I keep wondering what happened to May! I don’t think a month has ever gone by so quickly for me. May marks our first full month of Euro-living. And we had quite a few ‘firsts’ along the way….

Our first visitors, Portuguese road trip, wine tasting, business trips and unfortunately – farewells! We had two fabulous guests that came and went. And then the reality of making our move set in! But don’t worry, it’s nothing that retail therapy can’t overcome. I’ve never done so much online shopping in my life!

After a 2 hour drive, an earful of 80s music (that’s all that plays on the radio) and a 17 Euro toll we arrived in the Algarve! We stayed in Vilamoura, where you feel like you’re in the UK instead of Portugal. 

Don’t you think Kirsten and I make a cute couple? I have to say though, that my hair is looking rather big, but I’m making great progress in getting over my big hair phobia. It’s very therapeutic being in a country of big haired women…I fit right in. All of the restaurants in Vilamoura line the harbor and we spent our dinners drooling over the boats.

Big 80’s hair.

A note on the 80’s. It’s back. I sit with the ‘young’ crowd at work (I’m definitely one of the oldest!) and it is pure 80’s. We listen to 80’s music all day, I see high tops, leggings, long sweaters with belts. My favorite is this girl that I really like (she just turned 23) and she came in with an earring stud in one ear and a huge feather earring in the other. Let’s just say that I don’t get very many compliments on my fashion!

Jeff was the ultimate bar tender in our hotel in V.M. And Kirsten…the ultimate drinker. Actually, I just thought it was cool to have this 80’s looking bar in our hotel room.

It was in Vilamoura that I discovered the BEST Tiramisu ever! I think the secret ingredient was almond flavoring. Even my cohorts agreed that it was pretty fabulous.

The weather was not the best for going to the beach during our stay (we tried for about 30 minutes, ended up using our beach loungers as wind shields and I was far too cold to even snap a pic of our ridiculous makeshift beach shelters). So instead of beaching it, we ate our way through the holiday and visited the many resort cities in the Algarve.

First stop – the lovely little town of Tavira. We happened upon a festival featuring traditional dancers, local wears and food. So far, we like what Portugal is offering!

 I thought this was pretty – flowers with the tiled building in the back ground. Now, if all of these people would just get out of my picture.

There haven’t been very many pictures of Jeff and I together, so here we are. I promise, we’re still married!

Kirsten can always find a place that feels like home!  Apparently the Portuguese like the Irish!

What do you know? We bought some wine! Kirsten happened upon the BEST restaurant. It felt like one of those cute one-namer’s in Seattle (Crow, Lark, Pair, Crush, etc). It was the perfect way to end the evening. I couldn’t take out my camera – it felt too good not to be a tourist for a few hours!

 Onto Albufeira…one of the largest of the Algarve coastal towns. A bit too touristy even for these tourists.

Ok, we had to do it. I don’t remember the last time I had a DG moment, but we felt this spontaneous urge to go sorority. The best part was Kirsten (Miss Coordination) trying to get her arm and hands to go in the right direction (no, Kirsten, this is not the time for your ‘shopping cart’ moves). By the way, these fabulous shots we’re taken in Portimao.

Perhaps a picture to send to the Anchora?

Lagos (Lu-goosh) was one of my favorite towns!

AND…we found the knock-off version of my sunglasses! GG’s. I should have bought them, you can’t even tell the difference.

Ah, time for a break! There’s nothing better than enjoying the fact that you’re on vacation than by indulging in a mid-day drink. We found a cute little wine bar - complete with tiles!

Lagos was the first slave trade market and this was the center market.

With Kirsten leaving in only a few days we squeezed in some final, great Portuguese moments; Fado and Wine tasting.

Fado is traditional Portuguese folk music that involves a Portuguese guitar and gut-wrenching, sorrowful singing (the pic of the singers with their eyes closed will give you the idea). It’s is usually played in Alfama (the oldest part of town) in Fado Houses. And there are two kinds of Fado, the amateur and the professional singers. We saw both.

