Tag Archives: Lisbon

Another Day, A New City

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Waking this morning, we first packed up (well, okay, truth be told I showered prior to that (I’m assuming the people we would sit near on the train might appreciate that), and then we went for a quick bite on a main street just one block away from our hotel. Then it was back to the hotel to collect our stuff after a check of the room to be sure we left nothing behind besides Dan’s torn pants (someone could, if they were up for it, turn them into a great pair of shorts!). We took an Uber to the train station which took a while: it might have even been faster (but more painful with our luggage) to walk!

When we got on the train and were putting our backpacks up above us the four people in our same row asked if that was all we traveled with. They seemed rather astounded so we chatted about how we pack. The conversation continued in other directions as well, and we learned the couple closest to us were from Napa. Small world, as always. We were still chatting when a woman behind and to my right gave me (well, all of us, I suppose, but I was the one who turned around) a lecture on our being too loud. Having heard that we Americans are just too doggone loud, I was horrified and embarrassed. Later Dan said he really felt the lecture was unnecessary and she could have just shushed us. The truth is we were too loud, but the train hadn’t left yet and I’m fairly sure the conversation would have ended at that point. But me being me I felt just horrible for the whole ride, as I tend to see things as my fault. Sigh.

Otherwise the ride was uneventful (and yes, the conversation completely shut down), and we arrived at our next destination only about 20 minutes late. (Not all trains are timely!) So hello, Coimbra.

Our hotel is basic (and I forgot to take a photo which I so often do. Oh well. I’ll shoot one now that is really a nothing photo.

It says it’s a 3 star but it feels a bit like a 2. And who cares? We sleep here. That is about it. We are only here for two nights, so it’s a very brief stay. Outside is a bit grungy, but we are only a few blocks from the old town, and then a good climb up to the Coimbra University. There is a rooftop view, so we checked that out before heading up the very steep hill.

Once we got settled we went out and aimed toward that university. I love the narrow walkways and alleys, and I marvel at the vehicles that can maneuver through some of them. (Later, when we were walking down from the university, cars would race down the small alley we were in and we had to find a safe spot to stand as they passed by. They are not at all hesitant to speed by us!)



But back to the university. I had read we’d see students in robes, and, sure enough, a student soon passed us in her robe.

We went up to the top to find the Baroque Library we’ll visit tomorrow, and we wandered around a bit. I actually hadn’t expected to get to do much today, so I was glad we were able to get out and explore as much as we did.

We finally headed back down (those photos are also above this paragraph), and looked to see where we might eat. I had seen a street on our way up that looked rather nice — a narrow street with a few different colors of chairs outside so I knew there was more than one restaurant. Sure enough, we landed back on that street and started looking. While looking at the first place another couple were peering in as well. The woman had both Canada and an Ukraine flag pins on her shirt and I told her I liked them. I sort of said, apologetically, that we were from the United States. She then said they were from Seattle. They, like us, are rather horrified by our country right now. Go figure. They also said they were on a Rick Steves tour.

While we didn’t choose the restaurant we saw with them, we did opt for one right down the same alley. They took our reservation for 6:30, but it was only 6:10 so we had to kill some time. That meant a wee bit of walking, and a couple of pieces of chocolate at a chocolate shop nearby that smelled amazing. (Yes, we had to suffer greatly while waiting for dinner.)

Dinner was at Fangas Maior, a restaurant that serves tapas — and it was quite yummy. I think we spent 2 1/2 hours there in our typical fashion. We so frequently outlast other diners. Go figure.

Then it was back to the hotel, with a few photo shots on the way.

Tomorrow we have the University visit to do, but otherwise we’ll just have to see what the day brings.

Slip Sliding in Sintra

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I had purchased tickets in advance for the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle and today was “our” day to go. This meant we actually woke earlier than the past two days. After coffee and getting ready we left the hotel, with a bit of time to spare, but not much, to catch our train.

Except I realized, after getting outside, that I forgot the tickets! Yep, crazy me. And we both forgot to lock the safe. So back we went. (Turns out I also had the tickets on my phone and I could have used those, but we DID need to lock the safe, so I’m rather glad I thought about the tickets.)

By the time we got to the train there were no seats available, so we stood for the whole ride. Thankfully it was a smooth ride and aside from the very loud accordion player who blessed us with his music for a while it was just fine.

