Exploring Ports in Porto and in the Douro Valley

By Joyce, on January 17th, 2016
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In addition to wanting to see Porto, we came to the area to explore (surprise) ports. We took a day trip from Porto to the Douro Valley, with Pedro (Peter) from CoolTrips. It was a long day (8:30 AM-7:00 PM), but well worth it. Shortly after leaving the city, we passed through the Verde wine [Read more …]

Porto CIty Portugal

By Joyce, on January 16th, 2016
Train station outside

We finally made it to Porto Portugal. We love the city’s character that began coming into prominence (not to speak of prosperity) when it became one of the first on the Iberian Peninsula to be recaptured from the Moors and henceforth, began to prosper as a trading city and center for provisioning Crusaders who were [Read more …]

From Obitos Portugal to Porto Portugal

By Joyce, on January 15th, 2016
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Our next day took us to Obidos Portugal. How could we resist the opportunity to spend the night in the tower of a 14th-century castle? Okay, perhaps it wasn’t as romantic or rustic as we had imagined. Once in the room, we were hard pressed to remember that we were in a castle as the [Read more …]

Lisbon to Porto: The Coastal Route

By Joyce, on January 14th, 2016
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We picked up a car and left Lisbon to the north, taking in the lovely shore of the coastline and a number of the most interesting and historically important stops on the 300+ kilometer drive to the land of port wine. Among our most notable quick-stops were: Cascais, a fashionable resort town since the late [Read more …]

Lisbon Portugal

By Joyce, on January 13th, 2016
Praca Dos Restauradores

Believe it or not, we have never been to Portugal before and were looking forward to exploring the country. Our first stop was Lisbon. Portugal in general, and Lisbon in particular, had existed, and for some of the time even thrived, over almost three millennia before the people ever had control of their own destinies. [Read more …]