On Growth and Spoons, Part 2

This post is sort of a continuation of my previous one, and something suggested by my therapist: focus on my mental issues' progress over this last year, and what my problems are.

To that effect, I thought about walking you readers over what a typical wakeup routine is for me, and then talk about it a bit.


Saturday, 7:00 AM. As usual, I'm jolted awake. This time, and unusually, by my watch. Most days, either my internal clock wakes me up at around 6:30 AM, or I get aggressively yanked out of a dream by something happening in it.
The therapist says that "yanking out" is not necessarily caused by dreams, but just from the normal sleep pattern, and my light sleep makes me wake up when transitioning from deeper states.
It might be the case, but it's still unsettling.

Saturday, 7:00AM. I unclench my jaw. Ever since I was made aware that I have the tendency to walk around and sleep while clenching my jaw, it is like a beacon calling out for me, during the day. It's true, and while I've actively been trying to reduce the time clenching during the day. Mixed results, honestly.

Saturday, 7:01AM. I know in advance I won't be able to fall asleep again. The only way that might happen was if I had fallen asleep even later than when I did.

Saturday, 7:01AM. I want to get up. I know my back is going to start bothering soon, so it would be a good idea to avoid that. I can't, though: when I got into bed, after 11:30 PM, my boyfriend was already asleep. I don't want him to fall asleep in an empty bed, and wake up again in the same empty bed. He deserves better.

Saturday, 7:02AM. I pick up my phone. I need to distract myself. My mind wanders enough as it is with something to do, let alone when I'm lying down doing nothing.

Saturday, 7:02AM. I go through my early morning routine on my phone: I check my bank statements; I check one of my two "passive" games (Godville), before taking a look at what happened on Twitter over the last 7 hours. Nothing much. After all, most of the people I follow have either been asleep or have been in bed for a couple of hours.

Saturday, 7:10AM. I switch over to Sudoku. I force myself to play only a couple of games. Sudoku has become an enormous time sink, in my everlasting quest to distract myself from my anxiety-driven thoughts.

Saturday, 7:20AM. I move over to the second "passive" game, Idle Heroes. Like Godville, I check on it two or three times a day, the first one being the longest.

Saturday, 7:25AM. I feel some rustling coming from the other side of the bed. My boyfriend is turning to face me, while still sleeping (or at least still mostly asleep). I take the chance to turn, too, and be the little spoon. I love being the little spoon, it makes me feel safe. It calms me down. It slows my anxiety.

Saturday, 7:25AM. I put my phone down. The way I'm facing, it will be shining on my boyfriend's face, and I don't want to wake him up. He had a rough end of the day, the day before, with a headache stronger than usual piling up on the end of the week's exhaustion. He needs the rest. I settle down a bit.

Saturday, 7:25AM. I unclench my jaw again. Since I lost my distraction, my mind is starting to wander again, towards my several anxiety triggers: my work; my tenants; the bank loan that is waiting for the build permits for our future house; my anxiety; my boyfriend's health; my current need to distract myself as much as I can, which leads me to not pay as much attention to my boyfriend as I should; my utter lack of a decent sex drive; my sister-in-law being a jerk; my brother being obtuse; my dad being alone after my mother passing away; my family collapsing after my mum's death; my health... The list goes on, really.

Saturday, 7:25AM~7:50AM. My mind jumps from trigger to trigger. I know them by heart. I know most of them are just my mind playing tricks on me. Others are just absurd. A couple of them are valid, and of course, my mind blows them out of proportion like it's nobody's business.
During this round of anxiety-driven thoughts, both my boyfriend and I switch positions again, and after a bit of time as the big spoon (it gets very uncomfortable for me really quickly, either my arm goes numb, or it needs to sit in a position that makes it start to hurt after a few minutes), I lay down on my back, and pick up Sudoku again.

Saturday, 7:25AM~7:50AM. I unclench my jaws a couple more times during this period.

Saturday, 7:50AM. My boyfriend turns to me again and puts his arm over my chest. That feels nice. It also helps with my anxiety. No wonder I feel lost when he's not around, I'm missing my tether to sanity.

