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The night sky exploded into a shower of color and light, silhouetted against the dark waters of Banderas Bay in the distance. To our left the golden dome of the church of the Señora de Guadalupe glowed bright, intermittently covered with long shadows cast by her iconic crown from the erupting show of light. Below the streets were crowded with spectators enjoying the spectacle and welcoming in the new year.
Continue reading “Portugal here we come”
It has been a while since I last posted. Well, we’ve been a little busy. Some years ago we started building a home in a lovely area about 45 minutes south of Lisbon, Portugal. And it has been quite the ordeal, providing us with an array of experiences, some good and some, well, some we’re still trying to work through.
I’ll be writing here about this journey which has proven to both humorous at times, (although it wasn’t always so at the moment), as well as educative– we’ve learned a lot along the way. I think that’s partly what’s saved us–seeing what we were undertaking as more of a journey rather than an end-point. Finally receiving the home when it was finished (is it really ever finished?) was just as important as what we learned and experienced along the way..
Continue reading “Lifestyle Changes”
Flo and Ali were in Paris with Ali working while Flo was visiting friends. I was back in Lisbon with a car full of ski equipment and luggage, about to begin a long drive to the Pyrenees. Our plan was to rendezvous in Pau France – me driving and them arriving from Paris by train.
Continue reading “Skiing in the Pyrenees”
Extremadura is a region in Spain that runs along side the Portuguese border, directly east of Lisbon, so in the central/west region of the country. From Lisbon it’s 200 km, or just a couple of hours drive away. We decided to do a short circuit tour of this region that would take us first to Merida in the south, then north taking in the towns of Cáceres, Trujillo and Plasencia, and then further up and then back west to La Alberca and Cuidad Rodrigo, before heading back to Lisbon.
Continue reading “A visit to Extremadura Spain”
Florence spent her early family winter vacation years skiing in the French Alps, in the village of La Clusaz. As it was her birthday coming up, we decided to have a family vacation and revisit La Clusaz, and invite her mother Paddy along.
Continue reading “Skiing in La Clusaz, France”
Since selling our home in Mexico we’ve been looking for a place to replace it, an escape from the cold in the winters but somewhere a little closer to Lisbon. Our searching first took us to Madeira, but that wasn’t quite warm enough. The next place to check out was the Canary Islands, which we visited in January of this year (2023).
Continue reading “The Canary Islands – Tenerife”
When in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico we used to have a place to the north of the city, situated next to the beach, where we could go on weekends with the kids to enjoy the ocean. As everyone in the family loved the water, we all enjoyed surfing, waterskiing, paddle boarding and swimming.
Continue reading “Next Adventure: Building in Lagoa de Albufeira”
I had no expectations going into Santorini, and perhaps that’s the best way to first get to know it. I had done very little reading about it prior or during our trip, just knew it was our last stop before flying back to Portugal. My education on Santorini began when Hariz, who we rented our car from, picked us up at the ferry port and brought us to his office, a few blocks from our beachfront hotel. On the way he told us about Thera, the volcano, and what we should see and do in Santorini.
Continue reading “Cruising the Cyclades – Santorini”
In the Spring of 2015 we cruised the eastern seaboard of the United States, from Florida to Washington, on board the yacht Sockeye Blue with our good friends John & Tina Philippson. Their 80-foot Nordhavn was a beautiful ship, and we enjoyed three fun-filled weeks exploring this coastline. They would eventually sell Sockeye Blue, but in 2021, eager to get another Nordhavn and this time to explore the Mediterranean and the rivers and canals of Europe, they bought Prosecco III, a 41-footer fresh off the production line in Turkey. Prosecco was purchased purposely smaller, so it could fit inside the locks and canals.
Continue reading “Cruising the Cyclades Islands on Prosecco III”
For the second time in two years we decided to drive up to northern France from Lisbon for our summer vacation, rather than fly. Covid is a primary reason as flying is rather complicated these days, but even more so we really enjoyed the drive last year and the places we visited along the way.
Continue reading “Portugal-to-France Road Trip”