Portugal

We recently put another stamp in our passports (metaphorically speaking since we haven’t seen a stamp since arriving in Denmark) when we went to Portugal on our winter break. For the boys it was love at first site, palm trees, ocean, and a guy playing the accordion on the subway with a small dog on his shoulder. This trip was planned with the kids in mind, not that they all aren’t, but this one even more so. 

We went to a town called Cascais, which took maybe an hour to get to from the airport in Lisbon.

The hotel was near the ocean and it had a pool, these being the two things the boys insisted on. Most of our time was spent either in or around the pool, or walking along the oceanfront. We were lucky enough to have our accommodations upgraded and on the days we had sun we saw it nearly all day from our wrap-around balcony on the top floor. The weather was mixed, but one day it was nice enough that we sat on the balcony in shorts and luxuriated in the sun.

The oceanfront was largely rocky with a few beaches here and there, but the rocks were beautiful and the crashing waves were dramatic. The times we could descend to the shore we had fun climbing and were thrilled with the proximity to the powerful waves whose fallout provided us with the occasional shower. 

On sunny days we saw lizards (one bit Gus’s jacket and wouldn’t let go) and even a snake.

Our one ‘tourist’ day we took a bus to a region called Sintra which is built on a large forested hill where we visited the remains of a castle built by Muslim occupants in the 8^th or 9^th century and the Pena National Palace (far more recent- 18oo’s). 

The bus ride was a ride I will always remember, the bus going quite fast down impossibly narrow and winding roads. We stopped off at the western most point in Europe and took some pictures, exchanging cameras with a girl and her mother and taking pictures for each other.

We stayed one night in Lisbon on our way back and enjoyed walking through town where at one point I was separated from the boys and Leanne for a few moments, long enough so that someone asked if I might want to buy some joints. Leanne thought it was funny because I also seem to attract the people selling religion, I had been targeted a few days earlier in Cascais, I guess I must look like I’m looking for something.

That was Portugal, a quick visit and one more country to add to the tally of countries visited. Strange how we can visit so many countries but if we were back home and travelled the same distances we could still be in Canada.