Agosto

Wow, August was insane! It's October and I haven't had the energy to write about August until now because nothing has slowed down since then. Anyways, enough with the excuses, I had such a lovely time beginning the month of August with Dave, Pete's and my road trip back to Asturias from Porto. We had a nice few days on the road of leisurely driving and stopping whenever something peeked our interest. I was verye xcited to see Galicia (a province I'd never explored before), and the first stop along the way was Gerês National Park, where we took in the greenery and the crystal clear water. After Gerês we stopped in Lobios to get in the nearby hot springs, but alas they springs were too hot for us :( so instead we just enjoyed our picnic lunch! The last stop of day one on the road was Ourense, where we stayed for the evening and had a wonderful night out on the town. We wandered the narrow streets and found a nice spot to sit outside and have tapas and soak up the life of the village. On the wander back to the hotel we stopped at another bar for a nightcap that Dave insisted Pete and I try, licor café. I enjoyed the Galician specialty, but I don't know if I'll be ordering it again any time soon. All in all, I really enjoyed seeing Galicia and it was indeed as beautiful as everyone told me it would be. 

Gerês National Park

More of the park, and Dave and me in the background.

The water was insanely clear!

The beautiful streets of Ourense

Walking back after dinner.

I enjoyed seeing all of the Galician independence street art. This one was spotted in Ourense!

Oh and one last one from Porto that I neglected to put up in my July post, double cats!!

On our second day on the road, we spent time exploring the coastline of Asturias, which I am consistently more and more impressed with. Upon leaving Ourense we drove straight north to Cedeira, where we had a wander about and some amazing patatas bravas for lunch! Then, in typical Spanish fashion we followed that with a nap. Once we woke up we continued east meandering along the coast, stopping next in Ortigueira to have another look of yet another beautiful village. And lastly we stopped in one final place, O Porto de Bares, for an afternoon coffee and more epic views. After the coffee break we decided to head towards Viveiro to find a hotel for the night, but little did we realize they were hosting a metal festival. Literally every hotel in town was booked up, absent one expensive one, and naively we thought we would carry on to Ribadeo assuming they would have vacancy. Long story short we arrived to Ribadeo only to find that all but one of their hotels was booked up, however we managed to snag the last free room in the village after Dave feverishly ran around in the rain searching for a warm bed to lay our heads to rest. After getting our room we went out for a nice meal and drinks, and called it a night. 

The beach in Ortigueira was quite picturesque.

Sometimes I get a smile out of him, but then other times not.

I loathe both cold water and being picked up.

A successful selfie!

Black Aeonium - the most recent discovery of plant life for me, and I think they're super cool!

The view from our hotel was really lovely when you could see through the fog/mist. It was by the harbor.

The next morning we woke up and after breakfast headed to Cudillero, a village that would impress even the most unimpressed. We wandered around the tiny streets and found a nice place for lunch so that Pete could try arroz negro, which I had talked up quite a bit. Post lunch we headed back towards Gijón to return the car, Johnny picked us up, and we went back to Cerezaléu for a relaxing evening of food and drink. 

Cudillero!

Upon arriving back to Cerezaléu, we had 3 nights there before Pete had to head back home. We spent the remaining days taking it easy, enjoying the scenery, eating good food, and sharing laughs. And then sadly it was time to say goodbye to Pete, and that meant Dave and I had no excuses not to get back to work. While I feverishly typed away at my thesis some more, and ultimately conquered the task at hand, Dave did loads more on the house! In the time where I would otherwise have likely smashed my computer out of frustration, we found time for walks, leisurely lunches with Johnny and Rocio, or sometimes a run if I felt so daring. We usually ate dinner with Johnny and Rocio as well, and that always left us laughing with all of their stories. We also binge watched Breaking Bad, not that it's a highlight of August per se, but now we at least understand all of the hype.The other highlights of August included Dave's old friends, with whom he used to live with in Gijón (Pete and Lewys), coming over for a visit for 2 nights. Pete and Lewys' visit mostly involved rounds of Cards Against Humanity and siting around the bonfire. And lastly the only other residents of the village moved out, and Terre and Pepe used their departure as a good excuse for a party. Terre made a massive paella and lots of friends and family came around for an afternoon lunch filled with drinks and lots of tapas. It was really great to get to experience a proper village paella lunch, and Terre was so generous as to make Dave and me a vegetarian paella. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking...

Tinto de verano became a new favorite of both mine and the caballos.

Check out how legit this paella is! It was massive!!

Johnny, Juanjo and Pepe indulging in mariscos (seafood)!

All smiles for veggie paella

We brought Johnny back a bottle of port from Porto and he was clever and used the beautiful wooden box as a display case for his ship in a bottle!

