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  • We’re at Walt Disney World all week long!

    We’re at Walt Disney World all week long!

    For all of this week, we’re on vacation at “the happiest place on Earth”, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

    Who’s “we”? It’s me, Kevin, my brother Tyler, and my parents. It’s mine and Tyler’s first trip in awhile, and Kevin’s first-ever Disney experience, so we’ll be taking many pictures and making many observations. We’ll be blogging everyday to share the highlights of those observations, and of course we’ll be sharing some of the best photos from the day.

    We arrived early this afternoon at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, where we’ll be staying all week. We treated this as an orientation day. It involved lunch at Olivia’s Restaurant at Old Key West, shopping at Target, considerable naps, dinner at Raglan Road Restaurant, and an evening of exploration at Disney Springs and Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. We packed a lot in, and we’re looking forward to getting into the full swing of things tomorrow.

    Here’s the best of our photos from today:

    Tomorrow morning’s running route 🙂
    The view while walking to Disney Springs from our hotel
    Enjoying the show at Raglan Road Pub – Irish dancing in-house
    More in-house Irish dancing at Raglan Road!
    Trying to channel our inner-Frozen.
    Getting in line to take the bus to the Boardwalk Hotel.
    Me and my Dad in the Boardwalk’s lobby
    An evening at the Boarwalk
    A distant view of Epcot’s daily fireworks show
    Kevin won this little tiger on the Boardwalk!
  • Exploring your backyard when you live in Wine Country

    Exploring your backyard when you live in Wine Country

    For the majority of my life, I grew up in Grimsby, a town in the municipality of “Niagara”. This particular municipality is home to the rather famous Niagara Falls, and it’s now also home to a flourishing wine industry.

    The Niagara Wine Industry has grown significantly in the past 30 years. I don’t remember much about wine country growing up in this area, aside from driving past the occasional vineyard. Now that we’re back living in Grimsby (with my parents – hey Tony and Judy!), we’ve had the immense pleasure of exploring and enjoying all that this wine region has to offer.

    The Niagara Peninsula wine growing region divides itself into two areas: Niagara Escarpment/20 Valley, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. The wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake are closer to Niagara Falls and to the beautiful, historic village of Niagara-on-the-Lake. In our experience, it gets pretty busy as a tourist hotspot, so we try to visit the more local (for us) wineries in the Niagara Escarpment/20 Valley area.

    The main benefits of that choice? Closer to home, fewer crowds, and the tastings are usually free.

    To give you an idea of how the region is spread out, here’s a map. The 20 Valley/Niagara Escarpment is clustered towards the centre/left, while the Niagara-on-the-Lake wineries are clustered towards the right.

    Keep in mind the map is a bit outdated, showing far fewer wineries that exist. There are currently 92 wineries in the Niagara Peninsula.

    Niagara Wine Route Map (Outdated)

    Of those 92 wineries in the region, we’ve only been to 30. While we’ve seen a lot, we have a long way to go!

    But why exactly do we go to these wineries? To taste wine, to explore the beauty of the Niagara region, to buy wine, and to get to know the people and industry driving the economy in our neighbourhood.

    Drinking wine, and really liking it, requires a lot of practice. That means trying a lot of different wines, and there’s no better way to do that than wine tastings. And when you combine in the beautiful weather and landscape of the Niagara Escarpment, satisfaction is guaranteed.

    As for buying wine, one thing we’ve learned from living in Portugal is that the best wines don’t always get out of the country they’re made in. Think about it: if a wine is really good, then it’s probably going to be consumed at home. So even if you’re buying good wine from Australia, it still might not be the best version of what that wine producer makes. However, if you buy wine in your own backyard, you can taste everything they’ve made that year, you can choose to definitely get the best crop of what they’re producing. And bonus: you often do get to meet some of the wine producers.

    With the decline of manufacturing, the Niagara Wine Region’s tourist industry has really positioned itself to be an economic driver of this region. Part of this includes the wide variety of events that they organize and curate each year. This past fall we attended the “Niagara Grape and Wine Festival” and “Wrapped Up in the Valley”. The events are well run and easy to understand as a participant. They provide you with clear maps, checklists, etc, and even their websites are easy to explore!

