DAY 1
We had a morning flight out of Salt Lake City with a short layover in Newark. Then it was an evening flight straight to Lisbon where we were ready to hit the ground running... Well almost, we had to make it through customs first which was one of the longest lines we have ever encountered going into another country. It was about a 2 hour wait! Luckily our rental car driver called and said he would come right back once we were through customs. The car rental company was AMAZING. They picked us up from the airport in our rental car, drove us to the business where we signed a couple of documents and we were on our way!
DAY 2
After our long customs at the airport we were ready to see the sites! We started in a small town about 45 minutes North of Lisbon called Sinatra. We started at the Mansion - Quinta da Regaleira which was built in 1892 by a Viscountess. She started with the house then added a church and grounds. It was amazing. We were able to visit the Initiation Well on the grounds and stopped at the little cafe near the church for some lunch - crescent sandwiches which hit the spot!
We then wanted to find the National Palace of Sintra but unfortunately GPS does not work exactly like it does in the United States. It took us nearly an hour and a half after having to stop for directions many times. We were able to see the castle right on top of the hill but just couldn't reach it. We finally made it and took a little tram ride up to the National Palace which started the building process in the 15th century and continued to be added on for several more centuries. It had a beautiful view over the entire city and Valley,
After visiting the National Palace, we walked down through grounds near the palace called Pena Gardens. They were amazing and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! We were exhausted from such a long day, we were ready to eat dinner and call it a night. We drove to the city Evora where we decided to eat in the restaurant. Skyler said he was still full from lunch and so tired he just wanted an appetizer. We laughed when they brought his miniature portion out for him. We offered to buy him an actual meal but he declined and said he was too tired. So he had a few morsels to eat and we tucked our little 6'2" Wookie in bed for the night.
DAY 3
We drove to a little town in Western Portugal called Elvas. There we were able to visit the Castle of Elvas built in 1166 and was reconstructed many times since. Skyler even scored a large lemon he picked off of a large lemon tree. It smelled so good. Skyler couldn't wait to eat it, thinking it would be sweeter than the lemons in the US he cut it open prematurely and had one taste and realized it was too sour by itself. The town itself was so quaint with very few visitors. We loved the Evora Cathedral and the chiming bells every hour. We walked around the streets and grabbed some pastries and ice-cream in town. We then headed to a Fort called Forte De Graca which was built in the 1700's and was Massive! The walls were extremely thick to hold off any attackers. The Royal family lived there for a time.
We noticed as we were traveling to the next city that there were several above ground aqua-ducts that were built in the 16th century. Because it allowed the people to have running water, it is said that they had fewer illnesses and deaths. After Elvas, we drove to Badojas, Spain. We had a hard time finding an open restaurant at 2pm since everything closes between meals. We were starving because we decided to wait until we got to Badojas to eat thinking we could have an authentic Spanish meal, but after driving around for an hour and nobody speaking English we finally found ourselves in a grocery store with the best food ever! we had pasta, salads, meats, cheese etc... Who knew? Skyler even bought fresh squeezed orange juice from a machine that squeezed the oranges right in front of you. It was a great experience, but Spain wasn't what we expected.
After a long day traveling between cities and site-seeing, we made it back to our hotel, cleaned up and decided we would rent the city scooters around the town and find a nice restaurant to eat dinner at. We learned quickly that Scooters and cobble stone streets do not mix well. It was the bumpiest ride ever and caused us to have jelly arms. We kept trying to find a smooth road or sidewalk, but I guess when you are in a city built in the 1700's it is a little difficult to find such a thing. It is definitely worth a laugh now and we have no idea why anyone would want to rent them there. The yummy dinner we ate that night made up for our tortuous ride.
DAY 4
We decided to stay and tour the little city we were staying in, Evora for the day. We started a the Church of Bones which was incredible. There were over 5000 bodies exhumed to build the designed walls. During the wars, it was preserved since it was illegal to fight within church walls. We then headed to the Evora Cathedral and ate Ice-cream in town. We then went to some Roman ruins in the center of town which was built as a main public square in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. And we thought the 1700's was old...
After touring Evora, we drove down to Algarve where we would be staying for the next 3 days. After checking into our hotel, we headed to Old Town Algarve where we walked the beach and watched the crashing waves that were becoming larger due to a storm coming in. We then had an incredible seafood meal where we sat by a live band playing US 80's music. We couldn't stop at that and had to stop for some crepes for dessert.
