Back from our Travels

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We are now back on Tsamaya after having a wonderful 9 days away exploring Lisbon, Porto and Sintra. It was a nice break for us and we enjoyed our explorations. The weather was mixed with some rain,however, it was never to a point to stop us from seeing the various sights. Our hardest tasks now will be sorting through the hundreds of photos and trying to decide which will be the best ones to put up on the blog to give you a flavor of what we experienced. This will take some time therefore just wanted to get a quick note up so you know that we are alive and well and back in Lagos. The hardest thing we experienced was on our return in noting that Sailor was not at the door to greet us and welcome us back. It is getting easier, but activities like this are what reminds us of the good times we had with her. We are already talking about the need to get another cat, but we will need to wait until we get back to the boat after our trip back to the US. We do want to thank all of you that sent your kind words to us about losing Sailor - really appreciate your thoughts.

We know that lots happened back there while we were away – the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, the additional storm that came through later and the election results. We did not have wi-fi at the hotels we were at while gone, but did check in as much as possible at various cafes. We hope that none of you or your families and friends were too negatively impacted by the storms and that everyone is safe.

We have included just a couple of photos in order to give you a “taste” of what is to come once we can get ourselves together enough to sort through the photos. We hopefully can get some blog entries together soon so you can share in seeing what we enjoyed over these 9 days.

Best wishes to you all from us both!

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Photos

First Night in Porto
Our first night out in Porto we walked down to an overview to see the river looking over toward Gaia. Looked like we would have plenty to explore.

A toast to you all!
A toast to you all while we try both two types of port while on our tour.

The River Front
Just a small section along the river in Porto.

Quite the Architecture
The view from the town hall in Porto was quite spectacular with the ornamentation of the buildings. Quite a change from anything we have seen to date.

Pretty Short Place
Bob and a few others “standing” in what was once used as a prison in the famous Belem Tower.

Look Closely at the Top
If you look closely at the top of the Discovery Monument you will see people standing up at the top. This hopefully gives you an idea of the size of the monument built in 1960 in Belem by the Tagus River.

One of the many historic buildings
This impressive theatre located in Lisbon was opened in 1867.

A beautiful place
A view of the Jeronimos Monastery built in the 16th century and located in Belem, a neighborhood in Lisbon.

A Summer Place
How would you like this as a summer home? This is what this Pena National Palace located in Sintra was used for.