Ericeira, a chance reunion

Wake up at sunrise and break camp. With such an early and breathtaking start (epic sunrise and 250m hill climb off the beach), I intend to avoid having to ride at the hottest part of the day, as today is a hilly section.  I get the ferry from Seixal to Lisbon and once again the bike incurs no extra fees. It's a great way to leisurely get into the city centre and reminds me of my time in Australia when the ferry travelled from Manly to Sydney every 20 minutes. 

I had intended to spend a few hours in Lisbon, but seeing all the bussling people and tourists, I fled the city the moment the ferry hit the quay. Getting out of the city had some extra steep climbs but some people shouted "Forza" to me to encourage me to stick it out. My destination is Ericeira where I plan to spend a few days with my ol' pal Al. 

We meet on the beach at fisherman's bay and go directly wining and dining in this gentrified beach town. Later that night Alan's friend Patrick arrives from Dublin and it turns into the first of the lads night out. Alan has most generously offered me accomodation in a four star hotel in the centre of town. What a difference between tonight's accomodation and last night wild camping on the beach!

The hotel has a buffet breakfast which of which I take full advantage. The guys have to work in the afternoon, so I am left alone to play in the waves. The water is still a frigid 16C, so I am the only person on the beach who spends more than a few minutes in the water. It's thrilling for me me have proper waves again. We meet up with another friend Donal and his wife Emily at sunset over some chiccy jugs of sangria. It's Thursday night so the town is not busy and my vegetarian diet is troublesome in this town where everyone comes to enjoy the local seafood. Thankfully we find a great restaurant which has vegetarian options. I compliment our friendly waiter on the spicy oil. His smile gets even bigger and he tells us of how he spent his Corona months finding the right way to have the hottest oil in the district. He tells us that in this region you get major bragging rights if your oil is the hottest. He has named and labelled his oil "to treat bad tempered people". He absolutely insists I take the full bottle home with me. What a generous and genuinely friendly guy.

 We go out drinking again, but not much happening so it's back to the hotel at midnight. 

The routine of great breakfast, visit one of the nearby beaches, have a large dinner, then drink the evening away continues the next day. This time we actually have more to celebrate. It is the bitcoin halving tonight which happens only once every four years. It's such a coincidence that I am with Alan who was also the person who got me enthusiastic about this cryptocurrency. We have drinks at a live music bar and the rest of the crowd is confused when we start counting down at 1:09 and then start celebrating with high fives. As they say in bitcoin circles "number go up" and we all believe that bitcoin has a bright future. Alan and I stay up chatting until 4:30, so it's no wonder he's a bit ragged at breakfast the next morning.