(That's Portuguese for "it was beautiful!")
Finally I uploaded last month's trip to Portugal. This summer was wonderfully delicious with so many awesome travel experiences and seeing old family and friends and making new friends, I neglected crafting and blogging. But I felt as the days whipped by at light speed, each day was a joy.
First off, the Portuguese are lovely people, warm and friendly and the area we stayed was serene and smelled of the sea. Estoril is about 20 minutes from Lisbon and each day we walked along the cragly stone walkways that frame the coastline, past many shops and beaches, past cafes and kiosks selling local novelties. The last 3 days we rented a little Fiat and drove to Lisbon and other days up to Sintra where we hiked forever it seemed to reach an old Moorish castle and sat in the town center people watching and having a foamy cappuccino. Cascais by the sea is quaint with it's narrow streets, paved with bluish-grey and white tiles designed into waves that are lined with brightly painted storefronts and restaurants. And the countryside up towards Spain is something from a storybook with vineyards, small villages and orchards dotted along the skinny two-lane highways. I felt at times like Clark and Ellen Griswold from National Lampoons European Vacation when they rented the small car and drove through parts of Europe. Dave drove like he was on the Audubon, zipping past old men weathered from the sun selling fruit on the side of the road in huts or children playing soccer in an open field. Every once and awhile we'd climb over a small hill and get a glimpse of the sea below, then quickly turn away and headed north. We ate at smallish family owned restaurants with handmade rolls and garlicky shrimp and chicken. We ate two nights at a yummy Indian restaurant (Indian you say in Portugal? But I was smitten.), and there was the nightly espresso and lemon gelato...
Dave had 3 days of work and I met a couple of the other wives there with thier hubbies, lovely ladies who I can't wait to see again. Then the last 4 days was just Dave and me, it was our Luna de Miel... we got married when we were very young and nver had a real honeymoon, so we made this our luna de miel (honeymoon in Spanish). Foi bonito!!
