Day 6

Yesterday: I got up at 8am (I slept in!) and hit the bike path with Bessie. The sun was just starting to get things underway. The path held just a scattering of people and dogs and everyone seemed to be relaxing in the relatively cool morning temps. These days I see a lot of tourists around the canal, so I wasn't surprised to see the line of boats moored near the NAC, many with names painted along the side: "Second Chance" and "Queen Mary." 

I biked for an hour, sometimes following schools of cyclists, sometimes dodging them, until I arrived at my destination close to the park's entrance. I gently lay Bessie against a picnic table and sat down on the table top, removed my helmet and picked a small bag of nuts from my pack. Macadamia! The best nuts in the world! After a snort of water, I lay back on the table, facing the sun, and listened to Day 6 on my player. A good thought-provoking listen and some glorious sunshine is like a day at the spa for me.

Since it's summer, Day 6 was a rerun mashup. One piece was an interview with three criminal lawyers in USA and Canada who defend persons accused of committing acts of terrorism and other heinous crimes. These lawyers described aspects of their jobs that they enjoy and described it as an honour to defend those who are most despised and thus most likely to have their rights take away from them. All three seemed to have strong values/ethics concerning justice and fairness, and I found their conviction and energy tremendously uplifting. From the tone of their voices, it was clear that they believe they are making a difference. 

By the time I turned off the radio the sun was a-sizzle and the bike path a-buzz, but my timeout was worth the sweat and tears.

Freaky birds at sunset in Seville, Spain.

Today: A 70-minute run (a slow jog) along the canal in sweaty humidity. I wanted to follow that up with some weights so I attempted some pushups and squats but I only did one set of each. I sat down to stretch and found that much easier to get into in this heat. I held some stretches for a minute; my hamstrings haven't had that much attention in quite some time. 

The funniest thing happened. During the run, my ipod shuffled through my tunes and decided to grant me the most energetic songs for the run. I had Apple on my side. 

Iced coffee is the tastiest hydrating drink ever. 

Churros

It's been a feverishly busy couple of weeks, so I'll post a food pic from the trip.

Churros are long and sweet, and usually dipped in a cup of hot chocolate or coffee. I tried them a few times in Spain. They look like they contain honey but they're not that sweet for those of us with sweet-sucking palettes.

Wednesday whatevers

I'm not feeling all that motivated these days. Motivation is not a dragon breathing down my neck and making me do stuff that needs doing--stuff like exercise. I love to bike and run in the summer. I like doing weights and dropping into a yoga class for some stretching, and all manner of hiking and wandering. I like these activities, I really do! Except when it's humid and I have homework to finish.


Someone had the audacity to bring a set of digial scales into my home last night, and I couldn't resist stepping on. Oy! Ironically, this person also cooks up an array of delicious Indian curries that would put the entire city of Mumbai to shame, and we have been feasting on curries every night for a few weeks now.

Biking and running were not options for the evening, but I wanted to find an activity.
The humid heat in our apartment feels a lot like the atmosphere of a hot yoga class. The warmth is comforting, surrounding our bodies like blankets.

I tried a few sequences of sun salutations and noticed that I didn't overheat after even a half dozen go-arounds. (These were performed entirely from memory, and although I'm rusty I wasn't too far from the video I watched on yogajournal.com.) It was pretty fun. My stuff back needs some serious stretching after sitting all day, so I think a few rounds of sun salutations after work would be a nice fix.

Tomatoes and cheese

One of the awesome things about travelling is getting around on your own to explore and experience the new world in which you're immersed. Arriving in a new place is like meeting someone: you form impressions which are really beyond your control, and then it's necessary to observe and listen to deepen these impressions.

I especially like to observe from my table at a cafe, and through my "morning eyes," when, still hazy with sleep, my sight is filtered and the imperfections of my environment are airbrushed away. So, "suits" striding down the sidewalk to office jobs appear as characters in an 80s movie, and my chocolate-covered pastries are not an unhealthy breakfast but an example of my efforts to try local cuisine!



Along the aquaduct // Evora, Portugal


When you travel on your own schedule you can take time to stroll (or bike, or run) and watch a day in another country slowly unfold. You can linger and gush over whatever you want: colourful flowers, burmese cats, a game show host - whatever.

Exploring natural areas is even more special because few people are around to tell you that you can't be there.

