[Our internet isn't very strong now, so I'm not able to put up pictures]


Ola! We're back in action with the internet! I have lots to update you all on since it has been a week and a half since my last post. I will touch on the highlights with pictures again :)

Sunday June 26th
We traveled from Luis's second home by the resevoir to Fatima - and my oh my it was HOT. Very very HOT. It was hard to get through the day because it was 100+ degrees and muggy. I don't do too well with that combination. Fatima was neat and it's THE pilgrimage site in Portugal. There was a continuous sighting of a woman (probs the Virgin Mary) with three children during WWI and she told them about the future and reappeared to the community so the children would be believed. It's a unique story and I recommend that you look it up. After that we went to the town of Batalha (pronounced "bah-THAI-lyah") where it was still hot to check out another church. It was pretty huge and it was where the Manueline style originated. We looked for a gargoyle of a monkey's ass that is pointing east...aka towards Spain. Unfortunately we didn't have any luck. We drove to Obidos (pronounced "Obi" like Obi-wan, and "dos" like the number two in Spanish, but throw an 'sh' on the end, so "Obi-dosh") which is a fortified town with a castle wall encircling it! It's very small and we managed to arrive when all of the tourists were leaving (WOO!). We stayed in a fabulous apartment in the center of town. Patrick and I wandered around then found a way up to the top of the castle wall, then decided it would be fun to walk around the whole thing. It was pretty great! With beautiful views. That night we went to a restaurant called Alcaide, which is prounounced ""Al Qaeda" - Yep, there were lots of jokes. We walked back to our apartment and stopped to have shots of Ginja (a cherry liqueur, yummy) in chocolate cups (double yummy!).

Monday
We ventured to the most western point of Europe, where you can buy certificates saying you went to the most western point of Europe, which the Alves insisted we get. I insisted we take pictures with them. Following that tacky tourist moment, we went to Sintra to see the castles and other palaces built in the surrounding areas. All of these incredible places are in the jungle/forest that is incredibly lush and gorgeous. We also went to the fort bult by the Moors almost 1000 years ago - it was sucked in fog but it was still a fun adventure! After that we returned to Lisboa and ate sushi(!) with Luis then went to sleep.

Tuesday
We went to the big shopping center in Lisbon, the Colombo, and spend over an hour in Zara - it was great! Haha at least for me :) . We ran out of there and headed for the airport and caught our flight to Sao Miguel (my uncle made sure we sat on the right side of the plane so that we could see the island as we flew in). We ended staying the next two nights at my uncle's cousin's house with her family because the hot water wasn't working at my uncle's home. We went to our first festa (pronounced "feshta") in Ribeira Grande, and it was a neat parade made up of 12 nearby towns dancing, in costumes, singing, with choreography (it can be done!).

Wednesday
We walked through RG with the San Jose State Portuguese group and went to the Emigration Museum and a museum of little figurines made by a nun (really random). Both museums were created by my uncle's cousin's husband who is the mayor of RG. We saw festa #2, after stopping at a cafe, from city hall! We ate a lot of their food too (really delicious). It was really neat to be in the central location for the parade of horses that has been happening for hundreds of years. That night we drove to Ponta Delgada (15ish minutes away) for dinner and another festa spot with a live DJ and kiosks of booze (we had yummy caiphininas - wow I think I spelled that completely wrong). On one of the menus there was "Festa de SHOTS" so that has incorporated it's way into our daily diction.

Thursday
We started our day off by going liquor tasting. Yep. At the place that makes the passion fruit liqueur (my family knows all about this), among other things. It was cool to go there and see all of the flavors they make, including a honey aguardente which is actually pretty good. That afternoon we moved into my uncles house in Calhetas (pronounced Cal-yetish) and we went to the hiper market (pronounced EEPER market) - to the hyper market, aka a supermarket with camping gear, clothing, etc. It's as if Safeway and Super Target were combined. That night we went back to RG for yet another festa - the city of Ribeira Grande is celebrating their 30 years of being a city.

