Portugal and Spain

We are back safe and sound after a wonderful vacation in Portugal and Spain. We had the best host and hostess in all of Europe! I felt really special getting picked up personally at the airport rather than frantically trying to catch a train (ala The Amazing Race). The only bad part about getting there was our much delayed flight out of Philadelphia (five hour delay). These are just some of the many photos we took. If you want to see all our photos click here.
It seems that getting gas is just as glamorous abroad. Here is Jeff filling up for the road trip to Seville!
And here I am the next day basking in the Spanish sun.
These were the balconies to our hotel room. Very quaint!
View from the Cathedral of Seville, beautiful and not nearly as scary to climb as the Duomo. Chelsey - there were even windows!

The gorgeous terrace at our hotel.
We decided to be ultimate tourists and take a horse and buggy ride. It proved to be great fun!
Navigating the narrow roads. Jeff once drove their car down this street. He still has his mirrors!
We took a tapas tour with David the Guide. He took us to his favorite haunts. Fantastically crowded with locals! My favorite meal.
We had drinks at the Dona Maria Hotel overlooking the Cathedral.

Jeff departed from Seville and the rest of us headed back to Portugal. Jesse and I took a day to explore the Yorks new home town, Cascais. It's a beautiful town!

This was Jesses first visit to the Atlantic Ocean.
Cascais has lots of quaint streets to explore.
While Jeff and Naomi were hard at work Jesse and I rented a car and drove North through Portugal to Guimareas. Our Hotel looked over the main town square.

Our rental was a bit smaller than Jesses truck.
As usual, our first stop was for food and beverage. To my delight, everything in PT is served with fries!
Guirameas was OLD. It's hard to believe people still live in these buildings.
I love Portugal!

This is the enterance to the hotel were we stayed.
We climed to the top of the Castle of Guirameas to take in the view. I'm so glad we did!

I even saw a Knight.

Still in Guirameas...

We left Northern PT and headed down the coast, back to Cascais. We stopped at Torriera for some R&R and to stay at a Pousada.
The locals were a bit older than us, and liked to build elaborate forts!
View from our Pousada, right over the river. This is where the fun ended for us (for a few hours anyway). We stopped at a beach and we got robbed!
The poor Peugeot lost a window in the fight. And I lost my purse and our passports. Thankfully we had our wallets with us.
A lovely visit to the local police station! I wanted to take photos at the US Embassy, but they didn't allow cameras.

A taste of home, we disovered a Mormon church right down the street from Naomi and Jeff. If they come home with 7 kids, we'll know why.
I now look like I'm pregnant WITH 7 kids after eating all the fries. All those days at Body Pump gone in a flash!

Back at the ranch...we headed for our last mean in PT to the town of Sintra located about Lisbon. Naomi showed us some of the local headwear.

The end of a very wonderful vacation and Jesses first trip to Europe! We'll be back for sure.
Can you see Jeff and Jesse trying to act like locals?

A big thank you to Jeff and Noami for being wonderful hosts and tour guides! We miss them terribly and can't wait for their stateside return. If you get the chance go visit them - the wine is cheap and the people are lovely!