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Portugal
  • Dayna Wong
  • Matt Franceschini
  • Dayna Wong
  • Matt Franceschini

Portugal

A 31-day adventure by Dayna & Matt Read more
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  • Trip start
    March 25, 2023
  • Portugal
    1

    Furnas

    March 27, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Great day today. We saw lots of interesting greenery and plant life! Took a quick bath in the thermal pool and then headed to the tea plantation. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at our new favourite store Decathlon and then headed home for the night! Excited for more adventures tomorrow!Read more

  • Portugal
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    Off to Madeira!

    March 29, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We got up for an early flight 🛫 and are now in Madeira! Had to wait about an hour for our rental car but then we were off! It is much warmer here than it was in São Miguel.
    We went to an amazing restaurant in Porto da Cruz (A Pipa) recommended to us by the guy at the rental car station. We then went to Santana and visited the thatch roofed houses.
    We stopped in at the Airbnb for a quick rest and ended the day at Pico do Arieiro for sunset. A bit of a hike but the views were gorgeous!    Read more

  • Portugal

    Monte Palace!

    March 30, 2023 in Portugal

    On the 30th we spent the day exploring Funchal! We started our day with breakfast at Brunch Club and then made our way over to the Mercado dos Lavradores, the local market. After some exploring we went on the Funchal cable car up to Monte Palace - a big multi-level garden with many exotic plants and art. It was amazing and we got to see some African sculptures and traditional Portugese tiles. After a short siesta, we headed out for a nice dinner at Kampo by Chef Julio Pereira, and later some local cocktails! Great day start to finish!Read more

  • Portugal

    Whale watching with no whales

    March 31, 2023 in Portugal

    We started the day with whale watching..... It was SUPER choppy and we sadly saw no whales or dolphins. Walked off the boat with a fond memory, but mostly intense nausea.
    We then took a drive to Cabo Girão. It is one of the highest cliffs in the world at 587m above the sea. There was a glass floor which really gave us the heebie geebies.
    Running out of energy and unsure what to do next, we drove to Valley of the Nuns and spent the afternoon enjoying the scenery and the peaceful atmosphere.
    All in all a good day!    Read more

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    To Lisb- jk one more night in Madeira

    April 1, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    The biggest April Fools joke was played on us... 6 hours before our plane was supposed to take off, our flight got cancelled. We found out while Matt was driving us in and out of tunnels to a lookout point. By the time we stopped 10 minutes later, all the other flight options for the day were taken. We ended up having to book a hotel and book new flights for the 2nd.
    Nikki and Chris were on a different flight (not one that got cancelled fortunately), so we said our goodbyes for a few weeks until London and then hopped on the Aerobus to the hotel. In the end, we got to enjoy one last night in Funchal.    Read more

  • Portugal

    Made it to Lisbon!

    April 2, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After waking up very early to check out and catch our flight, we officially arrived in Lisbon. Today was a day to get acclimated with the city and make a plan for the following days. We walked to St George's Castle for some stunning views of the city, and ran into a few feathered friends who were very chatty. Great first day!Read more

  • Portugal

    Mondays in Lisbon

    April 3, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Turns out, Mondays are not the best in Lisbon. As most attractions are open every day of the week, they chose Monday as their off day, making it an interesting day to plan. We started the day having pasteis de natas from two different places (to compare, of course) and then wandering from Rossio Square to Praca do Comercio, and looking at all the shops. We then went on a Tuk Tuk tour through the Alfama district with our great driver Andres, who loved taking our picture everywhere, which we greatly appreciated. After a siesta in the afternoon, we went to a Fran Clan classic: Hard Rock Cafe!!Read more

  • Portugal

    Belém

    April 4, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    A busy busy day for us. We had an early start and made our way to Belém to see the sights on the other side of Lisbon. We started with a quick stop at Pasteis de Belém to try their natas. Sadly, despite the hype, they were nowhere near as good as the ones we had the day before.
    We then got in the line for Jeronimos Monastery. After 30 minutes we got in and got to see the gorgeous architecture.
    Once we finished touring the monastery we ventured across the street to Padrão dos Descobrimentos. We went up the elevator and could see all of Belém - including the very long line for the monastery we thankfully missed.
    After Padrão we visited Belém Tower. We then had a quick (but delicious) lunch, visited the National Coach museum, and then hopped on a bus to the Tile Museum.
    The Tile Museum was beautiful and we learned about the tile history of Portugal.
    To finish off the day we bussed back to the Rossio Square area, got a 6 pack of the best natas, a bifana (another Portugese delicacy) and finally to the Airbnb for an early night before Sintra the next day.    Read more

  • Portugal

    Sintra: a lesson in Murphy's Law

    April 5, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today we woke up nice and early to start our journey to Sintra for the day. Made our way to the main station (Oriente) and packed our bags in the train station storage. After missing one train by 30 seconds, and having the next get cancelled, we should have known we were in for a long day. Once we finally made it to Sintra, we paid quite a bit for the tourist bus up to Pena Palace... only to find out that it was closed until the afternoon despite us having tickets for 10:30AM! We attempted to go to the Castle of the Moors but again, closed for the morning. We then made our way to Quinta da Regaleira, which was insanely busy because everything else was closed. Throughout all of this, we walked everywhere even though we had an all day ticket for the buses. The bus for the line to Quinta da Regaleira just never seemed to come despite us following the schedule and waiting 15-20 minutes. We had a bus to our next destination at 4:15 and didn't have time to spare. We ended up heading back to Lisbon early and walking to the mall from the train station. On the plus side of all of this I got some new shoes! After a few hours here, we caught the bus to Nazare and got to take in the cute little beach town. The day ended on a good note but we were definitely exhausted from a long day of disappointing adventures.Read more

