Pondhoppin': April 2013

When I was a little girl, I always looked forward to this exact question...what kind of birthday party do you want to have this year? Nine times out of ten, I would reply with...a pool party!!!!!!! And my poor mother, every year, had to let me down easy. There aren't many places where you can have a pool party in February, including Texas.

Well, a few years back, my mother was able to hand this duty over to my wonderful husband. This year was especially exciting...Kris, where do you want to travel for your birthday?! Again, I was faced with some bad news ahead of me. Everywhere in Europe is FREEZING during the month of February (I know...poor, poor me!). I was determined to find us the perfect spot though, and that I did! Portugal!

G and I both agree that Portugal doesn't get as much love as it should (we were even guilty of this before our trip). Although it wasn't beach weather, the sun was shining, and that's all that I cared about at this point!

Grant planned a wonderful adventure for us, and we both truly enjoyed our long weekend in Portugal. We spent one night in Lisbon and two nights in the fairytale city of Sintra. The food was excellent...delicious piri-piri chicken & tons of wonderful seafood dishes! Oh, and I can't forget the ginginha - a quintessential Lisbon drink. It's pretty much a €1 shot of sweet liquor made from the sour cherry-like ginja berry - the best part is you just pick one up in a hole-in-the-wall shop (found all around town), and take it to go as you continue exploring the city. So fun!

Lisbon...

Views & sights from the Alfama area of Lisbon (where St. George's Castle is located):

Comercio Square

Loved the 1920's trolleys loudly making their way through the city

So much delicious seafood!

Santa Justa Lift - connects the lower streets of Baixa with the higher Carmo Square

Trying barnacles...they were surprisingly really good!

Afternoon in Belem...

Of course we had to make a stop (actually 2 stops!) at the Pasteis de Belem bakeshop - the pastries are made from the monk's ancient, top-secret recipe. It has remained unchanged, passed down only to the master bakers...and they are oh so good!

Monastery of Jeronimos

Tower of Belem

Views from the Tower:

During our drive out to Sintra, we stopped at a few beach towns to soak up the beautiful coastal views:

Hiking down to Ursa Beach:

Cabo da Roca - Westernmost point in Europe to see the sunset...

View of the sunset from our hotel balcony...

Exploring Sintra...

If you look closely, you can see a dog underneath the tree...well, we were walking below this wall & next thing we know, our lives are flashing before our eyes. We thought it was going to jump down and maul us to death...wish we had both of our reactions on video, would have been priceless!