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Eight Countries in 41 days
  • Karla Lalim

Eight Countries in 41 days

A 41-day adventure by Karla Read more
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  • Karla LalimEight Countries in 41 daysTraveler
    Our hotel, Casa do Principe greeted us with a port wine.

    Our arrival in Lisbon

    Oct 5–9, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    From our hotel in Porto, we took an Uber to the train station. The train station was small but lots of trains coming and going. While Scott watched our eight bags, I tried to figure out where we were to go to board the train to Lisbon. The Portuguese people were very friendly and helpful, and I found a young gentleman who pointed out where we needed to go to board our train. It was a little walk, but with an elevator, we got to our spot in plenty of time. We were a bit concerned with all our luggage.
    After three and half hours, we arrived in Lisbon. We were thinking someone from our hotel would be there to greet us. But when that didn't happen, a taxi was close by.
    When we arrived at our hotel we were offered two glasses of port wine. A nice way to start our stay!
    Our hotel room was huge with a great view of the city. It worked out great to have our friends staying at the same hotel with us for several nights, and our room had plenty of space for us to sprawl out at the end of a day touring the city.    Read more

  • Karla LalimEight Countries in 41 daysTraveler

    Touring Lisbon by Tuk Tuk

    October 6, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    A little bumpy but a cool way to get around town was taking a Tuk Tuk. The Tuk Tuk driver became our tour guide, too. He had a wealth of knowledge about Lisbon. Throughout the city, artists created murals out of trash. Often, these murals depicted animals. They were quite amazing. Out towards the Atlantic Ocean, there were several impressive monuments. One of those monuments built on the banks of the Tagus River was the Belem Tower. This Tower, officially, the Tower of Saint Vincent, is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. The Monument of the Discoveries is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus River. It's located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient. The monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries. At 170 feet tall, Lisbon's Monument to the Discoveries commemorates the five hundredth anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator, who discovered the Azores, Medeira and Cape Verde. The building of the Monument started in the 1940s but found its final resting place in 1960. My friend Grace and I are standing outside the Lisbon Cathedral, which celebrated an anniversary this year and is the oldest and most important church in the city. Its construction dates back to the 12th century and is predominantly Romanesque in style.Read more

  • Karla LalimEight Countries in 41 daysTraveler
    1grounds of Fatima
    Fatimathe tree the three shepherd children played under when the Virgin Mary appearedinside the Cathedral in Fatima are buried two of the shepherd children who died at a young ageThe third shepherd child became a nun. She lived well into her 90s and died in early 2000.inside the Cathedralon a pillar on the religious groundsNazareNazaretown of Nazare where we had lunchentrance to the walled city of Obidosjust inside the gateway to Obidosa street in Obidos... People were just leaving a weddingObidosoutside the shop where we tried ginjaChocolate cups filled with ginja! We even brought some home.

    Fatima, Nazare, & Obidos

    October 7, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today, we took a small group tour to Fatima and the towns of Nazare and Obidos.
    Next to Jerusalem, the area of Fatima is the next most holy place for Catholics. It was a huge place with both an older cathedral and a huge modern cathedral. According to the Catholic religion, this area was where Mary appeared to three shepherd children. The story is that the Virgin Mary first appeared on May 13, 1917, to three shepherd children playing under a tree. She shared three secrets with them. The first secret was a vision of hell and the suffering of sinners, the second a prediction of the end of the Great War and the beginning of another, and the third a vision of the death of the Pope and other religious figures. She told them they needed to pray and she would return again on the 13th of each month for the next six months. The religious area of Fatima consists of a group of   religious buildings and structures with the main building, Our Lady of the Rosary.
    Nazare was a cute little beachy town. My friend Grace learned how to fillet the sardines she had for lunch. She was kind enough to share her sardines with all of us. I think we were glad we didn't order them...so many tiny bones, although I guess it's OK to eat them.
    Obidos was a cute little historic town. After we got through the city walls, we enjoyed ginja, This cherry liqueur is a famous local drink and is often served in a chocolate cup. It originated with 17th-century monks from the region, who combined Morello cherries and brandy, and drank it as an aperitif or after dinner drink.    Read more

  • Karla LalimEight Countries in 41 daysTraveler
    Pastel de nata
    Yum!the name of this traditional Portuguese restaurant is on the plateso fun to be with good friendsdelicious Italian restaurant... we all loved pizzainside that yummy trendy Italian restaurantJim was pretty excited about his seafood stew at Pinoquiocute Mexican restaurantel Santowalking around LisbonTime OutScott had Oriental foodMy new favorite Italian chefJamie Oliver's restaurant

    Lunches, Dinners, & More

    October 8, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We were very excited to meet our friends from Arizona, the Collins, when we got to Lisbon. They had booked a cruise leaving from Lisbon, so they decided to come a few days early to meet up with us. Grace and Jim had already made dinner reservations at a place our concierge always took his father to when he came to town. After quickly changing clothes, we were off in an Uber to a fun Portuguese restaurant. We enjoyed lots of delicious traditional foods and drinks, lots of seafood, some Italian food and even had some drinks in a Mexican restaurant. One of the highlights we ate a lot while in Portugal was a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry. We had them in Porto, too, but the tarts that melted in your mouth were from Pastéis de Belém. The monks from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos sold pastries in the sugar refinery next door to raise money in the 16th century. Over time, the owner of the sugar refinery bought the recipe, and the refinery became Pastéis de Belém, a café that still sells the original custard tart recipe.
    We said goodbye to our friends on Sunday, October 8th. After Jim and Grace left, Scott and I went to a famous foodie place called Time Out and for our last dinner in Lisbon we enjoyed my favorite food, Italian, down the street from our hotel, Jamie Oliver's.
    The next morning, Monday, October 9th, we took an Uber to the airport and flew Air Canada to Toronto, where we would spend the night before heading back to Arizona. It was an end to a whirlwind tour of seven countries in 41 days. Even though we were glad to get home, we have lots of memories to treasure for years to come.    Read more

  • Karla LalimEight Countries in 41 daysTraveler
    landed in Toronto
    Our hotel...Sheraton Toronto Airportthe lobby

    Toronto, Canada

    Oct 9–10, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We decided to do a layover in Toronto to avoid a long flight home. We originally planned to spend a couple of nights there, so we could see the sights of Toronto. As it turned out, we were only able to spend one night. Early the next morning, on Tuesday, October 10th, we boarded our flight on Air Canada for our flight home. We arrived at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix at 10:45 a.m., full of memories to last a lifetime.Read more

  • Karla LalimEight Countries in 41 daysTraveler

    Toronto, Canada

    Oct 9–10, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    To avoid a long flight back. we decided to do a layover in Toronto. We had hoped to stay two nights, but unfortunately, we were only able to stay one.
    Early on Tuesday, October 10th, we flew Air Canada 🇨🇦 direct to Phoenix, Arizona. Eight countries now in 41 days, what memories we will hold forever in our 💕.Read more

    Trip end
    October 10, 2023
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