Saturday, 7:50AM~8:20AM. Boyfriend's hand drifts down. He's awake. We kiss for a bit, we hug. Not sure if he wants more than just a snuggle/cuddle/kiss session or not. He probably wants more, though, it has been way too long since we have done anything more than that.
Unfortunately, I can't. Between the anxiety and my existing issues when it comes to sex, just thinking about having sex kills my mood.
"He deserves better" also automatically pops into my mind at these times.
I love my boyfriend, I do. I love his laugh, seeing him smile or make one of his weird or very graphic jokes lights my eyes.
I try to be there when he's down, God knows just how much he's helped me since we started dating. Sadly, I can't fix his health issues, nor can I fix his exhaustion from the ridiculous commute he has to endure. Which I also worry about, of course, because anxiety does that, and adds in "what if he's like that because he doesn't love you anymore?" to the mix.

Saturday, 8:20AM. We're both wide awake, now. We finish the cuddle session, and finally speak up. I desperately need to pee, so I kiss him again, starting my day proper.

Saturday, 8:20AM. As I stand up from my bed, I unclench my jaw again. Time to get busy and distract myself as best as I can, because every moment my brain is idling, it's ruminating on several of my anxiety triggers.


I have been prescribed SOS pills, for when I'm having bad days. Days when I feel my heart pounding in my ears. Days when idle thoughts make my heart rate spike to 120bpm+ when resting or standing around.
I try to avoid those pills. It's alprazolam, and while they're effective (30 minutes in, and I can feel my heart slowing down), the side effects are horrible. Withdrawal symptoms like jitteriness and heightened anxiety are not fun to begin with, but when impatience and outright rage bursts are added to the mix, it's not fun.

Saturday was not a bad day, though. I didn't need an SOS pill. Saturday was just another day with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD.

GAD as been my companion for a while, and it's the last big item on my mental health issues I've been dealing with over the last 15 years or so, the two other having been Major Depression, and dealing with my mother's death, which was the trigger for my most recent battle with depression, and a catalyst for everything else.

The Depressio Major has, luckily, been dealt with. I still have low points, sure, but not to the point of not caring about anything anymore, or even losing the ability to feel anything other than pressure (no pleasure, no emotional reaction from stuff around me, not even being able to properly parse taste or smells).
That was one major victory, which I need to thank both my therapist and my boyfriend, who were there for me for a long time, since it was dragging me down to very upsetting depths.

Sadly, both DM and GAD were going on at the same time. And with DM gone, GAD has been flaring up, because it stopped having a downer to keep it in place.

GAD has thus been my nemesis, this year, and the cause of an absolute lack of spoons for just about anything, and latching on to anything that A) makes me focus on one single thing, and B) takes my mind away from my laundry list of anxiety triggers.

Which is why Sudoku, YouTube, and most recently Outer Worlds, are time sinks. Because after a day when I've been either obsessively thinking about hundreds of hypothetical issues; or dealing with office politics and new things I need to learn how to do; or pretending to listen to my dad when he calls, because if I actually pay attention it will trigger more anxiety, but not talking to him would just bring up one of the items on the list of worries (that is, him being alone, and semi-frequently making remarks that make me wonder if I won't get a "dad killed himself" after he considers both my brother and I being OK); after such a day, which is basically every single day, my brain can't function properly anymore. I just want to be inside my little bubble, where I can leave everything else outside and just forget time exists. Much to my boyfriend's dismay. He doesn't point it out much, but I know he's suffering from it, and it kills me to know I'm causing him pain and distress.

If you've read the first part of this post, you'll know part of my anxiety is my doing. I chose to get a new job; and invest; and deal with banks; and go through getting building permits. That was on me. And I need to do better, so I only need to deal with what's already in motion, not adding more wood to the fire.

You'll be right pointing out that at least part of my anxiety triggers are self-inflicted. They are, possibly side effects of my low self-esteem. My therapist has rightfully pleaded with me to stop throwing myself into new high-stress situations, and I've been a good boy about that. Nowadays, the only new high-stress situations stem from work, thanks to multiple high-priority items being stacked neatly on top of each other. Not ideal, but at least I'm not also piling up on top of that.

Going forward, and with the return to the therapy sessions, I'll hopefully get a grip on my triggers, and start managing symptoms better.

Looking Back on 2019: On Growth and Spoons

I'm writing this in November. Most of the year is now behind me, so I can start thinking back, about what worked, what didn't, and what I want to do differently going forward.

