Ola/Adeus Portugal

Portugal was on our original wish list of destinations but we were determined to spend a minimum of two weeks in each place so it sadly got cut from to the itinerary ;(

Then, after booking our flights we realized that the only way to get from Seville to Morocco on a plane was via Lisbon so we happily added it back at the last minute. It was criminal to just go through the airport so we allotted 3 days. Then, the forces of nature decided we needed to be there longer and canceled our flight, rebooking it two days later. Happily we obliged again!

So a destination that was sadly cut got put back for close to a week and we are so glad it did! Here’s why and our learnings:

1) PORTUGAL IS NOT A SIDE TRIP! It is a mistake to think of Portugal as a side trip before/after Spain and we are as guilty as anyone in thinking this way. The country has so much to offer! Beautiful beaches, incredibly cool historic hill towns and ridiculously good food and modern art. Portugal needs to be its own destination. We want to go back, rent a car and drive around for a month next time (without kids!) 😉

 

2) GET OUT OF THE CITIES! After Barcelona and Seville we had our fill of big cities. Lisbon beckoned us with its hypnotic art scene but we forced ourselves out of the city and it was amazing! We spent 3 days surfing on the coast and 1 full day in … An amazing town in the hillside about 1 hour outside of Lisbon. We had such a blast we almost convinced ourselves to sell the MI house and move to the Lisbon coast 😉

 

3) DESIGN EVERYWHERE! All cities have vibes and the vibe of Lisbon is DESIGN EVERYWHERE! Everyone has an eye for design and even the simplest home has a killer garden or interesting tiles entrance…super cool!

4) FOODIES GET YOUR PASSPORTS! Portugal is a country for foodies! We had amazing food everywhere we went. I couldn’t help but think of all my buddies at Allrecipes working their butts off during the crazy Thanksgiving traffic days and not feel slightly guilty as I causally sat and dined in uber-hip Lisbon restaurants. You will be happy to know that I did drink some port and toast you guys