    The two sites I use most when researching and booking tours are VQA Ontario, Niagara Wine Festival, Wine Country Ontario, and Twenty Valley Tourism.

    This weekend kicks off the Winter Winefest, with a weekend of events in historic/beautiful Jordan Village. I can’t go, but I really suggest that you go! And the Icewine Festival will continue for the next 3 weekends – for $40, a Discovery Pass will allow you to try a food and wine pairing at 8 different wineries across the last 3 weekends in January. Give it a try! (don’t worry, there’s another festival coming up in the spring!)

    I went to a party over the holidays, and was both surprised and impressed to hear how many people our age are out there exploring wineries, choosing favourites, and making recommendations.

    In that spirit, here are our recommendations for must-see wineries on your next visit to the Niagara Peninsula. It’s a varied list, but is a great beginners list for understanding all that the Niagara Peninsula Wine Region brings to the table:

    • Red Stone Winery
    • Calamus Estate Winery
    • Cave Springs Cellar
    • Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery
    • Ridgepoint Wines
    • Vineland Estates Winery
    • 13th Street Winery

    And of course, take a look at the photos we’ve taken on our winery adventures over the past few months:

    the vines at Hernder
    KP and I, picking up some wine at Hernder Estates
    Arriving at Honsberger
    Chickens at Honsberger!
    the vines at Honsberger
    set up for a wine and cheese pairing at 13th Street Winery
    The wine shop at 13th Street
    Kevin meeting wine maker extraordinaire Sue-Ann Staff herself
    with my parents at Ridgepoint Wines
    Kevin checking out the grass at Chateau des Charmes
    tasting Calamus ice wine at home
    A regular view: vines & lake Ontario!
    Trying a sample at Rosewood Estates
    My mom, Kim, and me at Tawse Winery
  • #tbt: Summer of 2015 and learning how to ‘beach’

    #tbt: Summer of 2015 and learning how to ‘beach’

    Going to the beach is a sport in the Algarve. In the Algarve, people stay in between January and April, as it’s cold, most things are closed, and seasonal employees are out of work.

    Come late April, early May, the Algarvieu (Algarvians) come out to play. And that means hitting up the beach with a level of deep seriousness.

    To say the weather here is perfect is a complete understatement. As the spring and summer progress, and the weather gets hotter, you see the entire landscape becoming busy. More traffic, more people, more restaurants, and more sun!

    Growing up, I’d only been to the beach a handful of times. The Page kids were not into beach life; no sand in our toes, no seaweed on our feet, no sunburns on our skin, thank you very much.

    The Silva kids were the complete opposite. Spending most summers in the Algarve, with all their local friends in Alte, Kevin and his brother were total beach kids who spent many, many hours playing on the beach, swimming in the ocean, enjoying the sun.

    I had a lot to learn, but luckily for me I was learning how to “beach” with the help of an expert.

    In June, and July, we went to the beach almost everyday. And there were A LOT of beaches to choose from. Beautiful white sand beaches with crystal-blue water aren’t just for the Carribbean, people! Algarve beaches are famously beautiful, and we were spoiled enough to have multiple amazing beaches within just a 20 minute drive. In doing a bit of pre-writing research, I realized that some of the most “well reviewed” beaches are places we never went to, but it’s hard to justify driving an hour to a perfect beach when you have 6 almost-perfect beaches to choose from in your backyard!

    So, how does one beach?

    There are only a few things required:

    • water, and lots of it. My beach bag contained at least 8 water bottles at all times.
    • towels, 1.5 per person. I always had 3 towels for Kevin and I, so we could lay them out in a way that would keep ourselves and the towels sand-free
    • hats. With the Algarve sun, a hat is essential
    • euros – there’s a restaurant/bar at almost every beach, and the best way to end your day is with a bottle of wine at sunset (bars with a good wine selection are preferred).
    • paddle-ball equipment – surprisingly fun, and good exercise
    • tanning oil (for Kevin and all our Portuguese friends)
    • immense amounts of sunscreen for me (I also had a pre-departure routine that included sunscreening my entire body, head toe)
    • tanning technique – not as easy as one might think. You need to keep regular movement throughout the day to get an even tan all over your body. And pay attention to the sun, so you can angle yourself appropriately. Whether standing or laying down, you need to tack with the movement of the sun in order to get maximum rays.
    • sunglasses. duh.
    • e-readers. essential activity when you’re growing that tan on the sand
    • beer in a cooler – not required every time, but you need both together whenever required.
    • Google Maps – a required assistant when scanning the coast in search of a hidden beach!

