Riding the Trolley Car in Porto, Portugal
When Thom and I left home three months ago I never planned to write about our travels. So even though I took my computer with me, I wanted complete freedom to take the summer off from writing if I didn’t feel I had anything to say or share. But if you’ve been following along then you know that several weeks after leaving home, I challenged myself to write a post that included a few photos and thoughts about our travels up to that point. Ten posts later, we finally wrap up our trip spending both a week in Porto and a week in Lisbon, Portugal. Our time in both locations gave us an opportunity to settle into each city and reflect on our trip. And as usual when our travels draw to a close, we began to look forward to returning to our lives back home.
The city of Porto is in the northern part of Portugal and considered the second largest city in the country with a population of approximately 1.3 million people in the metro area. But it doesn’t feel that big. Maybe because it is divided by the wide Douro River as it pours into the Atlantic Ocean only two miles away. Our vacation rental featured a large deck overlooking trees and the river. Plus, it was also only a ½ block from the waterfront boardwalk where we could either walk or take the trolley to the busy central district. Oh, and best of all the weather was much cooler being so close to the ocean.
A view of the Douro River and one of its many bridges in Porto.
Happy Hour from our patio in Porto.
Tuk-tuk ride in Porto
My research told me that a great way to see the major sites in Porto was to take a tuk-tuk tour so that’s what we did. Our guide Leandro not only showed us around, but he was open to our questions about life in Porto and Portugal. On another day we took a bus trip (hopefully our last if Thom has anything to say about it!) to the nearby cities of Guimaraes and Braga. While we did manage to see a few interesting sites and learn more about Portugal, the best thing about the tour was the lunch which included fresh local fish and green wine. Laughing and talking with our fellow tour participants from several areas of the world made the day worthwhile.
Lunch in Braga with fellow tour participants.
A week later we took the highspeed train from Porto to Lisbon. There we took a cab to our apartment in the Baixa District. Fortunately, we were staying on the fifth floor and our apartment had lots of light even though we were in what is considered to be the very heart of the city. And perhaps because Lisbon is spread out so well, in most cases it didn’t feel as busy as some of the other large cities we have visited.
One of many large open plazas in Lisbon
Pink Street in the morning!
Dinner with a view with Paul and Chris from back home.
Although we did manage to see some of the city’s well-known attractions, we mostly just wandered around and enjoyed our final days in Portugal. Towards the end of our visit some friends from home, Paul and Chris landed in Lisbon to begin their six-week trip. We had dinner with them on one night and then lunch another day and caught up with life back home. Funny how good conversations with friends help to create something memorable no matter where in the world you are.
Several weeks earlier we had learned that one of the legs of our travel home had been cancelled. Fortunately, we were able to rebook (after three days and three hours on the computer) but it required we leave Lisbon at 5:00 a.m. to make our other two connecting flights. But even though we were up at 2:00 a.m. to take a cab to the airport, we kept reminding ourselves of what a privilege it is to be able to be in one part of the world in the early morning and then be sleeping in your own bed that night. Oh, and we managed to make all our connections along with our baggage. It was a long, but very good day.
So, this and my other nine posts make up Kathy & Thom’s travel adventures for the summer of 2022. I so appreciate the willingness of you and my other readers to stick with me as I experiment with writing something completely different from my usual topics. And while I might “summarize” lessons learned from our 12 weeks of travel, I don’t foresee more travel writing in my future. Instead, I hope to continue to do as I’ve always done by exploring intriguing new ideas, learning new things, saying “Yes!” to adventure, and pushing myself to boldly experiment with what comes next. Does that sound SMART to you? Then I invite you to join me.
While I haven’t been commenting on each of your posts, I have been following along on your European journey, reading all your entries and seeing some social media posts pass by. Portugal has been high on my mental list for a while. One day, we will make it there by our own means for an extensive period of time.
It seems like the heat was a bit bothersome, but every other experience you had was very positive. Traveling/flying these days is challenging. Don’t get me started on my trip to and from Belgium. They took over 24 hours each and were exhausting, stressful, and sometimes frustrating. I’ll be happy to be home in a week as well (I’m in MA right now) and pick up my own life in Oregon, just with Mark and Maya. 🙂
Welcome home, Kathy and Thom!
