Not So Serious Yoga and Wine Retreat - Coastal Hike

Woke up this morning to the sounds of the rooster, Mr White, who lives on the property...gotta love country living! Our 8:30am yoga class was held at the top of the hill on an outdoor platform in the woods. Such a calm and peaceful location. 

The sun was not out yet, so it was a bit cool along with some dampness in the air....definitely sweater weather for this class. Our instructor, Amari, was excellent in giving modifications for each move to accommodation the various levels in the class and the hour went by before you know it. What a great way to start your day and work up an appetite for the day.

Following yoga we headed down to have breakfast at 10am. Today’s brunch was homemade chia pudding with apricot which was probably one of the best I’ve eaten. This was paired with scrambled eggs with spinach on sourdough toast, along with freshly squeezed orange juice. A perfect meal to fuel us up for our mid day hike.

At 11am we drove about 15 minutes towards the coast to the town of Porto Covo where we hiked a section of the Fisherman’s trail. 

It was a good hour+ hike taking us along the coast with rugged rocks, a sandy trail, along with a few sections that required a rope to climb up and a few trees we had to duck under. A great hike overall with lovely scenery as usual. 

Our final destination was this beautify white sandy beach with the waves crashing in...so nice to walk along the beach with the wind blowing, the sun partially covered and the fresh ocean air. 

At the end of the beach we stopped at a cafe and had the most gigantic glasses of Aperol Spritz...they were real two fisters. We chatted and relaxed for a while and then headed back to Quinta Camarena to chill for the rest of the afternoon.  

Like any good Canadian, I spent some time at the pool side soaking in a bit too much sun and took some time to catch up on my blog and photos. It was so nice to just be able to sit in the quiet for a bit and take my time writing...nature has the best effect for bringing calmness and relaxation.

Before heading out for dinner at 7pm we had two different kinds of local cheeses, olives, bread, pea pesto and a nice chutney that had just the right level of spiciness to it. Every time food comes out, it doesn’t take long to disappear because it is so delicious and fresh.

Today dinner was off site in the downtown area of Cercal do Alentejo at Klandestinos. The town is not that far from the retreat, so we did the 15 minute walk while taking in some of the sights in town. It’s not a huge tourist destination and there is only a population of about 3,700 people here, so it was pretty quiet and so different from most places I have have been so far in Portugal. A nice change really.

At the restaurant we had pre-ordered our meals. I have been seeing baked octopus at various restaurants and never had the courage to try it, so I took the plunge...it was fantastic and served with Montado, a white wine from the region of Alentejano. For dessert was had cheese cake with passion fruit topping...the lightest cheese cake I have ever eaten and the passion fruit topping added just the right amount of zing.

Following dinner and great conversation, we headed back to the property as the sun was setting. Along the way we took a slight detour to visit the local church in the centre of town. It was very beautiful from the outside painted in blue and white and the lights creating a beautiful ambiance in the clear sky with the moon.

Back at the retreat we shared a few photos before heading in for the night to nurse all our sun burns and get a good night’s sleep in preparation for tomorrow’s activities... visiting a local weaver and ceramist and horseback riding.

Until tomorrow....share in the experience.

Lisa