Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

Catching up might be difficult since it’s been a week since I’ve posted. However, we Have had a week of sunshine, blue skies, warm temperatures and lovely breezes. Here are a few highlights:

Walking the Ludo Trail in the Ria Formosa – Monday 22 Jan

Castelo de Paderne Hike

On Tuesday Jan 23, Randy, Karim, myself and Jackson headed off to the village of Boliqueime to meet up with others for a group hike to Castelo de Paderne. Organized by Kim Kooistra, it was a loop trail of 16 km. For more info about Kim and the hikes she organizes, visit her web site: http://www.kimsweb.eu. It was a bit of a challenge getting to the meeting point because of a traffic incident in the round about at the centre of the village that blocked traffic in all directions. Eventually, we got started and four hours later arrived back in the village parched, tired and happy. We stopped for a picnic lunch after reaching the castle before setting out along the path that more or less followed the Quarteira River.

The castle was constructed as a fortification in the late 12th century by Berbers (Wikipedia). Before that, in the 2nd century, the Romans constructed a villa in the area which eventually became a military out post called Paderne. It was taken over by the Moors in the early 700s. Walking through the area in 2024 via rough hiking trails, I was struck by the fact that civilization, human presence, is fleeting. It flourishes and then disappears as the needs of society change. A 16 km walk gives one time to reflect!