Friday
On our way to two tea plantations we stopped at an incredible lookout point. Then the two tea places were pretty neat. The first one (Cha Gorreana) had all of the machines going that you just walk around, adn you can watch the women package the tea (no gloves; lots of chatting). Pretty much the whole experience was something that could NEVER happen in the US. And their tea is yummy! The second tea place (Cha Porto Formoso) is a little more posh, but it was still fun. We had lunch at a beautiful picnic rest stop (they are all over the place here) then went to the beach (a beach fixed up by the mayor of RG - he's all over the place). That night we drove through the town of Pico da Pedra and passed the house that was chosen for the crown of the holy ghost to be displayed, and we stopped to talk with the people who were doing all of the prep for their town's festa which happened on Sunday. It was neat and amazing to see how much bread was in one area.

Saturday
We walked around Ponta Delgada, went to the holiest church on the island (pretty blinged out), as well as the port's old fort which doubles as a military museum. While walking around we also saw my uncle's old house, so that was pretty cool.

Sunday
We went to an epic potluck with my uncle's family. Epic because there was a lot of family, food, and talk about cleaning, which my aunt translated for me haha. That night we went back into Ponta Delgada for dinner and we ate at an Italian restaurant so I got my pasta fix :) .

Monday - My uncle's bday; 4th of July
We went to the caldeira - a geothermic waterfall into a pool! It was awesome! Then we went to teh beach and layed around - and I got SUPER sunburned. Turns out that in the late afternoon here you still need to wear lots of sunscreen. I can get away with not wearing sunscreen in CA, even Hawaii, at that point of day, but not here. NOPE. I'm in pain. That night we played Cheers Governor, cleaned up after the washing machine broke and flooded the kitchen, then played with sparklers!

Tuesday
We drove up to the large lake of Sete Cidades which was pretty beautiful.

Wednesday
Rested at the house all day – we read, ate, took naps. It was lovely to take it easy.

Thurday
We ventured to Furnas for part of the day – it’s a beautiful town! We filled our empty water bottles with fresh spring water, went to the lake to see where food is cooked in the ground from the volcanic activity (we are doing this on Sunday), and drank different mineral waters from the springs. We are going back on Sunday to swim in the main pool at the fancy hotel in town while our food is cooking (5-7 hours in the ground). We then drove out to Nordeste, the most eastern part of the island, and it was similar to the Road to Hana – slow, lots of turns, and beautiful stops along the way to take pictures. We came back to the house after a lot of driving, rested for an hour, then went to a nice restaurant in Ribeira Grande that overlooks the ocean.

Friday/Today
On our way to Ponta Delgada, Lourdes (my uncle’s cousin) took us to a regional park in Pico da Pedra which was beautiful and it was nice to walk around the grounds. We then cruised over to Ponta Delgada and walked around a lot – we think we found the Presbyterian church (maybe), and we also stopped to visit my uncle’s aunt who lives in his grandfather’s old house. Them home is very modest from the street, but then it is very large inside, with incredible gardens in the back (ie camellia trees, an avocado tree that has hundreds of avocados growing on it, etc). We will be going back to PDL tonight for one of the many festa nights, this time to hear live fado music. Bonus: Patrick and I have been dating for two years today!

Tomorrow we will be in PDL for a day long festa and parade, followed by a family bbq at my uncle’s cousin’s house there.

Sunday we will be in Furnas!

Monday Patrick and I will fly to Terceira so that we will be there Tuesday morning to fly home!

Hi all! We are alive on Sao Miguel with minimal internet right now, but soon we will get it at casa de alves and then I can post more to say what we are up to!

Hello again! We have been very busy, up through this morning when we all woke up in the late morning (victory!). We are up in Amoreira in Catelo do Bode resevoir, east of Tomar, staying in Uncle Frank's cousin's (Luis) second home (very nice). Although it is VERY hot (the car read 39 degrees celcius today = 102 farenheit).

Wednesday morning we walked down the last portion of Avenida da Liberdade (street like the Champs) from our hotel through a couple of large plazas till we reached the Praca (Plaza) Dom Pedro where we caught the tram (#12) up to the Alfama area of town. Alfama was the only part of the city that wasn't destoryed in the 1755 earthquake (the rest of the city was rebuilt by the Marques de Pombal [a name Patrick likes to repeat at random times] ) so it is a neat and very old part of the city. My guide book says "maps are almost useless here" which is very true. We stopped at a cafe (cafe's are EVERYWHERE), took photos overlooking the river, then headed up to Castelo de Sao Jorge. We climbed lots of stairs and started to feel like we were in shape.