It was interesting to see other parts of Lisbon. Clearly poorer parts. Tons of buildings that remind me to the projects in the US. Not all is perfect in Portugal, just like any country, I’m sure.

When we arrived in Sintra we stood in line for a shuttle. Or so we thought. Wrong place … we instead had to walk for about an hour to get to the shuttle, as one guy who was trying to get us to hire him to drive us said. But hey, we are fit and can do a walk, right? So we turned him down and started the walk.


And then the rain came … which convinced us rather quickly that we should get an Uber instead. (It’s never a good idea to grab the guys who pursue you at airports and train stations, as we learned once upon a time in Amsterdam. They might scam you.) The Uber driver was quite helpful, pointing out where a trail was for the Moorish Castle, and then he took us to the palace shuttle spot. The line was so long and so slow we eventually decided to walk. Oh, and we bought a couple sandwiches from a vending machine. (After getting into the palace we learned they have cafeterias there. Oops!)

The walk wasn’t bad, but did go uphill a bit. I think this is preparing us for our upcoming walking holiday, though, so I’m sort of fine with uphills. (Downhills, on the other hand, are NOT my friend.)

And the palace! What a crazy place. At times it rained. At times we were in fog. And it was pretty chilly. And windy. Really crazy weather. (We are hoping all the weather we’ve had here means we’ll have less of the crazy stuff when we do the walk.) But back to the palace … it’s just a fascinating place. Photos will show things in bright colors and no discoloring, but the walls are full of various kinds of what I’m assuming is mold or mildew. I even took a few close ups of the stuff.

After finishing with Pena Palace we went back down and found our way to the Moorish Castle.

Part of the walk down was on a trail and the rain meant we had a muddy walk, but we got to our destination and headed in. The first part, going up to the castle, was quite pretty.

The castle itself is in ruins, but is quite impressive. We went up one stairway and were on the top of that side. Even for Dan one area was too windy! We then turned around and saw we could walk from one side of the top of the castle to the other, much higher side. But yours truly couldn’t do it. The wind was simply too much. It felt like it would blow me off the top! So we went down and around to climb the other side. But nope, the wind there go crazy enough I couldn’t go to the top there at all. Dan did go, though, and I am assuming I’ll see his photos at some point. As he was still at the top I went to a place where I’d seen some flowers I wanted to shoot. Then I went further down to find a sunnier, somewhat wind-protected spot and enjoyed myself there. Upon his return we went out of the castle area.

Then we had to hike back down a trail. It was muddy and slippery, and some of the stone stairs were quite awkward. Dan kindly would point out some tricky areas and occasionally helped me get down particularly high and slippery spots. And then Dan slipped, landing on his knee. I’m so grateful nothing was broken, but he was bleeding, and his pants were torn. Darn! Expensive pants, too. But it could have been much, much worse, so we both know he got off pretty much in the best possible way.

The walk down soon got easier, and we ended up going through an area that had identification signs for a lot of the foliage, and there were little waterfalls that we just lovely. As we exited we saw the sign for the place.

Finally we were back in the town. It’s really quite a pretty little place. We treated ourselves to a spot of Ginjinha — they say it’s medicinal, after all! And we saw people going and coming from a particular area so we went to see what that was. Turns out that was the third place I’d considered visiting, Quinta da Regaleira, but I’d not purchased tickets. I’m glad I didn’t: we simply didn’t have the time or energy for it!

We walked back to the train station, enjoying more of Sintra sights.

We arrived to the station a bit too early, but I was fine with sitting and waiting for the train. When it finally arrived we got on quickly, grabbing seats. Hooray! Both of us dozed a bit on the way back to Lisbon, clearly weary after all the walking.

For dinner we went to a place just around the corner. It was clearly a tourist sort of spot, but they had tapas and we were fine with that. Mostly it was nice to be close to the hotel.

As we walked back it started drizzling. I guess we might have to get used to the rain. We bought little desserts to take back to the hotel, and enjoyed them in the quiet of our room.

Tomorrow we head to the next town, so the morning will be a slow one of relaxing and then packing.

Day Two in Lisbon

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It was another late start day. I woke at around 7, but Dan was asleep so I set my watch alarm for 8. When it woke me I thought Dan was still sleeping so I snoozed some more, only to wake up far too late (after 9:00!) to see Dan awake and reading. Ah well … we are on vacation so I suppose I can sleep in. (But I really hate losing time out and about.)

