Portugal is Magical…..Pinch me!

Wow…..what a long travel day and first day of new exploring for Dora and my Fancy Tracy! Reminder….Tracy is my 5 star friend who I did 1 week in France with years ago, and another week with her and her 2 children in Italy 4 years ago.. We are great travel partners and total opposites, yet jive so well together. I think we each have an alter ego side like the other that we work so well together. None the less the adventure began with a round about way of crossing the globe. PHX- SLC-CDG-LIS.

To catch up where I left off, Dora and Boots made it home after our easy first class experience thanks to Boots and my daddy’s AMerican status to get us the upgrade. Lucky, especially after having to turn around again today- no complaints…feeling extremely blessed that this is MY life… halleluyah! I watched the Netflix movie everyone has suggested, the Jonah Hall documentary called Stutz. Check it out if you want…my favorite line in the movie, “True confidence is living in uncertainty and keep going”. So true, especially in my life lately. It was a real, raw film about life in all of our minds if we actually stop, listen, and pay attention to your psyche. I enjoyed it! Crazy that was all yesterday….Also shout out to all the comments and replies. Boots and I enjoyed reading….Vince, CUJ, Roz, Danielle, Esther, Sari, Rach, and the others. I love the interaction while writing/traveling.

Okay….So our day began with all the airports, we got super lucky and were upgraded to Comfort Plus on Delta the SLC-CDG, 10 hour flight. The extra leg space came in handy and we were so grateful. Our angels are right beside us. Tracy is also a Gedale Fenster addict, we are both excited to start our days with him while traveling. We were served our meals, watched 3 movies(1 adoption related, the other a Hanukkah Hallmark, and my staple The Holiday), read, chatted, and somehow the time went by, sadly I did not sleep more than, maybe 30 min, Tracy about 1-2 hours. We did meet 2 men on the plane from Montana. They both work for Montana Dept of Agriculture. I love hearing about other careers, not as obsessed as I used to be, now that Im finally settled in that area of life again. But these guys have cool jobs, they travel so much internationally. He had been on 5 different trips to cool Destinations in South America. Heading to Madrid for a whiskey distillery show and garbanzo bean show….did you know the largest distribution of garbanzo beans/chick peas in the US come from Montana? Okay….who cares, I hear half of you saying-lol…they were real typical Americans with cowboy hats and all. We were intrigued by the conversations.

So our 2 hour layover was in Paris, as many of you know this is my least favorite European city….The security in this airport was insane. We must have gone through 2 passport controls, 2 x-rays, were driven outside under bridges in the back-alleys of the airport to be transferred to a different terminal to go through security’s again. Good thing we had 2 hours. It was freezing cold and rainy in Paris. We made it to our gate right in time for boarding with a pastry stand in front. Who can be in France and not eat….oink 🐷🐽oink…these little piggies will be walking our little toes off as we both LOVE food.….We got on the last leg of this 5 day Portuguese jaunt.

Luis greeted us in Lisbon with a huge sign Welcome Tracy Cohen….we were delighted to meet this very kind soul. Our personal driver/tour guide for the day. I will be watching the famous documentary, 100 ft Wave, Tracy had seen to learn about our first destination….we were driven 1 hour to the beautiful sleepy coastal surf town Nazare. The Atlantic Ocean was majestic, especially with the grey sky and puffy white clouds. Luis gave us some history and factual information about the Country, which I love to learn about. Portugal is a tiny country with a total population of 10 million people, 2.2 million live in Lisbon, while 1.6 million are in Porto. I inquired about the religion, as huge cathedrals and beautiful churches are everywhere. 99% of Portugal is Catholic, I will be lighting my candles and saying my prayers/wishes. Gas is $8 a gallon, NUTS, the biggest business used to be the exportation of wine, now tourism is number 1 . So many Americans are buying real estate and moving here. Everyone speaks english so far and many accept the USD.

