Honestly, we're not stalkers...

Whilst Monique was hiding behind a bush dying of embarrassment (and directing a mild dose of grumpiness towards Daniel for being so brazen), Daniel was merrily invading the personal space of some locals.

Stumbling across a group of about fifteen Portuguese men sitting in a park playing dominos and cards on a lazy Sunday afternoon was a pretty amazing experience. Certainly like nothing we would normally see in the busy hustle and bustle of cities like London or Melbourne. The sense of community was so authentic.

After watching them play for quite a while and take a few snaps, the fellas started spruiking Daniel in Portuguese and roaring with laughter at his expense. Daniel heartily laughed in return, and casually edged away to rejoin his ever-patient and tolerant wife.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Spain and Portugal. It was nice to have a holiday where we actually stopped and relaxed, rather than just went at 100 miles an hour without ever stopping to catch our breath. The weather was amazing, the people were sensational, and the food was inspirational (seriously – you have not had chicken until you’ve had a genuine peri-peri char grilled chicken).  

Funicular, funicular, no words in the vernacular…

Without doubt the most charming feature of Lisbon was the trams and funiculars that snake their way through the winding streets and up and down the steep hills.

Trams and funiculars aren’t exactly unique to Lisbon, and we certainly can’t claim to having seen every other city in the world that features them, but surely none come close to being as enchanting as Lisbon’s.

The stuff of fairytales...literally

The Moorish Castle

Pena Palace

Pena Palace estate

 Pena Palace estate

While we were in Lisbon, we decided that it was worthwhile making a daytrip out to Sintra – a town about 40 minutes away.

In short, Sintra is a UNESCO listed town choc-a-block full of Romantic era castles, estates and palaces ranging from the 8^th-19^th century. It is quite literally the stuff of fairy tales, with Hans Christian Anderson (The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale, Sandman, The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling) wrote many of his stories.

One defining feature of Sintra is how brightly coloured all the buildings are. Unfortunately for us we happened to be there on an incredibly misty, drizzly and overcast day. We could barely see a meter in front of our faces. On the one hand it was a tad disappointing given how spectacular the views are supposed to be. On the other, however, it created an incredible atmosphere, particularly when visiting the old Moorish castle ruin, and then the forest surrounding Pena Palace.

It had a full on horror movie vibe. We wouldn’t have been surprised to see some dead people poking their hands up from a lake.

It was amazing!

Lisbon - the city of seven hills

We were quite sad to leave the Algarve after having such an amazing, relaxing and rejuvenating time on the beach, but, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

Not to worry though…our next stop was Lisbon. We had heard fantastic things about Lisbon, so we were quite excited to be checking it out.

We ended up losing half a day in Lisbon due to some logical issues with our car hire, so we wasted no time in hitting the streets when we arrived.

A few thoughts, reflections, and highlights…

> Lisbon is a super hilly town. The town square is basically in a small valley, and then all around on each side the buildings are perched up on the seven surrounding hills. It certainly creates a dramatic cityscape with some really beautiful views. 

> It is obvious that back in it’s heyday, Lisbon would have been an incredibly wealthy, economically vibrant hub of activity. The architecture was quite elaborate in places, almost giving it a Prague-esque feel at times. Today, however, it’s fairly obvious that the economy is struggling, and many of the once grand buildings have been left standing empty, unused, and generally looking tired and run down. On the one hand, this added to the city’s vibe and created quite a unique atmosphere. On the other, it was sad to see a once wealthy city struggling because of the economy.

> One small highlight was heading 20 minutes out of Lisbon to a small town called Belam where we sampled the world famous ‘Pasteis de Belem’ – a Portuguese pasty. This particular recipe was created in 1834 by a group of nuns after they had been expelled from their monastery following a liberal revolution. They originally started selling them as a means of survival, but before long word got out, and people started flocking from far and wide to sample these tasty little gems.  

Sailing through three years of marriage

Clockwise from top left: The pirate ship; jumping off the back deck; view of the ship from a grotto

Clockwise from top left: a view of the grottos; a man fishing off a cliff; a heart shaped view 

through the roof of a cave

We planned our little adventure to the Algarve to line up with our three-year wedding anniversary. As a little treat to ourselves, we decided to do a boat trip where we sailed along the coast, and then got to explore the many caves and grottos that have been created in the cliffs.

The boat that we went on was like an old pirate ship which created a fun vibe. As we headed out along the coast we were fortunate to see some dolphins playing in the ocean…it is always such a novelty seeing dolphins! After an hour or so of sailing, we disembarked the pirate ship and got into a smaller cave boat (dingy) to go and explore the caves (which was quite an adventure in itself given how choppy the water was).

After exploring the caves, we then climbed back aboard the pirate ship and were able go for a swim in the ocean, which involved jumping of the back deck of the boat. After a fair bit of coaxing and convincing, Monique was brave enough to jump in as well. 

The boat trip certainly ranks very highly in our list of most fun things that we have done so far on our adventures.

Overall, we had an amazing time in the Algarve. The beaches were certainly some of the most beautiful that we’ve seen. For the Australians out there, imagine dramatic cliffs like the Great Ocean Road, but with beautiful sandy beaches that are perfect for swimming. It created a stunning combination.

Oh, and the other highlight was the peri peri chicken. Oh. My. Goodness. The authentic, char-grilled Portuguese peri peri was phenomenal. Nandos will never quite cut it again. 

Tired and Stressed in the Algarve

Clockwise from top left: Our safari tent; Praia Da Dona Ana; A fishing village

From Seville, we jumped on a bus and headed across to Portugal, where we would spend five glorious sun-drenched days relaxing on the beaches of the Algarve.

We were particularly excited about this little part of our trip – 5 days in one place with no real agenda is quite a change of pace for us. We were also particularly excited about our accommodation – an eco retreat that does glamping in luxury tipis, yurts and safari tents.

Despite our promise to ourselves that we would spend this time relaxing and rejuvenating, we soon found ourselves in a pretty stressful and tiring daily grind…

8:00 – Wake up

8:30 – Eat breakfast

9:00 – Read while lying in a hammock

10:00 – Go for swim in the camp pool

11:00 – Decide which one of the dozens of glorious beaches in the region that will head to for the day

11:20 – Arrive at the beach

11:30 – Lay towels down, sleep in the sun, and swim in the magnificently warm ocean at regular intervals

1:00 – Eat lunch at a beach side restaurant

1:45 – Return to towels, sleep in the sun, and swim in the magnificently warm ocean at regular intervals

4:30 – Eat an ice cream

5:00 – Return to campsite

5:30 – Go for a swim in the camp pool

6:30 – Cook and eat dinner

8:00 – Relax around the campsite

10:00 – Go to bed

Repeat x 4