Convent in Mafra

Mafra is a city 15 minutes away from Ericiera. It has a really beautiful Palace. The palace, which also served as a Franciscan monastery, was built during the reign of King John V (1707-1750), in consequence of a vow made by the king in 1711, who promised to build a convent if his wife, the Queen Mary Anne of Austria, gave him descendants. The birth of his first daughter, the princess Barbara of Braganza, made the king initiate the construction of the palace. It is a really beautiful place to visit. There isn't much to say about it that I can think of. One thing to note however, is the massive library. It is sooooooooo beautiful. If you've ever seen the Disney cartoon of Beauty and Beast, it looks like the library the Beast gives Belle. No joke. I have never seen a library so big and beautiful. An interesting fact that I didn't know about this library until this time I visited, is that the reason the books are so well preserved is that bats live in the library. I know that sounds strange, but the little bugs that eat the pages of books which therefore would ruin them, are eaten by the bats that live there. Nobody knows how the bats came to be, but there they are. A true blessing to the library, keeping it preserved and beautiful. The only time the bats can be seen is when they hold concerts in the grand hall of the library. The vibrations make them come our of hiding and fly around the ceiling. That must be a site to see.
Another fact I didn't know, is that the library is still used today. By appointment only of course and under supervision. Also, not to ruin the old pages with the oil of our hands, gloves must be worn. How much would you love to skim through that old library!!  Ok, so basically, in case you didn't notice, the library was my favorite part of the visit!

Library.....awesome isnt it!?!?

Ni-xox-

Boca do Inferno (Hell's Mouth)



On the right of the picture you can see the opening to the cavern.

 A very popular tourist attraction in Portugal is a place called Boca do Inferno, in english Hell's Mouth. It is a site near the city of Cascais (another very popular place that I'll talk about later). Basically its a big cavern in a rock off the coast of the ocean. In the winter when the tides are rough, this cavern fills up with water from the waves. Its a really big cavern, therefore very impressive to see. Unfortunately, because the ocean is so vigorous in the winter, it is forbidden to get close enough to see the cavern fill with water. Many people have crossed over the barriers and didnt live to see the cavern or anything else for that matter. Many other people have also died crossing the barriers, but for different reasons. They died trying to save those other people who broke the rules and got caught in the violence of the ocean.
So, in the summer people go visit the empty cavern. Its still impressive because its big...but I'm sure it would be crazy to see filling up! Not that i'm willing to risk my life! The view is also really beautiful from there. The only thing is that it's always very windy. I've visited this place many times in my life and everytime I think it's more beautiful than the last.



Below is the cavern. If you look closely to the left, you can see the opening of the cavern to the ocean.

Ni-xox-

More Ericeira!

During our stay in Ericeira, we did some visiting. One place I've always wanted to visit (and apparently I already had visited when I was a kid) is the Mouinho. Basically its just a really big windmill that we always pass while driving. All I knew about it was that it had a shop there with all handcrafted typical Portuguese ceramics. I want to go check it out. Little did I know, there was much more to see.
It was a whole recreated village. With life sized mannequins and everything. The man who created this village had a passion for this. He turned his passion into something truly fabulous. We walked through the village enjoying every little house. It was equipped with everything from the shoe maker, seamstress, school, etc....to a fort in the back and a functional bakery where you can go taste some fresh bread with Portuguese sausage baked in! YUM! It truly was this man's passion because you do not have to pay anything to visit. There even was a miniature village. Very cute! It really was something nice to see and I'm glad I finally got to see it.

Miniature Village

Average Household

Yummy!

Fort

Ni-xox-

Visiting Friends!

While our visit to my grandma's, we went over to our friend's house for a BBQ. It was really nice to see them after all these years. We ate very well and got to visit their newly renovated house. Beautiful! The kids fell in love with baby and played with him a lot. All in all it was a really nice day spent in good company and good food!

Ni -xox-

Ericeira Time!

After a 4 hour drive south, we arrived in Ericeira. The happiest place on earth (well at least for me!). My grandmother lives there during the summer. She used to be in Portugal full time, but when my grandfather passed away in 2008, she decided to move here with us and only go to Portugal during the summer to visit her sister. Anyway, Ericeira is my home away from home. When I was young, we went there almost every summer for a month or so. It is my favorite place in the world. My grandma lives in a small condo, 5 minutes away from the beach (walking). Actually there are 4 beaches all walking distance from her place. It is such a cute little town. Full of cafes and little stores. There is a town centre where on weekends during the summer, there are shows (music, dancing, etc). Such a nice ambiance. I truly love just walking around the little streets, going for coffee and pastry in the town centre, looking at all the little typical shops and of course, going to the beach. It truly is a little paradise for me. The sites, the sounds and even the smell brings me back to my childhood summers. If I could move my whole family there (yeah right!), I would move there in a heartbeat.

During our stay in Ericeira, my parents where also on vacation and staying with my grandma. Even my aunt and uncle drove down and were staying with us. It was a full little condo, but a truly happy one. We did a lot of beaching, relaxing and most of all...EATING! Yum!!!!! I dont know if its just because we were on vacation, but the food tastes so much better there. Here are some beach pics!

The beautiful waves of the South beach

Baby loved the beach

Drying up after playing in his boat

Grandpa and daddy passing baby back and forth in the water



Baby LOVING the sand (so much that he ate some...YUM!)

Ni -xox

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-

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-