Back to Blogging!

It was a great long weekend but we wanted to see so many things that we came back more tired than when we left. I'm definitely having some trouble getting back to the normal routine.

We saw many beautiful things, the usually busy atmosphere of a city crowded with locals and tourists enjoying themselves, the fabulous Prado and Reina Sofia Museums, the historic quarter, the Gran Via, the Park del Retiro and, since it was the first time I spent Easter in Madrid, I couldn't resist a peak at the Good Friday Procession and it was quite an experience!

Definitely a visit to repeat in the future!

Easter break!

We'll be back next week!

 

I'm Back...

But too tired to write a proper post... for 3 days I slept very little and walked and visited a lot. The group was lovely and besides learning and revisiting some places (it was my 5th visit to the island) we also had a lot of fun!

We tried some of the tropical fruits

Drunk some Poncha

And ate some really good food...

Really, it couldn't have been better!!

Away For The Weekend

I'm travelling to Madeira for the weekend so there will be no new posts till monday. It's work related but since it's a destination I love I am always happy to go! ;-)

... and I'm back!

No beach for us after all as we went to the mountains and spent a few days at Serra_da_Estrela visiting some of Portugal's most traditional villages and medieval castles. We had a wonderful time, did a lot of sightseeing and ate some great food! Here are some photos to give you an idea of what we were up to! ;-)


Piodão


Centum Cellas


Guarda


Belmonte


Sortelha


Sabugal


Castelo Novo


Monsanto

I also read a lot of books so tomorrow I go back to book reviewing. I really feel I should take these breaks more often!

It's Vacation Time

I have the next two weeks off from work and although I don't have anything definite planned yet I intend to spend some quality time with L.!And also going to the beach, sightseeing and spending some time outdoors with a few good books. Reading and relaxing sounds just perfect!

I'll be back to blogging on Oct 6th!

And we just got back!

We spent the weekend visiting Coimbra, Caramulo and Buçaco. It's great to have a weekend break now and then and here some nice photos we took:


Montemor o Velho - Castle



Caramulo - Automobile Museum



Buçaco - Palace Hotel



Coimbra - Sé Velha



Coimbra - Igreja de Sta Cruz



Coimbra - Mondego River and view of Santa Clara

Weekend Getaway

We'll be back on monday!

Work Related Stuff

I'm off to BTL - Lisbon's Travel Market - so I wont be much online today. It used to be exciting to go and visit all the different countries, the tour operators and airlines and to end the visit in the gastronomy area dinning or simply eating something sweet.

Nowadays it's not that exciting but it's still great to see some friends, in some cases it's the only time I see them, and of course it's part of the business and it's necessary to meet with some of our suppliers.

I've been a bit discouraged lately as I realise we will be "an endangered species" soon. People tend to buy more and more online and we might have to think of a change in careers one of these days.

Christmas Vacation and a friend's visit

I haven't been spending much time online as Rosario arrived yesterday and we've been spending the days sightseeing. We've been having a great time, although it's a bit cold and rainy. I hope to have photos to post soon...

Zambujeira do Mar

Another place we visited during our vacation was Zambujeira do Mar, better known for it's rock concert during the summer. We found it an interesting village, not as well preserved in what concerns traditional arquitecture, one can tell that during July and August it must be invaded by tourists. But it was the best beach and fortunately in September not so crowded.


the church tower/bell


the church


the beach


the beach and the church up there


On our way back to Milfontes we stopped at this lighthouse in Cabo Sardão (it looks slightly at an odd angle but that's the photographer's fault, me!!)


Yep I like to photograph the names



this is starting to look like a blog about beaches :-)


The stork's nests on our way back...

Porto Covo

A few years back Porto Covo was immortalized by a famous portuguese singer in one of his most famous songs. From a small fishermen village it became a huge tourist place which is invaded by crowds from July to September.



It was my first visit and loved it...




the local church



general view of the village



on our way to the beach



the beach



Pessegueiro Island with it's old fort destroyed in the 1755 earthquake



and the fort on the coast opposite the island, they were supposed to protect the coast from pirate attacks...

More pictures

I'm back!!

After a few days of rest and relaxation by the pool or at the beach I'm ready to start working again and to get back to my regular posting!

I've read quite a few books and those reviews I'll post soon but I also devoted some of my time to new projects, to visit some really nice places and taste some really good food!

Our "headquarters" during this week was in Vila Nova de Milfontes were we stayed at Duna Parque. It was nice and cozy and they have enough extras to keep you occupied if you want to stay in the facilities (I was partial to the indoor swimming pool).

Luckily the weather was very good and we not only enjoyed the beach in Milfontes but also in Porto Covo and Zambujeira do Mar.

I took quite a few pictures and I'm trying to organise them with Picasa, since it's my first attempt you'll have to bear with me if they don't show up.


Sitting by the pool


I'm in love with the typical houses of Alentejo


The river Mira


Milfontes as seen from the other side of the river



Our favorite restaurant was the small and traditional Tasca do Celso, here's the original menu


and I ate Açorda de Marisco, it consists basically of bread and schrimps and it's really good!

I'll be posting pictures of Porto Covo and Zambujeira do Mar in the next few days... those were the best beaches around...

On Vacation

Finally!!! These last few weeks were pretty busy at the office and I'm looking forward to some rest and relaxation.

I'll come back to posting in the first week of October hopefully with lots of photos and interesting things to tell but I know I wont resist checking my email once in a while.

We will be staying in Vila Nova de Milfontes but we plan to visit all the nearby villages and beaches. We have been to Alentejo so many times and we never really explored this part so we're looking forward to it.

Bye!!!

It's that time again...

To sit back, relax and enjoy a nice vacation... and this time we even managed to decide where we want to go with some advance! We're going here:




Now I have have to decide which books to take with me!

Going Back to Work

Vacation is almost over as we will get back to work on monday but we have been spending this last week at the beach and just relaxing so really enjoying ourselves.

On the reading front I was introduced to some new (to me) authors like Ken Follett, Anita Diamant, Anne Perry which wrote some of my favourite books so far this year.



And today we visited the Fluviário de Mora, a really interesting museum about life in the rivers and it's general ecosystem.

I'm afraid the pictures aren't very good but you get the idea...



Tomorrow we will be going back to work...

I'm back!!

...and we're back from Barcelona!! We had a lovely time, visited some wonderful places and I even bought a few books.

I think the highlights were the visit to Sagrada Familia - still very much a work in progress, La Pedrera - fascinating to learn how Gaudi worked, Mercat de la Boqueria - it was so well organised and displayed - where I couldn't resist having a strawberry juice, just walking around in the Ramblas and Bairro Gotico and for any book lover I recommend the visit to Elephant Books. L. also loved the Camp Nou visit, I enjoyed it too but my feet were killing me by then. I was looking forward to see if they really had wiped out Figo and it seems they did because I couldn't find any mention of him.

You can see the pictures here