Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 227

Two weekends ago (man, we're behind on this blog!) my parents came to visit us in Portugal - my mom for the second time and my dad for the first. They had been on a hiking trip in Tuscany the previous week (they lead very rough lives) and were able to arrange their flights so they came through Lisbon on the way home. Jason and I rented a car in Coimbra and met my parents at the airport in Lisbon on Saturday. We drove south from the airport to the Algarve and stayed in Lagos again, this time at a resort within walking distance of downtown. We had a two bedroom apartment that looked over the pool and had a huge balcony, where we spent all of the time that we were "home." On Sunday ... read more

LISBON……..END OF PART 2 Tomorrow, I’m off to Berlin after a total of 5 days here in Lisbon…….so I’d better bring everyone up to date. We got here in the middle of a heat wave…….mid 90’s for 2 days. The hotel is a bit out of city center and required about a 10 minute walk downhill (remember, what goes down will have to be traveled up later on!!) walk to the underground Metro or the city bus system. Of course we got here about 2.5 hours before the rooms were ready so down the hill we went to find out how the transport worked. I saw a very nice Kodak moment courtyard…..only to get waved off by a security guard who wanted to see what pictures I took. Seems it was the Spanish ambassadors residence and ... read more

Hello dearies! First and foremost, I would like to say Happy Birthday to Uncle Jim! It’s a bit of a belated wish-and only one through the internet at that, but my flight back home to come wish you a Happy Birthday in person crashed in Antarctica, and I had to trek through solid ice for days living off of those complementary peanut bags that contain all of 5 whole peanuts and a few grains of salt. Nonetheless, I persevered through the blizzards and fended off the polar bears successfully. I eventually came to the Atlantic Ocean, and after a few rounds with some Knar Whales, I was able to lasso twenty of their strongest swimmers together and got them to take me back to Portugal. So, I hope you can forgive my belated wish, but ... read more

After tearing ourselves away from our beautiful campsite, we paid a brief visit to Caldas de Monchique, a nearby small spa town which was also very attractive. Then back to the coast and a short drive east to visit Benagil, a small and supremely picturesque village where our friends Steve and Gill Vere have recently bought a house. A phone call to Gill gave us directions to their place and after climbing over their garden wall we were able to admire the seascape from their roof top barbeque area. The afternoon was spent taking a coastal walk to the east of the village, admiring the many unusual features created by erosion of the limestone cliffs and having a fairly cold swim from one of the beaches. A local restaurant owner allowed us to park the ... read more

LisbonJulie J Vanover I arrived in Lisbon early in the morning fresh from a nights sleep on the train. I arrived at my hostel and had breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast!!! Oh it was so good, by far the best breakfast that I have had. I was preparing to leave for the days adventours when Daniel arrived in the bed next to me. He had just landed from Brazil so we headed off together to explore Lisbon. He's from Brazil, so he speaks Portuguese, super bonus! We first went to Saint Jorge's Castle, which is an old castle on the hill. The castle was cool, but inside there were these ugly white tents with vendors everywhere. We both agreed that this distracted from the coolness of the castle. The had a mirror projection system that ... read more