When we finally got moving we went first through Rossio Square with its crazy tile work that makes me want to step up when there is really no step.

Then on to the Rossio train station to see what we will do for an excursion we have planned for tomorrow.

It took us a bit of time to figure out the train ticket situation, but we did finally get that done, and then we went up to see “our” old place from 2023 and the restaurant we’ll return to after two years that was mere steps from our VRBO. First, though, there was this changing of the guard for who knows what reason: I think they are just in front of a museum, but who knows?

It was an easy walk from the station to “our place” and the restaurant and then we just rambled a bit. We went inside a church, and managed to get a glimpse of “pink street”, among other things.

With such a late start we soon decided we wanted to get lunch. We walked a while, and saw nothing inviting (but we did see a group of French guys who were already quite inebriated … go figure). Finallly I (foolishly?) suggested the Time Out Market. It’s really a tourist trap, and not a culinary delight as they might imply, but at least we knew we would find food.


Trouble is, we might not find a place to sit! And so it goes. People who do find a spot stay for eons, and no one thinks to look at two senior citizens who are on their last legs and offer to give up their chairs. Okay … maybe we look rather healthy. But still, I have gray hair and I’m old, doggone it! In any case, we ordered or chicken piri piri and stood at a table until, about when we were done, a woman next to us found a chair and brought it to me. (Dan never did get to sit.) The food was okay, but I think we could have done better a few streets down. We just didn’t know just where to go.

After lunch we went outside to check and see what was on my to-do list. There were two things I mentioned: the “LX Factory” and the Capela de Santo Amaro. Both were over two miles away, and Dan and I weren’t really sure we were up for that, so we were looking at other things, but finally decided (as it was raining, but only lightly) that we’d give the Capela a try. Thankfully the rain stopped and the shower was so light I wondered if I really needed to bring my umbrella at all.

So off we went. On not lovely roads. As I mentioned to Dan, he hadn’t gotten his camera out once! But on we plodded, until I noticed, to my left, the LX Factory. Go figure! So we walked in. It’s a bunch of places to eat and shops, and very cool looking. But we weren’t hungry and we aren’t into shopping, so we decided we might return for a snack later and continued on to the Capela.

And the Capela (yes, I’m bilingual, if not more … hah! Capela=Chapel) was really rather cool. I’ll just let it speak for itself in photos.

When we left raindrops began to fall. And fall. And fall. Plus there was wind. We walked back down to the LX spot, but decided, since we weren’t into drinking alcohol, that there really was nothing there for us, so we opted to walk back to the hotel.

That rain was really annoying by this point, and the wind wanted to mess with my umbrella. But we plodded on and eventually we got back to the hotel for a very brief rest.

Soon it was time to head to dinner. I had been looking forward to our return so it was such fun to arrive and tell a server how we had enjoyed it so much two years ago. Back then both our meals were served outside, but since — can you guess? — it had started to rain again on our walk that certainly wasn’t going to happen today. We went inside, were seated, and proceeded to enjoy an absolutely delicious meal, with excellent service. If you ever go to Portugal, be sure and try and find Oficina do Duque. It is well worth it!

On our way home we stopped by a Ginginha spot we knew from 2023, and we enjoyed our little “medicinal” (!) treat.

It’s a cherry liqueur and surely it must be good for us. They can be served in a chocolate cup if ordered that way, and that’s what we did. Unfortunately this place doesn’t serve it with a cherry if requested, and I missed that. I guess that means we have to visit another one before we head out of Lisbon … right?

Then back to the hotel. I enjoyed a shower after spending far too much time trying to figure out how to get hot water. I think we need a universal law regarding showers. Yes?

Tomorrow we have another adventure. I suppose I should sleep now.

Oh … a bit of an aside: adjusting to the time change has been surprisingly easy this time. I have no clue why, but I’m not complaining!

First Full Day (Sort Of) In Lisbon

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We got a somewhat late start today, but we had decided today would be a lazy day as we adjust to the time. When we finally headed out, after having coffee in our room, we just rambled down to a square nearby, where there is some sort of spring market event, rather like the Christmas market set up. The weather was cooperating, despite my having read that we’d have a very high chance of rain.

From that square we walked toward the water, taking photos as we went. It’s so fun to be back in Lisbon! On our way we saw a place that had pastel de nata and, well, how can one resist those yummy treats? So we went inside, ordered one each along with an espresso for Dan and a cappuccino for me. We could see the man making the pastels nearly right in front of us. I wonder if he still likes to eat them. (I worked at a donut shop and I sure didn’t want to eat donuts after a while … but donuts are NOT these wonderful treats in Portugal!)

