Portugal with Sarah and Daniel October 2022

We got to go to Portugal with Sarah and Daniel Franco

for a long weekend. Daniel is Portuguese, his family moved to the U.S. when he was little, but he still has loads of other family there and goes back almost yearly. It is without question so much nicer to travel somewhere with a “local” so this trip was a treat not only because we got to hang out with “Auntie Ducky” and “Uncle Daniel.” Sally adores them (as do we!) and there’s pretty much endless giggling amongst adults and the child, alike.

We all arrived Saturday morning, picked up the car, and zipped over to a neighborhood of Lisbon called Sintra. This is a magical region filled with castles and gardens a fairytale-esque aesthetic. The roads are narrow and windy, making for a roller-coaster ride experience. After lunch with a charming waitress, we walked around the town (tried cherry wine in a chocolate cup, even a virgin version for Sally) oohing and aahing at the gorgeous buildings and colors. The Sintra Palace is known for its paired pyramidal chimneys but we only poked around outside.

Then Sarah suggested we walk up to the Quinta da Regaleira and explore the gardens, which Daniel had adored as a child. This reminded me of Parc Guëll in Barcelona but on steroids. An endless maze of wandering trails, caves, and even a several-story well replete with a staircase. Jet-lagged Sally logged a good five miles sprinting up and down and through and around. She deemed it “the best place she’s ever been,” which, as a very well-traveled and fortunate child, is quite a compliment.

That admittedly tired us out a bit after the 2:30 am start so we headed to the Airbnb that Daniel had found out by the coast in the Sintra district. The fog was just rolling in as we arrived, which made for a dramatic entrance. Actually, we first tried to break into the wrong house (darn weird Portuguese directions) but thankfully then found the correct one (without actually embarrassingly ourselves or getting in trouble for breaking and entering). A lovely groundskeeper from Ontario let us in and showed us around. “Are there only 4 of you??” he asked, with surprise, because the house was gargantuan. Apparently it used to be some sort of wine storage facility that was redone, which explained the vast open spaces and interesting décor. I’ve never seen such an intensively decorated rental property before, and it was incredibly tasteful and fun to explore. Sally of course adored it, as it had ladders and lofts and weird old books etc. I loved it for those reasons plus the piano (out of tune but added to the creepy vibe) and cliff-side location.

Daniel went into “town” to grab food, while Sally decorated the vast dining room table with candelabras and literal silverware. By dusk we could actually not even make out the ocean, the fog was so thick. However, the crashing waves kept us apprised of the ocean’s location, and provided sonorous background noise for sleep that night.

On Sunday morning we spent more time exploring the airbnb (yes it was that large!) and nearby cliffs as the fog had thankfully cleared. There were numerous fisherman with insanely long lines dropped several stories down to the ocean yet we only saw one or two catch a fish. Daniel eyeballed the waves and reminisced about his surfing days.

From there we drove down to Daniel’s parents’ condo in the Algarve in Armação de Pêra). We crossed the bridge out of Lisbon heading south that was very reminiscent of the Golden Gate, and saw their Christ the Redeemer (smaller but otherwise the one in Rio de Janeiro) Along the drive we saw loads and loads of storks’ nests up in the power lines but nary a stork in them. However, then we were treated to a mustering of storks in a newly churned up farm field (yes, “mustering” means group of storks, I had to look that one up). There were also groves and groves of cork trees, unabashedly naked and red around their middle from recent harvests. Other than storks and cork trees, though, it looked very much like driving through the central valley of California perhaps down towards Fresno, heading towards the central coast. Flat bits, hills building up, live oak trees, cattle, vineyards. Naturally I loved it!

The condo is beautiful with an ocean and pool view, and just minutes’ walk from the beach and town. It also sits along a cliff-side trail that made for a nice run one morning. We spent the late afternoon into the evening at the beach. We swam and jumped in waves for hours. The water was chilly, but worth it! It was so clear without any current and just the right-sized waves. It was really the first time Sally spent that much time playing in waves (usually they’re too big or it’s too cold or rocky or something that displeases her highness). Auntie Ducky was a good influence, though, and Sally again said it was one of her best times ever.

A later dinner in town along the water was followed by a delightful walk to get ice cream. Sally and Daniel literally danced their way there, doing the shopping cart and sprinkler; and Daniel and Sarah taught us the Portuguese polka on the way back. Sally also turned out to be a Portuguese cat whisperer, though I’m happy to report that the stray cats looked very healthy. They had notched ears indicated “trap and release” for spay/neuter/vaccines and apparently they build little “catteries” around (we saw a couple while there) for the cats to have shelter and a reliable food source.

On Monday we headed over to Lagos (west about half an hour along the Mediterranean coast) and took a big sailboat (Bom Dias) out to the grottos. They anchored out there and took us in small groups into the grottos/caves themselves. The crew was very knowledgable, kind, and darn impressive boat captains (navigating those tiny channels with other boats and kayaks etc.). We also jumped off the sailboat to swim (yup, still freezing). The other folks on the trip were incredibly enthusiastic and the overall atmosphere was very festive. We could also see, from the boat, the lighthouse that is the farthest southwestern tip of Portugal.

We spent that afternoon again at the beach in Armação de Pêra, plus checked out the local caves at the beach there, and were treated to some lovely rainbows (rare there, so perhaps we brought them with us from Ireland). We had another lovely dinner in town, where Sarah’s humongous drink was the most memorable part of the meal.

Tuesday dawned another beautiful day so we spent this final morning at the beach. We did some snorkeling and Daniel taught Sally how to body board (she was a good sport but hasn’t yet mastered it quite yet.

Then we had to hit the road to head back north (we were hugely grateful to Daniel and Sarah for spending one of their precious few days transporting us to Lisbon). We first again went back to Sintra to check out Pena Palace, which Sally had learned about in school last year so it was definitely on the "must see" list. . The fog came back in, again contributing to an enchanted atmosphere. Pena was nuts! Next time we will explore the grounds more, because the gardens seemed endless and magnificent. The actual palace looks like they took several palaces drawn by small children and smushed them together. The architecture is disjointed and colorful. The royal family only moved out quite recently (1909), but the original monastery was built there in around 1500. As we toured along the walkway there were brief moments in which the fog lifted and we had a view down to Lisbon and the Moorish castle ruins above.

We finished up our trip with yet another delicious meal at La Sangria, which was on the water aside the port. This gave us a perfect view of the beautiful sunset and I always love watching ships big or small so I was in heaven.

At the airport we picked up a box of Portugal’s famous pastel de nata for David. These custard-filled pastries are delicious in any form and even the airport version is exceptional. Can’t wait to get back to Portugal again, which lucky for me will be happening in December! Huge thank you to Sarah and Daniel for such a magical visit.