  • Portugal

    Nazare

    April 6, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Dayna had been fighting some very intense hip and back pain since the trip started and today was by far the worst it's been. She could hardly walk. One of the big things to do in Nazare is to see the fort, its lighthouse, and the surf museum by the fort. This fort is on a big cliff - you could usually take the cable car up to the cliff however, this week the cable car was closed for maintenance. With Dayna having a hard time walking, we tried to get an Uber or a cab to the top from where we were staying but nobody would take us so we missed that stop. Fighting a bit of sadness from missing out on the biggest sight we did some gentle walking along the beach, went to the laundromat, and relaxed in the Airbnb.
    We ended the day getting the most incredible dinner at a traditional Italian restaurant. All ingredients were shipped from Italy. The fresh pasta, the sauces, the wine, the service - everything was a 10/10.
    All in all Nazare is truly beautiful, the waves are mesmerizing, and the people are lovely. We could have spent a lot more time here.    Read more

  • Portugal
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    Arrival in Porto

    April 7, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After a quiet morning and just under 3 hours on the bus from Nazare, we arrived in Porto! We were immediately blown away by the architecture and beautiful views, as well as the hustle and bustle in the downtown core, considering it was Good Friday. We had a city tour by tuk-tuk planned, but unfortunately things went a little wild there, so we ended up trying to salvage what was left of the night. We toured around the Porto Cathedral and got our first look at the Douro River, before heading home for the night.Read more

  • Portugal

    Exploring PORTO!

    April 8, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today was our one day to see the sights of Porto, as tomorrow we are doing a port wine tour in the Douro Valley, so it was quite the day! Starting the day off in the Bolhao district for a quick early breakfast (highly recommend checking out the restaurant in the 2nd pic), we headed from there to Sao Bento, a beautiful, historic train station. After taking the train across the Luis I Bridge, we walked around Gaia before heading down to the docks by cable car, to get on a boat cruise of the Douro River. We took a break from seeing the sights to have some amazing pizza for lunch and then headed to Vitória district to see Clerigos Tower, Carmo Church and the famous Livraria Lello! A very busy day means we worked up quite the appetite, so for dinner we had to try a Porto specialty: the Francesinha. These things were HUGE! With tired bodies and full bellies, we were ready for a good night's sleep before the wine tour the next day.Read more

  • Portugal

    Douro Valley adventure

    April 9, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Today was our port wine tasting tour in the Douro Valley. A little confusion and worry at the starting of the day because they didn't know which bus we were on, but after that, a very smooth day, full of wine and fun. We tried some white, some red, and some port wine, as well as some great regional olive oil. Dayna remembered around this time that she doesn't really like wine, so we knew it would be an interesting day. We went on a very hot boat tour that almost put us to sleep. Once we got off, we went to another winery and learned the winemaking process. We tried 3 more port wines, and then a long bus ride back home. We finished the day with with some chicken salads, beers and a pulled pork sandwich.Read more

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    A week in Albufeira

    April 14, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    This past week we travelled to Albufeira from Porto by a 7 hour long bus ride. We stayed in Albufeira for just under a week. This was our back to work week, we worked 2-10pm so we used the mornings to explore the area (visit the beach and find good coffee).
    It was nice having some more structure to the day and it really pushed us to make the most of the morning.
    It was a great place and we'd love to go back! We even found some really tasty natas... But now on to Lagos!    Read more

  • Portugal

    A week in Lagos

    April 21, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Wrapping up our trip with a week in Lagos. We saw quite a few things while also working our 2-10pm shifts
    We went on 2 tours by boat - one kayaking to the Benagil Cave and the other on a little speed boat to Ponta da Piedade.
    We got to try the famous Piri Piri chicken at Ramires (the "originator" of Piri Piri chicken) and see one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe (Praia da Marinha)
    Most of all, we soaked up the last few days of warm weather, cheap food, and the joy of being abroad! A short stay in London lied ahead and then HOME!    Read more

  • Portugal

    Just touched down in London Town

    April 23, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    The last stretch! Less than 48 hours in London, made even shorter due to a 2 hour flight delay.
    When booking our trip we decided to go to London to watch Chris run the London Marathon and we are so glad we did. After missing him at the 9 mile mark, we were able to see him at around 18 and 25 miles! He smashed his goal of 3 hours and 30 minutes, coming in at 3 hours and 26 minutes. We are so unbelievably proud of him and it was so emotional to watch.
    Chris somehow managed to take a quick nap and rally for a night on the town! We went to a Japanese Bingo, a blues bar and then out for some karaoke!
    All in all an incredible way to end our trip!    Read more

    Trip end
    April 24, 2023
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