Road Trip Through Southern Portugal

My birthday is next week and, as we’re planning what to do, I’m reflecting on last year’s birthday trip. I never wrote about it on here, and I want to capture the memories before they fade away with the years…

Last year, we decided to celebrate my 35th by taking a road trip in southern Portugal. Bryan flew in early for work and he planned the beginning of the trip, so when he picked me up at the Lisbon airport, I didn’t know what to expect. We drove about three hours south and, to my surprise and delight, the first stop was absolutely perfect.

Selema

Selema, Portugal is a magical and tiny town, with narrow streets and outstanding restaurants. Our Airbnb was right on the water. It ended up being a great location to visit a few different surf spots. We found a board rental place (Secret Surf Society) and a yoga teacher/massage therapist who gave me a very lovely birthday massage. Our Airbnb hostess owned a couple of restaurants in town, and the closest one made for an excellent seafood birthday dinner. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful place to spend a birthday (though we’ll have to try to top it this year!)

Lagos

Our next stop was Lagos (only about 30 minutes from Selema.) Lagos was high on my list, from seeing photos of the beautiful coastline and hearing recommendations from friends. We rented another Airbnb. This one had a pool, but in early April it was too chilly to swim. We wore our wetsuits in the ocean for the whole trip, which was comfortable. We used the rental car to take a day trip to Sagres and to visit the surf spots, but you really don’t need a car in Lagos. In fact, the streets of the town were so narrow, it was challenging to drive. We enjoyed walks from our Airbnb down to try different restaurants. Most of them have limited seating, and we learned we’d better make reservations in advance or stay flexible with our plans.

Ericeira

It was tough to decide where to go next. We would have liked to have spent much more time traveling along the coast. The feeling was so relaxed and there was a lot to see. We saw many people traveling in camper vans with less of an agenda and living out our surf dreams! But due to work and dog obligations, we had about two weeks and were forced to choose our stops accordingly.

We chose to head north of Lisbon next, to Ericeira. I didn’t know much about it before the trip, but I was happy to visit a new place. We found a cute bed and breakfast with a very kind and helpful owner. The scenery was gorgeous and the whole area was very calm, quiet, and relaxing. The restaurants, just like in Lagos, were small but delicious. We had given back our rental surfboards by that point, so we did some hiking nearby and visited the town of Mafra.

Lisbon

Our final stop was Lisbon. I was able to spend a few days before I had to fly back to the states and Bryan would return to London for work. We continued to celebrate my birthday by taking a cooking class, eating unlimited pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts), and making our own charcuterie boards.

When it was time to leave, I was sad to say goodbye to Portugal so soon. It was a sweet trip and I hope to return for longer (maybe we’ll bring the dog next time!) I ordered one more pastel de nata for the road and it was back to the US of A.

Until next time, Portugal…

Amsterdam in August

I swear I’ll get back to the present moment soon, but I did my first post-Covid international travel in August. It was a gorgeous week in Amsterdam to celebrate my best friend from elementary, middle, and high school’s wedding. It’s a beautiful thing to have friends that you’ve known and have known you for that long. Celebrate it wherever you can!

I’ll admit that I almost didn’t make the trip, because of all the uncertainty in the world. But I’m so glad I changed my mind due to a high sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and some irresistable booking.com specials.

Amsterdam is a quaint city full of canals, flowers, and cute houseboats. It was actually my third time visiting (as I’ve mentioned, I’m spoiled by life). I went on a soccer trip in high school where we hit all the tourist spots. And a party trip in college for the red light district and coffee shops, during which we wandered around aimlessly until every day ended up in a hangry search for snacks. This time I simply wanted to ride bikes in parks and sit to slip my coffee nice and slow.

Arrival day was jet-lagged, and I can’t say I gave the Van Gogh Museum the full attention it deserved. But I recuperated from walking outside in the Vondelpark. I’m happy to say my body clock adjusted quickly after a good night’s sleep, and I was feeling fully refreshed for the wedding weekend.

I visited the daily street markets to try plenty of Dutch delicacies. My favorites were stroopwafels (like a firm waffle/cookie sandwich with caramel in the center) and poffertjes (puffy pancake balls covered in powdered sugar). I won’t rush back to the fried herring stand, but most everything else was delicious.

I secured my bike rental from the hotel and took it on a grand adventure across the city to the Amsterdam Forest. I’d heard about a little family goat farm where you can touch and feed the animals. I also heard about their yummy apple pie, and that’s my kind of a day.

There was an art and sculpture festival happening on the way back, so I passed through one of the “hip” parts of the city.

EVERYONE rides bikes here. Did you know? And I mean everyone…

The “rehearsal night” was a dinner cruise down a canal with some tasty Indonesian food.

And the wedding was perfectly intimate in a majestic little garden. Audrey and Nelson make a very fun and photogenic couple.

The weather report had predicted rain all week, but it hardly rained at all. The wedding day was ideal and I loved my first steps out of the country in a while.