Lisbon: Rua Taipas
Lisbon is built on top of seven hills, so there’s a lot of up and down in the city (and in the whole country, really). As a result, there are a few elevators in steep, high-traffic areas; one is an...
View ArticleSintra: Sintra National Palace
When we went to Portugal last month, we didn’t spend much time planning our itinerary. This is contrary to my normal way of vacationing, where I have everything figured out ahead of time (e.g. on our...
View ArticleSintra: Castle of the Moors
After we visited Sintra National Palace, the next stop on our list was the Castle of the Moors. Built in the 8th or 9th century, the castle now only consists of ruins, though there are efforts to...
View ArticleSintra: Pena National Palace
During our day in Sintra, once we had visited Sintra National Palace and the Castle of the Moors, our next stop was Pena National Palace, located just up the hill from the castle. Note that when I say...
View ArticleBraga: City Center
During our week in the north of Portugal, we got a pretty good feel for Porto, and so once we saw most of what we were interested in there, I suggested we take a day trip to another city on our last...
View ArticleBraga: City of Churches
“Porto works, Braga prays, Coimbra studies, and Lisbon gets the money.” …so goes the saying in Portugal about these major cities… and first impressions tell me that these generalizations are correct. A...
View ArticleLagos: Relaxing in the Algarve
After spending a couple weeks exploring the big cities of Lisbon and Porto, we wanted to have a relaxing few days on the coast, so we made our way down to Lagos, a tiny little town in the Algarve...
View Article2014 Favorite Travel Memories
For us, 2014 was a year of (mostly) slower travel. We planned less than before, we were more flexible with what we saw (and not disappointed that we didn’t see everything), we spent more time walking,...
View ArticleLisbon: Azulejos I
It hasn’t even been a year since we were in Portugal, but already I’m missing the country fiercely. The warm weather, the friendly people, the gorgeous landscapes, and the beautiful azulejos. Azulejos...
View ArticlePorto: Torre dos Clérigos
Whenever I’m traveling someplace new, walking around and getting lost is always prioritized over seeing the “tourist sites.” Of course, it’s nice to visit the “must-see” spots in a city, but if given...
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