More Portugal Fun!

After spending 6 days with Vovo, we went back to Tio A`s house for the next 4 days. During those four days we did quite a bit. First we went to watch Tio A and cousin J perform in a folklore after a religious procession. It was nice to watch. Uncle A played the concertina and Cousin J played the guitar and danced traditional Portuguese folklore. Baby liked to listen to the music and everyone dancing around. He even got a little private concert after the show ended.

The next day we went to another outside market. This time it was in Pont de Lima, where my hubby`s last name comes from. This market is known to be the biggest in all of Portugal. And indeed is it big. It takes place right near the Rio Lima (Lima River) and passes under the Pont de Lima (Lima Bridge). Like I said in my last post, I love these outside markets. Although, you see a lot of the same things in most of the markets. It`s fun non the less. I even bought myself a spiffy hat to shade from the scorching sun. You can see me wearing my new hat on the picture to your right. I am standing on the Lima Bridge and you can see all the tps of the white tents where the market is happening below.

The next day we headed out with Cousin C for the whole day. First we stopped in the town of Pont de Lima for a little breakfast. It was yummy!! Then we went to Braga Parque which is a really big mall in Braga. We went to their Multi Media Store called FNAC. It sells books, DVDs, computers, etc. We also had lunch at the mall. Then we headed out to the oldest town in Portugal, called Guimaraes. It is often refered to as `the cradle city` as it is where the first King of Portugal was born (Afonso Henriques) and it was he who battled against Spain to keep Portugal independant. This king even locked his mother away in a tower because she was in cahoots with the Spaniards.

So we went to visit the castle. It`s pretty much just a fortress as it`s just a whole bunch of walls. I dont think it was to live in. It was interesting to see. Then we strolled around the city and stopped for a snack at a cafe and then headed home. Baby even took a picture in a cardboard cutout of the King before we left! That night we met up with Primo J and we all went out for supper at a very typical Portuguese restaurant. It was really delicious food and we had a really good time. We even bumped into the goalie from the Portugal national soccer team. He was leaving when we got there. So unfortunately we dont have a picture with him, but I guess he goes there a lot because there was a whole display with his shirt and gloves.

Our final day at Tio A`s, we headed out again with Prima C and this time her boyfriend came along too. We decided to spend the day in Spain. You see, Tio A lives a very short 20 minute drive from the border of Spain. So everytime we visit, we make a point of taking a drive and hopping over the border for a day. First we went to Vigo. We walked around, went into the shops and stopped for some afternoon tapas. Yum! That was most part of the day. The in the late afternoon was drove to Baiona. That town was one of the places Christopher Columbus stopped on his voyage. To commemorate this, a replica of one of his ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) ( not sure which one) was built and sits in the harbour for all to visit. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it was already closed for the day. So we didnt get to visit it, but we did eat an ice cream! hehe!

And thats pretty much it for our visit to the north and my hubby`s side. We`ll be back at the end of our trip for three more days. But that`ll be a later post. Now was pack and get ready for the second half of our trip to the south!! See you later!



Ni -xox-

Portugal Cont.

After 4 days at Tio A`s house, we were off to my hubby`s grandma`s house. We spent the next 6 days there. We mostly stayed in and spent time with grandma (vovo). We also went into town a few times. One day we went to a feira, which is an outside market that most biggish towns have once a week. I love going to see all the stuff and the commotion. It`s always very busy, with people bargaining and the vendors yelling out good deals about their products. It`s fun to see and I always have to go to at least one when I`m in Portugal. This time I went to three. Lucky me!

Here we are with Vovo out for lunch!

Baby even got his first taste of beach during those 6 days. On the day before leaving Vovo, we spent the day with my hubbie`s cousin and aunt and drove to the beach. Baby didnt really like the feel of the sand at this first visit, but he had fun playing on the towel. I of course went in the water. I LOVE the beach!



Ni-xox-

Granby Zoo!

