Now and again, you just have to spoil yourself. For us we decided that a 20th wedding anniversary was a good occasion to do this. We set out to do a tour of southern Ireland and stay at castles along the way. There is certainly no shortage of castles and ancient ruins in Ireland. Around every corner […]
Road tripping through Ireland isn’t for the faint of heart and can at times have some hair-raising moments, even more so, I imagine, for those (like us) that are used to driving on the right side of the road. Plenty of narrow winding roads must be taken to reach some interesting sights or off the […]
We’ve always wanted to go to Portugal, the land of ancient explorers and navigators. So, when we saw TAP airlines, Portugal’s official airline, offering discounted direct flights from Miami we didn’t waste any time in planning an impromptu vacation to Portugal. We knew that we wanted to visit Lisbon and Porto, so we looked for […]
So yes it’s true. Sardines are everywhere in Portugal. A national treasure these small fish are often just dipped in flour and fried or grilled in a pan or on charcoal. Not our cup of tea but we bought a t-shirt. Codfish is also a famous dish. Often dishes are prepared from dried salted cod, which […]
Sintra is just a short day trip from Lisbon and we would highly recommend it. This scenic town has three principle attractions: the Moorish Castle, the Pena Palace and the Sintra National Palace. All three can be done in one full day. There are trains (basically a subway) leaving Rossio Station, which is in the […]
Porto is a spectacular hillside town with picturesque and colorful buildings. It’s located on the banks of the Douro River in Portugal. Narrow streets with laundry hanging out to dry makes for a lot of pretty pictures. Surprisingly the town is actually quite small and despite the hills very walkable. it’s also famous for its port […]
Lisbon is the city of arrival for most international visitors and serves as a good home base for a visit to Portugal. In fact, it’s well located and could easily serve as a starting point for exploring many parts of Spain as well. The City of Seven Hills has a lot to offer. We would encourage the […]
Unlike much of North America, Europe basically runs on trains. We’ve had a lot of positive experiences using trains in the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Here trains are frequent and seats are roomy. You can often get a discount when buying tickets online in advance. On top of that many lines offer first […]
Following our escapade in Normandy we returned to Paris for a few days. It was our third visit (in 15 years mind you) so much of this was just to go back to familiar haunts and get some fresh pictures of our favorites including the Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Pantheon, Sacré-Coeur, Arc de Triomphe, and of course […]
While we had previously visited Paris and the south of France, we had always dreamed of going back to see Normandy and the northern coast. There is of course a lot of historical significance here with the D-Day beaches and the museums that have been created to remind us of the sacrifices made during WWII. Our […]