Winter Solstice

The shortest day and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and so if the weather is right the 21st December is a great day for sunrises and sunsets as you don’t need to get up to early or stay out in the cold too late!

10minutes before sunrise
15minutes before sunrise

It wasn’t a great lead up to sunrise this morning but it was still good enough to keep me out on the marina wall for over half hour. And I wasn’t alone as it was low tide and so the ‘cocklers’ were heading in out in their boats into the Ria Formosa. Every few minutes the stillness of the water was broken by ripples from the boats.

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10minutes before sunrise

I am not aware of any solstice festivals here in the Algarve however we will have a few things happening on 6th January for epiphany and if you are in the north of Portugal then you are even more fortunate as they have a few unusual winter festivals approaching before then. Just check out this.

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Moments before sunrise

By the way if you follow my other blog then you may have spotted this is my Portuguese entry for this month’s #timesquare. I had to include at least one here, and what better than an Algarvian winter sunrise!

Sunrise
Sunrise

Author: BeckyB

It had been a good life walking, cooking, photographing, volunteering, blogging, and best of all spending time with MrB, family, & friends. Sadly it is no longer what it was, as suddenly and unexpectedly I became a widow.

33 thoughts

  1. We’ve just arrived in Carvoeiro for a Christmas break and I’m really looking forward to the sunsets, which, I agree, are particularly dramatic at this time of year. We’re hoping to capture a good one at Senhora da Rocha (near Armação de Pêra) on Christmas Eve. Wish me luck!

    1. Forecast suggests cloud for tomorrow evening, so hopefully just the right amount to make a stunning sunset. Have fun in the attempt, and good luck!!

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