Exploring the Ajuda Neighborhood On our escape from Europe, we are passing through Portugal’s vibrant capital for four days. Surprisingly we had never been here so we decided to devote our time to discovering the city, and save Sintra and surrounding areas for another visit. We chose an apartment west of the center in the Ajuda neighborhood, which we noted looks…
In Summary... This was our second time to this Portuguese gem of a city…this time in much different circumstances. The first in May 2022 was a brief four days, warm, already congested and crowded, and I (Mandy) was on excruciatingly limiting crutches. The second, due to a 2.5 week housesit, was cool and rainy, easy to bypass any crowds, and I…
To Porto (from Baku, Azerbaijan) Our 38-hour westward odyssey from Baku to Porto...consisted of a series of unsatisfying siestas in stupendously contorted positions…three budget airplanes featuring a zero degree pitch on their seat back tilt…a hate/hate, literal on/off relationship with my now compulsory compression socks …and our saving grace thanks to our Venture X credit card, a stream of Shangri-La-ounges…
It’s phenomenal what can happen in your life when you just will it to happen. And, sometimes things serendipitously cruise along at the perfect time, with the perfect people and the perfect place. We feel this way about this last minute housesit in rural Castelo Branco, Portugal, a place we never would have gone otherwise, and is an example of…
From Porto, we hopped a one hour train ride north to the town of Braga, a lively city which is one of the oldest in the country dating more than 2000 years. In fact, in the Middle Ages it competed in power and importance with Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Its cathedral is the oldest in the country built in…
Porto is one of those cities that is dripping with European charm...red roof tops, contrasting sapphire blue waters, port wine flowing like water, and azulejos bedecking every other surface you encounter. It has a long and fascinating history as a port city, endless captivating colors and pedestrian thoroughfares dotting the spaces near the Douro River. It's undoubtedly immensely walkable, and…