A 16th century aquaduct runs from the town of Evora into somewhere in the woods. We read in the guidebook that it could be possible to follow the aquaduct to its source, so we packed food and water and headed toward the town centre. We found the massive arches of the stone structure - hard to miss - and followed it through narrow streets, petting cats and smiling at shy kids, until we were deep in grassy fields and on foot paths through farmland. We passed horses and houses, and a nunnery still in operation. Water is a wiley element, however, and we lost our hold on the aquaduct somewhere in the brambles under the hot sun. 



Lunch at the top of the hill



We climbed higher to see the town laid out beneath us like a map. There, on the smooth rocks of the plateau of a hill, we unpacked our food and spread out our ingredients on a towel. We took swigs from water bottles and made sandwiches from a small round of cheese and ripe tomatoes from the market. D, ever prepared for spice-related emergencies, unpacked two bottles of Portuguese hot sauce and the pepper mill I'd brought him from Canada. When everything had been devoured, we lay down and sunned our bodies like lizards.

Hay Buenissimos

Spanish snails are friendly and edible!

I might have just polished off a glass of red wine when I snapped this one, yet I think that if you replaced the snail's stein with a red wine stem our trip would not be entirely ill-represented by the chalky, long-lashed caricature you see here.

There were wines, smiles and unfamiliar languages so musical you could hear the upside-down exclamation marks.

There were pots of seafood, baskets of bread, soft creamy cheeses, perfect olives and er, curries and naan.

A bowl of snails one time (which ended up being a super gross experience but it had to be tried), coffees and pastries and lots of other goodies. Let's see how well I can describe these and other Spanish and Portuguese treats in future posts....

Tea and toast

As the countdown for lift off ticks away steadily like a metronome, my fridge becomes more and more empty. I'm almost out of milk, so I won't be drinking coffee at home. I have perhaps two servings of leftovers that I can depend on a hot sauce or two to perk up, otherwise those meals will be on the spare side in terms of colours, flavours and textures. I soon will have no need for the fridge light as there will be little to see or look for! It's possible that by the time Saturday rolls around I'll have no choice but to close the fridge door on condiment bottles and a bag of cooking onions and go out for dinner!

I had a friend who studied nutrition, and she told me about the "tea and toast" phenomenon, which is basically a sad summary of the eating habits of older people living alone without much money. They don't want to shop for themselves (or haven't the full wallets to do so) so they subsist on tea and toast. A sugary cuppa and slices of hot, buttery toast can feel like a hearty snack, particularly on a cold or rainy day, and it can certainly bolster the spirits, so I can see how that combo could become habitual. Not for a few decades yet, though. (Mental note: a jar of peanut butter would be a nice addition although I would have to find a secret storage place to hide it from D!)

I've run twice this week and plan to run again tomorrow. I felt the presence of my calves this morning as I tramped down a flight of stairs. Nice to know the're there.

I'm still adding 20 squats and 10 burpees on the end of shorter runs (the 5 - 10k distances, nothing over 20k), and I'm up to 4 full pushups with the burpees. Did you get that? Four! I hope to continue this routine while away - bodyweight exercises are freakishly portable. I can't WAIT to get to 10. Patience, young grasshopper!

Trust the bush

Curious kitty with basil and morning burrito

Today's run

What I expected:  windy 20k in cool temps.

What really happened:  22k loop in warm sunshine with a chaser of refreshing breezes.

It's all about perspective.

Wedding cake

I went to a wedding yesterday with some friends, and after the ceremony we ate *a lot* of cheese from the table of appetizers. They had all the stinky blue cheeses I could ever want, and I sampled each type several times just to be sure it was still good, lol. A pretty woven basket held rectangular crackers that had interesting seeds, but the best cheese vehicle on the table was what I will call French bread crisps. These were ultra thin slices of toast so flavourful I could have munched on them alone! And probably should have, since the deli cooler amount of cheese I ingested cancelled my appetite for the rest of the meal. 

I managed to squeeze in a bowl of the velvety roasted cauliflower soup, but my grilled mushroom entree was mostly left uneaten. Still, I ate the chocolate-orange mousse that was placed in front of me. And then a slice of red velvet wedding cake and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. Followed by a giant strawberry (the size of an apple!) covered in white chocolate. The gluttony.

All that food in my tummy made me sleepy, but also gave me plenty of endurance this morning. I felt strong until about 16k, when I started to anticipate a rest and a stretch at home. Then I remembered I had hidden my hat and outer tee shirt under a large bush and would have to collect them before heading back, so I looped around which added another few km to the trip. I didn't mind the extra mileage - I am always pleasantly surprised when I find my hidden items where I left them a few hours before. No one swiped them, and I gained the freedom of going hat- and tee-free! We all win! Ok, I win. 

   

Cake and bouquets