Pedro

Cold day in northern Portugal, but blue skies for the next couple of days. Went on a nice walk with Costa and my little brother, went shopping for the typical celebratory meal today, the Kings are arriving to give baby Jesus his gifts so we eat codfish and cabbage. Proper northern Portugal cabbages are great, and I look forward to dinner. Also mum might be making a christmas dessert too. I think this is to make up for me not having been around since I left for Morocco. Making a few work calls to get clients to spill on my competitors' prices, to get ready for a trip to spain on Monday and Tuesday to sort my shit out.

Sometimes you do have to wonder why you go to the extra effort of riding a motorcycle when during a trip you’re cold and uncomfortable and looking at people inside cozy warm dry cars enjoying having their feet not freezing. I don’t mind that on a trip but I wouldn’t go to work 42 miles in thick freezing fogglike you do, you clearly enjoy motorcycling.

An LC8 it isn’t

Grilled garlic bread like brazilians make, that's what you want for garlic and butter. Slice most of the way through a thin french style baguette, put the garlic butter in through the slices and then grill it on coal. It's the perfect way to use garlic + butter + bread.

Back to the north of Portugal and my parents’ place today. sunny and high temperatures but felt proper cold after 16:00

Sofia’s asian glaze spare ribs Pork and half caramelised onions, heavy on the garlic marinade, northern Portuguese style

I’m not a fan of snails the way they cook them here or in Morocco, which is to boil them in a heavily seasoned water using herbs for flavour. I was surprised that the french way is great, but still I would prefer all that delicious garlic butter to be on a toast.

I missed my shot and the big grin came out after the phone was in my pocket. A case of a camera messing up human contact.

loved the moment:

I would expect that the Goldwing is THE bike to ride through all those miles in shitty weather, I’m curious to ride one as well as an RT, I’ve turned my GS into a non motorway bike by fitting a low screen and now I’m addicted to the view so it’s hardly changing. Those meal stops seem like pain and I’d rather munch on an apple and eat a few nuts and done. I expect you not to be a fan of the big heavy bike, but has it grown on you over such a distance?

A great man while a football star and a greater man after stopping playing football, it's a rare thing but he managed to be a great symbol for his country's greatness.

A few of my favourite pictures of my bike from the Morocco ride report, decided to take a look to find a submission for BOTM The free standing bike on soft sand Dirtroad with an amazing scenery and deep gorges down below Crossing an oued with soft sand sections, my personal win regarding conquering terrain on this bike. It's a crop of the original picture. Fast dirt / sand road with camels, just love this picture The Erg Chebbi dunes behind the bike, to me the early morning light makes this look like a picture taken in Mars

I may go to Morocco again, this time with a different take on things and to revisit the desert with a better understanding of myself and the bike. I'd like to go somewhere new on the motorcycle too, that would mean Spain or France or the Nurburgring or Italy, the Via del Sale. Thing is I don't like crowds. A summer week to go somewhere sunny in Portugal would be very much appreciated, too. What I do plan on doing is taking a few short trips, go somewhere specific and return the same day or with a single overnight stay. I have been meaning to do this often since I started riding but somehow quick trips seem to never really have the pull to get the bike going.

Cool stuff, I can see the englishness of that countryside It’s a nice way to find cool stuff near home, to set a route following a road or a river, or whatever. I must start doing it again.

Good stuff, your reports make me want to go to France.

@Sofia’s meatballs and mashed potatoes with spicy garlicky baby spinach. The meatballs had my moroccan spice mix, and love, which made them delicious. It was amazing, and I’m typing this with a happy belly as I finish the second portion. The red wine is a Castelares Reserva, which is currently my favourite red wine, bought for special occasions

I’m surprised as I expected my other picture to get a lot more votes. Also I expected everyone to change votes at the last minute but maybe the day’s festivities and early alcohol consumption helped me

Happy New Year to everyone!

Took @Sofia’s bike for a post wash bimble yesterday. It is a cool bike! And did me good after a very sad morning in which I helped with putting a big dog to sleep. He was a big 45kg Serra da Estrela shepherd, they’re shepherds but more dedicated to protecting lifestock from wolfs in the mountains than actually herding sheep. He was a fierce dog and an absolute killer of a guard dog, he looked like a wild thing yet had the most amazing relationship with his human. Having visited their farm a few times he never even pretended to like me and was the reason I never got out of the car without checking for him. He also gave you proper eye contact while growling instead of acting cowardly. He died a proper dog, almost completely paralized but still giving me a serious growl in the distance, only distracted by his owner lovingly giving him steak pieces. I appreciated his spirit, that he kept to the last second.

Mushroom ragu rigatoni, with an adequate amount of sauce…

Took it out to wash it at the service station, and then had to go for a little ride to properly dry it up.