Sunny views of the backyard

Dave taking in the views.

Self timer success!

And to round out the picture set, the improvements Dave made on his home! Dave worked really really hard at leaving his house in a suitable state so that when we come back next it will be ready to enjoy! This entailed solar panels, as I've mentioned before, painting walls, ripping out the bathtub (subsequently that entailed creating an outdoor shower), selling his car etc etc. And here are his lovely photos to show off his work!

The horreo, which doubles as the washing line because one musn't forget to mention all of the potatoes also stored actually within the horreo.

The horreo also functions as a wood store. 

The living room when you first walk into the house. Dave made the coffee table this summer.

Off to the side of the couch are the stairs, which Dave had to affix the bottom step, and he also pained the stairwell.

The kitchen, which is along the tiled wall on the right of the photo above. Dave had to transplant the faucet across the room.

Looking from the stairs out at the downstairs. You can see Dave's solar power lights in action in this photo.

The view from the top of the stairs, you can see the food storage, and the fuse box on the right. I'm very proud of all of Dave's wiring and figuring out how to get solar in the whole house.

The view from the top of the stairs. You can go into the bedroom, or the office, which is the door to the right. The bathroom is also in the far right corner, which you can't see.

Dave transformed this space into an office this summer, creating a makeshift desk and putting up the chalkboard for us to write down tasks to accomplish.

The bedroom. Dave put in the shelf on the back wall, and the bookshelf type thing in the back right corner.

Looking from the opposite corner of the bedroom. You can see the doorway to the office and then the doorway to the stairwell.

The view from the backyard. The fire pit and hammock are the centerpieces.

The view from the village at dusk, it's perfect.

Then at the end of August I had to go back to Finland to wrap up loose ends and complete the last required tasks of my Masters! It was a bit surreal to go back to Finland one final time not knowing when, or if ever, I'll find myself back there. Two years can go by shockingly fast I've learned, and it was really crazy to go through everything from the past two years and sift through what I wanted to keep and discard etc. Anyways, my week in Finland was really nice and I even got to work a final couple of shifts, go on some nice runs in the crisp Finnish air, have a final sauna, and see friends one last time. Here are the handful of photos I snapped from my last week there..

I really like flying into Finland, it's always really gorgeous views from the plane of all of the islands!

I took pictures of Helsinki to say goodbye to the city that treated me ever so well. This is a love bridge, where lovers place a locket.

My job always led me to really beautiful spots in the city that I would have otherwise never discovered on my own. The harbor in Helsinki is always lovely.

The famous Helsinki cathedral at night is when it looks best because it's not laden with tourists.

The newest piece of street art in Helsinki... pretty funny if you ask me.

Then I had to go to Lahti (where I originally moved to upon arriving in Finland) to present my Master's thesis work to my supervisor, professors, and fellow students. The presentation went really well, and it was a great confidence booster to feel really competent about a subject I've been studying for the better part of 2 years now.  I also submitted the written portion of my thesis, and my hands are now free of my Master's work, officially!! It was the best feeling I've had in ages hitting submit on everything, and I celebrated with a classmate and drinks on my balcony, it was perfect! I am now waiting to hear back about the grade I've received on my thesis, but I'm not sweating it, I know I did well, and am confident my grade will reflect my efforts. 

Saying goodbye to my campus in Lahti. Moi moi for now!

And saying goodbye to Lahti in general. This is the harbor in Lahti, on the massive Lake Vesijärvi.

Thank you everyone for all of your support over the past two years, you all were my lifeline as I embarked on this journey. I know I was a bit crabby, unpleasant, frustrated and melancholic at times over the past two years, but it feels remarkable to have accomplished this goal. Overall I had 2 of the best years of my life; I met people who have forever changed my life, and had experiences I never thought I would have. I am so thankful for everything that Finland ever brought to my life. Kiitos paljon, Suomi! Moikka for now.

Quiet walks in the snowy forests of Finland were one of my favorite things. I hope to find myself there again someday..

Julio!

July was a whirlwind of a month. It started off in Cornwall, ended in Porto, and somewhere in the middle was a ferry crossing into Asturias. It was hard spending the remainder of July in Cornwall knowing that our impending departure was rapidly approaching, but we definitely made the most out of our time there cramming in as much family/friend time as possible.

On July 1 we accompanied Pete to her weekly trip to Drogo Castle, a National Trust site that she has been volunteering at for a few years now. It was a good excuse for her to introduce her co-workers to Dave, and to have a nice walk around the grounds, and followed by a nice walk in the nearby gorge for a pub lunch to top it all off! It was a lovely day.

The castle is largely under construction at the moment, yet you can walk up some scaffolding to have a peek at the massive undertaking they're doing to keep it secure.

