Typing here in the Limekiln cafe with Mr Ted on my lap. Overcast and it looks like it is going to pour down Biblical fashion. (Now at home and it is peeing it down…)
Well, back into it in terms of Found Us, the fell running, and the weather bearing in mind it got to 33 degrees C in Portugal; more on that below. I was out last night on the Tuesday night session with the Saddleworth Runners and toward the end the rain at Broadstones (Sykes Pillar) was coming in horizontally, thankfully it was not cold.
I’d arrived back from Portugal with Karl in the early hours of Monday having spent four days at his parent’s place at the village of Figueirinha in the hills about an hour from Faro. Remote, hilly, local, spectacular, and all importantly quiet and far from the madding crowds. It was something Karl had suggested and I needed at the Wake for my father. I’d also not seen James and Di his parents in a while, and that appealed.
There were no plans, and it simply became four days comprising a bit of work, relaxation, swimming in the pool, running, and venturing out in the hire car. Notably was a jaunt out on mountain bikes which is something that I’d not done in a while across the tracks crisscrossing the hills. It was much needed. Me, a break from it all, time to have reflection and down time, and a simple break for Carl with his running a business and having a family of four children.
The area is interesting for the simply reason that it holds a barren ruggedness in the the eye of the visitor with its expanse of pine, eucalyptus, and Medronho trees from which a liqueur is made. Temperature? Hot and dry. Best example is the solo run I took on Sunday with the intention of running 10 miles. This was sacked off at 6 miles even before 11am in the morning in a day that saw the heat rise to 33 degrees C.
Di and James were on good form and great hosts, and so pleased for them with the house they had built by an artistically led architect. It was a risk, a real risk, but Cristina Rodriquez has delivered.
It was fascinating to see the local way of life which revolves around community and self sufficiency with people literally living off the land as they grow crops, tend bee hives, or hunt wild boar; a way of life James and Di have adopted.