The biggest word for me this year was, without a doubt, stress. I started the year stressed, I've gone through the year stressed, and unless something changes, I'm not seeing the levels of stress and anxiety go down to acceptable levels any time soon.

January arrived with last year's baggage: iffy work situation, spotty mental health, bumpy economic status.

Work was steady and stable, but not only I felt unfulfilled with it, I also didn't really get along with my boss.

My mental health was doing better since there was progress on that front during 2018, but I was (and am still not) OK.

Money-wise, the ongoing renovation work on a property I purchased in April 2018, which was supposed to start paying itself back around the end of Summer of that year, was still ongoing, thanks to not one, not two, but three(!) crappy contractors, two of who took part of my money and ran away. Luckily, the mortgage is low, but it was still straining me, and "disposable income" is something I had been missing for the better part of three years, at this point, so not fun.

Of course, I'm apparently a masochist, as you'll see shortly, but I digress.

So, with that state of affairs, let me go through what happened during the first third of the year:

• The request I had made late December to move to a new job was accepted by the entity that was to receive me, which basically caused a massive pushback from my old bosses, who were not really amused by my request to leave them (hey, it's not my fault you've failed miserably to hire new people, leaving a ~5-person workload being shared by two employees, one of them - me - being tasked with a workload of roughly 3 people).
• Which caused yelling to happen (by both of my bosses), and one week out from work on medical leave because my anxiety spikes were so high just thinking about work would make my heart start racing. 120+bpm occurrences during the day were frequent, and SOS anxiety medication is still something I carry in my wallet.
• The second crappy contractor, coincidentally part of my boyfriend's extended extended family (not directly related, but an in-law to an in-law), decided they didn't want to be bothered with, you know, actually doing work. Not only did that set back the already late construction a few more months, because finding an even remotely decent contractor is more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack, but it also contributed to my ever-dwindling stack of spoons.
• Just before I got the news I might be moving jobs, I bumped into my real estate agent while doing some errands. She told me about a REALLY cheap (for the size and location) plot of land. Basically ready to build. Yeah, I told you I'm a masochist. My boyfriend and I have been trying to find a detached house to buy or build for two years. Previous attempts always fell short, and we had kind of put the thought aside, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
• So, queue dipping into the ever-dwindling savings, get the run-around from banks and their constantly-moving goalposts and start the process of actually building a house.

In summary, for the first third of the year: job switch, crappy contractor, new investment, banks being banks, headaches galore.

My therapist had her work cut out for her, though for the most part she was able to keep me sane(ish), despite my horrible habit of overreacting, and me actually having gone out of my way to procure an added source of stress (the plot of land). She understands why I did it (for the second time, buying the property being renovated was a similar occurrence), but she urged me to stop doing that kind of things, since while it does make me feel something (after having been depressed for a long time, stress is one of the few things that kicks me into gear, and makes me feel alive), the amount of anxiety I've been under is not healthy.

I agree with her wholeheartedly.

Things were better during the second third of the year, the end of August was the best time for me this year (and probably the better part of the last decade, to be honest). There were still rough spots, however, some of them still lingering in the background to this day:

• May started with (quite literally) ups and downs: my job transfer having been approved, I started at the new place on the 2nd. Which is fine, but on the 6th I had a workplace accident (rather nasty sprain that keeps on being annoying), which had me walking with a cane for about a month, and in and out of doctors for two. Not fun.
• Having gone through yet another contractor (seriously, what is wrong with them?), and needing to ask my dad and boyfriend for help, I finally managed to finish up the renovation. Thanks to my real estate agent and the crazy housing market where I'm at, I had it rented out by the end of August. Finally.
• My commute was slashed by 75%, or by over 90% when I bike rather than walk.
• The extra time has allowed me to keep up with house chores, like dusting and washing clothes, which were getting either neglected or done haphazardly, most of the time. Still a bunch of stuff to do, though, to get back on track.
• Plans for the new house have been filed with the City Hall. Banks are on stand-by until we get the final approval, though. Takes forever to get anything approved, though, so that's a slow-burning issue bugging me on the background.

Which brings us to the last third of the year.

September started with a bang. I was doing so well mentally, I decided (not 100% sure it was a good idea, but oh well) to add to my workload, by launching this blog.

