Doors of Portugal
To my surprise, one of my favorite things to photograph in Portugal were the doors! They were so colorful, bright, and many had unique doorknobs and handles.
Read MoreTchau Portugal
We are back in the States and enjoying our time in New York. I can not believe we have wrapped up the first five months of our travels. Alex and I enjoyed Portugal immensely and I'm so glad we were able to spend this time traveling around the country. It will be an experience I will not soon forget.
Read MoreCascais
On Tuesday, Alex and I took the train to Cascais, a once sleepy fishing village, 30 minutes outside of Lisbon. Nowadays, it is a popular beach destination with lots of restaurants, museums and a busy marina. Cascais is also the birthplace of James Bond. Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond books while living here and was inspired by the village.
Read MoreMuseu Nacional do Azulejo
Yesterday we visited the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum). Azulejo comes from the Arab word azzelij or al zuleycha, which means "small polished stone" and Portugal is known for its decorative tiles. This is especially true in Lisbon where so many of the buildings are covered in colorful tiles. The museum is housed in a 16th-century convent and the collection has tiles dating back to the Ottoman Empire.
Read MoreLisbon
We arrived in Lisbon on Wednesday and have spent the past few days touring around and seeing the sights. It is much more spread out than Porto and there are SO. MANY. HILLS! Lisbon is built on seven hills which is not only great for your calves (ha!), but also makes from some beautiful views. It is also one of the oldest capital cities in Europe, second to Athens and was first ruled by the Romans, Germans, and Arabs before Portuguese crusaders finally conquered it.
Read MoreBelém
On Sunday, we took the bus to Belém, a district west of Central Lisbon. We started our morning at Pasteis de Belem, a famous pastry shop in the area. They are known for their pastal de natas (one of my favorite Portuguese treats - an egg custard tart) and the shop has been around since the 1830's. Alex and I each got one pastal de nata, a bola de berlim (custard filled donut) and a ham and chess puff pastry. When in doubt, choose everything that looks good right?!?!
Read MoreSintra
Since I started planning for our Portugal trip way back over the summer, there was one place I was very much looking forward to visiting - Sintra. It is a town set in the foothills of the Serra Mountains, a 40-minute train ride from Lisbon. You can find multiple palaces, beautiful wooded forests, and stunning views.
Read MorePorto Bridges Cruise
As Porto boarders the Douro River, there is an opportunity to take a short boat tour to see the six bridges that separate Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The boat cruise starts in the Ribeira quay and makes it way up and down the Douro River. It was a nice way to see the river and the cities from this perspective.
Read MoreVila Nova de Gaia
Across the Douro River from Porto is Vila Nova de Gaia, the traditional home of Port wine. Wine must be produced in the Douro Valley to be considered a Port wine, but many of the major Port producers in Portugal continue to age their wines within the cellars that line this area.
Read MoreAveiro
Yesterday, we rented a car and drove an hour south to the coastal town of Aveiro. It is known as the "Venice of Portugal" thanks to a small network of canals. It was certainly more modern than I expected and we spent the morning touring around the city center and taking a ride on one of the molicieros - a traditional seaweed-harvesting boat now used for sightseeing around the canals.
Read MorePorto
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone is enjoying their turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie! Portugal does not serve whole turkeys here and I have been unable to find a can of pumpkin pie mix to save my life, so while I'm still able to watch the Macy's Day Parade online, Alex and I are going out for Indian food. If I can't have turkey, might as well enjoy a little chicken tiki masala and garlic naan!! #AmIright?!?
Read MorePeneda-Gerês National Park
We have spent the last few days in Peneda-Gerês National Park. It is Portugal's only national park and is known for its oak forests. It is also home to over a 100 granite villages that haven't changed much since the 12th century! I spent a lot of time doing research in this area and had loads of difficulty finding specific hiking trails (something I was hoping Alex and I could do a lot of while here).
Read MoreBraga
We have officially left the Douro Valley and made our way to Portugal's only national park, Parque Nacional da Peneda-Geres, where we will be until Monday. On our way to the park, we made a stop in Braga, one of the country's oldest cities. Braga was built more than 2,000 years ago and is also an important religious center in Portugal. As one website put it: "Braga has churches by the bucket-load". This statement is not far off as there are actually 35 churches in the city!
Read MoreLamego + Quinto do Tedo
On Monday we drove to Lamego, a city which boarders the River Balsemão, a small tributary of the River Douro. The town is set between two hills - one topped by a small castle and the other by the Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. We were scheduled to be at a winery by early afternoon, so we didn't get to spend much time in the town; however, we did wander around the main avenue.
Read MoreDouro Valley
We have spent the last few days in the Douro Valley - Portugal's wine country. The vineyards line the hillsides boarding the Douro River making for some very dramatic landscape and the area was listed as World Heritage Site in 2001. One of its main products, Port Wine, has been made famous around the world.
Read MoreGuimarães
We arrived to the Douro Valley on Friday evening and having been enjoying this region. It is mostly known for the vineyards that line the hillsides and make for very beautiful views. On Sunday, we decided to drive an hour to Guimarães. The city is often referred to as the "birth place of Portugal" when King Afonso Henriques chose this former Roman city to be the administrative capital of the Portuguese kingdom.
Read MoreAzores - Day 4
Thursday was our last full day in the Azores and we lucked out with another mostly sunny morning. We first drove to the Shrine of Senhora da Paz. The shrine sits on a hill above the Vila Franca do Campo village and dates back to the 18th century. It makes for a stricking view as there is a set of steep stairs built into the hill. It is quite a sight to see as there is nothing else nearby this high up!
Read MoreAzores - Day 3
Day number three in the Azores started with driving to Lagoa do Fogo (Lake of Fire). There is a 6.5 mile hike to the lake which is part of a natural reserve. The hike started out mostly uphill for the first mile or so, but after that, it was a pretty easy walk. We also walked next to an aqueduct for a portion of the hike which was interesting. The hike loops around a portion of the lake from the top of the crater. The weather changes here by the minute, but this morning, we lucked out with mostly sunny skies making the lake look almost turquoise in some parts.
Read MoreAzores - Day 2
Our second day in the Azores was spent in the eastern part of the island. We started by driving to Nordeste, the wildest and most remote area in São Miguel. It reminded me of Jurassic Park! It was so lush and green - I kept waiting for a velociraptor to come out of the foliage! We stopped at two viewpoints, Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego and Miradouro da Ponta da Madrugada. The views were so beautiful and the people here keep everything so manicured. There was always a gardener trimming bushes, raking leaves, or sweeping up debris along the roads and at the viewpoints.
Read MoreAzores - Day 1
We flew to São Miguel, the largest of the Portuguese Azores archipelago, on Sunday. From the airplane we noticed the island's terrain is so much different then what we have seen already in Portugal. It is very mountainous and green! Just driving around the island holds so many beautiful sights! Hydrangeas line the roadside and although they are not in season, every now and then, we are rewarded with a pop of blue from the flowers.
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