Time to talk of other things ...

   Yosemite Valley draped in Fall colours We finally made it to Yosemite Valley for an overnight trip, inspired no doubt by the indelible photos of Ansel Adams featured in the National Geographic magazine. With the recent rains and splendid Fall weather, it was everything one could hope for and more ... Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space  ~ Ansel Adams Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park located in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California.  Yosemite valley is encased in impressive granite monoliths (Half Dome and El Capitan being the two most iconic) - making for some of the most spectacular and challenging rock climbing faces in the world !! The Valley floor features the gentle Merced river (aka River of Mercy) winding its way through dense pine forests.  Yosemite falls (actually 3 separate falls) drops a total of 2,425 feet (739 m) from the top to the base. I

    Our pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela via the Portuguese Camino It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk with you, but no one can walk it for you ~ Rumi In September 2019, four of us undertook the Portuguese Camino (Camino de los Portugueses) pilgrimage covering 115 kms from Valença do Minho in Northern Portugal to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. This is the last segment of the Portuguese Way (some cover 250km starting at Porto, others cover over 600km starting from Lisbon itself).  The route from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela has great historical tradition dating back to the 12th century. Isabel de Portugal made a pilgrimage to Santiago in the 14th century, after the death of Don Dinís.  Buen camino , would become a common greeting among fellow peregrinos . Every once in a while on the Camino de Santiago, remember to stop and enjoy the view. It was one of the more rewarding life experiences, walking on ancient roads that go back to Roman times, past

São Miguel - an island getaway unlike any other Lagoa das Sete Cidades São Miguel is the largest of the nine inhabited islands that constitute the  Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores. It is easy to see why it  earned the moniker ' Ilha Verde ' or green island, with the innumerable shades of green.  This volcanic island situated in the Atlantic Ocean roughly halfway between North America and Europe, has two distinctive geo-physical peaks.  Pico da Vara  in the East, rising to 1,105m, is the highest point on the island.  Pico da Cruz,  rising to 850m, is to the West.  The impressive craters of  Sete Cidades ,  Fogo  and  Furnas  are breathtaking mountain lakes with crystal-clear water of striking aquamarine blue and turquoise green colours.  Lagao das Sete Cidades  in the western part is a must-not-miss if only for it's distinctive  Lagao Azul  and  Lagao Verde  (Blue and Green twin lakes) separated by an old road bridge. It is best viewed from either  Miradouro da Bo