It had just stopped raining. Luis dropped us at a strip of seafood restaurants to choose from right along the water. We shared our first Portugal meal…It was 2 pm on Sunday…we had a fresh grilled sole, buttery potatoes, and spinach. Shared a half bottle of red wine. They gave complimentary bread rolls, tuna fish, and the best olive oil. I remember why Europe has the BEST oil… Soooo Good! After lunch Luis met us to stroll to see the fishing boats and all the VERY old ladies selling and drying the salted cod. This is a true art here and what they do….I will spare the details of this salting process. Pictures to truly understand. Back to our luxurious Mercedes to continue on the drive. FYI, fancy Tracy used BTA to book our hotels and transfers, as she is getting married in June and using Rebecca for her honeymoon travel planning. Small world, as this is the boutique travel agency I attempted to work for my short time prior to the covid timing. Hence our 5 star luxury service. I must say, it is all SO very nice….Bruce style for sure! 😉

We made our way to Sitio, the town above Nazare where you can see breathtaking views of these large waves. It almost felt like a bit of Hawaii yet European, there was a hippy guy playing a guitar singing near a sunflower on a green cliff-side, a surf shack selling surf boards, so many tourists walking- taking photos, the sounds of waves crashing and hitting the rocks along cliffs…..Not sure my descriptions are doing this scene justice. I love to reread and experience my precious memories. There was a lighthouse and the sun had creeped out, locals were selling all sorts of snacks, textiles, and art. The church bells were ringing, and the sounds of seagulls were surrounding us. Im remembering why I LIVE TO TRAVEL!! Boy have I missed the adventurous life of exploring. Dora is freaking BACK!!

We left the beauty of the Sea for the 2 hour drive to our final destination of Porto for the next 3 nights. Driving by soooo much greenery, grape vineyards, pine trees, eucalyptus trees, all while its raining. I finally fell asleep a little. We are running on fumes, its been 20+hours of no sleep. We arrived in Porto, its dark and wet, and 630pm….our reservation for dinner, thanks to a Sari recommendation is at 7pm. We are still in flying clothes and have not brushed our teeth since leaving AZ, perhaps TMI.

We are greeted in the lobby of our ridiculously gorgeous hotel along the Duoro River. I honestly cannot wait for the morning to truly soak in where we are staying. Francesca gives us a tour and shows us to our room. This room is beyond lovely with doors and a balcony facing the river, lights of this magically quiet charming town. A note from Rebecca & BTA (Boutique Travel Advisors) welcoming us with cookies, a fruit dish, a small bottle of port, and chocolate wafers. Somehow I changed, we both cleaned up in seconds and made it to Tapabento for dinner just in time. The table next to us on the second floor of this quaint spot was a couple from Israel. Every dish they had we drooled over and had to order. Our yummy Tortilla Espanola, Beef Carpaccio, Oxtail Dumplings, Zucchini Parmesan Casserole, the famous green wine, and a delicious banana cookie creamy dessert with coffee. Yes…..We will be walking MILES tomorrow.

We walked these sleepy magical streets home, we cant stop saying how much we feel like this scenery is out of a fairytale, not real, reminds us of a smaller version of Venice, yet so different. I really think in the morning I will have a better description, plus sleep to sound more coherent. Not loving this entry, but getting all the details down before I close my eyes

. There is a famous egg/custard tart that every travel book has mentioned. Actually Luis told us where it originated from in Lisbon, and the plan was to wait and eat it there. We stumbled upon a store on the walk home and Tracy could not resist……OMG, it was mouth watering YUMMY,!! Everything minus our itinerary is SO cheap in Portugal. The food and drinks are cheap!! We walked down the hill to the river and see our gorgeous balcony, and our stunning Hotel. We are greeted by Francesca and we looked around our charming lobby. Its very chic, yet not overly pretentious at all….super quiet, and quaint. We love our new home. Time to shower, finally get clean and ready for bed. Tomorrow starts with our complimentary breakfast, and a 10am Segway tour. Sweet dreams to our Followers….Im excited to wake up to your replies. And safe travels to my sister….Jackie is on her way to Israel. So excited to hear about her adventures and first trip to the Holy Land!

hugs and Kisses…XO

love Laurie Sue, AKA Dora and Fancy T ❤️