Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 165

On the western edge of Europe "where the land ends and see begins" there is a place where the air carries scent of nostalgy. A place whose nature remained untouched and time has stopped as if God has just created it. A place which is full of color and where the sun shines all year round. There is a place of friendly and hospitable people, a place of extreme contrast whose diversity is one of its greatest treasures. A place of great travelers and explorers whose spirit is still present in fairy tales- like palaces and enchanted areas... Portugal- a country that needs to be deeply explored to be understood. But you can only get to know it through its past. Portugal lives its own almost forgotten life and although it's been changing recently, the country ... read more

So now having got ourselves here, it all felt a bit underwhelming at first having left Viana da Castello and all that it had to offer. We find ourselves in Leixoes marina close to Porto feeling and sounding quite industrious, the city itself being a bus ride away. It is impossible to be in Porto and not taste the Port wine. We found the most idyllic location to taste their varieties, in the grounds of a stately home looking out over the city, the river Douro and out to sea. Ah, this is the life. That was all after a rather unexpected encounter with a blind man in the park. He was looking for his bus stop and couldn’t find his way out of the park with his stick alone and was looking for help. The ... read more

Second day of riding and the qoutes from the riders as follows Annie Laziest horse ever Sage Im not dead yet Heather Hold on for dear life. Ok in actuallity the girls are riding either 2 or 3 hours per day and they are working hard. It is funny because the horses are very well trained, but as Annie says you have to know which button to push and it is much different than the US. The girls are used to not using really short reins, but here if you donºt the horses assume you do not know what you are doing so you must. On a non horse note there is a gorgeous church, actually around every corner but the one across the street rings the bell on the half hour starting at 7, thus ... read more

I first met Michael when I was in Peru on the conservation project; he is British but lives in a town near Portimao in the Algarve. He met me at the station and took me back to his new house, where he lives with his Mum Elaine. The house is beautiful and has a view of the sea from the balcony. Elaine is lovely, she took us out for Chinese food in the evening, we had a bit of a walk around the town and on the beach, and we met up with Michael’s friend Micha for a drink. Michael has lived there for 11 years and went to an International school. His Mum works as a teacher at the school. Next day Michael and I went to a medieval town called Silves and went inside ... read more

We set sail, ok actually board the plane in dc at 5:05 pm for an overnight that eventually lands in Porto, Portugal. At this point Kathy and I will beg for a rental car that is an automatic. Or maybe even two cars. If that doesn't work we will hitchhike to Hippikos our final destination. Hippikos if you want to peek can be found at hippikos.pt. Why didn't we just book a car online, oh alas we tried for days, every rental car agency known to man and a few not known. In the end we realized that August is a very busy travel month for Portugal and unlike Americans every European can drive a stick so automatics that seat six are few and far between. The girls, Annie, Heather & Sage will have three lessons ... read more