I have been so busy traveling I haven't had time to update more photos. I was lucky and went to Lisbon in March for my annual medical training. My core group of colleagues (most of whom I went to training with), specifically request the same training times each year, that way we can reconnect and travel a bit after conference. This year, one of our colleagues had to head back to post, but another who was not able to come to our conference took a week off and came to travel with us anyway.
We traveled down south to the coast (Lagos) which was beautiful and we went to the most SW corner of Europe where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet. We rented a cute older house for the 6 of us. From there we went to 2 old inland cities to wander around the castles and within the fortress walls. The food was amazing and we had a fantastic time. Here are the photos to prove it.
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| The beach at Lagos. Too cold to swim, but we didn't have to deal with many other tourists. |
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| We took a boat trip that drove us all around these interesting rock formations. Would be a great place to climb (although the rock seemed like it might be a bit crumbly) |
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| The SW end of Europe. Yes, I know just another cliff overlooking the water. But it was still cool to be there. |
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| The city of Evora. A very well preserved city with Roman ruins and an intact city wall and aqueduct. We had a lovely time just wandering around here. Stayed in a super old hotel that was just lovely with big windows and high ceilings and a sitting room for guests that looked like it hadn't changed for 100 years. |
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| Stork nest (I believe) on the top of an old crumbling church. I cannot imagine any government having sufficient funds to maintain and restore all of the old beautiful buildings, but it is too bad. Good for the story I guess! |
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| This is the amazingly restored/intact Moorish Fortress at the very top of Sintra. It sits next to a castle (next photo), that was used by royalty until recently. I can't get enough of this stuff and I love when the fortresses are built into the existing rock. |
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| Pena Castle also on the very top of the hill in Sintra. The bus up here is almost the most exciting thing about the visit, the road is super steep and narrow with many tight turns. You feel like at any moment you will just tip over. |
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| I want this for my house! |
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| Oh the detail...I think this is why I never get bored with looking at this older architecture. The designers paid attention to the smallest details. I think this is subtle, but beautiful. This is just an entry way to a shop in town. Not even a 'special' building. |
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| Looking up toward the main square in Sintra. The upper white building was another royal palace that is now a museum. |
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| Looking up the hill from the main square. You can just make out the Moorish Castle walls at the top of the mountain. |
Well, it was a wonderful trip with some of my favorite people in the world. I am already looking forward to seeing my friends again next year. Wonder where we will get to explore. This annual trip has become a must for my sanity and happiness in the Foreign Service. I really miss having colleagues near by to lean on for support and share stories with. I am super lucky though that I have my good friends/colleagues back in Portland as well, so at least twice a year I am energized by people I adore.
Next stop Croatia by way of Serbia and Bosnia (we drove). I have already been and am back, but will give you all a chance to digest this and then post the next trip. Equally as good!
