quarta-feira, 26 de março de 2008

Vamos dar uma volta? / Want to go for a walk?



Desta vez vamos até mais longe. Vamos visitar a Foia, o ponto mais alto do Algarve. Vamos ter de levar o carro. Por favor apertem os cintos de segurança.

Actually it's not a real walk, we will have take the car, so please fast your seat belts. We will be visiting Foia, the highest point in the Algarve.



Não vamos parar em Monchique (a vila mais proxima, fica para uma outra vez), e sim seguir directamente para a Foia. Pelo caminho podemos encontrar campos cultivados em socalcos.

We will go directly to Foia, without stoping in Monchique (the nearest village, we will go there another day). On our way we will find several cultured fields. This area has a perfect climate and soil for growing fruit and vegetables.









Vamos fazer uma paragem para ver a paisagem. Lá embaixo podemos ver as ruinas do convento de Nossa Senhora do Desterro. O convento foi construido em 1631 e encontra-se actualmente abandonado, havendo n entanto planos para o aproveitar para a construção de um hotel.

Time to stop a litle bit to have a look at the scenery. Can you see the old building down there. That's an old monastery built in 1631. It is abandoned now but there are plans to built a luxury hotel in it.



Mais uma paragem na Quinta de São Bento, um hotel de turismo de habitação com um restaurante fantástico onde se serve comida tipica da serra de Monchique.

Another stop, this time at Quinta de São Bento, a rural hotel, with a great restaurant where you can eat tipical food.







Os jardins da Quinta de S. Bento podiam estar bem melhor, pareceram-me um pouco abandonados, mas sempre se encontraram algumas flores. Além do simpatico gatito da foto anterior que nos seguiu durante toda a visita.

The gardens looked a bit abandoned, but I managed to find a few flowers. And the cute kitten on the previous photo.




Prontos para seguir viagem? Quem estiver cansado ou com sede pode aproveitar as fontes à beira da estrada para matar a sede ou descançar um pouco.

Ready to go? Or you prefer to have a sip of water? You can drink in any of the road side fountains, the water is delicious!


E chegamos. Vou parar de escrever para que possam apreciar a paisagem....

And we've arrived. I will stop writing for a minute, so that you can enjoy the scenery...


Lindo, não?

Isn't it breathtaking?

E agora vamos ver o que encontramos por aqui. Ainda faz bastante frio cá encima por isso ainda não há muitas plantas a florir.

Ok, now lets see what can we find...It's still pretty cold up here so there aren't many plants blooming.







E o que é aquela coisa verde ali?

What's that green thing?

Uma rela! Nunca tinha visto nenhuma no Algarve. São animais lindissimos, não são?

I'ts an European tree frog! I had never seen one here in the south. Isn't it beautiful?


E terminamos por aqui, que está a ficar muito frio. Espero que tenham gostado de mais este passeio.

It's getting very cold up here, so I guess its time to go home. Hope you have enjoyed our little trip to the highest point in the Algarve.

17 comentários:

Ezequiel Coelho disse...

Belíssimo passeio. Vou colocar na minha wishlist! ;)

Katarina disse...

Thanks for that lovely tour! Stunning pictures... and I definitely agree - breathtaking!
/Katarina (Roses and stuff)

Mr. McGregor's Daughter disse...

Stunning scenery! The farm area is so quaint & lovely. Thanks for sharing this.

Crassula disse...

Mas que rico passeio nos proporcionaste! já me doiem as pernas lol :)

Green thumb disse...

This was a superb tour! Thanks for taking us along.

Paulo disse...

Eu adorei a excursão.

LadyLuz disse...

What a lovely trip: it brought back many happy memories of similar trip when el jefe lived near Tavira.

Many thanks - we enjoyed it all.

Crix disse...

Tá tudo dito, rs
Muita coisa linda há por esta nossa terrinha :)
E afinal encontraste milhões de Tuberaria lignosa. As folhas são visíveis na foto do cogumelo castanho e das duas florinhas roxas (Romulea?)
Abraço

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen disse...

I always enjoy my walks with you. What an adorable kittycat and that frog was very pretty too.

You live in a very beautiful part of the world!

Meems disse...

Knowing how photos try to tell the story of scenery so stunning... I'm sure it was even more beautiful in person than the gorgeous shots you've shared with us. Thanks for the tour! Very nice.
Meems @Hoe&Shovel

Unknown disse...

Breathtaking, indeed! It was especially neat to see plants that I grow in my garden as ornamentals (the sedums, the anagallis) as wildflowers in your part of the world.

gintoino disse...

ez, acho bem, vale bem a pena.

katarina, thank you, I'm glad you liked it.

nancy j. bond, thank you for your visit.

mr. mcgregor's daughter, this area is full small little farms like those.

crassula, qq dia já não consegues acompanhar ;-)

greenthumb, thank you!

paulo, :-)

ladyluz, Tavira is also a lovelly place to visit. I'll have to "take you there" one of this days.

crix, pois pelos vistos parece q sim, mas sem estarem em flor n as reconheci :-)

yolanda, thank you, I also think this is a beautiful place to live in.

meems, yes, pictures don't do justice to this place. Its a lot more beautiful. Also pictures can't transmite the sound of the birds and the smell of the forest.

jodi, isn't fun to see that lots of our garden plants are indeed wild plants in some other part of the world?

lisa disse...

Gorgeous! That cute little frog looks a lot like my tree frogs, too. I just love all the hills (kinda flat here in the midwest by comparison), and the "alpine-type" plants growing on the rocks are amazing in their survival abilities. Thanks for the great tour!

Ewa disse...

Oh, thank you for that journey :) Great pictures :)

Anónimo disse...

I had a random look at garden blogs and saw yours. As I have been to Loule in September 07 I thought I have a look. Beautiful tour up to the mountains.I think, Loule is a lovely town. Unfortunately the wildflowers on the beach had finished flowering and were setting seeds for next years display.

Lisa at Greenbow disse...

What a wonderful road trip. Those scenes were indeed breathtaking. I loved the wildlife too.

chuck b. disse...

That was great! My favorite part was the fountain--very European! I'll bet that's good water too.