Things have stabilized at work, too. I've gotten into the rhythm, and though I'm still getting big doses of Impostor Syndrome, because just about every day I get stuff I had never done before, it's still way more rewarding than the previous job, and much less monotonous.

On the economic front, at long last, my investments have started paying off. I pretty much doubled my income, so my savings are actually a thing that exists, and I've been actually able to start putting aside some money for disposable purchases.

And yet, for some reason, I've been steadily declining mentally. Sadly, my therapist went on maternity leave in August, so I've been lacking that guidance. I'm still holding on as best as I can, but I do feel like I need to go back, because I can feel myself starting to spiral again.

At the same time, as things calm down, that stress gets replaced by the "meh" feeling that permeates my life when I'm not in a "fight or flight" status. If you're a Simpsons fan, you probably remember Bart and Lisa's apathy when Homer tries to get them excited to do something (I believe it was going to a water park).

I know I'm objectively well-off, right now. I have a steady job (as soon as my previous workplace OKs my permanent transfer, that is, otherwise I'll need to go back sometime in 2021). I have money in my bank account. I have some savings (and with great potential for increasing them, at least until construction on the new house begins). I have investments that pay themselves, with plenty to spare. I have a place I can call home. And last, but not least, I have a boyfriend that loves me.

And yet, on one hand, I feel a huge nothingness engulfing me. And on the other one, an ever-increasing amount of anxiety about me, my body, my being, that keeps taking away the few spoons (Wikipedia) I'm able to collect to pay back the colossal spoon deficit I've been running on for at least 15 years.

And so I end my days tired, mentally exhausted, trying to find a way to just be, to just shut up my brain for a few minutes, so I don't worry about the million things that constantly run through my mind.

Hopefully, it will get better. Hopefully, I'll manage to get semi well-adjusted, and the boyfriend my boyfriend deserves.

Random Thoughts - On Procrastination, and (Maybe) Curbing it

I'm lazy. I have no qualms saying it, because I know it's true. I don't want to even try to hide the fact that I am lazy. I would fail spectacularly and spend way too much energy on it. My procrastination would not allow it.

According to my parents, it was not always like this. They've said, many times over the years, that when I was a wee lad, I'd be the first to get up in the morning. By the time they got up, I'd be ready to go to school, my bed was made, and the breakfast table would be set. Helas, sometime, somehow, somewhere, that energy got lost in a long-forgotten crack.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still the first to get up. My internal clock consistently wakes me up about 15 minutes before the actual alarm. And back when I still ate breakfast, I'd set the table for it, and get everything ready. I'm much slower than I was in my teens and pre-teens, though. And there are things I can't be bothered with, like making my bed. Or ironing my shirts (or most, if not all, clothing, to be honest... If you hang it, most will be OK with being folded and put away).

Or a laundry list of tasks I have pending, that right now include, but are not limited to: replacing a power socket; translating my old articles; write new articles (I have a few ideas in my head, but, much as this article, they'll be spinning around for at least a few days, before I either drop them, or start writing them); upgrade my home server; set up Home Assistant; and a bunch more, ranging from quick and easy to not-so-easy and lengthy.

Oddly enough, I'm seldom, if ever, lazy at work. Though to be fair, I do my best and can spend rather large amounts of time finding ways to optimize my workflow. So I can "return to idle" as soon as possible. I don't like clutter on my desk (yet another item on my to-do list at home, decluttering). Having a bunch of different things to work on triggers my anxiety, so "inbox zero" is something I strive for. Which, luckily, has the added benefit of being quick to get things done, pleasing both my bosses and my brain.

The major cause of my procrastination these days is my anxiety. Up until a couple of years ago, depression also contributed, since fatigue is one of its side effects. Before, I felt too tired to do anything. Today, I become overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have to do, and thus shut down, so I don't have to think about it. Never mind that if I don't do those things now, they'll still be there later, plus whatever else that gets piled up on top of it. I'll shut down and look at random videos on YouTube, or get lost playing Sudoku on my phone.

But I have been starting to feel like I've been able to, at a slow pace, start curbing some of my laziness. It's something that's still very much a work in progress. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep at it, so I can integrate the new practices as habits, which are easier to maintain. Fingers crossed that I won't get another bout of the "butidontwannas" anytime soon.

