Hiking and Walking

I have not blogged for awhile for it has been hectic and wonderfully busy.

The last month was vey busy with walkers/hikers from Finland who came with the Matkamieli company from Finland. It was a busy, wonderful time, with lots of new things for us as well.  Though we often have groups visiting, rarely groups that take up all of the space for several weeks in a row.

It was a marvelous time, I often went along to the hikes, and enjoyed company, other than Pandora, on the walks. I was reminded what a wonderful region this is for hiking, and what varied terraine there is.  One of the days the groups walked through small villages, another through a forest to the other side of the mountain, to Cascais, another yet high up on the cliffs along the Atlantic coast.  In fact I have now mapped many of those walks on Sports Tracker and Map My Walk for the benefit of others, knowing the distances, changes in altitudes and also recording photos of the key spots.

So inspired was I that I have, together with some other B&B and property owners planned several routes for those walkers who would like to walk from a guest house to another.  We are just about ready to launch a new walking 'product' of visiting the mountain and coast by walking from a place to another, either staying only one night per place or longer to explore the area around each place, this way knowing more of the country and really getting a cultural experience while walking.

This season (autumn, winter) is great for walking:  less hot and less crowded.  The colors are wonderful and the flowers are coming through.  I am including here a few pictures of our walks, just to show the different terraines you can hike.  The great thing is that you can really tailor make those walks to fit exactly what you want: If you want to see noone and walk in nature the whole day carrying your lunch - it is possible.  If you prefer walking for a few hours and then pop into a restaurant for a late lunch; also possible.  If you prefer walking and stopping at a monument or a castle, making it a cultural hike - possible again! And depending on your condition you can often choose a more easy or more challenging walk for the same distance, from point A to point B.

So some more pictures - here they come!