There's not much to say about Pinhão. It is a small and charming village (about 700 inhabitants) right in the heart of the Douro region. The Douro river and the hilly vineyards, which get steeper and steeper as the river gets narrower, compose the gorgeous landscape. We were there in a sunny warm day and the pictures speak for themselves. 

Não há muito a dizer sobre o Pinhão (que não se saiba já). É uma pequena aldeia charmosa (cerca de 700 habitantes) mesmo no coração do Douro. O rio Douro e os vinhedos montanhosos, que tornam-se mais e mais íngremes à medida que o rio se torna mais estreito, compõem a paisagem deslumbrante. Estivemos lá num dia quente e ensolarado e as imagens falam por si.

The Douro train line is well known as one of the most beautiful in the world. It starts in Porto and takes you inland, going by Pinhão. 

A linha de comboio do Douro é conhecida como sendo uma das mais belas do mundo. Começa no Porto e leva-nos ao interior, passando pelo Pinhão.

Orange tree - The Douro valley is quite warm, even in the winter, which is good for oranges and grapes, for instance. That's also why Douro wines are so good.

Laranjeira - O vale do Douro é bastante quente, mesmo no inverno, o que é bom para o cultivo the laranjas e uvas, por exemplo. Também é por isso que os vinhos do Douro são tão bons.

Isn't the Douro a charm? Maybe I have now convinced you to visit this beautiful region of Portugal. Add a few Port wine tastings and it's perfect!

O Douro não é mesmo um encanto? Talvez agora estejam todos convencidos a visitar esta bela região de Portugal. Acrescentem umas degustações de vinho do Porto e fica perfeito!