Back from Vacation!

Oh my! It's been forever since I've blogged. It's always so crazy before you go on vacation and then afterwards you are well rested but running around catching up with everything you missed.

London and Portugal were great. Chris and I didn't relax too much - we were busy running around trying to see as many sights, get as many checkmarks in each city as we could.

It was my first time in London - wow is it ever expensive. I paid 2 pounds (approximately $3) for an apple one afternoon for a snack. That's an expensive apple. Great city. I think more manageable than New York but still something to see around every corner. Great people watching, amazing shopping, and lots of history. Did Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, National Gallery, British Museum, Tate Modern, Portobello Market (lots of fruits and veggies!!!), Chris rowed me around the Serpentine in Hyde Park, saw the Diana Memorial Fountain, Harrods...... we were definitely busy.

Portugal was a food and wine bonanza. I don't understand why the Portuguese serve FRIES and rice with almost every dish but nonetheless they do. Chris was happy but by the second day I was getting smarter and ordering the caldo verde (I think kale, cabbage and potato?) and the salada mista (mixed salad) for most lunches.

The antioxidant filled vinho tinto (red wine) was also very much in supply; as well as the port wine in the 6 of 60 wine cellars we visited in Porto. The seafood was delicious - we ate A LOT of cod and we even tried this fish called Sea Breem!

The timing of dinner was a bit tricky in Portugal. I grew up eating dinner at 5:00, sometimes even earlier if Dad had to go back out into the fields to do some more work. Chris and I usually eat at 7:30 but in Portugal most restaurants didn't even open until 8 and if we were there at 8 we pretty much ate alone until our last few bites. Of course being on vacation means shifting your eating habits and schedule ... Most of the time people were out having a bica (I'm sure their 5th or
6th espresso of the day!) when we were walking to dinner! Last but not least I have to mention all the pasteleria's with those tasty custard tarts. They are everywhere.

Obrigado Portugal!