Blogs from Sesimbra, Lisbon & Tagus Valley, Portugal, Europe

Time for restaurant review and a little more. Last night, on the advice of our friend Barry, we took a car to Sesimbra, a small town on the coast, to have what our friend Barry said would be one of the best meals anywhere. The drive was about 40 minutes, due south, across the Golden Gate look alike bridge crossing the Tagus River, then into a wooded landscape that looks a little bit like north Florida or Georgia, flat with scrubby pine trees and oaks. As we approached the coast, the land grew hillier and we climbed steeply until we could see the coast and the Atlantic. As we descended to Sesimbra the view was spectacular. There is a marina with a diverse set of large motor yachts, dozens of sailboats from magnificent to modest, and ... read more

9 July 2011 Almoinha Well, I managed to get diving on Thursday. So, everyone join in and sing to the tune of "Sound of Music"...My gills are alive, I finally went diving, yada, yada, yada I arrived at the Anthia Diving Center and started to get my gear sorted out and to try on the semi-dry suit that I would need. I discussed the amount of lead I would need for the suit I was going to use. I chose to use a 12 liter tank as it was the smaller of the choices and proceeded to put everything together. The shop is about 100 meters from the dock where the boat was tied up. So, we loaded our gear onto large wire flats, something like Home Depot has, and headed of to the dock. We ... read more

Okay, Okay... Another few weeks have past and we have been doing lots of different things. Paperwork to legalize our status here in Portugal has been the most pressing but has to be done. Beyond that, we have rented a car and traveled around looking at areas in general and some properties that looked interesting on the net. The landscape is pretty awe inspiring. We looked at a property that overlooked vineyards and wonder if we can afford to build here and still have money in the bank. It would be nice. We also went to Peniche to have a look at the harbor, the town and the surroundings. While nice, I am not sure I would want to live here. Lots of construction and tourists and this was not on a weekend. On a lark, ... read more

23 May 2011 Sesimbra Well. I guess I have delayed writing this for as long as I can justify. It is not like I am really busy or anything. Just getting settled into a new rhythm is taking longer than I thought. I do want to say that travel by cruise ship is much nicer than travel by airline! I will now always try to travel in this manner if the corresponding flight is longer than a few hours and there is a real option. 14 days of being spoiled, no jet lag, good food and entertainment if you want it. And you want to sit in a cramped chair, with some overweight sweating neighbor, eating bad food from a cramped tray, etc, etc, etc? I guess I will have to post a log about the ... read more