    It’s hard to get a proper list of the beaches we went to, because all our friends referred to the beaches based on local history and/or the name of the restaurant at the beach. And some of the beaches were “hidden”, aka only limited walking access, which means the only way you can find them is by carefully scanning Google Maps’ Satellite View. In any case, we did take a lot photos, which you can peruse below!

  • #tbt – Friendship reunion in Cannes!

    #tbt – Friendship reunion in Cannes!

    In the time that I’ve been travelling, the glorious technology of iMessage & Group Chats has been a complete lifesaver, helping me keep in constant touch with some of my best friends in Canada. I have a group chat with 2 of my friends, Julie and Komal, that is essentially a haven of love, positivity, and support as we share each others fears and excitement while building our lives and careers from three different cities.

    Komal is currently producing a documentary about female CEOs and entrepreneurs called “Dream, Girl“, and thus was invited to speak on a panel at the Cannes Film Festival this year in Cannes, France. You know France… just around the corner from Portugal? In a series of events that still seems to good to have been true, we all decided to go to France together in support of Komal and in search of sunshine.

    The trip was four women in total: me, Julie, Komal, and Taylor (another very good friend of Komal’s and overall talented woman).

    Cannes was all booked up by the time we planned this trip, so we opted to stay in Nice, which is just a 30 minute train ride away from Cannes.

    Four women. Five days in France. Here are the numbers on what we got up to:

    • number of delayed flights: 0 (win!)
    • number of hours spent on the beach: at least 24 – we made a point of clocking hours in the sun
    • number of small children that we saw poop into a bag while on the beach: 1 (gross.)
    • number of parties that we snuck into: 1 (Komal said, “act like you belong”, and we went with it)
    • number of parties we tried and failed to sneak into: 1
    • number of creeps that we met: 2
    • number of wonderful people that we met: many, many, many
    • number of ways we tried to sneak in: 5
    • number of celebrities that we saw: at least 10
    • number of reunions with a friend from Cambodia: 1
    • number of friends that Julie and I made while dancing till 7am: more than I can remember, that’s for sure.
    • number of minutes that Julie and I were on the Cannes-to-Paris train instead of the Cannes-to-Nice train: 45
    • number of panelists on the “Cutting Edge Collaborators: Women Achieving in Film” panel discussion: 5
    • number of red carpet photos taken between the 4 of us: 20+
    • number of vlogs recorded: 10+
    • number of times we used the word “glam”: 50+
    • number of times we were glam: always
    • number of times we felt immense gratitude for this trip with these people: constant. Still feeling grateful as I relive the memories now
    • number of photos we took: surprisingly few, and all the best are below.

    Leaving Kevin to go to France just a week after his implants surgery (and on an expired travel visa!) was actually pretty scary. But it was worth every second of it to enjoy the unique experience of travelling to be a cheerleader for Komal. Also pretty cool because it means that Julie and I had 2 European-adventures together in 2015! It was a rough year, but the bright spots were very, very bright.

    Airport reunion!!
    On the beach in Nice, where we logged our tanning hours
    The view from the window in our Nice Air BnB
    All glammed up and ready for Cannes!
    Couldn’t break into the party we wanted into 😦
    That’s Haim the Band sitting behind us…
    … but I’m excited because we’re drinking Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
    strutting on the “red carpet”
    Grabbing drinks with my friend from Cambodia, Alice (not pictured)
    The day after mine and Julie’s night time adventure
    Also the day of Komal’s panel discussion & red carpet event
    Komal on the red carpet!
  • Back in Grimsby :: Thoughts on accepting unexpected changes in 2015

    Back in Grimsby :: Thoughts on accepting unexpected changes in 2015

    I’ve been working on this post for sometime, building it in my head, finally writing it out, and coming back to it with edits on edits. It seems fitting to publish this on New Year’s Eve, after a rather surprising and challenging year.

    When I started writing this blog, Kevin and I were living in Cambodia. We’d quit our jobs, sold or given away most of our clothing, furniture, technology, etc, and moved across the globe on a new adventure.

