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by Kate Dernocoeur, guest blogger We went to Nazaré at the suggestion of my longtime friend and master trip organizer, Linda. Our group of six had just completed our main objective (see Generally Write, May 19) and rode the bus two hours north of Lisbon to Nazaré for a couple of days of...
by Kate Dernocoeur, guest blogger As my gateway city to Portugal, Lisbon served (in my mind) only as the place where I would join up with my group. With my attention on the long walk we had ahead, I entered Lisboa, as the locals call it, a bit haphazardly (Lisbon is just the...
I am an absolute sucker for castles. When my husband and I got married a lifetime ago, we did the obligatory Europe on $5 to $10 a day trip, using the money we got as wedding gifts. We spent the first two weeks traveling up and down England and Scotland visiting a “castle a day.” […]
Lord Byron wrote to his Mother from Sintra calling it, “The village is perhaps in every respect, the most delightful in Europe.” Whether this is still true or not remains to be seen, but it is a lovely spot. The tiny town, about an hour outside of Lisbon, felt to me like Disneyland, only it...
Mosterio dos Jeronimos Don’t go to Lisbon without visiting two major tourist destinations—a monastery and a museum, an easy walk from each other outside of the main Lisbon area. The Mosterio dos Jeronimos, the grandest building in Lisbon, is built over the site of a small chapel raised...
If you go to Lisbon, be sure to take hiking boots. At least day hikers, the kind for up and down and uneven surfaces. The narrow and sometimes treacherous streets in the old part of City of Seven Hills are steep, turning, twisting revealing great slivers of the Tagus River and urban landscape....
When we checked into our boutique hotel in the old part of Lisbon about a month ago, our charming dark eyed host greeted us with, “This is your lucky day. We’re having a party tonight and you are invited.” My ears perked up. Hmmm. I love a party. The hotel, Bairro Alto Hotel, located on...