We took the number 28 tram (this one is always recommended) back down the hill (the Alfama is on a hill - Lisbon is made up of seven hills, each with a castle on top) and met Luis for a traditional Portuguese meal of boiled veggies and lots and lots of meats. Sounds kinda weird, but just think of a different version of the food you would eat on St Patrick's Day. Following all of this we took naps :) .

We then jumped in our car, the Green Machine, and drove out to Cascais (pronounced: "cash" then say the word "guys" but replace the 'g' with a 'k', so "cash-kuys") which is a beautiful town on the ocean. We walked around the city and ate yummy chicken piri-piri that night, as well as had the large, "imperial," size of the best beer in Portugal - Super Bock (sometimes can be found at BevMo).

The next morning we walked down the Avenida da Liberdade through the same plazas, then down a pedestrian-only street, Rua Auera, which is full of shops, to the Praca do Comercio (very large plaza on the river). We taxi'd over to Belem (meaning "Bethlehem") to walk through the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos which is a monastary and large church. It was very beautiful and unique to be there on a national holiday, Corpus Cristi, where many people went to mass, and it was first communion for a large group of children so we were able to see them process in. In the back of the cathedral Vasco da Gama is burried as well as Portugal's epic poet, Camoes. The choir sounded incredible, too! Catholics really know how to work the acoustics of a building....

We ate lunch and devoured our desserts (pasteis) at Pasteis de Belem, which is famous for tourists and locals alike (similar to Angelina's in Paris). The pastires they serve, which similar versions can be found all over the country and Azores, are flaky cups with a custard inside. Following this we checked out the Padrao dos Descombrimentos - a huge monument to the discoverers. The Portuguese are still very connected to the fact that they explored and conquered the world first - all over (including the national flag) there is the symbol of a globe with a diagonal line through it, signifying they have "been there." We taxi'd from there to El Casa Ingles which is a HUGE department store - 11 levels. No joke. Patrick needed swim trunks so he had thousands to choose from.

That evening we drove out to Arrudas das Vinhos, a wine region outside of Lisbon, to visit another one of Frank's cousins and her family. They live in a BEAUTIFUL house. After appetizers, lots of local cheeses as well as a yummy creamy one which we found out was Philadelphia cream cheese (chive and onion), we went on an adventure (!) to a fort that was recently excavated! How cool is that?? The Duke of Wellington went down to Portugal to help the locals stop the French (the British would make all kinds of friends if it meant stopping the French) and so they build three forts, and this one is on the highest point in the region (now surrounded by large wind turbines). It was really neat, especially since the family is really into history and two of their three sons have helped with the excavation (two of their sons are in high school and the oldest just started at the university in Lisbon). Dinner was fun, especially to be in someone's home, although we didn't start eating till 10:00, and I was super tired and could have fallen asleep at 8:00. We got back to our hotel a little before 1:00 and passed out.

Friday (I'm almost caught up on informing *all* of you on what's been going on!) we packed up and dropped off most of our things at Luis' apartment in Lisboa, and on one of the trips Uncle Frank was T-boned by an old man. Luckily the Green Machine only suffered a large scrape, no major damage. We then drove up to Tomar, stopping along the way for a late lunch at at a road-side gas station, restaurant, pit stop area. In the states these are lame, but here they are cool, very clean, and the food (lots of fresh options) is very yummy. I think we have had ham and cheese sandwiches almost every day.

Tomar is a gorgeous town, and it is a Templar city (aka the Templar Knights) that has beautiful gardens along the river. On the west side of the river it is "Portugal" but the east side is considered "Spain" because of something that happened 700 years ago. Uncle Frank keeps saying the "Portuguese have long memories." We visited an incredible UNESCO world heritage site (I'm just checking all of these off...) the Convento de Cristo (convent) that was built in the 12th century. The Carola, the Templars original chruch, and Janela do Capitulo, a unique window done in the Manueline style are all amazing. The Manueline style can be seen throughout the region, like at the monastary the day before, and it's "a lotta bit of everything." Everyone who designed something was a winner, and it was included. Every four years in Tomar there is the Festa dos Tabuleiros where teenage girls construct large head pieces of flowers and bread (they weigh around 15 kilos) and they carry them through a parade for 3-4 hours! We saw a few of them "in training" which was really neat. The festival is on the 9th of July.