    Going into this, our expectation was that we’d live abroad and travel Southeast Asia & surrounding areas for 3 to 5 years, and then see where life/work led us from there.

    What we weren’t expecting was my homesickness to result in a mandatory trip home at Christmas.

    Still, we worked in some extra benefits to that trip. After going home for Christmas, we’d planned to travel through Spain to France, and then fly from Paris back to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

    What we weren’t expecting was for Kevin to get hit in the mouth with a hockey stick while playing “pick up” hockey in Grimsby. When that happened, we got some quick dental work done, then headed to Portugal to finish the rest.

    What we also weren’t expecting was to learn that recovering from a traumatic dental injury takes several months, not several weeks. Fast forward to December 31st, and we’re still 1.5 months away from a full resolution.

    Back in February, when we were coming to terms with the recovery outlook, we realized pretty quickly that our goal of living 2-5 years in Asia was going to be postponed, and possibly replaced with a new plan that worked for our current circumstances.

    Coming back to Canada in July, and having to re-explain that to everyone who thought we were still living in Asia, was harder than I’d expected. In a sense, I felt like we’d failed on this big journey that we’d planned and talked about for so long. For the sake of moving away, we’d given up both things and opportunities, and coming back so soon had me wondering if all that was in vain. It also feels weird to have only travelled for such a short period of time, when our “move” had been aimed that avoiding a type of rushed,”see it once, then head home”, type of travelling. And yet, the things we saw and accomplished during our travels were incredible. And as I’ve written before, there’s nothing quite like travelling to cure oneself of the notion that it’s even possible to ‘see it all’, so should I really be disappointed that I didn’t?

    I’m still kind of grappling with these thoughts, but also trying to full embrace our current circumstances.

    So… yes, we’re back in Canada. Yes, we live in Grimsby. Yes, our untethered lifestyle is indefinitely on ‘pause’. But I’m actually okay with that. And after a year of health/dental related drama and stress, I am more than okay with saying goodbye to 2015, and looking forward to whatever 2016 holds. If these past couple of months are any indication, there are many good times ahead for our life in Canada.

  • #tbt – My friend Anne came to visit us in Portugal!

    #tbt – My friend Anne came to visit us in Portugal!

    One of the loveliest benefits of spending time in Portugal was the proximity to some of my fellow Canadian friends. One such friend, Anne, was working in London for the first half of 2015. Before she headed back to Canada, she took a quick jaunt to Alte, where we spent a few days enjoying the sunshine.

    Between her travels and my travels, Anne and I don’t get to see each other too often. And yet, we’ve been friends since we were 11, and that means that when do get together, it’s like we were never apart. I was acutely reminded of this when she came to visit us in Portugal. With Kevin laid up in bed, suffering through his recent implants surgery, Anne and I had plenty of time to explore Alte together. Activities included long walks, sitting in the sun, and drinking espressos, going for a trail run, and talking constantly.

    Despite being in pain and needing rest, Kevin was also generous enough to drive us for a wonderful sunset/dinner combination. Kevin is an outstanding host, who puts quite a bit of thought into showing guests the very best of the Algarve, so we were lucky that he got out of bed to entertain us. The next day we spent laying out on the beach with several of our Portuguese friends, which is a classic Algarve experience. In retrospect, it was asking way too much of Kevin to take us around like this. Never have I regretted so much my inability to drive standard/manual.

    In any case, Anne’s visit was a lot of fun. With Kevin’s injuries/dental work, our time in Portugal was a bizarre combination of amazing and stressful. It was so relaxing for me to have one of my oldest friends check in help me review all the things that were on my mind. Moral of the story? Never underestimate the the goodness your friends can bring to your own mental health. With this experience in mind, I was so stoked when Kevin’s best friend Mark came to visit a couple of months later – and for that, I actually did learn to drive standard. There’ll be much more on that adventure soon 🙂

    Anne and I were having too much fun to take many photos, but I’ve snagged a few of Anne’s from Facebook, which you can see below:

    Checking out the view of Alte, from above
    Enjoying breakfast in the sunshine, in Avo Olimpia’s backyard
    Getting water at the spring in Alte
    Hanging out by the stream in Alte
    Going for a trail run!
    Heading up the hill…
  • Back in Grimsby :: An update on what’s happening with this here blog

    Back in Grimsby :: An update on what’s happening with this here blog

    If you’re reading closely, 2 things are clear:

    1. Kevin and I are back in Canada
    2. Most of the posts about our travels are describing things have taken place a few months ago

    At the end of July, Kevin and I booked one-way tickets back to Canada. We’d been in Portugal since early 2015, and had been travelling/living in Southeast Asia before that.

