I made a t-shirt that is selling on Amazon:
This is Theo sporting my surf booties!
I added the image on the right so you can see it better. Let me know if it is missing a color you are interested in. Cheers!
30
Mar
2018
t-shirt
Month: March 2018
26
Mar
2018
Sea Caves of the Algarve
Yesterday we explored beaches locally. I have a new favorite! Praia do Pinhão is found down a small road just south of the walled part of Lagos, Portugal. The first set of stairs leads (almost) to an unnamed beach. The steps are great, it feels like you are climbing down an old dam. The stairs end about 6 ft above the beach.
The next set of stairs actually leads to Praia do Pinhão. At low tide the beach is great. There is a tunnel to the unnamed beach (where the last set of stairs are).
Look close at the cliffs, there are fossils in the rocks! Also, there is a cave with three openings and an opening in the ceiling. It is great!
Today, we went to the Benagil Cave on a boat tour with Taruga Benagil Tours. We took the 30 minute tour (we were limited on time with Theo). Benagil cave is quite impressive. All of the cliffs and caves in the area are magical.
Elephant Rock
It was a great trip, but I really liked finding the little caves on Praia do Pinhão. If we had unlimited time, it would be great to explore all along this coast. I’m sure there are great little beaches and grottos not listed in every guide book!
24
Mar
2018
Exercise and storks, but no surf
Leslie is working on making videos for her website and YouTube channel (coming soon). Theo made up some exercise of his own!
While we were out there, Theo kept pointing to the birds riding the wind drafts overhead. They are storks!
I was hoping to get a surf in so I drove down to my favorite break (so far). It is a protected beach break. The best part is the break is close to shore. Leslie and Theo can sit on shore (or in a café) and pick me out of the crowd. Here is an image of Burgau today. Yes, flat.
Theo even wanted to try it out today!
I think they look like smurf feet! (I added a couple videos to the Fun Images page as well).
23
Mar
2018
Updates
I have been poking away at the other pages of the website. To help you quickly identify if a page has been updated, each page now has the date last updated listed in the widget menu (located on the right side if viewed on a computer).
It took me a bit to figure out how to do it. I am learning wordpress web development on my own (from Google), so I think I am going to add a section to the website to help others with the parts I figure out as I go along.
To keep this post interesting, here are some pictures from the last couple days:
This is Lagos from across the river (close to the local surf break).
19
Mar
2018
Cobble stone art of Lagos, Portugal
The cobble stone walking streets of Lagos, Portugal are great. There is art, not only in the main squares, but down small alleyways. I snapped these pictures walking around today. Enjoy!
17
Mar
2018
Toes in the sand and other Algarve delights
It is a rainy, windy Saturday today, so we are taking some time for a bit of indoor work. It is about time I add a fun post!
Theo got to play in the sand a few days ago. He loved it!!!
We are becoming locals at a café close to our condo. The proprietor doesn’t even ask what we want, just brings our coffee!. I get an espresso (what the locals drink). The crema is perfect!
On Wednesday we went to Silves for lunch and to check out the castle. Although not a highlight of the trip, it was interesting and a nice, sleepy town to tour. On the way back we decided to drive some back roads. FYI: the quality and size of the roads do not necessarily match the size of the line on google maps. Although we were in some very backwater places, nothing feels dangerous! We did find our first cork tree sighting. The cork on these trees was harvested in 2016 (as indicated by the 6 painted on it). Hopefully we sill see some freshly harvested trees as they are supposed to have incredible colors.
At a restaurant on the beach, I ordered one of the most traditional meals here. This is a grilled sea bass. I love fish this way. I do wish they used chopstick, as I think it is an easier way to pick the meat out, but that is a small complaint! Also, many people are picking their fish out of the fresh case to be cooked. I have not tried that yet, but will soon.
I went for a run on the beach yesterday morning. (In all honesty, I haven’t been exercising as much as I have intended yet, but this run definitely helped. There is nothing like running in sand!) Check out the sunrise!
We also went to Sagres yesterday. The fort is pretty cool. It is on a peninsula at the end of the world on top of a bluff. It was windy and the waves were big. Here is a picture of Theo and me at the fort. The waves look big, but if you realize we are standing at the top of a 200 ft cliff, they really are massive! The cliffs behind us are probably about the same size. The waves are splashing at least half way up the cliff!
