Portugal and Paris - July 2022

This epic adventure was a once in a lifetime trip.
So many people commented on how amazing it was that 3 generations were traveling together (to be fair Bailey was probably one of the youngest Viking guests they’ve had, but she did get along splendidly with the crew!)
We learned that while guided tours are often important and very helpful, sometimes you just want to explore on your own.
The roads in the Douro valley are very windy and even the heartiest of travelers can get sick of the constant motion and swaying of the bus 😝
Our weather was spectacular – sun for the entire 12 days – but Portugal could definitely use some rain. We actually saw the smoke from a brand new forest fire not far from one of our excursions and watched water bombers scoop water from the Douro River during our stop in Pinhao.
We were amazed at all the vacant and abandoned dwellings along the river and roads. In many cases they are family owned estates that no family member wishes to live in anymore and they can’t be sold. They have a beauty all their own.
We saw new and exciting birds including the Booted Eagle and a Griffon, Kev and I found geocaches in 3 countries and we saw 7 Bordalo II art creations.
The general consensus was that although Paris is hyped as a place to visit, it was somewhat underwhelming 🤔
I can’t even begin to count how many photos we all took but we will have many memories to last us a lifetime.Okumaya devam et