Cutting room floor

I try to keep the blog current and descriptive but like all journalistic endeavours it suffers from a certain amount of editing. Not least from Lynne who will declare "your not blogging that", when I happen to catch her in a less than flattering pose or maybe with ice cream over most of her face,

So just for interest here are some bits that didn't make it into the mainstream blog.

First up, a local from AVELA, hard aground in the Rio, this photo could have been taken in our home river of the Ribble. The unfortunate yachtsman would have been a contender for the "Sandbanks Trophy". He was stuck for over an hour as the flood tide held him fast in the shallow bank, look closely and you can see the tide flowing past him.
Other times its just the strangeness, The video below correctly should have been shot in France home of the existentialists and the surrealists, however I have just remembered Salvador Dali was Spanish. However it doesn't adequately explain, an accordion, a dog in drag and a chicken in Portugal ( this was a Sunday market in Aveiro. )

 A prize for most elaborate footbridge ever goes to this fine example in Aveiro

Eight separate looping structures, and four spiral staircases, just fabulous. Turns a simple bridge into a good walk.



Extreme fishing in Portugal.

Nothing so unusual about a couple of guys fishing until you realise they are on top of a 300 foot cliff.
Big reels needed! Navare.



Almost inevitable that you come across some strange boats, the cruising community has its fair share of eccentrics but this is a beauty. “A” frame mast, twin booms, twin rudders, I am guessing steel turtle deck. A close inspection will reveal much else in the prototype category. Always interesting to see some of these ideas, we dont often see them at sea however.



A statue to the Transcendentalist spiritual leader and Peace Run founder Sri Chinmoy on the beach where the Mondego river meets the Atlantic ocean.  Figueira Da Foz has a rich history with the Peace Run and World Harmony Run organization and projects . He also worked with the U.N. for 37 years. Apparently if you hold his flaming torch (as used on the peace runs)  it will contribute to world peace. Has to be worth a punt eh?



Near Aviero they have perfected the concept of the shed, here is a perfect example. “Rural retreat, all mod cons, fully tiled. Outdoor bar-b-que.”



Aviero was also the place we discovered things you dont expect to be knitted.



Sometimes art is just beyond me, a theme that was ever present in Aviero was the heads on feet sculpture, lots of them, all different both in detail and material. What are they all about? No idea......



Someone must know, in actual fact they do grow on you....

Another from Figuera de Foz, possibly the worlds biggest sun clock, or sun dial. The sail is the gnomon. it tells time, and I believe the house of the zodiac we are in, however I cant confirm that.
But for me it beats the council spending money on smaller bins though.......