Portugal
Our first 6 days in Portugal were spent before Morocco with Jesse's mom and her husband Rick and after Morocco we spent 3 more days with my sister and her husband in Lisbon.
We started our stay in Porto Portugal. Needless to say a lot more sunshine than what we had been experiencing in the UK. We welcomed it with open arms and soaked up some Vitamin D.
Portugal reminded me a bit of San Francisco with steep hills that lead you down to the waterfront. There were vibrant colors and lots of tile that lined the outside of the buildings.
Our time was spent watching over the city from the hop on hop off bus. There was a taxi strike during the time we were in both Porto and Lisbon so the hop on hop off bus was the easiest way to get around. The first day we decided to take the bus tour on both routes all over town and of course took breaks here and there for sangria.Which was maybe not the best idea as my bladder is the size of a pea. In fact Jesse and I had to get off 5 miles away from our house so I could use the bathroom and with it being the last bus we had to walk the entire way back. Oops. On our second day we were also able to get a bit of time in at the beach, but the water was too chilly for any of us to jump in
Our apartment kitchen was a bit small so we decided to eat out most of the time. The restaurants and bars were inexpensive, however the food was not our favorite. We had a hard time finding places with quality Portuguese food. One night we had a meal that was deemed " the worst meal ever eaten". We had a laugh about it, but lets just say none of our restaurant reviews were close to 5 stars. One of our favorite Portuguese meals was on our drive from Porto to Lisbon when we stopped in a small town and had the lunch special. Great seafood and only $8 per person!
Jesse and I were able to get in a Port wine tasting at Calem Cellars. We enjoyed the tour, but in general dessert wines are not our favorite since they are quite sweet for us. Tours of Port cellars were very common since there were so many to chose from near the waterfront, but most tours visited 5 or more cellars in one day which would have been a bit much for even us.
After our fourth day we were headed to Lisbon. We had decided to rent a car rather than take the bus or train. It was only about a 4 hour drive but probably wasn't the best option with 4 people, 4 suit cases and 4 back packs. Poor Pam and Rick were squished into the back. At least the drive was fast and easy since all the highways are toll roads the locals don't use them much and they are left empty for a few tourists and truck drivers.
Lisbon had the same layout as Porto, with a major river dividing the city in two and development on the surrounding hilly banks. When we stayed with Rick and Pam before Morocco our Airbnb was in the heart of the old city near the water. Of course we were right above an American bar and heard some of the classics playing throughout the night., and a few college students singing, "Take me home, country roads." We explored the city mainly by tuktuk as the taxi strike was still on going. Our tuktuk tour took us up and down the hills and allowed us to get out to see some of the sights, mainly being churches, parks and monuments.
On one of our last evenings together we spent the night aboard a sunset sailboat cruise, which was the perfect way to wrap a fantastic trip together. Our captain was wonderful and I was even able to drive the sailboat for a few minutes.
Off to Morocco!
Back from Morocco and finished our beach destinations with my sister and her husband in Lisbon for 3 days. Since we had been there a week prior we knew all the spots to hit. We fillllled our bellies with lots of sangria, tapas and seafood. We seemed to have a much better way with food in Lisbon than we had in Porto. For our last days out we decided to spend them relaxing on the beach and strolling around the main square. It felt like we had seen each other just the week before and had a nice time reminiscing with them and sharing stories about what we had been seeing this past year.
We started our stay in Porto Portugal. Needless to say a lot more sunshine than what we had been experiencing in the UK. We welcomed it with open arms and soaked up some Vitamin D.
Portugal reminded me a bit of San Francisco with steep hills that lead you down to the waterfront. There were vibrant colors and lots of tile that lined the outside of the buildings.
Our time was spent watching over the city from the hop on hop off bus. There was a taxi strike during the time we were in both Porto and Lisbon so the hop on hop off bus was the easiest way to get around. The first day we decided to take the bus tour on both routes all over town and of course took breaks here and there for sangria.Which was maybe not the best idea as my bladder is the size of a pea. In fact Jesse and I had to get off 5 miles away from our house so I could use the bathroom and with it being the last bus we had to walk the entire way back. Oops. On our second day we were also able to get a bit of time in at the beach, but the water was too chilly for any of us to jump in
Our apartment kitchen was a bit small so we decided to eat out most of the time. The restaurants and bars were inexpensive, however the food was not our favorite. We had a hard time finding places with quality Portuguese food. One night we had a meal that was deemed " the worst meal ever eaten". We had a laugh about it, but lets just say none of our restaurant reviews were close to 5 stars. One of our favorite Portuguese meals was on our drive from Porto to Lisbon when we stopped in a small town and had the lunch special. Great seafood and only $8 per person!
Jesse and I were able to get in a Port wine tasting at Calem Cellars. We enjoyed the tour, but in general dessert wines are not our favorite since they are quite sweet for us. Tours of Port cellars were very common since there were so many to chose from near the waterfront, but most tours visited 5 or more cellars in one day which would have been a bit much for even us.
After our fourth day we were headed to Lisbon. We had decided to rent a car rather than take the bus or train. It was only about a 4 hour drive but probably wasn't the best option with 4 people, 4 suit cases and 4 back packs. Poor Pam and Rick were squished into the back. At least the drive was fast and easy since all the highways are toll roads the locals don't use them much and they are left empty for a few tourists and truck drivers.
Lisbon had the same layout as Porto, with a major river dividing the city in two and development on the surrounding hilly banks. When we stayed with Rick and Pam before Morocco our Airbnb was in the heart of the old city near the water. Of course we were right above an American bar and heard some of the classics playing throughout the night., and a few college students singing, "Take me home, country roads." We explored the city mainly by tuktuk as the taxi strike was still on going. Our tuktuk tour took us up and down the hills and allowed us to get out to see some of the sights, mainly being churches, parks and monuments.
On one of our last evenings together we spent the night aboard a sunset sailboat cruise, which was the perfect way to wrap a fantastic trip together. Our captain was wonderful and I was even able to drive the sailboat for a few minutes.
Back from Morocco and finished our beach destinations with my sister and her husband in Lisbon for 3 days. Since we had been there a week prior we knew all the spots to hit. We fillllled our bellies with lots of sangria, tapas and seafood. We seemed to have a much better way with food in Lisbon than we had in Porto. For our last days out we decided to spend them relaxing on the beach and strolling around the main square. It felt like we had seen each other just the week before and had a nice time reminiscing with them and sharing stories about what we had been seeing this past year.
Comments
Post a Comment