Then we continued our walk and reached the big square by the water. More photos, of course.

From there we headed to the area called Alfama. Lots of narrow streets and lots to see and photograph. We had intended on going there last visit and didn’t make it, so I was very happy that we got there on our first day this time.

While there Dan mentioned it was lunch time and I saw a sign up one narrow street that said lunch, so we went to have a look. As we pondered whether or not we’d eat there (and I tried looking up reviews) it began to rain. It was significant enough that we had to go for shelter and the restaurant seemed as if it was calling our names. So in we went, and we enjoyed an “Antú Pasti board” (the restaurant’s name is Antú) and some chicken wings, along with my mocktail and Dan’s non-alcoholic beer (aren’t we being GOOD KIDS?!). The food and drinks hit the spot.

From there it was more walking …

… and as we neared St. George Castle I mentioned that the tickets I purchased were available on my phone and they weren’t for a set date, so we opted to go there even while our plan was to do that tomorrow. The line to purchase tickets was pretty long — if I were more bold I think I would have told all those people to go to the castle site on their phones and buy tickets rather than stand in a line that must have taken at least 30 minutes to get through (when we left the castle the line was nearly twice as long!). It was fun to roam the grounds, and attempt to imagine what it was like when it was inhabited. When we first entered the grounds we heard some crazy shrieking. Heh. Yes, peacocks. And lots of them! Oh … and I did go out of my comfort zone by going up stairs and dealing with heights. The wind made me even more uncomfortable, but hey, I did it!

Then it was back out, and more rambling, this time toward our hotel. When we got there we took advantage of our free welcome drinks, ordering olives and croquettes to go with them. It was nice to sit and relax a bit.

Soon we decided we really should get some dinner. We aren’t eating on Portugal residents’ time — they eat late! — and I really do wonder how they can sleep after eating when they do. We walked out the door and down the street just a bit and saw a line going in to a seafood place. I thought it would mean there would be too long of a wait, but the guy outside said it would be only 5 minutes. Turns out they had another room almost right next door. He also told us (warned us?) that there was only one thing on the menu. It was sort of like paella, but a Portuguese seafood soup kind of thing. So we decided to go for it. Most people in our part of the restaurant were Asian, and while we sat there even more came in. Seems like the place must be in some guidebooks somewhere! The dish was a bit difficult to deal with: we couldn’t really manage to get much meat from the lobster or crab, and I admit I’m clueless about how to eat shrimp when it’s the doggone whole thing. But we did the best we could, and we survived. Will we return? Nope. Too much work for very little satisfaction. But obviously some people must really like it.

Since that wasn’t a great success we treated ourselves to some health food. Hah!

Getting back to our hotel room I booked our dinner reservation for a place we went to twice last time we were here we loved it so much. I’m assuming we will not be disappointed!

Because we did the castle today, we really have no plans for tomorrow at this point. We’ll have to peruse my somewhat lengthy list of possible things to do when we wake tomorrow morning. We’ll see what the day will bring!

Hello Lisbon!

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So here we are … in Lisbon once again. When we were here last we had such a lovely time, so it seemed a good place to start our Portugal journey.

The flight from Munich to Lisbon was quite uneventful. I had a window seat so I did enjoy the view. I will post photos when they finally appear on the iPad. (It seems to take a while for them to get in the cloud. No clue why.)

Disembarking from the plane we then had to get a shuttle to the terminal. We were at this airport on another trip and I sure didn’t remember that … but I forget things easily. That is one of the big reasons for this blog, in fact. It’s very helpful to look back at entries!

Getting a ride to the hotel wasn’t entirely uneventful: Dan ordered a Bolt, and while we were charged he then got a message that there was no internet connection, so we hadn’t a clue what car was coming (IF it was coming), so I had to order an Uber. But after a bit of a wait we got our car, with a very talkative driver from Bangladesh who is here to eventually get a Portuguese passport if I understood him correctly. He got us to our hotel after midnight. But of course we aren’t on Portugal time so it doesn’t feel all that late to us. Our room is typically small, with barely a spot for luggage, but hey, it’s Europe and we are more than happy to be here!

Stay tuned for photos at a later date … hoping soon, but we’ll see. UPDATE: Done!