    We didn’t anticipate coming back to Canada nearly this soon, but here we are. So, what happens to a travel blog when you’re no longer “travelling”?

    The immediate plan is to continue writing. There are still tons of photos and stories to share from our adventures in the first half of 2015. I’ll be posting those as a “Throwback Thursday” entry, once a week.

    Alongside the Thursday posts, I’ll be writing about what we’re doing and exploring in Canada, along documenting with any other shorter trips that we get to.

    When we left Toronto and set out on our ‘big international adventure’, we chose to plan a long period of travel because we like to take our time. In Portugal, we *really* took our time, exploring many nooks and crannies of the Algarve, often seeing the same place or thing many times, and yet appreciating it all the same.

    One thing that we learned very quickly is that it’s next to impossible to see all the incredible and beautiful and interesting things/places out there, because the opportunities to do so are limitless. If the opportunities to explore beautiful experiences abroad are so numerous, it stands to reason that the same thing applies wherever life finds us. Right now, we’re living in Grimsby, the quickly growing small-ish town where I grew up. Much to my surprise, there are plenty of things to see and explore here, as long as you look for such opportunities.

    As someone who has started and abandoned many projects, I’m still a bit shocked that I’ve maintained this blog for so long. Though I’m geographically back where I started, I’ll keep documenting Kevin’s photos and our stories. (Beside, this blog was started to share our adventures with friends and family. With most of our friends in Toronto, being in Grimsby can feel so far away that we might as well still be in a foreign country 😉 )

    I’m not at all looking forward to winter, but Kevin and I will be doing our best to get into some winter sports and activities, making sure we get the most out of the unique experience of a Canadian winter.

  • Canadian Thanksgiving traditions in Grimsby

    Canadian Thanksgiving traditions in Grimsby

    It’s American Thanksgiving, so it’s as good a time as any to write about our adventures during the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

    A couple of years ago, I went to Ottawa and spent Thanksgiving weekend with Kevin. While there, I ate the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner that I’d ever had. Since we’re back in Grimsby, room-mating it up with my parents, we cried “dibs” pretty immediately on preparing Thanksgiving dinner. My mom was away for a wedding that weekend, so we had free reign over the kitchen. Of course, there were some other antics afoot before we got the oven running.

    We were making our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, so on Friday I set out to buy a turkey. I’d attempted to purchase a turkey on Thursday, to no avail. Apparently everyone buys their turkey at least 2 weeks early, and I had missed the memo. On Friday morning, Kevin told me “go to Lococo’s, they’ll have a 10kg Butterball for sure”. With Thursday’s empty turkey freezers in mind, I drove my parents to the airport on Friday, and proceeded to spend 3 hours driving all around Mississauga and Oakville in search of a 10kg+ Butterball turkey. I could barely find a 7kg turkey, let alone a butterball, so I began to panic. I bought the first 10kg turkey I could find, Butterball be damned.

    Then, to stock up on veggies and stuffing and all that other Thanksgiving goodness, I went to Lococo’s. As Kevin had promised, they had multiple Butterballs over 10kg. So what did I do? I bought one. As of today, we still have an extra turkey just waiting it out in our basement freezer.

    Double turkey purchases aside, Thanksgiving weekend in Grimsby involves just one tradition: Attending the Balls Falls Craft Show. So before we got to cooking, Kevin agreed to indulge me and attend the craft show. Balls Falls is a conservation area in Vineland, ON, that also happens to be the home of several old/historic buildings. It’s a wedding hotspot these days, which makes sense because it’s quite lovely.