Walk through the gorge.

Other happenings included Katie's birthday party, which falls on the 4th of July, therefore I naturally took it upon myself to excessively wear red, white and blue - like any true patriot would do. And Dave similarly embraced his American roots, and then took it to the next level. 

He went for the white trash look, and I would venture to say that he succeeded.

I will also happily take blame for introducing everyone to my new favorite card game, Cards Against Humanity. But then I reminded everyone that it stemmed from another, PG rated game, Apples to Apples. When Rae had her birthday Dave and I got her the Apples to Apples Junior version, and it was a big hit with all the kids. 

Everyone gathered around for an intense game of Apples to Apples.

There are always lovely walks to be had, and they always provide for good conversation, and gorgeous photos. 

This could be your standard Windows desktop image.

The Atlantic Ocean, looking mighty blue.

They walk through the fields on a picturesque day.

We walk out onto the rocks at Boscastle.

He walks into Jurassic Park.

There was also a wonderful party down at Anne and Pat's (the neighbor's whose garden I worked on) the weekend before we left, and it made for a really nice send off. A bonfire, friends, food, drinks, and a view of the sea! And we all camped so it was a nice morning the day after with all of the kids gathered around for their cereal breakfast.

Gathered round the fire at dusk.

Connor and I the next morning; coffee to bring the adults back to life. Side note: Connor became my biggest fan this past trip to Cornwall :-)

To round out the stay, Dave and I spent a nice night to ourselves out on Steeple Point with a tea light as our fire. I always hate saying goodbye to this lovely corner of the globe.

Farewell Cornwall.

A gorgeous night sky on the drive back from Bradworthy.

Oh, and as mentioned in my last post, I promised photos of Anne and Pat's garden, where they graciously let me 'intern' for them. I wish I would have done more for them, but alas, I still had a lovely time working in their polytunnel, their vegetable garden, and creating their herb patch. And my absolutely favorite bit was getting to change the pigs water, because it meant you got to hang around with the adorable, squealy guys for a bit. I also loved watching the ducks grow at an unfathomable rate. I also can't thank Dave enough for coming down with me every day, and graciously helping me out.

The polytunnel from outside, with the ridiculously crystal clear view of the sea.

Inside. I can proudly say that we made those yellow strings to guide the tomato plants with. I planted out that bok choy you can possibly see on the left. But mostly just watered in here.

We planted out quite a few rows of the veggies, but not before Dave rotavated the soil. Then there was some weeding and watering that accompanied the work here.

Dave and I laid out these beams to block in the herb patch. Then hauled up some soil from the veggie garden to create the now herb patch.

Those blindingly white fellas in the back there are the ducks that I loved to watch waddle about.

These guys making me smile.

Look at that nose!!!!!

Then it came time for heading to Spain. Pete and Mark generously drove us to Poole to catch our ferry, where Dave loaded up their car with tons of stuff for his solar panel endeavor he was to embark on upon arriving to Spain. The ferry crossing was ever so smooth, thankfully, and we arrived to Gijón where Dave's uncle and aunt met us to retrieve both us and all of our things. 

I finally managed to snap a photo of the World War I commemorative scarecrows on the way to Poole.

Loaded up and ready to go to Spain with our bicycles.

When we got back to Cerezaléu it was a nice relief to put down all of our things and take a deep breath before plugging away for 11 days of hard work. 

Bienvenidos otra vez.

We got to spend a couple of evenings visiting with Dave's aunt, uncle and cousin who were over visiting from the Netherlands, and that was really good. Then, it was time to plug away at the house for a brief time before our trip to Portugal. I spent the first few days cleaning the house really well, while Dave feverishly worked on his solar panels. 

We both succeeded in our endeavors, and felt quite proud at the end result. I was proud mostly because I made my own cleaners out of non-toxic substances, in my measly attempt to be more 'green.' Basically combinations of wine vinegar, baking soda, water, borax, and castile soap can cure any dust or grime, how cool! The next tip I can give is that it turns out you have to clean about once a week in order for the dust and grime to stay away... 

My penmanship is going downhill in my old age.

Dave, on the other hand, can be remarkably proud of his attempt to be more 'green,' because he goes as far as to self teach how to run a home off of solar energy. He not only succeeded, but went above and beyond, putting in light switches, and rigging up a fuse box and the whole nine yards, I'm well impressed! 

Dave and his solar panels, soaking up solar rays as we speak! 

A terrible picture of his really thoughtful fuse box.

The lamp is running on solar! Yay! This is my favorite, it's the fist lamp that Dave's buddy Gareth made last summer.