Funny side note: while I’m a stickler about hanging up clothes at home, the person now unpacking and hanging up clothes is Dan. We seem to switch roles on vacation. Go figure!

Final Day in Lisbon

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I don’t care how many days we spend somewhere — I always want more! Today was the final day in Lisbon and we decided to venture out to find a street I’d read about that had street art. First we arrived at another spot for great views. It was pretty super.

Then we headed toward the street art street. Um. Or we thought we did. Never found anything. We also were quite near a botanic garden, but the entrance was not where we were and, honestly, I just wasn’t in the mood. (I know … very weird!) So we had a light breakfast (the lightest yet!), and then walked.

And walked.

And yes, I filmed this car. (We never rode on one, and only took a train to and from Belém while here: we just enjoy walking!)

We ended up at Time Out Market, where we wandered but only at a pastel de nata, knowing they were the last for us here in Portugal.

Finally we headed back up toward our place, looking for a spot to grab a small bite. This time I ordered even less (just a few Pastéis de Bacalhau, otherwise known as Salt Cod Fritters, and the recommended bread the waiter suggested I add, which was a mistake! Totally NOT necessary!, and still felt as if I ate too much. Next time I will try to stick to what I think I should order and not be persuaded by someone (I think he was quite the con man, to be honest — got me to order a slightly more expensive wine as well. Heh. I’m such a goof to fall for that!). As we were eating there a small combo was playing (primarily American stuff, including Take 5) and at one point a couple danced, which was sweet.

Then … LAUNDRY! Doesn’t get more exciting than that. We want to have clean laundry before we head to the next country. Laundry time also meant siesta time.

One thing I did want to mention about Lisbon (and perhaps Portugal in general? Dunno!): people just stand at their front door, looking out the door window or, if they are on a floor above, peer out their window. I tend to wave or smile … for some reason it makes me happy to see them. The old women I’ve seen smile or wave back. We have that window in our door here:

Later, as we were packing, Ana dropped by. It was so lovely to see her! As a reminder, check out Courtesy Morning if you come to Lisbon. I’m so glad I located this place. She said this was the smallest place, and for me that’s just fine, but if you want more space she has a number of options.

And our final dinner … where we started, a 1 minute … NO … a 15 second … walk from our place. Good thing we don’t live here permanently. We’d be in a heap ‘o trouble! Can you tell Dan is so sad to be leaving …?

But dinner was fabulous. I love that we sit outside and people just pass by constantly. It’s like the world is right there. People are enjoying life. And I’m enjoying people. At home this doesn’t happen nearly as frequently, we are so into our privacy and being alone.

And now we are off to sleep … we have a VERY early wake-up call: our taxi arrives here at 5:00 AM. Eek!

A Full Lisbon Day

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Hello and goodbye to July 10. It is already 23:05 as I begin to type and I know I’d better get this done quickly so we can get to sleep.

What a FULL day this has been. We woke, started laundry (we are in a VRBO for that very reason), and then headed out to get a small bite to eat. It was already so warm out, and then sun very strong, but it was a fairly dry heat which I deal with much better than the humid kind.

After breakfast we headed up toward St. George Castle (Castelo de S. Jorge). We didn’t have tickets and we weren’t sure we’d bother getting them, but we wanted to at lest get up there. As we were headed there we were, as I’d read about, bombarded by the tuk-tuk drivers who wanted us to pay them to take us up there. Then we saw the people lined up for the bus to get a ride up there. And yes, it’s a climb. BUT (and this is huge!) if you go the right way instead of stairs you can ride an escalator for a good long while. HAH! We probably got up there at the same time as those people in line … or close to it … plus we got great views on the way.

The line to get into the castle was long. Never mind. Not really all that interested in the castle, but more interested in the area. We walked by a few places where people were inside their “homes” … and oh how tiny those spaces were. I didn’t think intrusive photos were appropriate, though, so you’ll see none of those here.

We also entered a church up there, which also had a convent that is no longer in use. When Dan and I went in I signaled to him to take off his hat. Little did I know I should also remove mine! A young man who was watching over things signaled that I should. Later I saw him again, outside the church, and I asked him about it. He said that a scarf or shawl would be appropriate, but my hat was not. He said I wasn’t the only one who asked, and he wasn’t even sure but he asked the priest about it. I found it all so interesting, since I thought a woman’s head SHOULD be covered. Always something new to learn!

