Some snaps from holiday time in Porto last week! 

It’s sooo nice to be home. Living in rainy London really makes me appreciate my home city a thousand times more. Oh the irony.

After a sunny Easter weekend at home, it’s back to London’s grey skies, heavy rain and cold temperatures today.

There is nothing quite like home.

Last run in the sun with a sea-front view this morning, before London life begins this weekend!

Beautiful view from the bottom of Avenida dos Aliados, an important landmark and a must-see in Porto! Taken this afternoon when I went for lunch with my Grandad.

The #Porto International Dog Show

My weekend was dog-filled! My Dad’s Veterinary Hospital (Hospital Veterinário do Porto) was the official veterinary support for this big event in Porto. As a big animal lover, I couldn’t miss the chance to accompany him and experience the backstage of the show, and get to see all the beautiful dogs! Here are a few photos from the event this weekend, in particular of the variety of breeds on show. The ‘Best Dog in Show’  was won by a Portuguese Water Dog.

I’m extremely lucky to have my amazing Dad as a vet. I grew up in his clinic and surrounded by animals, always with great love and respect for an animal’s life. I believe this has been a really positive influence in my life, which I also see reflected in the sport I practice since I was 8, horse riding, which is of course, all about you and the horse. 

Same wall, different day. Today I passed by the same street where I saw the man from the post below, on Tuesday, painting. The mark from the large paper that was stuck on the wall where he was painting on, was very visible today. Waiting at the traffic light today was a tiny bit more boring, without his intriguing picture to look at.

Well I’ve never seen this before. This guy and his drawing struck me today. While waiting at a traffic light this afternoon, I saw this man painting on a big white sheet of paper, which was stuck onto a cement wall. He was drawing on the image of Jesus Christ. While his right hand was scribbling, his left arm held a sign saying ‘I’m Hungry’, (Tenho Fome) facing the cars waiting for the traffic light to turn green. After 1min or so of drawing, the man turned round to the cars’ front windows, asking for money.

I must say this is quite a novel way to ask for money in the streets of Porto. It’s a big issue not only in Porto, but the whole of Portugal.  There are lots of beggars and homeless in this city, people helping you park your car by whistling and shouting at you from a distance to a free parking space and after demanding a couple of coins.. But this ‘artistic’ approach I had never seen. I have no idea if the man did actually draw the images, but it sure impressed me and other people looking on. I was the first car in front of the traffic light so unfortunately I didn’t have time to fetch for my purse and give him some change, something I don’t usually do while stopped at traffic lights. But today I felt an urge to do so.

My first visit to a vintage shop in #Porto. I had heard about Rosa Chock before, but I had never visited. In fact it’s the only one in Porto, together with another shop owned by the same lady as Rosa Chock. My friend Mafalda took me there today. It’s located on one of the oldest and traditional commercial streets in Porto: Rua do Almada, smack in the city centre. The shop is quite unique in particular due to it’s interior design, and wacky random objects that lie around. Here are some fotos from the visit today. Rediscovering your homecity tastes like magic. 

View from the main entrance door on the street, up to the shop. 

The entrance to the shop inside the building. 

The opening hours. 

2 for 5 euros.

A Merry Christmas!
Filled with laughter, loudness, amazing Swedish & Portuguese food, and the best thing we have and cherish the most: a crazy and wonderful family!

Porto Mini-Marathon update: We ran the 10km race on Sunday!

Finally an update! Here are some photos of me and my boyfriend before the race, getting ready and being dropped off downtown ready to warm-up and gather with the rest of the participants! Following a light lunch and having not drunk not too many liquids prior to the race, we were ready to experience our first ‘real’ racing event in our city! 

Running this 10km race was a very humbling and rewarding experience. The mind is a very powerful thing, and although we might not think about this everyday, it very much influences how much power and perseverance we put into focusing when exercising. I noticed my motivation and determination to complete the race without stopping was very clearly transmitted to my whole body.

There were 4500 athletes in total present, many of them professional runners. The adrenalin, the competitive rush in the air (one of the things I love most about practicing a sport) and the beginners feeling of being at a ‘real’ race, was unexplainable! The 10 kilometers came along faster than I thought. I started off pretty slowly, as I know my rhythm and body quite well, I can’t push it at the start. This enabled me to speed up a faster pace after the 7km mark, giving a boost to my competitive motivation. However, I had to control this speeding up with slow and deep breaths throughout, as well as keeping my back and chest very straight. I completed the race in 1h2min, quite tired, but with calm breathing, and no pain, just sore legs. The winner completed the 10km race in 28min..can you imagine that?! Absolutely amazing!

This was certainly a personal achievement for me, and one I hope to repete again in a near future. Now I have a personal time to beat, and I know how my body and heart behaves with running for as long as an hour.

I believe in No pain, No gain. No challenge is too hard, it just depends on you wanting it. 

                               The view at the starting point of the race! 

Picked up my runners kit and credentials after lunch, and here it is! A raspberry Powerade, an event t-shirt, Personal number, and a magnetic band to attach to my shoe.  

Now for some rest before leaving to the 10km mini-marathon in a couple hours! 

T-4 days: for 10km Mini-Marathon!

It’s four days until the Porto Mini Marathon I am running on Sunday, which takes place downtown. It starts at 18:00h so we will be running in the dark, which will be interesting for me, as I always train during the day. Training has been tough: I’ve started to try and run longer distances for 1hour max without stopping, and running up+down some slopes as I know the trail on Sunday downtown has lots of steep roads. 

And below are some of the beautiful sea-side views I run beside everyday when at home (photos taken this morning on my iPod), next to Parque da Cidade and Avenida do Brasil. I can’t complain, right? :) 

More updates to come! 

My first Mini-Marathon: Training

For a couple years now I’ve been jogging on a regular basis, and it’s become a sort of healthy and fun addiction. Now that I’m back home for Christmas break, and awaiting for internship replies and interviews, I’ve running again in Parque da Cidade, a park near my house.

My Dad who is also an avid sports man, goes to the gym regularly and goes rowing on weekends, has asked me if I went to participate with him in the 18th Mini-Marathon in Porto, on the 18th od December. It’s 10km long, and 13 days away! When I go jogging I don’t usually run more than 6-7km, so this will be tough! I have accepted his challenge, now all we have to do is sign-up on the website and start tougher training routines.

These are my tired legs and feet after this morning’s jog. I’m super excited about this challenge, I’ve always loved having a sport in my life. Apart from horse riding I never committed myself to any other sport, and now with this firm objective inside my head, I’m determined to accomplish it. I’ll report back with how it’s going! 

A route of the mini-marathon of the 18th December, in my city of Porto is below:

Driving home from a Southern paradise, to the Northern one, yesterday. Home.