j + j travelblog

Just peachy in Portugal

We arrived in Portugal last night and experienced one of those magical travelers' moments - where you have no place to stay, no map of the city you are arriving in, etc. And not 2 steps off the bus, we are greeted by the owner of a residential pension within our price range who drives us - and more importantly, our bags - to the place to make sure it is up to our standards. It's the nicest place we've stayed in for months! I love it when this happens.

We spent today enjoying the sweet port town and transportation hub that is Faro, Portugal. We hoped to take a boat ride out to some neighboring islands, but had to settle for a few hours walking along Praia de Faro instead (Faro Beach). It was a bright and sunny day, but still chilly.

We had a lovely Portuguese dinner at Bruno's (sounds Italian, but it's authentic Portuguese). Indulging in seafood delights of HUGE proportions and amazing Portuguese vinho tinto (red wine) for pennies! We had to finish the night with some port - you know, when in Portugal. And before we were even finished with our glass, the waiter brought us another sweet wine and followed that up with a Portuguese version of Amaretto. Divine!

Tomorrow we begin our roadtrip to Lisbon - or Lisboa as they call it here in Portugal. We are going to spend a few days traveling up the coast where the views are supposed to be amazing....many pix to come. Then we are going to meet our friends Diogo and Rita from the boat trip in Turkey who live in Lisbon. The plan is to spend a few days in what Diogo promises to be 'the most beautiful city on our trip' before heading to Madrid where the trip will come to an end :) :(

more soon!