On The Move

Slowly, I have covered a lot of ground in the last three weeks.   Between experiencing and living the travels, as well as planning the next moves and coordinating steps, there hasn’t been time to sit, write or post.  Currently I am writing from my friend Sarah’s oh so charming cottage in central England.  She is known as the Queen of Melaka in our friend circle, an eccentric, global bunch who created community in Melaka, Malaysia 14 years ago.  Being reunited with her is such a delight.

 

Attached are map photos of my snail trail, which started in the Azores Islands of Portugal, then to Lisbon and up the coast of Portugal, continuing North up the West coast of Spain, then most of the way across the North coast of Spain, followed by a 20 hour ferry from Santander, Spain crossing the Bay of Biscay to land in Plymouth, Great Britain.  Upon landing in England, I took a 6 hour bus ride to Birmingham, where Sarah greeted me with honks, silly exclamations, a bottle of champagne and a toss of sweet pea flowers <3. 

 

Surely I could have flown from Spain to the UK, cut out about 30 hours of travel time, however I am trying to move slowly and reduce my carbon footprint, so the fewer flights I take, the better.  And the ferry was part of the adventure!!! 

 

Here is a recap of the timeline and where I have been:

 

Wednesday Aug 13, 9pm flight Azores Airlines to Sao Miguel

Hammock Camping at Ecovillage Quinta Belleza https://quintadavidabeleza.org Aug 14-21st 

 

Thurs Aug 21st.    Flight to Lisbon

Stay Living Lounge Hostel 2 nights. Aug 21st-23rd

 

Saturday August 23rd

Train to Aveiro, Portugal. At VIC Aveiro Arts House. 3 nights. Aug 23rd- 26th

 

Tuesday Aug 26th 

Train to Porto for Afternoon, then onto Braga, Portugal. Alado Guesthouse 1 night

 

Wednesday Aug 27th

Train to Pontevedra (Spain), then bus to Vigo and finally to A Lanzada Spain Stay 3 nights. Aug 27-30th

Mostly exploring O Grove Spain

 

Saturday Aug 30th. 

Got so lucky with a BlaBla Car (peer to peer travel) with David and his family directly to Luarca, cutting out 2 days and 10+ hours of travel time.  Stay Camping Touran 4 nights. Aug 30st- Sept 3rd

 

Wednesday Sept 3rd 

Bus to Llanes, Spain stay at Miraolas. 1 night

 

Thursday Sept 4th

Blabla car with Omar to Santander Spain.  4pm Brittany Ferry 19 hours to Plymouth, UK

 

Friday Sept 5th 

11:15am ferry arrival in Plymouth UK

5 hour train to Birmingham UK. Stay with Sarah 5 nights.  Sept 5th-Sept 10th