The first instance where the time difference with the US became a bit problematic was trying to set a time for our annual fantasy football draft. Just because we moved to Europe doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my 20+ year tradition of the fantasy football league 🙂 Since all the other guys are on Pacific or Mountain time, I figured 7 AM my time, 11 PM their time would be satisfactory. Oh no. They all complained to no end about having to get up early the next morning for work or for their kids. Being a nice guy 🙂 I decided to make the sacrifice and move the draft to 5 AM my time, 9 PM their time. I see their point since Emi and I are retired, our schedules are much more flexible. It was rough getting up at 4:30 AM to prepare for the draft. The sacrifices we make for our hobbies 🙂

I had another minor health issue this month. This time a nasty ear infection. It required three visits to the doctor. Two times to the ear-nose-throat doc to flush the ear and once to urgent care to get some stronger meds. The pain was intense. I wasn’t able to sleep more than a couple hours at a time or get out of bed much for 3 days. But after the 2nd ear flush, I felt instant relief and it healed up fully within the next couple of days. Another positive experience with the Portuguese health care system.

Picked up a new hobby — pickleball. I’ve played a few times in the past. Once in Oregon, a couple of times on a cruise, but never a regular player. There is a nice Braga Pickleball group that plays twice a week. The sports facility has two courts, several padel courts, a couple of soccer fields, a cafe, and a bar. This is Portugal after all 🙂 Very nice facility. We play doubles matches for a couple of hours. Splitting the court fees over 10 people or so and it only costs about 1.5€ per player. Nice. It is alot of fun and a good workout.

We started our language class at the high school. We have student ID cards and everything — back to school!! Ha! Class is three hours, twice a week. We know about half the class from other outings like happy hour or pickleball. We have alot of Americans in class but also people from Italy, China, Ukraine, Russia, and Argentina. The goal is to receive an A1+A2 proficiency certificate. That is the minimum requirement for permanent resident status which we can achieve after 5 years in Portugal.

Day trip to Vigo, Spain. The last time we were in Vigo was during our 2019 Camino de Santiago cycling tour. This time we had a whole day to explore. The fort on top of the hill is a great way to take in the views of the ocean, harbor, and city. We had a wonderful lunch at a Mexican fusion restaurant. The best Mexican food we have had in Europe. Exploring the ramblas in the historic district. Exquisite architecture all around. We ended the day with some Estrella 1906 beers and tapas. While sitting out on the esplanade, we were treated to some free entertainment. Parking is always a struggle in European cities and even the loading zone spots get taken advantage of. Today was the day to ticket and tow the offenders. Two of the car owners were nearby and ran to save their vehicle from impoundment. One ran across the street without looking and was struck by a moving car but at very slow speed. He was fine, just shaken up. An exciting end to our little Vigo trip.

Hiking in the Serras do Porto natural area. East of Porto, this trail started along a hillside of solid slate. Part of the hill is used as a slate quarry. To prevent rock slides from washing out the road/trail, the quarry built a wall of huge slate blocks. Efficient use of the materials at hand. The next section of the hike followed along a steep cliff with a creek running along the bottom, eventually opening up into a big valley lined with farms and a couple of small villages. We had to navigate through a herd of sheep and goats. One sheep appeared to be the leader and was very protective of the herd, keeping a keen eye on us and running up and down the trail past us. You could hear him coming due to the cow bell around his neck. On the way back to the start, we had to cross the gorge via suspension bridge. Exhilarating 🙂 After the hike we met up with our friends Jeff and Joch for lunch with an ocean view in their town of Matishinos. A nice way to end the day.

The final adventure I would like to include in this post is a 3-day bike tour we did along the coast. We planned a trekking/gravel route but the majority of the ride was on smooth tarmac — just the way I like it. Day 1 – Braga to Povoa de Varzim. When he hit Vila do Familicao we joined the bike path all the way to the coast. An old rail line converted to multi-use path – loved it! We discovered a funky local bar called Mary Jane’s that has Mahao Dunkel on draft. Great beer, great spot, and the owner is super nice. Day 2 – Povoa de Varzim to Viano do Castelo. This route hugged the coast the whole time. Amazing ocean views all day and pretty flat, easy riding. But a decent amount of cobblestone roads too which I despise 🙁 I really enjoyed exploring Viana do Castelo at night. Great Indian food for dinner and a local brew pub for some nice German beer — it is Oktoberfest time after all. Day 3 – Viana do Castelo back to Braga. We have done this route before. A fair amount of climbing but a wonderful descent that seems to go on forever into Braga. Another successful tour. My new fitness routine that includes alot of back strenghening, iso-metric exercises and full body stretch routines with a focus on hip-opening has really made these multi-day rides more enjoyable with almost no recovery time needed. My bum gets a little sore after all the time in the saddle, but nothing too terrible 🙂

That’s all for now. I’m still a couple months behind in these posts so hopefully I have time to get the next post out sooner. Hope you like this update. Stay tuned…more adventures to come.