Finished reading: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson has a good twist on the humans-colonizing-other-worlds narrative, along with his usual, highly technical descriptions 📚

🇵🇹 Porto trip

The Porto half of our Portugal trip was great fun. We stayed on the west side of Bonfim, relatively close to the historic district and walked (seemingly) all over Porto. The one exception was taking the 500 bus out to the ocean for the afternoon.

Terra-cotta rooftops dominate the foreground with a historic cityscape rising on a hill under a vibrant blue sky with scattered clouds. Three individuals are smiling and standing side by side outdoors in a green, leafy environment. They appear happy and are informally dressed. A river winds through a vibrant cityscape beneath a blue sky scattered with clouds; buildings line its banks, and boats speckle the water. Two people are smiling at a table with beverages, in a sunny outdoor setting. Traditional boats float on calm water, under a large arch bridge, with a clear sky above and a cityscape in the background. Four people are posing for a selfie with a scenic city backdrop under a cloudy sky. They are smiling and wearing casual attire with sunglasses. A smiling man and woman pose closely, with glasses of wine and beer on a table in front, at an outdoor seating area. Sunset clouds glow orange above a hillside town with houses and a river in the distance, framed by dark metal railings and tree leaves.

We also took a day trip out to the Douro Valley for a couple of winery tours and port tastings. Well worth the trip for gorgeous scenery and tasty wine.

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🎧 Perfect albums

On Hemispheric Views 110, Jason asked:

Pick in your mind a perfect album. And I think it’s mostly open to interpretation, but I’m kind of thinking an album that you would say you could just start from beginning, let it run all the way through, without skipping songs, without moving around, just front to back and just sit there and do nothing else and just listen to that whole album.

What would that album be?

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Finished reading: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter is entertaining. Takes a relatively simple premise about parallel worlds and really works through the implications 📚

Auto-generated description: A GPS-tracked map showcases a 109.4 km cycling route completed in 4 hours and 6 minutes with an elevation gain of 605 meters, passing through areas near Vaughan, Newmarket, and close to Rouge National Urban Park.

🚴‍♂️ Nice to get out of the basement for a proper ride outside. First one of the season!

The coffe and pastries halfway through were very helpful.

Finished reading: Jinx by Matt Gemmell is a fun read. I enjoy these characters and the settings Gemmell places them in 📚