Bom Dia

And that folks is the end of my Portuguese. 

We had the bad news that an ex-colleague, ex-flatmate and friend, KY died of cancer last weekend. She was far too young. RIP K.

It has been lovely here, with the high not being below 20 so far. We've had a few clouds and a bit of wind at worst. We've done a little exploring. First off just the local villages, but last week we headed into the mountains to see the source of the Rio Mondega. 

The peak used to be 1893 m but some king decided that wasn't a nice enough number so added 7m of rock and a tower. Now it has an observatory with two domes that can be seen for miles - part of the Cold War network apparently - as well as a skifield (still open and oh so tempting, though groomed beginners' slopes only), and several shops that were selling toboggans, winter clothes, and for some reason cheese, and lots of it. 

We did have a little problem with the hosts' car. We stopped for a look at the snow and a dam about 3/4 of 

the way up but when we came to start again... nothing. After a quick call it turns out the starter motor is prone to overheating so we left it for a while then off we went as if nothing had happened. How the hell does a starter motor overheat?

The Garmin worked well most of the time which is amazing given the small roads, often one way. How do they build these maps? 

Unfortunately the battery ran out on the way home so I took the odd wrong turn, but made it home anyway thanks to J's logic. The 

hills are covered in terraces so they look a little like the rice paddies of Indonesia (and elsewhere in Asia). Some date back at least to Roman occupation, and there are Roman roads and bridges scattered through the massif.

Yesterday's trip was to Coimbra, which used to be the capital and 

is famous for its university - the second oldest in the world. It has some lovely architecture, as well as a pleasant river-side location. We strolled around, saw some sights, and looked for a present for 

J's birthday, without success. Lunch in the sun watching everyone go by and a family of beggars in action. Actually, technically they weren't begging, they were selling band-aids, but it was sad to see 

even the toddler walking around with her hand out. Portugal is not a welfare state by the way.

Some good news is that the memory I ordered in December has finally turned up after bouncing from address to address. I now have 2 Gb so that should help with the picture editing. Anyone need some more RAM for a laptop?

Today we had a quiet day. I was supposed to get some writing done, but although I did some more reading, I didn't get anything written. Other than this overdue blog that is. I did get most of the pics edited (nice and fast with all that RAM) and even chopped up some video which you can view on J's blog. We're now trying to find something decent to watch on Sky, something that is surprisingly difficult to do...

For you early readers I'll add some pics tomorrow. Otherwise just check J's blog...