Some new things

It has been sometime since I have the chance to write something, mostly because I haven't got the right mood to express some of the past things I've been doing, and because this year of 2013 is not so great as we could expect.

The bad weather that we had here in Portugal, with rain almost all the time, doesn't allow us to have the same adventures that I had last year ( we almost didn't had winter time, so it was great to go out and explore new places).

This year isn't also good due to the economical situation in Portugal, we have to consider everything we do, in order to not have more expenses, once the venues are decreasing from year to year, but the expenses are higher and higher.

Anyway, I still had some chances for going out, and from time to time I have found some great places:

This weekend, on the 30th of March it will be my first event

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC460C8

A aventura no Piódão ... A caminhada

On the 30 day of March, starting at 10 o’clock, we invite you all to join us in a little walking where we can enjoy the nature sights, historical villages, and great views around the surrounding mountains. This walk has around 7km in its total. It will start in Piódão, will go near Foz de Égua, and will return back to Piódão.

It’s an easy, but very beautiful route, which we can enjoy with all the family.

You should not forget you photo camera, once you will have a lot of scenic views to take pictures.

The only way to go on this journey is walking… so you have to bring with you some water, and something to eat during the time we will be on this track. Depending on the speed of the participants we can take from 3 to 4 hours to come back to the starting point.

Classified as a Public Interest since 1978, Piódão received some protection as well. But only from its integration into the project of the historic villages of Portugal, Piódão saw the whole urban safeguarded. That is, under this program all the houses in cement and tile roofs should be converted into shale walls and roofs of slate. The new buildings should follow the same playbook. Only in this way it enhances the architectural richness of the Piódão and its reference as to preserve heritage.

The oldest record on the village of Piódão dates back to 1527, when King D. João II had organized the Register of the Kingdom in order to determine the actual population. In this survey appears then the couple's Piódão, with only two residents. Maybe it was the beginning of this village, but legend has it that Diogo Lopes Pacheco, one of the killers of D. Ines de Castro, after fleeing to Spain, Portugal and back, choose to settle Piódão (fourteenth century), 200 years before the first record above.

However, the legends tell us that Piódão was not always where it is today. According to the stories passed down from generation, the Piódão would be lower, at a place called Piodam Houses, which would be replaced by the current, drier due to insect pests and ants attacked the honey pots.

The village has an outline, typical of a mountain settlement. Sheltered from prevailing winds, the houses climb up the slope. The building materials are those offered by the hills, slate and wood. The walls have two layers, one outdoor and one indoor large stones with smaller stones. The roofs have one or two waters, coming to have four side roofs. The blue painted doors and windows is another of the mysteries still unsolved. Nobody knows for sure why. There are several explanations, but the best known relates to the isolation of the village and the arrival of a can of blue paint. Having no choice, blue has become established and is currently part of the village's architectural Piódão.