As with my diet, curbing my procrastination is something years in the making. I've only been able to manage my weight by changing things bit by bit, and over a rather long period. My current diet started 9 months ago. The only reason I was able to stick to it was because it was not very different than the way I had been eating since 2016. Which had already been allowing me to slowly lose weight by making tiny switches here and there.

Curbing procrastination started with a request my therapist made about three years ago. That request was for me to include as much walking outside as I could in my daily life. As I commute to work, it was simple to walk the first and last chunks of my commute. So I added a total of about 30 minutes a day outside walking. That also had the side effect of improving my dreadful physical condition: no exercise and 12+ hours a day sitting down for several years. My 20-something self could brush that off, but my 30-something self cannot. It also helped with weight loss and contributed to my mental well-being.

For about a year, now, and also at the request of my therapist, I have tried to find some kind of sport activity to complement the daily walks. Most of my attempts on that front have been unsuccessful. My house is too small for a home gym. I still have some equipment, from the last time I tried to get in shape, sometime in the early 2010s, but I realized the gym brings me no joy whatsoever. Pumping iron is not for me, and being stuck inside looking at walls makes my mind wander to places it shouldn't. Plus, yoga classes are either too late in the workdays, or way too early on weekends, so those were a no-go, too.

Which led me to buy a bike, a couple of months ago. A foldable, electrically-assisted, bike (it's a Nilox X1, for those wondering). I had been thinking about getting one for a while, but money was tight, so it was not exactly easy. Luckily, I was able to get a discount on it. And I was also able to take advantage of a state-offered rebate for new electric vehicles. So, a roughly €500 investment ended up as a €150 one. Dor a basic electric bike I can take home with me and can store without losing too much floor space.

You'd think switching from a roughly 20-minute commute on foot (I no longer need to take public transit, since I moved jobs) to a 5-minute-on-the-dot commute by bike is probably not a great idea when it comes to procrastination, since it allows me even more downtime to waste watching cat videos and the like, but oddly enough the result has been very different.

On one side, it has allowed me (by necessity, but whatever works, right?) to bike to places I never even thought I'd be able to go, with an approximate 20Km roundtrip. This is actually the expected range of my bike, though I turn the electric motor off when I'm coasting downhill, or on flat areas. So, I never had to deal with an empty battery on a 20Kg single-speed bike.

And, on the other side, it has allowed me to build up my confidence, both while biking and on other areas of my life. Biking is still rather scary for me. I don't have a metal shell around me for protection, as I do in a car. So, getting comfortable while in traffic is a work in progress. But little by little, I've been able to be more confident about what I'm doing while biking. As well as asserting my space in traffic, and that has also spilled over to my personal life.

The result is that, for the last week or so, I've been both less reluctant to go places by bike, but also actively chose to bike somewhere, just because I could, and it would not be too difficult. So, a couple of days ago I decided to go about 20 minutes out of my way to a store, to check up a promotion. Which is not typical of me. And yesterday I ended up biking for almost 40 minutes to take care of an errand I could resolve online. Which is completely unheard of for me, and that probably explains why my knees hate me, lately.

Other changes I've made over the last couple of years include getting a fitness tracker (a Xiaomi Mi Band 3) and using a to-do app.
The app I ended up choosing was Todoist. The free version has everything I use daily. This includes a nifty "karma" functionality that informs you of how many tasks you've completed, and how many days in a row you hit your defined minimum number of tasks. Two tiny little extras that keep me engaged with the app enough to include it in my daily routine.
And, as with everything else, I started small, with one or two tasks a day. Simple things that keep me busy for a few minutes at a time, but moving along on what I should (and need) to be doing anyway.

I'm still lazy. I doubt I'll ever NOT be lazy, even after all the changes I've done to my life, and those I'm sure I'll end up doing. Because it's better (and easier) for me in the long run. Which is to say my procrastination is, and most likely will always be, a part of me.

That said, that doesn't mean it's impossible to do something about that particular trait, and curbing it.

Ephemerals - Douro Historical Train

This first "proper" post will be one of my old article translations. The reason being that this particular activity can still be enjoyed until October 26th, and the weather right in Portugal is still nice to enjoy this activity.

Today, then, we'll talk about the tucked away pearl that is the Douro Historical Train.

