I can’t believe my last blog post was February, 2020 before our travel world and lives shut down.  This has been a year to remember (or forget) and my heart goes out to those who are suffering physically, mentally, emotionally, and/or economically.  

But this blog is about positive travel experiences, so I’m going to finish up the year with my 2019 summer trip report on Africa and Portugal, pre-Covid.  You can read all about Africa in the previous blog posts.  

Portugal coming right up! But first, a quick stop in Beirut, Lebanon. We could fly much cheaper from Africa to Portugal with a stop in Lebanon, so that’s what we did for a few hours. Beirut was cosmopolitan and scenic, with delicious food and natives that loved Americans! Safety was never an issue.

Portugal was wonderful; we started in Porto and it was FULL of tourists!  One of our first stops this rainy day was Livaria Lello where JK Rowling was inspired to write “Harry Potter.”  And of course, the famous Majestic Cafe for coffee was a touristy thing we had to do! 

Here are some more photos from around Porto, this small town river city, some taken later in the week on a beautiful sunny day!

The next day we took the train to Pinhao, a sleepy village along the Douro River, with the most amazing train station! The Douro is called “River of Gold” and you can see why in these pictures.  This was a fabulous day trip from Porto and we escaped the tourists (yes, I know, we are tourists too)!  

Sintra is a day trip from Lisbon and is a MUST when visiting Portugal; I loved it!  We planned a tour with Jump In Tours, they were excellent.  Our tour guide met us at the train station and knew just where to take us to avoid the crowds.  We also visited sites along the coast, Azenhas do Mar being my favorite.  I will let the pictures do the talking…

We didn’t spend much time in Lisbon, the scenic coast being what we wanted to explore.  Our last stop was Estoril, along the Iberian Peninsula, where we could ride the train directly to our hotel.  Here’s some photos of both.  

Portugal was wonderful – friendly people and amazingly beautiful scenery! 
There’s been no international travel for me this year, but hopefully, this blog brings a smile and a tiny bit of joy to your Covid weary hearts.  

Next up, Azores Islands…