We took off this morning and decided we would climb the hill on the other side of Av da Liberdade, up to Campo Mártires da Pátria, forward to Jardim do Torel, and back down to the Avenida, before the final climb to Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara, the staple of our walks.

One thing I can’t stress enough about the city is the constant climbing. It’s a very walkable town, as long as your legs can’t take a thorough beating.

The first part of the route is rather bland, nothing too interesting to see, but when you get to the top there’s a really nice garden. Very wide, with lakes and, amazingly, a ton of ducks and chickens. They walk freely, and sit under the benches where people are reading, or just relaxing. The cafe is still closed due to covid restrictions, but it’s a very pleasant spot nonetheless.

There are a few rather nice palacetes, small palaces in the areas, where I once attended some classes, and Torel, a garden with a nice view, facing the garden on the other hill, the one we go to daily. You can look at it in the distance and realize you’ll be there soon enough, after a few extra steps. A few thousand steps.

Walking slowly and uphill it took us about an hour to get to this place, and we would take another one to get back. There’s no way to stop, tinyMovieStar starts complaining as soon as we pause, so we went downhill and crossed the Avenida at the bottom, then proceeded to the steeeep climb of Calçada da Glória. This one doesn’t get any easier! My legs are getting stronger, but she keeps getting heavier. Bummer.

We couldn’t go straight home, so had to zig zag our way through the neighborhood before the final stretch.

We managed the customary two hours.