And I say "tucked away" because the publicity and marketing materials for this experience are difficult to find outside CP's (Combóios de Portugal, Portugal's main train operator) website, with an almost mute expression in leaflets at sales points.
These days, the site (www.cp.pt) is better, currently with a direct link to another similar experience, but otherwise, you'd be hard-pressed to even know such an experience existed.
For those interested, you want to press the hardly intuitive "How to travel" link, which then reveals the existence of the weekend activities.

But let's cut to the chase, and move on to the story I have to tell you.

August 5th, 2017. Early. A bit too early, actually, considering I was on vacation, and that, regardless of how early I usually get up, and of how early I get up, be it vacation time or not, getting up before dawn is not really my style. "I hope it's worth it", I thought, still groggy.
Spoiler alert: it was worth it.
The reason for me having to get up that early had to do with the fact that the Douro Historical Train trip starts at 3:22PM at Régua railway station, but I was leaving from Almada, where I live (over 300Km away), and I didn't want to spend hours on end stuck in a car (or, worse, in a bus). Moreover, with the ticket pack prices that CP has for this activity, it wouldn't be cost-effective to travel any other way than by train: the individual ticket costs €42,50 (for an adult, children 4 through 12 pay €19), and return trip ticket packs range from €47,50 to €77,50 per person, depending on your origin point.
A tip for anyone, like my better half and I, that starts their trip just South of the Tejo River: save €10 per person, and take public transit to any train station in Lisbon. Your ticket (for the Alfa or Intercidades train that will take you to Porto) includes free travel on any CP urban train to and from Santa Apolónia or Oriente stations, for the hour before and after your train's departure/arrival time.
In my case, we drove to Entrecampos station. Just after 8:00AM, the Alfa train heading to Porto - Campanhã departed from Oriente. We could have theoretically departed later, and still make it on time, but even my great-grandmother left for the train station with several hours to spare. Apparently, I inherited that gene, and I too arrive way too early.

The trip went well and with no surprises, the usual Alfa experience for me, and we arrived at Porto with more than enough time to experience the local cuisine, that I had not tasted for a long time. I'd be lying if I told you I ate a "Francesinha" (typical Porto dish). The will was there, for sure, but with the heat outside, it would have been too heavy of a dish. I chose something slightly lighter, in a quaint restaurant in Rua da Estação. Well served (as is typical in Northern Portugal), savory, and cheap, it's one of the few things that I miss from the time I lived in the North.

Besides the extra comfort of not having to drive (or being canned like a sardine in a bus), one of the other perks of his activity is, without a doubt, the fact that, in a single day, you experience virtually all historical highlights of the Portuguese Railways, when it comes to the type of trains used: Alfa Pendular/Intercidades/Suburban to Porto, Diesel to Régua (the Douro line is still being electrified, the electrified track ending at Marco de Canaveses), and Historical to Tua.
As I said, it's without a doubt an excellent opportunity to experience first hand the evolution of the train in our country. The only downside here is that the Porto-Régua-Porto connection necessarily has to be done in a Diesel train, instead of being, like the Historical Train, only a part of the experience. It's regrettable that, in 2017 (note: there has been no progress in 2019, though the track has been widened up to Marco de Canaveses), this region's passengers (as well as from other regions) are subjected to slower, less comfortable, trips, stemming from lack of investment in railroad infrastructure.

And it was in this context that, by 1:15PM, we departed Campanhã station, heading to Régua. Honestly, the trip scenery alone is worth, as an old teacher of mine would have said, getting up at an unconstitutional time. Here's one of the pictures I took, which is worth much more than anything I could have written.

But the best was still to come.
The Régua Historical Train departure is an event in and of itself. Long before the departure, the locomotive and the five train carriages are prepared, and the passengers take that chance to visit and photograph them, to the sound of the traditional folk music band that will accompany us for the duration of the trip. Yes, musical accompaniment is included in the "pampering", which I will refer to later, you get during the Historical Train trip.
Starting at the train platform, the band will take their places inside one of the carriages, minutes before departure. They'll resume their entertainment shortly after Régua is behind us, pepping up each carriage individually several times during the trip.