16
Mar
2018
Computers
I am a bit behind in adding to the site. My computer is showing its age (slow and the power cord only works if it is bent perfectly), so I have spent the last few days searching for my next workhorse. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect. Here is the short list:
| Brand | Model | Proc | Ram | SSD | lbs | W in | D in | T in | Screen size | Res px | Batt WHr | Price | Retailer | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lenovo | X1 Carbon | i7-8550u | 16GB LPDDR3 | 512 | 2.49 | 12.73 | 8.54 | 0.62 | 14 | 2560x1440 | 55 | $2,193 | Lenovo | Thin, light, durable | Expensive, battery life |
| Lenovo | Yoga 920 | i7-8550u | 16GB DDR4 | 512 | 3.02 | 12.7 | 8.8 | 0.5 | 13.9 | 3840x2160 | 70 | $1,650 | Amazon | Good specs, good battery | big and heavy (ish) |
| HP | Spectre x360 | i7-8550u | 16GB LPDDR3 | 320 | 2.78 | 12.04 | 8.56 | 0.53 | 13.3 | 3840x2160 | 60 | $1,430 | HP | Good specs | Battery life |
| HP | Spectre x360 | i7-8550u | 16GB LPDDR3 | 512 | 2.78 | 12.04 | 8.56 | 0.53 | 13.3 | 3840x2160 | 60 | $1,510 | HP | Good specs | Battery life |
| LG | Gram 13 | i7-8550u | 8GB DDR4 | 256 | 2.13 | 12 | 8.3 | 0.6 | 13.3 | 1920x1080 | 72 | $1,300 | Amazon | Great battery, ultra light | slow ssd, light RAM, lower resolution |
| LG | Gram 14 | i7-8550u | 8GB DDR4 | 512 | 2.19 | 12.7 | 8.3 | 0.6 | 14 | 1920x1080 | 72 | $1,450 | Amazon | Great battery, ultra light | slow ssd, light RAM, lower resolution |
| LG | Gram 15 | i7-8550u | 16GB DDR5 | 1024 | 2.41 | 14.1 | 9 | 0.7 | 15.6 | 1920x1080 | 72 | $1,900 | Amazon | Great battery, ultra light | slow ssd, lower resolution, big |
| Dell | XPS 13 | i7-8550u | 16GB LPDDR3 | 512 | 2.68 | 11.9 | 7.8 | 0.46 | 13.3 | 3840x2160 | 52 | $1,900 | Dell | Good specs | Battery life |
Sorry, the table isn’t perfect, hopefully you can identify what each column is.
As you can see, I am after a fairly well equipped machine, and am willing to pay a decent amount for it. Hopefully the 8th gen i7 processor and 16GB ram will add a couple extra years before it needs to be replaced again. The difficult part is deciding what other features are most important to me. The top desires are light weight, small, and good battery life.
I am a bit torn, if anyone has opinions or experience of their own, please let me know!
12
Mar
2018
Donkeys and dancing ladies
Today I figured out how to make comments available on the blog. I look forward to comments and feedback!
Just to make this somewhat interesting, here is a photo showing a bit of a collision of worlds. Farmers come into town in a wagon pulled by a donkey on a fairly regular basis! Also, notice the stork nest on top of the chimney on the right. They are huge, I would estimate this one at 8-10 ft diameter.
Might as well add some more interest. Here is the local miniature golf course complete with dancing ladies:
10
Mar
2018
The sun came out!!!
Today was the first day in a while that we had good sunshine. Leslie let her hair down to enjoy it!
The Saturday market was on again today. Venturing outside of our comfort zone paid off! First, many people were selling what I thought were hazelnuts or something. Leslie asked and it turned out they were figs. And… AWESOME!!! I am not typically a fig person, particularly when they are shriveled up and brown. But I ate a bag full!
Then, Leslie asked about what looked like a rotten sweet potato. It turns out it was a sweet potato cooked in the skin. Somehow they must slow cook it until it is all shriveled on the outside and soft in the middle. Peel the skin back and eat it on the go. Theo loved it and Leslie went back for a couple more. It had nice texture, but still tasted like a sweet potato to me (I have never been a fan).
Then the storm came back:
06
Mar
2018