In this month of April, we’re finding beautiful landscape and welcoming villages.
In the Cadiz province, for the first time, we’re stopped in Algodonales, one of the typical ” Pueblos blancos” of the area.
Perfect for who loves paragliding, in fact, in the village, there are groups, that organize this activity.
We, that love walking, have discovery many walks, all immerse in the nature, but if one wants life, in Algodonales as in Zahara there are many bar and restaurants where the “tapas” with beer are very good.😋
Zahara night
The weather is good, warm,,but with a nice blue sky… after dust of some weeks ago, now it seems summer!😀
Every point of Algodonales, has orange and lemon trees and the perfume of zagara mix with the image of village… It seems of mountain, but is only about 300m, under soil there is a source of water makes all green💚
You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?
Our cars collage
The first trip we made together to the conquest of the Iberian peninsula was by car, a land rover… More than 5000 km.
From North Italy, along France and Spain, until Portugal, passing from the northern coast, with their morning fog and the taste of apple in their typical drink, called “sidra” and returning from the south coast with Mediterranean colours, no highways, only countryside roads, we had really a beautiful experience.
Now we are going back in Spain, in two days, surely, we’ll be there. We are like swallows that return to the nest in spring.
Travelling between huge cultivated fields, let’s go throw the rocky mountains to arrive to vineyards of France and to lavender fields.
Then,the territory of France, if we’ll stay on the coast, it will transform into our Liguria, rich of olive trees, focaccia and flowers…these are coasts with the weather warm often in winter too.
To get to our house, we’ll pass through Sassello, known for its “soft amaretti” and through the vineyards of the Piemonte Hills.
Shall we go home? Until June the adventure will continue, I don’t know well, where… Perhaps in Emilia Romagna, eating “piadine” and drinking “lambrusco”.😄
Tomorrow we go away from Santiago do Cacem, ( we stayed here about one month) to go back Portimão.
Weather is terrible! Always rain…I think it’s like the tropics 🤔 water bombs are hurled on us, and isn’t good walk in the wood as we like much.
In Portimão we go to eat Sardinhas, it’s not the season yet, but know who already has and after let’s go to the “Aqua” shopping center. There are many clothing stores, with this weather is the ideal.
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
In the 2017, I and Fiore, after the last journey in Portugal, when we was at home, we decided to buy a new car, to be more comfortable, at that age we was five, two dogs,plus one budge, plus us.
Idea💡
Transform a familiar car (nissan Serena) in a tiny van.
First: remove the seats!
Second: cover the floor with linoleum.
Then using all recycled materials, that we had at home… I used my paintings created on wood too.😄, and after a series of drawings to decide how and the disposition of the three wooden cabinets.
Space was very limited, but I succeeded to create a habitable space, all removable, ideal to travel, going from a point to another or also ideal for a weekend… Truly, during 2020, we were travelling, when the borders were closed due covid, and Serena was our home on the road for 6 months🙃.
Difficulties:
In a scale from 1 to 10, this work is 5 medium, because It was the first time I transformed a car and I’m not a carpenter but I have had a good assistant, Fiore.
The work was challenging but rich of satisfactions.
Our first travel, here with Angelo,” the second pilot”
There is everything we need, “toilet= porta potty” too in the better place that we could think.
The bed? Foldable with zips.
The kitchen, external, folding, with a can to put grey waters.
We obtained a little home, that was used more than we could think. From September 2017 to the past year, when we decided to sell it and buying our actual motorhome, started a new experience.😃
Fiore was leaving the motorhome to do the usual post dinner things: load drinking water, add sand to the cat litter and finally, throwing out the garbage, and turning off the gas, he had some time to relax; This monday he call me out, to see a spectacular phenomenon of the moon.
The moon was circled, brightly, we had never seen like this.
I got information to understand. Is defined as “halo of 22°, it is caused by the refraction of light on the ice crystals, that make up the clouds…popular beliefs say that after the circled moon the weather worsens.😔 In fact, is from Tuesday that it’s raining and snow, where temperatures allow.
Every month, I and Fiore remove from the budget what we know we have to spend, including shopping at the supermarket, because we have an abitudinary eating, and we assess the situation.
Travelling with motorhome, getting gas, we know that, in this period, in Portugal with € 50,00 we go about 300 km. Then, it’s always possible the unexpected, like in the past november, in Villafranca del Penedes ( Cataluña), where our service battery died😔… fortunately Spain is convenient for repairs and others works on means, and by asking a friend we went in Granada to put a new one.
When it goes without problems, sometimes we gift us a lunch or dinner typical of the place where we are; two Sunday ago, we went with Antonio, our Portuguese friend, to eat “enguia” ( eel), at the santo André lagoon festival🪱.
After all, we’re lucky to know how to manage our budget, so we can live life our way.😉
Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.
Wake up at 8.30am, I make my energetic exercise and very slowly the breakfast starts: some fruit, oat, coffee, butter, marmalade…often I change the breakfast menu.
When I’m ready, I go out, walking along the Adda river, when we’re in Trezzo d’Adda or simply in a green hill like now; the best is -before walking- make a fast fitness training with my “personal”Fiore.
For the rest of the day, the ideal for me is, in the early hours of the afternoon create my jewels, one per day is sufficient…two better😄 and then, music, a cup of tea and writing.
In the evening, if I were still in Milan, I would like to go out, to see people, lights, shops, to distract me from my thoughts.
In the night, a good dinner, a cup of wine🍷🍷, with my husband listening blues and jazz Portuguese radio broadcast and the top would be a movie, one of those, that give a good mood, but for this, I think I have to wait to return to Italy, unfortunately I have few GB for internet.
This, for me it means having a day in equilibrium between job, activities, relax…a shame that is not always like this, but I’m working on it.😉.
I made this pizza just a week ago. Like a “pugliese” with onions.
Recipe: wheat flour + salt + fresh brewer’s yeast + mozzarella + tomato sauce+ onions + my secret ingredients which I say just for you😃… Ginger and coriander.
And to cook it 🤔, in motorhome I don’t have oven, so I used a pan with lid, naturally with over low heat.👩🍳
<Who said, you only have to go to Santiago on foot?🤔>
It was 2013 and a new member of the team, would be put to the test embarking on a trip, towards the discovery of one’s own unknown world.
Fiore was his name and he was in command of the Fariña Shuttle that have been explorers of the human soul for centuries.
Direction? Santiago de Compostela, with an unconventional means: a land rover.
Why not on foot? He underwent surgery on his hips…can’t walk for too far.
From Sogno, Lecco lake, Italy to Santiago was a memorable trip.
It was special trip,the first together. I was already used to traveling without hotel reservation, many times I was gone on adventure, more times I had encountered difficulties but overcome along the way. Fiore was his first experience and, I know, it’s all possible, also block the trip and break our relationship😮.
But, no, no, everything was fine.
40 days on the road, sleeping in the car and in camping with a tent. “Angelo” our cute dog was with us always attentive to show us the direction.
CampingAngelo and me
We are gone in many places, Impression on me, Pamplona on San Fermin’s day, Bilbao with the escalators in the streets and then Santiago, wow with really many people, all together sharing the same dream.
Santiago de Compustela
…the Road trip, then, went ahead, but is not so important. That it is important was it helped us to know ourselves more deeply, sharing this experience, giving the beginning of the first of a series of road trip.
Traveling on the road, is travelling with the soul, it increases the ability to observe,and making you dive into other realities, your small world is nothing as compared to the entire human universe. it makes us open our heart.❤️
Olitime 