A few weeks ago, I told you that I was embarking on a trip! I went on a friend trip to Portugal! Here are some pics.
HERE WE GO!
So these great friends are from my time in Paso Robles. We all worked together at several wineries (Halter Ranch, Austin Hope) so you really get to know one another in the trenches in a service job. We do truly love each other.
They invited me to go and I always feel blessed to be invited…
I’m horrible at taking pics… I never think about it. So here are a few that I took and a few that others took. Descriptions in captions.
We started in Lisbon (Southern Portugal) and made our way up to Porto in more Northern Portugal.
After a 26 hour flight – 3 flights that took 26 hours – I was so exhausted and hungry when I arrived in Lisbon… all I wanted was food. And I got it! I loved this meal so much, probably because I was in such a sorry state. The third pic is me doing a crossword cuz I was wide awake at 4am – jet lag. (The others all arrived at different times from different areas … so we were going to meet at a designated place the next day.)
Of course, technical difficulties with the language and my Uber… I was dropped off here instead of the meeting place… but it was evidently an important area so I took a pic before I called another Uber.
The three girls. Our first day, after getting the rental car. Here we are in Ericiera. A gorgeous beachside town
Most of the beaches are below cliffs – like this one.
It was very beautiful.
We had cocktails at a beachside patio. Was lovely. You can see our 4th person here. We all are ridiculously fun and complicated.
We all agreed that my espresso martini was the best espresso martini any of us had ever had.
One of the 3 stray kitties at our AirBnB. It rained the entire time we were there and the kitties loved being inside!
The next day we went to the Palace in Sintra. LOVED IT. Such gorgeous grounds! And it rained the entire time so there weren’t many tourists and it was quite moody and lovely.
The Palace entrance
Nazare. Knows for the largest surf in the world. Here I’m holding onto Stevie cuz it was so windy!
The surf museum there was awesome!! It is built into the side of a mountain in an old lighthouse.
The town of Nazare.
Our next Airbnb in Porto. Very nice. That backpack is all I had the whole trip – and I still brought too many clothes! I love traveling light!!
We had so much fun. Here Stevie is laughing with Marcy and I’m taking a pic of he and Nicole. You can see me in the mirror
Architecture in Porto
An amazing bookstore in Porto. JK Rowling lived there for 2 years and lore has it that she used this store as her inspiration for Hogworts.
Lots of gentrification going on in Porto
The best ice cream ever.
More of Porto
Douro Valley…
(I was so sick here… I got a cold while there… couldn’t taste anything…). Anyway, these people we met in a tiny tasting room were so much fun!! And we ran into them again at the train station!! What are the odds?!
We took a river cruise on the Douro River
Click image to watch a short video along the river in Porto
I hope you enjoyed that!!
Very interesting. I’m glad you got some photos.
Sintra? Then did you get to see the Portugal School of Equestrian Art? With the Lusitano horses? Next trip you can actually STAY at the School!