Top Travel Bloggers' Favorite Places from 2015 After we wrote our annual year in review place and enjoyed reliving some of our favorite trips we wondered what some of our blogger friends had enjoyed the most in 2015. So, using our in-depth investigative techniques we sent them emails and asked them! Without further ado (we were too lazy to edit) here are their interesting … [Read more...]
Lisbon on a budget
Lisbon is a city for all budgets It is possible to enjoy Lisbon on a budget and experience its architectural beauty, manageable size, mild climate, friendly citizens and lack of siestas. We are not the ones who will tell you where to find a 15€ hostel room (although this site will) or how to put together the least expensive possible stay in Lisbon. We are the ones who … [Read more...]
University of Coimbra – Capes, Ribbons, Bats n’at.
The University of Coimbra in Portugal seems to prove the adage "everything old is new again". Capes were just featured on the runways of New York's Fashion Week. Consumers value products free of chemical pesticides. E-book sales are declining as readers return to print. Ribbons are a hot topic on Pinterest. The University of Coimbra never knew capes went out of style. … [Read more...]
Pena National Palace, Sintra (proof that it really matters who you marry)
Brunette is a savant about UNESCO World Heritage Sites so it was pre-ordained that our trip to Lisbon would include a visit to Pena Palace, Sintra. Sintra's UNESCO status The "cultural landscape" of Sintra is what has UNESCO status, not the Pena Palace, as many less intellectually rigorous travel writers fail to clarify. (This is nearly impossible to believe but there … [Read more...]
5 Interesting Facts About the Douro River Valley in Portugal
The Douro River Valley Before we went to the Douro River Valley in Portugal with Viking River Cruises this is what we knew about the area; it's pretty and there are a lot of wineries. We were right. But Viking has this insidious way of actually teaching you all kinds of stuff while you think all you're doing is having fun. (Could someone please put them in charge of the … [Read more...]
The National Tile Museum in Lisbon with Viking River Cruises
Why you should visit the National Tile Museum in Lisbon Viking River Cruises knows that one of the first places you should visit when you arrive in Lisbon is the National Tile Museum. We didn't know that so we had been bumbling about for 4 days before meeting up with our cruise. We had been admiring the tiles of Lisbon but didn't know a thing about their origin, history or … [Read more...]
The Berlengas Islands – a fun day trip from Lisbon
The Berlengas Islands of Portugal If UNESCO’s server is ever hacked and they lose the records of all of their designated Biosphere Reserves they can call Brunette and she won’t be very far into the alphabet before she says “Berlengas”. If we were going to a desert Brunette would be trying to find a UNESCO oasis where we could snorkel. So when we began planning our trip to … [Read more...]
Porto with (and without) Viking River Cruises
Porto Porto was where we first boarded the Viking Torgil to begin our cruise of the Douro “River of Gold” in Portugal. It’s also where the cruise ended. This post is a combination of places Viking River took us and a few we found bumbling around on our own when we stayed for an extra day after the cruise ended. Porto is an ideal location to begin a Douro River cruise … [Read more...]
Out of the mouths of (cruise) babes
First timers on a Viking River cruise On our Viking River cruise on Portugal's River of Gold we were lucky enough to have two friends joining us. (Yes, we actually have friends.) Neither friend had ever taken a river cruise before so we wanted to get their impressions of the Viking River experience. After you’ve done several cruises it’s all too easy to get spoiled and only … [Read more...]