    Fortunately, the craft show is not just about crafts. There are several historical displays that showcase 20th century technologies. There was also a “raptor” display, where we saw some really cool birds, most importantly, a Bald Eagle!!!! The next best thing to a Bald Eagle was seeing a genuine Military Band Organ from 1911. Still in full working order, this was a pretty cool site to see. It was restored and maintained by a gentleman named Captain John Leonard, who toured it all around the great lakes regions, in the United States and Canada. Though Captain John has since passed away, his wife and and his friend continue this great tradition, bringing a taste of early 20th century musical technology to the masses.

    Here’s a quick video of what the inner workings of the machine, as seen through the back, looks like:

    Surprisingly, we got quite into the whole craft scene, and went through to see every vendor there. While I’d planned to check out the festival for 30 minutes, once we saw the food tent, we got sucked in, and ended up spending more than 2 hours crafting about. I’ve been to this festival in some terrible weather, so the bright sunny day was a real treat.

    The next day, guided by some tips from Gordon Ramsay, we embarked on our Thanksgiving cooking extravaganza. With Kevin leading, me sous-chefing, and my brothers assisting, it was a pretty big production. I can honestly say that we could not have pulled this off without the help of Tyler and Kristopher, who helped with all the preparation, and made dessert. Tyler also ran point on serving the wine, which is essential for family holidays. We kicked off dinner by toasting with a glass of sparkling wine for everyone at the table, then proceeded to dig in.

    The menu included:

    • A 10 kg turkey, perfectly prepared
    • Garlic mashed potatoes
    • Green beans with bacon
    • 3 types of gravy
    • Stovetop Stuffing (yes, from the box – don’t mess with a classic!)
    • Gwyneth’s roasted cauliflower and chickpeas
    • Pumpkin pie
    • Homemade Gingerbread Cookies
    • Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie (courtesy of Nana Ev)
    • Wine, wine, and more wine (all from Niagara’s 20 Valley Region, of course)

    And that’s it. The secret to a great Thanksgiving weekend? Wine and teamwork. Hopefully Christmas will be similar entertaining! Check out the various photos of our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, below:

    A steam engine display at the craft show!
    checking out the natural landscape – that’s “Balls Falls” behind me.
    Standing in front the Military Band Organ
    classic!
    One of the many great vendors we met at the festival
    In front of the big barn at Balls Falls
    The dessert table. Cookies made by Tyler & Kristopher.
    Turkey on the table, “resting”, as per Gordon Ramsay’s instructions
    Obviously, we were watching the Jays
    dinner is served!
  • Visiting Sagres

    Visiting Sagres

    Throughout the duration of Tyler’s trip to Portugal, I was incredibly ill. I slept most of the time and felt terribly shivery and gross for most of the time that I wasn’t sleeping. As a result, I didn’t get out for too many excursions, and Tyler’s blog posts have covered the majority of his second week with us in Portugal, where we relaxed in the Algarve.

    There was one trip for which I did manage to drag myself out of bed: a day trip to the Fort at Sagres.

    Sagres is the most south-west point of Portugal, with a large landmass that juts out into the ocean. The Fort of Sagres occupies this space, a place connected to Portugal’s history of exploration. The Fort may or may not have been connected to the work for Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator:

    It is traditionally suggested that Henry gathered at his villa on the Sagres peninsula a school of navigators and map-makers. However modern historians hold this to be a misconception. He did employ some cartographers to chart the coast of Mauritania after the voyages he sent there, but there was no center of navigation science or observatory in the modern sense of the word, nor was there an organized navigational center.[7]

    Referring to Sagres, sixteenth century Portuguese mathematician and cosmographer, Pedro Nunes, remarked, “”from it our sailors went out well taught and provided with instruments and rules which all map makers and navigators should know.”[8]

    The view that Henry’s court rapidly grew into the technological base for exploration, with a naval arsenal and an observatory, etc., although repeated in popular culture, has never been established.[9][10][11] Henry did possess geographical curiosity, and employed cartographers. Jehuda Cresques, a noted cartographer, has been said to have accepted an invitation to come to Portugal to make maps for the infante. This last incident probably accounts for the legend of the School of Sagres, which is now discredited. (Wikipedia)

    The location was stunning. Walking along the cliffs, watching birds fly above the waves, and looking back at the rather flat, open space of the fort, it was a beautiful scene. As far as museums go, it was fairly unimpressive. Very little information was offered about what we were looking at, though Wikipedia has suggested that the Fort’s importance is up for debate, which may explain the lack of concrete information at the site.

