Portugal

Berlengas

The Berlengas islands are a nature preserve on the Atlanic coast in central Portugal. They are half an hour west of Peniche by boat. You can stay on Berlenga Grande inside the fort, at a small B&B with 5 rooms, or on primitive campsites. I believe that is the only island open to the public.Continue reading “Berlengas”

Sintra at Christmas

We spent a few days in Sintra to wrap up this year’s Christmas ventures. Sintra is about 25km (15 miles) west of Lisbon. It became a retreat for royal families in the 19th century. As one of our Uber drivers put it, it is “Lisbon’s air conditioning.” (Because it is closer to the sea, andContinue reading “Sintra at Christmas”

Agueda: Umbrellas and a Giant

We made a side trip to Agueda on our way home from Porto. We’d heard the largest Santa Claus was in the city. We found a train museum and park along the way. The train museum was small but had some old engines and cars. I’m pretty sure we were the only visitors that day.Continue reading “Agueda: Umbrellas and a Giant”

X-rays, Lights, and a Futbol Match

Villa has to have x-rays done on her leg at 30 and 60 days after the surgery to check that it’s healing correctly. We decided to stay in Porto a couple of nights to see a Porto match and more of the city at Christmas. Her x-rays look good, but she has developed a clickContinue reading “X-rays, Lights, and a Futbol Match”

First Visitor, Part 2

We spent our third dayventure exploring some trails and sights along the way to Quaiois Beach. Ben had earmarked a few places for us to check out on the drive over to Quaiois. There were some nice overlooks to the ocean, over to Quaiois, and back to Buarcos/Figueira. We first drove to the Miradouro doContinue reading “First Visitor, Part 2”

Our First Visitor, Part 1

My sister-in-law Amy came to visit for about a week. She’d already had plans to meet Emma (my niece) in London, so she tacked on a trip to Portugal when she heard we’d settled on a place. Emma had been studying in Germany for a semester. Her visa had expired, so she couldn’t join AmyContinue reading “Our First Visitor, Part 1”

We visited Portugal for 2 weeks at the end of 2023. I’m lumping the trip into one or two posts since we’re seeing so many places. I’ll update a few times throughout the trip. We flew into Lisbon and headed north. First stop, Braga, just north of Porto. It’s a city of much religious heritage,Continue reading “Portugal”