WISH YOU WERE HERE?

Thanks to "Wish you were here" for featuring Casa do Brasão.

http://wishyouwerehere.us/article/Casa-do-Bras227o/

World's Best Places to Live

Please rate Azóia as The Word's best place to live in the Telegraph:

http://expatdirectory.telegraph.co.uk/portugal/sintra/azia/

A BOOK WITH SUPERB PHOTOS OF CABO DA ROCA, SINTRA.

A great book called CABO DA ROCA, IMAGES OF THE WESTERNMOST POINT OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE

This book has amazing photographs of the nature around Cabo da Roca taken by José Romão.

see link:

http://www.milcores.pt/livros/cr_livro_apresent.htm

The legend of "Praia da Ursa" Bears Beach, Cabo da Roca, Sintra.

Only a few will dare to descend to the westernmost beach in mainland Europe, “Praia da Ursa” (Bears Beach) an apt name due to the naturists in the summer and the difficult access. But those who have visited this beach, near Cabo da Roca, can not forget the outstanding and overwhelming wild beauty that surrounds the small (and sometimes unexisting) sand crescent. Two enormous sea stacks stand in the wild Atlantic Ocean, one of them at a certain angle looks like a bear posing with pride.
There is a legend that, a few thousands of years ago, when the Earth was still covered in ice, a mother bear and her young lived here. When the ice started melting the Gods told all the animals to leave the sea shore but the stubborn bear refused to do so, because she was born there and she would stay.
The angry Gods transformed the bear into rock and her young into smaller rocks dispersed around the mother and there they stood, giving the name to this beach.
A wonderful paradise of natural beauty.
An adventure not to be missed!

See the link for the walk:

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=747436

A walk to see the flowers of Cabo da Roca.

This time of year the walks along the cliff tops of Cabo da Roca in Portugal, the westernmost tip of mainland Europe is a canvas of colour brimming with fauna and flora.
One of the many flowers you can see is the Sea-thrift (Armeria Pseudarmeria) The name Armeria is derived from the Latin word for Dianthus to the plant's resemblance to Dianthus. This variety is very common, conspicuous and and can be found in wild coastal areas. The old British threepence coin issued between 1937 and 1952 had a design of the flower on the reverse.
The Pink Ball Thrift and other rare plants of this region are under threat from the invasive Hottentot Fig or Ice Plant (Carpobrotus Edulis)) imported from South Africa, which you will see all over the headland.
So it's time to get those walking boots out of the cupboard for a day of discovery and a breath of Atlantic sea air to see some of these fantastic sights.

See the walk

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=747436

I would be interested in any other walking stories from Portugal or any other information about walks.
I am thinking of organizing a walk in Sintra and would like to know if anyone is interested?

A local walk near Marvao

A local walk near Marvao from Casa do Brasão, our holiday home in Barretos and back. An 8 kilometer walk along ancient paths through typical Alentejo countryside past small hamlets and farms with plenty of farm animals and interesting terrain to keep the children amused.
see the link:

http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?&id=747406

The Peregrine Falcons of Cabo da Roca, Sintra.

The Peregrine Falcons of Cabo da Roca, Sintra.
We now have dog called Chance and on our walks across the headland we often see a beautiful sight in the skies above, the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei).
I never get tired of watching these amazing birds of prey, they can reach speeds of over 320km/h in a stoop, making it the fastest animal on the planet. The Peregrine Falcon is a raptor, or bird of prey. Adults have blue-gray wings, dark brown backs, a buff colored underside with brown spots, and white faces with a black tear stripe on their cheeks. It has long, broad, pointed wingspan and a relatively short tail and they have hooked beaks and strong talons. Their name comes from the Latin word peregrinus, which means "to wander." They are commonly referred to as the Duck Hawk. We see at least one nearly every day and I love to watch them hover in the sky and suddenly they will stoop reaching amazing speeds to catch their prey.
Sometimes we see one close up perched on a telegraph pole at the side of the road.
They were on the endangered species in many areas in the 70's and now thankfully the populations have recovered.
One of the many species of wildlife you can see on the walks in Sintra.

Geo-trekking in Marvão

Incentivos Outdoor with the Council of Marvão are organizing themed walks in the Marvão area for February.
These themed walks are: cultural, heritage, flora & fauna, birdwatching, night and others.
The price of the guided walks are 12.50 euros including coffee.
see: http://geo-trekking.blogspot.com
or telephone: 966504149

A Incentivos Outdoor, empresa de animação turistica a operar em Marvão, vai organizar no proximo mês de Fevereiro em parceria com a Camara Municipal de Marvão, um programa de Passeios Pedestres no territorio de Marvão.Estes passeios são realizados diariamente com diversas tematicas, culturais, patrimonio, observação de fauna e flora, observação de aves, passeios noctirnos, entre outras.
O preço por passeio é de 12,50 euros estando incluido welcome coffe, acompanhamento de monitores e seguros.O calendario de passeios pode ser consultado no nosso site http://geo-trekking.blogspot.com sendo as inscrições e informações através do email visitmarvao@gmail.com ou pelo telefone 966504149
Esperamos por si em Marvão