We continued to amble. We saw some amazing views. We ended up at some dead ends (no fun when you then have to climb back up stairs!). And we walked and walked. Sometimes we are in areas that wonder about … are my prejudices kicking in and is it just safe as can be? I don’t know! So we just walk and I decide not to worry.

We passed by the elevator that people will stand in line for (not us … too much time — they say some end up waiting as long as two hours to take it), and for lunch we stopped very near our house and enjoyed (too much) food. When will we learn, I wonder?!

After that we rested up (it was HOT out!), and then headed back out to see a park that was a good distance (and uphill). Prior to that we ended up in the more expensive shopping part of town. For me that holds no interest. So it goes.

Back to the house again, but first some “Ginjinha”, a “medicinal” (HAH!) cherry liquor. Quite tasty stuff!

And finally, we looked for dinner. We went one direction, thinking we’d find a place we could hear a bit of Fado (a Portuguese thing … melancholy singing that the woman who runs the VRBO hates: she said it, along with sports and the Catholic Church, were very powerful and controlling back when things were bad here … keeping people suppressed but seemingly happy, from what she explained). Well, that place had a line so never mind. So we wandered back and ended up nearby our place. (One thing we do notice: so many places have someone outside to try and lure you in. We’d been warned about that … that those spots are usually more touristy than not. We really prefer to experience the restaurants that locals enjoy. Thankfully Ana has a long list of restaurants she recommends.)

Another wonderful meal was enjoyed, although our “three fish plate” had some things that, for me, weren’t terrifically tasty but more kind of “ick!” and questionable. Still, I try them … and secretly I did spit one thing out … I honestly think I was eating fish guts! Then our waiter brought out Dan’s espresso and proceeded to spill it. We now know Dan still has incredibly fast reflexes … not a drop on him! AND we got free Ginjinha for the issue. No complaints from us! (And yes, we tipped him. Accidents happen.) Do excuse the “Remains of the Fish” … I forgot to shoot a before photo! Once more we ordered too much food. The second image here — an appetizer — could have sufficed as far as I’m concerned, and for me it was the most delicious part of the meal: tuna and sweet potatoes in a sauce to die for!

So now we are home and trying to figure out what we are up to tomorrow. No matter what, it seems there is never quite enough time in a city. Sometimes I think (update: I KNOW) it would be good to spend two weeks in each place to truly experience the locale.

I’m posting this quickly so if there are errors skip over them: maybe I’ll have a look at what I wrote tomorrow, but sleep is calling! (Update #2: And yes, there were duplicate photos posted, and I’ve added just a bit more writing.)

Hello Lisbon!

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Our train ride to Lisbon was uneventful, but I must say I’m really shocked at how quickly one has to board the train, and how quickly it leaves some stations. When it arrived in Porto we barely got our luggage in the overhead rack before it seemed to start moving. Some people were still filing by to get their seats, in fact. Lesson learned: BE QUICK! At one of the stations where it stopped it was there for all of one minute. Second lesson … BE QUICK! Hah!

We arrived at Santa Apolonia station and looked at a map to see how long a walk might take us. Thirty minutes. In warm weather. Nope. So a cab it was. I think we probably would have gotten lost if we’d tried to walk in any case!

Our place is small, clean, and lovely. We were greeted by Ana (if I understood things correctly she, her son, and her nephew run Courtesy Morning, the rental company for a number of places. If you come here DO check them out!), who went over SO much information about where to go and what to do I thought we really should spend weeks here, rather than days, but we’ll do what we can, and perhaps we’ll have to return someday. Ana also provided us with some port and pastel de nada. Nice! She was really quite wonderful, and I know we are going to have fun here!

Now I’m going to attempt to post photos that are less large. I hope this means they load better for people. Eventually I will redo all the prior posts and make those smaller as well, but probably not tonight.

After hanging up clothes and settling in (and enjoying our port wine and pastel de nada), we went out to search out dinner. Ana had a lovely list of places to go, one of wish was right out the door. But we thought we’d venture further and see what we could fine. Welllll … after walking a wee bit (I will NOT get my steps and miles in today) we headed right back to that first place. Oh my goodness it was delicious! I won’t be at all surprised if we end up back there. A 30 second walk and we are back at “our” place (pretty much behind Dan’s head). I could get used to this!

And that’s it for today … now I’ll post this and see if the images work well enough and load faster. If anyone out there has opinions … well … I know you’ll let me know!