Once I finished my deep clean of the house, I got back to my thesis, so I don't have much to say for myself, other than I sent off yet another draft to my professor of my thesis a few days before Portugal. But Dave can say that he has done lots of odd end jobs, like making a coffee table, getting his car ready to sell, preparing the exterior of his house for painting, resealing the well, and the list goes on and on. He's quite the handy man! That said, we still found time for evening walks and time to admire Johnny's fabulous garden. 

Johnny has some veggies that he's let gone over so that he can harvest the seeds for next year, and these leeks look amazing!

I've never in my life seen artichokes gone over, and they produce the most brilliant purple flowers! And attract tons of buzzing bumblebees!

Adios sun, hasta mañana!

THEN finally came the long awaited trip to Porto! When Dave was living in Serbia, he met Nuno, who was also doing a year of European Voluntary Service. To cut a long story short, Nuno is Portuguese, and has since moved back to Portugal with his Serbian girlfriend Olja. Nuno has been begging Dave to come out for a visit, and it was well-timed because Nuno had his birthday while we were there. So not only did Nuno have the great pleasure of hosting Dave, Pete and myself, Nuno's mom and sister also flew up from Lisbon for the occasion. 

We spent three nights in Porto, and it was a lovely trip. The first night we were there Pete hadn't arrived yet and Nuno, Olja, Dave and I spent the evening at their apartment enjoying Olja's amazing cooking, and Nuno's fabulously articulate explanations of port. Since arriving to Porto only in February, Nuno has landed a job at one of the premier Port Houses of Porto, and has learned an immense amount about port. We had a lovely sampling of ruby, tawny and white ports over dinner, and rounded out the evening with a nice walk around the city.

Day two was an absolute scorcher, with temperatures soaring up to 36 degrees Celsius (that's something like 97 + plus some gnarly humidity). Dave and I zipped over to the airport to pick up Pete, and then drove back to the city center for a wander around town while Nuno was at work and Olja was sneakily working on Nuno's surprise birthday party. Due to the heat, the three of us wandered from shady spot to shady spot to avoid heat stroke, but the city was still buzzing with life, and the views were great. That evening we went back to Nuno's for yet another lovely meal cooked by Olja, and more port samplings The night was nicely rounded out by convincing Nuno that we were going to his friend's for a drink, but really there was a surprise party awaiting him when he walked in the door appropriately timed at midnight! 

Day three was Nuno's actual birthday, and he had the day off work, and his mom and sister arrived in the late morning to spend the day with all of us as well. Twas a fabulous day including breakfast, a tour of a port cellar, a walk along the river (Porto is a city with the Duro River at the heart of it all), a proper port sampling at Nuno's work, a lunch in an authentic Portuguese restaurant, and a dinner at a lovely tapas style restaurant with a group of Nuno's friends. 

Porto is on the right, and Gaia is on the left. The Duro River is the city line.

Darwin gives Porto a thumbs up.

Beautiful tiny streets of Porto.

The many bridges crossing the river reminded me so much of Portland, and the great pride everyone takes in the amazing architecture of each one.

Porto's houses/building are covered in gorgeous tiles. I became quite obsessed with photographing these, and felt it only appropriate to make a collage of them.

It is also not uncommon to find hands for door knockers on the houses.

More cool tags in Porto. Playboy girls read books in Porto.

Gorgeous Burmester port cellar.

These massive barrels are storing tons of port for future consumption.

Port tasting round one. Olja and Dave are excited!

All along the river are the beautiful old boats that used to carry the barrels of port down from the Duro valley into Porto. Sadly this is no longer the method of transport, but rather they use trucks nowadays.

I snapped this picture for Lauren - I want mermaids holding up my doorway in my future home, duh.

We're trying to keep cool.

Photo opp here. Me, Pete, Dave, Nuno, Nuno's mom and sister.

Even the less affluent parts of town look absolutely stunning here.

Round two of port tasting at Nuno's work - Kopke - high five for a sample from 1935!

I was apparently having a good time.

This place was the real deal. We had lovely Portuguese soup, and everyone else had some nice fish, and cheesy rolls. The older gentlemen next to Nuno just invited himself to sit down with us, because why not?

And so rounded out or trip to Porto! It was great fun, and Nuno and Olja were excellent hosts. After 3 nights it was time to hit the road, and slowly make our way back to Cerezaléu via Galicia. But technically the remainder of the trip falls in August, so you'll have to bear with me until then for the remaining pictures from our journey. 

I think my favorite part of the trip was that Nuno and Olja had 8 week old baby kittens, and I absolutely fell in love. I hate to admit it, but I think I'm officially a cat person after Maqsum in Barcelona, and these two guys. Thanks July for being ever so lovely.

These two doing dishes, and melting my heart.

How can you not fall in love with these tiny things that fit in your lap like so?