That evening we found Luis' house we are staying at and we have been chilling on computers, watching the news and movies, enjoying super bock, and grazing on the food we have picked up. Today we all slepted in then went in the pool for a bit, and drove 30 minutes to Castelo do Amourol which is in the middle of the Tejo River (super cold river, my feet got a "brain freeze" while my body was in 100 degree weather...I was confused). We drove over to the small town of Constancia which is on a penninsula that is on the Teju river which is met by another river.

Tomorrow we are off to Fatima and a few other towns! We will be staying at a hotel in a town on the coast (I think a fortified town?) then we will be going to Lisbon the next day. Tuesday we are off to Sao Miguel!

We made it! Although it took a few interesting flights, we have arrived in one piece, sleep devprived. Patrick and I arrived early Monday morning in Boston and took a water taxi from the airport to the long wharf where we stored our bags for the day - then we sprinted through part of town to catch the green subway line to the Prudential Center (the part of the green line we took was like going through the fun part of Lombard Street on Muni.....very slowly....). We arrived just in time for our Duck Tour! Which was an entertaining 90 minute tour through the city, getting basic information about a lot of the landmarks, as well as boating in the Charles River. Following this tour we moved on to the tour at Sam Adams, which doesn´t rank as high, quality-wise, as other brewery tours we went on in Colorado (New Belgium is still the Disneyland of micro breweries). There is a "trolley" that goes to a local pub by Sam Adams where we grabbed a pint (you get to keep the glass!) and clam chowdah. We walked back through the Boston Commons and Quincy Market (where we ate dinner at Wagamama - from London!), jumped back on a water taxi and headed for the airport. Back at the airport, our flight was supposed to leave at 11:20 EST, then it was delayed and they kept announcing the delay in the terminal, and pushing the departure time back. At this point, Patrick and I were very tired. Around 12:30 without any other prior announcements, a flight attendant came on the intercom and said "This is the final boarding call to Terceira!" Patrick, myself, and the people around us ran to the gate, were yelled at because we were late (even though there was still a line into the plane on the getway) then we finally got our seats. You would think that since it´s nearly 1:00 EST at this time, almost 5:00am at our destination, they would turn off the lights and let us sleep. NOPE. They served a meal and kept all of the lights on. Around 2:00 I leaned my head against the window and passed out.

Our plane landed on Terceira (Azorean island) and we went through customs (the ink for their stamp is running out so my passport isn´t too excited) then jumped on the plane to Lisbon! Where Aunt Stephie and Uncle Frank greeted us! Arriving in the terminal in Lisbon is like arriving on a stage with family members looking for you in the audience.

When we arrived we checked into our hotel room at the Residencia Roma just off of a street that is like the Champs in Paris. Patrick and I slept for the next few hours. Halleluja. Then we went to a restaurant that only locals go to....and a guy from Pioneer who was wearing a Chico shirt. Random. The fish we ate was simply prepared with olive oil and salt then grilled. The blackeded swordwish was SO delish! And we ate sardines! Which is a big thing out here. I'm not a huge fan as of this point.....but yay for the swordfish. There was lots of wine and vinho verde aguardiente which wasn't as rough as the others I have had in the past.


I will update more tomorrow (Saturday) about our adventures Wednesday onward! We have explored Lisboa ("Lish-boa") as well as Cascais and now we are in Amoreira outside of Costello do Bode resevoir (just outside of Tomar - which is a really awesome town!). More to come in a few hours..........

Ola! This evening Patrick and I will start finding out way to Portugal through various flights and layovers. Tomorrow, Monday, we will arrive in Boston around 7:30am and spend the day touring the city (tours that are happening for sure are the Duck Tour and Sam Adams Brewery). We will then fly Monday night on SATA airlines (Azorean airline) to Terceira Island, switch planes (it will be 8:00am Tuesday) to one bound for Lisbon where we will be greeted by my aunt and uncle! By the time we arrive in Lisbon Tuesday afternoon (aka very early in the morning in California) I think I will be entirely confused as to what time it will be and where I am - but I will still be excited to finally be in Portugal! More to come once we arrive :)