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Walking and cooking – Last Day Part II
After leaving the tile museum, we took a taxi to the Praca de Commercio, Lisbon’s big riverfront town square. That was the start of Rick Steves’ self-guided Baixa walking tour. The Baixa area is basically downtown Lisbon and was completely rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake and tsunami. The area now has lively pedestrian streets and…
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Tile Away the Hours – Last Day Part I
Our last full day in Lisbon was a great end to our trip. We went to the National Tile Museum, took a long walk and went to a cooking class for dinner. However, I’m splitting up our last day into two posts, so I can dedicate a lot of space to the tile museum. This…
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A mountain castle, a mountain town and a beach resort
We spent our whole day today with our tour guide, Adelino Jorge. He told us to call him “Mr. George.” He is a very gregarious tour guide with a wealth of knowledge about our main destinations — Pena Palace, the mountain town of Sintra and the beach town of Cascais. The first thing you notice…
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First two days in Portugal – a lot of wine!
Combining two Portugal days into one post, this is going to seem like a lot of wine and food, LOL. We arrived in Portugal yesterday afternoon. When checking in, we asked the hotel concierge for tips on dinner. She suggested Cervejaria Ribadouro, known for its fresh meat and seafood. Here is the restaurant’s display of…
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In the Footsteps of O’Malleys
We left Cong this morning and set off to explore County Mayo, where Will’s paternal Irish ancestors originated. I’ve done a little genealogy on Will’s behalf, and we had his DNA tested before this trip. As with all humans, you receive 50% of your DNA from each parent. Of the DNA from his dad, half…
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Ancient Ring Forts, sheep herding and our first entry into County Mayo
I am now two days behind on the blog, so I’m going to catch up kind of quickly with a recap of prehistoric Ireland, sheep herding demos and our first steps into County Mayo, where Will’s family came from. Our day started today with saying goodbye to the rest of the family, as they headed…
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Cliffs of Moher and Doolin Town
We were very excited that when we woke up, the nasty weather prediction seemed to prove untrue. Our BnB hostess commented that it rained overnight, so maybe the storm had passed. It was all sun and puffy clouds when we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher visitor’s center. Note that the center and the shops…
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A Castle, a Coast and Christy Barry
The adventures today including learning how to drive on a different side of the road, visiting a thousand-year-old castle ruin, seeing the Atlantic Ocean and a night of traditional Irish music in a private residence near Doolin. I also added a few comments by Nezzie here and there below. No photos of the driving, but…
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Historical Tours, a Naked Composer and a Seagull Heist
This post includes three bird references, including a robbery. See if you can spot all three. Today we all moved a little more slowly but got ourselves ready for our first activity – a tour of the Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship, a replica of the real Jeanie Johnston, one of the many ships that Irish…
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Dublin Surprise
Today was the first day of our Ireland Portugal trip. I had asked Will where he would like to go in honor of his 60th birthday. These were two of the places he named. So, on his birthday, I presented him with an itinerary for both countries. What he didn’t know was that I coordinated…
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