The weekend before leaving on our big trip to Portugal, we all decided to have a family trip to Granby Zoo. It turned out being a really nice day. We went with my aunt, uncle and 3 of my cousins. I also decided to bring my nephew. He is 3 years old and I thought he would love seeing all the animals and I was right. He was so excited to see the bears and lions. I really enjoyed seeing the world through a child`s eyes. All the excitement on his face when he saw his favorite animals. Its hard to think that as we grow older, we lose the innocence and wonder that simple things like going to do the zoo bring. When does the magic fade?? At least we have our little ones to remind us and allow us to live that magic again and become a kid for one more day!!! Here are a few pictures to remind you to enjoy the little things in life......

Ni -xox-

I`m Baaaaaack!

It`s been awhile since i`ve posted...and with good reason. I`ve been in Portugal for 5 weeks. Yes, you read right, 5 whole weeks. It was a really awesome trip, except for the fact that it flew by. I guess it`s kinda good to be back home....only kinda though. Hehe! All good! Cant be on vacation forever or it wouldnt be a vacation anymore right?? (Ok Ni, stop trying to make yourself feel better that you`re home.)

I`m not sure how to go about blogging about my trip. Should I have a brief summary? Should I blog about each event? Guess I`ll just start writing and see where it takes me.

I think the plane ride should be a good place to start.

I was a little scared about taking the plane with baby. Sitting down for such a long period of time, air pressure in the ears, etc. The plane ride to Portugal was overnight. Our flight was at 10pm and it was around 5 1\2 hours. Baby slept for the first 4 hours and by the time he woke up, it was light outside and we only had an hour and a half left. He didnt cry at all (I guess his ears didnt bother him.) He made friends with everyone on the plane. In the end, it was a fantastic flight. I couldnt have asked for better. Fewf!

Once arrived at the airport in Porto, we go our luggage and was greeted by Hubby`s aunt and uncle. It had been 5 years since we last saw them, so it was a  really nice welcoming. Then we were off for an hour drive home. Baby slept the whole drive (considering he only slept 4 hours that night...he was finishing off his night). About 30 minutes away from Tio A`s house (uncle A), we stopped off at the best cafe in town and had a pastry (bola de berlim) and a cafe latte (galao). It`s starting to be a tradition, as we stopped at the very same cafe on our way home from the airport 5 years ago. Good tradition! :o) YUM!

For the first 4 days we spent time in Paredes de Coura (the town where Tio A lives). We spent a lot of time with my hubby`s cousins. We went to a little beach near the river. The weather was super hot, around 36 degrees. We enjoyed ourselves sitting in the shade under the trees. Beautiful place. Baby had fun sitting just in his diaper and hat and playing with his toys, eating a snack, rolling around on a towel and taking a walk through the beautiful park. The water of the river was really cold, seeing as we were in the mountains, so it came from the source. The first day we went there we only put our feet in. In the end some of us got a little more courageous and went waist deep. It was cold, but once we were in, it was not too bad. Nice and refreshing to say the least *BBBRRR*

One evening we went to a Summer Solstice Celebration. It was located on top of a moutain where there is an ancient village dating back to 500 BC. It was very interesting to see all the little huts and old walls. The celebration was to pray to the sun. All the people who organize the celebration all got dressed up from the time and even grew their beards!! One guy (who happens to be our cousin`s boyfriend), was dressed as the priest and performed the ritual prayer. It was awesome because when he started te prayer, the sun was starting the set and by the time he finished, the sun was gone behind the mountians. Very nice. Then of course there was eating, drinking and music. The celebration ended at 3am for us, but many stayed on the mountain waiting to see the sun rise. It was something very interesting and I`m glad I got to see it.

We spent some time at Tio A`s house. He lives in the mountains and has quite a bit of land. He has chickens, rabbits, quails, doves, ducks, bees and a horse. It`s really nice to see all the animals. Baby loved to visit the chickens every morning. The rooster was pretty funny as it would crow all day long. The horsey was really nice. She almost acted like a dog. Tio A would call for her and you would see her start running from far away to come see us. She would also know that Tio A would carry a treat for her in his pocket so she would nuzzle his pockets with her nose. Very cute. Baby was a little scared of the horse. I dont blame him considering how big the horse is compared to him. We put baby on the horse....dont think he liked that too much!

So that was pretty much what went down on our first 4 days in the north. More to come!

Ni-xox-