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-