DAY 5
We were really excited to go kayaking around the Bengali Caves and headed towards the rental store. Unfortunately because of the storm the night before, the waves were very large and unsafe to kayak. We were a little bummed but decided we could kayak the next day before heading back to Lisbon. So we headed to the Algarve Grotto which includes the twin arches. We walked around the boardwalk there and the trails enjoying the ocean and scenery. The sun finally came out so we decided to go to Lagos Beach and relax. We saw a couple body boarding so Skyler really wanted to go as well. Dad walked around the beach trying to find a rental store but when he couldn't find one he asked the couple now laying on the beach where they rented theirs. They explained they were theirs but were happy to let us use them for an hour or two which was perfect! The water was a little cold at first, but nothing different than a California beach. We then showered and headed back to Old Town for another seafood dinner, souvenirs and crepes. Dad even found an accordion player with a Chihuahua that he couldn't help but give him money, not for his talent but for his dog.
DAY 6
We stayed at a hotel that had an extra large soccer field, so before leaving the next morning for our new adventures, Skyler wanted to go out and kick around his miniature soccer ball he bought the night before. Mom and Dad really showed their ages out on the field. Skyler had some great kicks and great saves. We finally made it to Benagil Caves where we rented our kayaks and headed out for an adventure. Dad and Mom shared a Kayak and Skyler decided to rent a paddle board. We were following Skyler for a bit when we noticed a boat came out of a very low lying cave. We figured if they were big enough to go in, we were small enough to fit. We weren't sure what we would find or see. It was AMAZING! It was like the Pirates of the Caribbean. We beached our kayaks and walked around the sandy beach exploring what we could for a while. We then realized there must be many more so we continued on finding little caves to explore and ended up under the twin arches. Our last stop on our way back was the Main Benagil cave which was incredible. It was very crowded and boats would come in with tourists, take pictures and leave without getting out which was a great adventure to walk under the cave. It was a definite highlight of our trip and glad the weather cooperated with us for a while. When it was time to take our kayaks back, Dad warned mom about how to beach the kayak with the waves. He didn't look back to warn us that a giant wave was coming in so as we paddled as fast as we could, the wave took us out which we were trying not to get wet since we had a long car ride ahead of us back to Lisbon. Luckily they had showers there and we were able to change into some clean clothes before heading back to the car.
We then headed back to a small town about 20 minutes South of Lisbon and stayed at the Pousada Castelo de Pamela which was a castle built originally built in 300AD. Some of the ruins of the original still remain. Half of the castle has been renovated into a hotel which was incredible. Our view over the city was amazing. We were able to walk around the grounds and the church and have an incredible meal at the hotel's restaurant. The pricing of the food was very reasonable so we made sure not to waste any money and order nearly everything on the menu. Luckily Skyler is a growing boy and was able to help us eat nearly all of it.
DAY 7
It was our last full day on our trip so we knew we needed an early start. We drove to Lisbon where we had tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus which included the trolley rides. WE went to the Basilica De Estrela which was beautiful. They were having a service and the singing was angelic. We paid a little extra to climb the stairs to the roof which overlooked Lisbon and we could walk in near the ceiling of the church and look down. Mom isn't afraid of heights typically but it was a little high and she was definitely a little nervous at first looking over the rail. We then stopped at Belem Tower and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos. Along the way we ran into some LDS Missionaries where we chatted with the district for a while. Most just recently arrived due to Covid. What a beautiful place to serve. Dad and Skyler even found some time to exercise with some equipment they have available to anyone who would like to use it. Good thing they were able to burn a few calories before eating our amazing lunch. We walked around the city and took a Tuk Tuk back to the middle of town where we were able to ride on a cable car through the narrow streets of Lisbon. We had yet another amazing Seafood dinner in the middle of the square outside. We then looked for Kinder Eggs since that was the one item Skyler really wanted to take home. We looked high and low and couldn't find them. So we stopped by a few small towns to look in their stores which were mostly closed due to the late time. We actually found a mall where Skyler found a few Kinder Eggs, but not the exact ones he wanted. We said we would look before our flight the next day. We needed our sleep for the long upcoming flight.
DAY 8
Since we never found the Kinder Eggs Skyler wanted, we tried looking for a store on our way to the airport but couldn't find one. So after we had checked our luggage, Dad offered to run to the gas station we had passed to see if they had any there, which shows dad's love for Skyler since dad hasn't run over a mile in over 5 years at one time. So he and Skyler took off running. Mom was getting a little nervous since we weren't sure how crowded security would be. After 45 minutes, sweating they came back empty handed. They ran to not only one gas station but 2!!! Skyler was definitely bummed since that was the only souvenir he really wanted. Well, luck would have it that we actually found them in the airport after we passed through security. He was ecstatic and we bought 5 full boxes for him. The run was good for dad though especially since we would be sitting on the flight for over 8 hours. It was a great trip, but it was time to head back to life and reality.
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