The ambiance is informal, almost familial. Despite being among strangers (despite the lack of publicity, the train was almost full), the experience looked more like a big family meeting than a sporting, musical, or similar, event. I imagine that it might have something to do with the proximity with which all passengers were treated, being offered a bottle of water (very appreciated, to be fair, because of the scorching heat outside) and a taste of Porto Wine, even before the first stop, at Pinhão, to load water. Or with the improvised picnic that one family decided to start during the trip.

As expected, there are assigned seats, even in the Historical Train. But staying seated (in wooden seats with enviable comfort and ergonomics for their age, by the way) is a waste. There is plenty to see, both in and out of the train.
Starting on the inside, visiting the 1st Class (or the 2nd Class, if you're traveling in 1st Class) carriages is the most obvious option, and possible because there are no obstacles to moving between carriages. Actually, the platforms connecting the carriages are very popular spots, since they offer those who are there some of the best and most unburdened views possible during the trip.
And what views they are! From the Douro river very few meters away, close enough it feels like you could touch the water, to the vineyards of the several Porto Wine wineries, to the small houses, hidden away from the city hustle and bustle in the middle of the landscape, to the several recreational and tourism boats that use the watercourse, frequently surprised either by the mere sight of the Historical Train or by the driver-initiated honks, the whole ride is a treat for your eyes, and an unforgettable experience.

Arriving at Tua, we're presented with more music, and also with a small exhibit at the station, accompanied by the sale of regional products and memorabilia. And this is probably the most negative point of the whole trip: Tua station is, quite frankly, too small to accommodate that many people at the same time. Still, it doesn't change the visit's final tally.
It's at Tua that those interested can watch, not only another water loading, but also the locomotive rotation, and the carriage coupling and decoupling operations, getting the train ready to make the return trip.

With the Sun slightly lower in the horizon, the return trip to Régua brings along even more gorgeous landscapes, which unfold slowly, at less than 50Km/h, with a calm and serenity uncommon this day and age.
The arrival at Porto happens after 8PM, having left Régua just before 7PM on the train that pulled into the station just after the Historical Train.

It might seem like otherwise, but between the early rise, the sun, the heat, and the hours spent in the several trains, the day is tiring (but very worth it!), which is why a stay in Porto was the ideal, to allow the batteries to be recharged, as well as a quick visit to the city, on Sunday.
For this, we took advantage of a partnership between CP and Moov Hotel Porto Norte, one of the several hotel establishments that offer a 10% discount to travelers on the Historical Train.

This Ephemerals "main course" was, hands down, the trip on the Historical Train. But with a return trip to Lisbon scheduled, by choice, for 7PM, on Sunday we could also visit a bit of the city of Porto, including the Ribeira Pier, the D. Luís bridge, and the Morro garden, before heading back to São Bento and Campanhã stations, to catch the Alfa heading to Lisboa.

The Douro Historical Train runs on Saturdays, from June 1st to October 26th, as well as on August 15th. For additional information, you can visit the site https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/how-to-travel/For-leisure/Nature-and-Culture/douro-historical-train.
Highly recommended for anyone that loves trains or amazing landscapes, as well as anyone that wants to slow down a bit, in a radically different way than usual, in a unique and unforgettable experience.

This article was originally published, in Portuguese, in the November 2017 edition of the Inurban Magazine, which you can read here.

Photos by Adriano Maia and Paulo Costa

Hi, and welcome

So, this is it. I finally pressed the "create" button for a new blog.

I had been considering it for a while, now, and really thinking about it for over a month.

Not sure how this is going to go, or if I'm even going to be able to post consistently. But right now I'm in a decent enough headspace that allows me to carve out this little corner of the Internet for myself.

First of all, I should tell you all a bit about myself. I'm a thirty-something guy from Portugal with a Law background, and a huge geek and nerd. IT is my hobby and passion, currently centered around automating my home. English is my second language, so please excuse any shortcomings on that front (and feel free to point out corrections, I appreciate them).

As for what you can expect from this blog, well, a bit of everything. From cool stuff I achieve in my quest to automate my home. To interesting things I find. To ups and downs of owning an EV. To general rants about stuff that grinds my gears or life in general. To the occasional travel blog. I'll also be translating the articles I wrote to a Portuguese magazine a while ago.

Well, that's all for now. Hope you enjoy your time here.

Let me know in the comments something you'd like me to talk about, or any questions you have for me.