In the old days, no two ways about it, we would go to Sines, and attend that year’s FMM edition. Period. It was the coolest music festival around. We didn’t even care about that year’s lineup, we just felt we had to be there. There was no point in knowing the names, in the end. We didn’t know most of them anyway, not before watching the shows. No big bands, just people who are stars for a smaller crowd. People from all over the world, singing and playing all sorts of instruments and musical genres. All of this taking place inside a castle, with mint all over the floor. The smell of weed mixing with it in the air, as people stepped on the leaves. It was really nice. Lots of families too.

Muddy at Sines, for the FMM Music Festival

Now ? Not so much. Maybe the music is still good (it is), but I just don’t have fun as I used to. I get a feeling that the bands are not as cool, but I might be very wrong, as it often happens. And weed, although still very much a presence, is being challenged by wine, and no good can come of that. The people attending are different. Or maybe it’s just me.

Also, less families. Oh! And no mint.

The yearly pilgramage is still on, but now for different reasons. It’s an excelent excuse to get out of town and spend a couple of days on the Alentejo coast, the nicest we have in the country, as far as I’m concerned. Maybe we’ll watch the concerts later, but that’s not the point anymore. Maybe we’ll just have dinner on some restaurant by the coast, further down, and be back late or even tired from a whole day roaming the coast. The music is not that important anymore.

We took off, and this is a bit of what we’ve seen. Not a lot of music, but a load of other cool stuff.

Alentejo coast, best in the country

With me on this trip, my trusty bookBox, a Kindle Paperwhite. It was the best purchase of the year so far, and the only gadget that doesn’t need a cable or anything, the damn battery last for days. Just load it with books, and charge it before leaving. That’s it.

On it a load of books, and the mandatory summer read. This year the honor has fallen on Mr. Peter Moore, author of Vroom With A View and Vroom By The Sea. After getting through the first one, I got the second one and took it with me on the trip. It felt perfect. The coastline reminded me of his adventures on the Italian coast, and we had the misfortune of having both our cars on the shop, and as such the whole trip was made on dad’s micro-jeep on loan. It tops at 80 Km/h, so it was as fast as a Vespa. Magical ? Maybe too strong, but it surely was interesting.