Hi Liesbet! You’ve been doing great following along this summer…much better than me with all my favorites. And yes, Portugal is a lovely country with LOTS of great things to be said about it. But it did end up a bit hotter there (at least inland) than I expected. And speaking of heat, I heard it got quite warm in Belgium when you were there. Global weirding for sure! And your flights sounded much worse than ours. We did have a “quick” transfer in Amsterdam but we made it and were home (with our luggage) by 5:30 p.m. So nice to be sleeping in our own bed. I’m looking forward to the bits of your travels that you share in your blog. Thanks again for your support (AND for letting me know you had trouble leaving your comment at first–I hope we’ve got that worked out!) ~Kathy
I managed to post it from the moment I was back in the US. Apparently, it didn’t let me comment from abroad. At least, I think that was the issue. 🙂
Well that was totally fun. Your readers get to enjoy “travelling” from the comfort of home while y’all do all the work. Of course we miss out on the full sensory experience, and the good food, and the people you meet, but still, if we can’t be there, your posts are the next best thing.
I just sent your blog link to a friend heading to Europe next year, with Portugal as a priority destination. I know she will enjoy your posts and photos.
Hi Galen! I’m so glad you enjoyed my posts AND let me know when you were having troubles with leaving your comment. It’s helped me work through it with my web host. And also thank you for sharing my post with your friend. As a blogger you KNOW that is always appreciated. Now that I’m back I am working on a new post but it is amazing how much catch-up I’m going through first. Meanwhile I hope to catch up on all the great blogs (like yours) that I follow. Thanks again. ~Kathy
Yay! Glad you got it sorted out.
I loved being able to go along with you both on your adventures!! Thanks for taking us with you!
Hi Deb! You are so welcome! The only thing better is if you could have joined us in person! :–) Next time??? ~Kathy
Glad you and Thom have had such an enjoyable varied trip!
I looked forward to each of your posts and learning about the place that you were at. And I loved seeing the pictures, and so I am glad you took the time to do your posts.
I was thinking you can look at travel pictures and enjoy them, however when you see travel pictures with someone you know in the picture it makes them that much more interesting……you almost feel part of the trip!
Hi Marnie! Thank you. And I agree…I love to look at travel photos but definitely prefer to have people in them rather than just gorgeous shots. I figure that if people REALLY want to see the beauty of a place they should go themselves if possible or just google the location and there will be far better photo shots than I would likely capture. And thank you for saying you felt a bit like you were on the trip with me. That’s all any writer hopes for IMHO! ~Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Welcome home, Kathy and Thom!! That sucks you had to book two connecting flights to get home. Yes, it would make it a very long day indeed. I loved your shots of Porto and Lisbon. It’s funny because we might be taking the same tour to Braga you guys did. It sounds similar to the one we booked anyways.
Your pictures are so amazing, crisp and clear. And your thoughts on everything are very much appreciated. Your travel posts have been interesting and fill with fun facts. I have enjoyed your series and look forward to a summary of your adventures. As well as which country, if any, you enjoyed the most.
Glad you had a great three months and, you are right, getting home to your own bed is always something to look forward to. 🙂
Hey Debbie!
I was just glad we made all our connections and so did our baggage. But yeah, it’s a long way from Lisbon to Palm Springs! Are you able to make it in two? That would be great!
And I do hope that your tour of Braga will be better than ours. I didn’t blame the guide (although a good guide vs a mediocer one can make a HUGE difference!) My biggest criticism was that they put two French people in with a large group of English speakers and had to spend as much time on the two as the other 28! And if I was guessing, I think the guide’s first language was French so his English wasn’t that good. I think if you are on a “smaller-group” tour then you’ll enjoy it a LOT more. Still, all in all it was a good day. And now that I’ve done it, Guimaraes is a much cuter town…I wish we had spent more time there and less on Braga.
As far as which country we liked best–that’s an impossible question. We enjoyed them all!!! We aren’t planning to move (if anyone wondered!) but I would love to go back and see some of the things in each country that we missed. We just won’t do as much moving around as we did this time. I think two months of it would have been fine but three months was a tad much. Still, no regrets and we are so glad we went when we did! ~Kathy
I have absolutely LOVED following Kathy & Thom’s Travel Adventures for the Summer of 2022. Thank you for taking us all along. You have my two thumbs up for a summary post of key takeaways from this adventure.
Welcome Home!
Hi Donna! Awwwwww…you are very sweet. And like I said in the post, I’m glad that most of you hung around while I did it. Thank you for that! And yes, I’m toying with ideas about my takeaways. One strong contender is: “Dealing with the Unexpected–Travel is a Lot Like Life!” What do you think? ~Kathy
Yes! I would LOVE to read that post!
Welcome home to you and Thom! I have loved your travel updates, Kathy. I know you prefer to write your other types of posts but I hope you’ll consider adding these more personal ones now and then.
Hi Janis! Thanks for the welcome. And I know some people prefer the more “Personal” posts but I’m guessing most have had their fill of them lately!!! 🙂 Of course, if you read between the lines every post I write has “me” in them! But yeah, my travel posts were definitely our experience. I’m glad you liked them! ~Kathy