    In either case, it was a lovely day, made even better by a really fantastic seafood lunch. We dined at A Sagres, the closest restaurant to the Fort. While those around us were eating spaghetti and other such nonsense, we requested the daily specials, and were treated to an amazing seafood stew and freshly caught fish.

    On the way home we took a scenic route along the coast. We stopped at a beautiful beach, and took a detour for a supposed ‘archaeological site of interest’ that was actually just a field.

    Check out our photos to enjoy the view:

    but first, we lunch. Clams to start!
    seafod stew!
    sea bream!
    deliciously fresh fish
    taking in the scene
    walking on a nearby beach as part of our scenic route home
    this was supposed to be a “point of interest”
    so we made it interesting!
  • Road Trip Day 3: Evora & Illness & the Algarve

    Road Trip Day 3: Evora & Illness & the Algarve

    After waking up in Marvao and spending our morning exploring, we set off to Evora. Of course, Tyler rolled his ankle on those beautiful cobblestone streets the night before, and I woke up feeling the beginning of a fever. Still, we had 2 more stops on our road trip, beginning with the city of Evora, followed by the nearby Monsaraz, then the city of Beja. By the time we had lunch, Kevin realized his couple of Pages were too ill, and he promptly drove us the last 3 hours home to the Algarve.

    Before our trip was cut short, we did get to explore Evora. We also had an incredible lunch at a restaurant that only serves 9 people at a time. “Botequim da Mouraria” is run by a welcoming Portuguese couple. In their small restaurant, there’s bar seating only, which means that we were incredibly lucky to arrive in time for lunch and find 3 empty chairs waiting for us. The service and the food were excellent. This was one of those places Kevin had found in the course of his detailed research, and it was very much worth the hype.

    After lunch, we explored Evora and its incredible history. A very old city, Evora still has Roman ruins and an incredible variety of historic architecture. On all our other stops, I read aloud to the guys various historical fun facts. Being sick in Evora meant that I didn’t really do this, and so we learned a bit less there than everywhere else. The city is more than 2000 years old, and was occupied by the Celts and the Moors before becoming the #2 city in Portugal for a time, becoming the site of much lavish spending on the behalf of Portuguese rulers.

    Here are a couple of other fun facts about Evora:

    Évora has a history dating back more than two millennia.

    It was known as Ebora by the Celts, a tribal confederacy, south of the Lusitanians (and of Tagus river), who made the town their regional capital.

    The etymological origin of the name Ebora is from the ancient Celtic word ebora/ebura, plural genitive of the word eburos (yew), name of a species of tree, so its name means “of yew tree.” The city of York, in northern England, at the time of the Roman Empire, was called Eboracum/Eburacum, named after the ancient Celtic place name Ebora Kon (Place of Yew Trees), so the old name of York is etymologically related to the city of Évora.[6]

    (Wikipedia)

    Évora is also remarkable for reasons other than its monumental heritage related to significant historic events. The 16th century was a time of major urban planning and great intellectual and religious influence. While Évora also has many noteworthy 16th-century patrician houses (Cordovil house, the house of Garcia de Resende), the unique quality of the city arises from the coherence of the minor architecture of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. This unity finds its overall expression in the form of numerous low whitewashed houses, decorated with Dutch tiles and wrought-iron balconies and covered with tile roofs or terraces which line narrow streets of medieval configuration and which in other areas bears witness to the concentric growth of the town until the 17th century. It also served to strengthen the fundamental unity of a type of architecture that is perfectly adapted to the climate and the location.

    Évora remained mainly undamaged by the great earthquake of 1755 that destroyed many towns in Portugal, including Lisbon. The monuments of the Historic Centre of Évora bear witness to their profound influence on Portuguese architecture in Brazil.

    (UNESCO)

    In retrospect, while we recognized how beautiful Evora was, I was a bit too sick to recognize and appreciate the signs of its long storied history. It was also clearly packed with tourists from all of the world, which became a bit of a distraction itself. All the same, we managed to take a few photos. Enjoy!

    our amazing lunch!
    tourists taking photos of local students on a field trip
    being holy
    standing near some incredibly Manueline architecture
    drinking in front of the Temple of Diana
    siblings & roman ruins, no big deal
    can you tell we’re both all messed up?