Lisbon and Sintra

As our wonderful spring break trip came to a close, we said good-bye to Sonia's house and Badajoz and caravanned to Sintra, just outside of Lisbon. Scott was a good co-pilot for Juan. With google maps, the language barrier was no big deal. :) Sintra is absolutely breathtaking. It's charming. Again, I wanted to stay forever. The traffic was insane, and I was grateful that Juan was so good at navigating it. Sonia had the kids in the car behind us, so it was pretty tricky getting around. Juan was an expert. The roads were so narrow, cars were driving with their outside wheels hanging half off the pavement. Americans would never be able to drive like this! It takes courage. Nobody seems to mind, either, even though the traffic is ridiculous. At one point, we had to get the car through an alley that was like one millimeter wider than the car. Throw in speed bumps on the walls, manual transmission, a hill and oncoming traffic at the end of the alley, and it seems impossible. It's not, and we proved it with a millimeter to spare between us and the tucked-in side mirrors. Crazy!

The beach was chilly but rejuvenating. So beautiful. We had dinner right on the beach. It was fresh, fresh fish.

It was swimming an hour ago. Our view from the restaurant was the ocean and the company was perfect. We are so grateful to Juan and Sonia for giving us an unforgettable and perfect trip.

Earlier in the day, we had toured the gardens and this mansion. The girl in front os Sofia's friend and neighbor.

We had plans to hike up to the castle the next morning, but we ran short on time and droe part of the way...thank heavens! Juan was an excellent tour guide, and I know the hike would have been amazing in its entirety, but I'm lazy! The amount of hiking we did was perfect.

The pictures are all out of order. This was desert in the gardens for lunch the first day.

Rolling down the hill.

Taking time to smell the flowers.

Taking the time. One of my goals.

Choosing dinner.

The food makes me cry, it's so good. You cna't even get fresh food here in the states unless you go to some pompous Whole Foods store. Or grow it yourself, as Sonia suggested we do. Again, we're lazy. And we live in the midst of very hungry deer.

I had never tried this delicacy: barnacles. Very good!

The Matt Freeman of Sintra, which you'll understand if you graduated from Kaysville Jr. High in 1986.

Our airbnb was to die for. So charming, perfect location, spacious, clean, beautiful, comfortable. I wish we had a week there!

Little touches

The view out our window!!

Can I please just stay here?

Good-byes are the worst. And even worse is that these kids are growing up and have no more teenage summers to spend together tooling around Europe or America's national parks. It's over. I could cry. Actually, I am crying.

This was Ruby not crying, but laughing hysterically because the woman's hair next to her was tickling her arm.

A brief overnight in Amsterdam at a nice Hyatt by the airport with chocolate sprinkles for breakfast, and we were homeward bound.

I think this is the most beautiful picture of Ruby. Travel is her thing, Europe is her home, Victor is her favorite person. I asked, "Is there anything we can do to make you feel better?" She looked gloomily out the airplane window and said, "Leave me here."

And I would have.