Amateur: I’m actually really glad we did this, but I don’t know if we’ll ever take guests to an amateur house again. Sorry Kirsten! Our first mistake is that we didn’t make reservations and so we ended up in what initially looked like a cute spot, but with only a few sparsely populated tables. That should have been our warning signal! It ended up being a family run deal (which was kind of fun to see in action) and those sparsely populated tables were mostly comprised of family members and neighbors (hoping to make the place look livelier and attract more suckers like us!).

The singers included our waitress (who also smoked while serving our food) and this really cute (toothless) grandma and grandpa. 

It was time to check out the professionals for dessert! And it really was a beautiful performance and the place had great ambiance. I have to say that you don’t really find the Portuguese at Fado houses – it’s mainly a tourist thing, but it's fun.

We hit the vineyards for Kirsten’s final day in Portugal. The Tourismo office recommended a wine tour company and for only 90 Euros each, we were picked up in an Audi and whisked off on a private tour which included tastings and lunch. It was one of my BEST days in Portugal.

And that is how we met Tiago, our wine tasting guide, driver and most importantly, admirer of Kirsten. Tiago is a really great guy and we ended up spending the entire evening with him and he took us to some amazing places that were not part of the original package. All courtesy of his crush on Kirsten.

Kirsten, Tiago and the A6 that Tiago was VERY proud of. 

Let the tasting begin!  All of the vineyards we visited are still run by the original family members, generation after generation.  First stop, Casa Agricola Horacio Simoes. 

Jeff's ready to go.  I couldn't believe the number of tastes we were given...look at all of those glasses! 

Kirsten's ready to taste (note the spoon full of cheese - a very nice compliment to the muscatel (Tiago gazing at Kirsten...)

We're still standing after our tasting!

Onto my FAVORITE vineyard - Adega Quinta de Alcube.

One phrase comes to mind to represent the day, ‘Lost in Translation.’ I think we must have been telling a story about Lindsay (aka, talking behind her back!!!), but all of a sudden Tiago was calling Kirsten, ‘Lind-SAY.’ We were laughing so hard the first couple of times that it happened and it just became too late to correct poor Tiago. So, we all ended up calling Kirsten, ‘Lind-SAY’ for the rest of the day.

What does every good wine drinker do after after a healthy dose of tastings?  They shop!  Semao Arte makes tiles using the traditional procedures. Kirsten and I applied for a job, but no takers.  Apprently we haven't made enough pies or cookies as we truly have not mastered the art of using a rolling pin. 

Hand painted tile frescoes in the making.  This purple paint will become the traditional blue color that you see on most Portugese tiles.  

Now for the bonus feature of our day, due to Tiago's crush on Kirsten. Views from Arrabida National Park...it was a bit blustery. 

I love this picture of a lone oak tree in a field of grapes. 

View of Sessimbra from the castle.

We went to an Esplanada (out door bar/restaraunt) in Meco and tried our first Caipirinha (what I like to think of as the Brazilian's version of the Mojito, but not as good).  Click here for the recipe. 

One last romatic picture with Kirsten as the sun set on her stay in Portugal (quite poetic!)

My vacation days came to an end with Kirsten’s departure. What a fabulous way to start our stay in Portugal – thank you Kirsten! Work quickly intensified with a trip to meet my new team in Amsterdam and a long list of ‘to-dos.'  My favorite thing about the Amsterdam office is that they serve a pitcher of cold milk at meetings! And they have these fabulous waffle cookies.

One of Jeff’s teammates graciously adopted us for the day and showed us some sites. First stop – Harley Davidson. Doesn’t Jeff look handsome on his Harley?

....and holding on for dear life?

He looked like such a natural that we made the big purchase.

I arrived home from a long day at work to a HUGE care package. What a surprise! Kirsten – you win the favorite friend award two months in a row! For being our first visitor and care package sender!

 
• Cost of goodies (cake, frosting, chips, graham crackers) in care package: $10
• Cost of shipping $10 worth of goodies to Portugal: $40
• Naomi eating all care package contents in a week: SHAMELESS!

We started the month with Kirsten and ended it with Jolene! The quintessential introduction to Portugal. Jolene, our ‘Sleep, Napping and General Snooziness Consultant’ went right to work making her euro-bed comfortable.

Poor Kirsten had to sleep in that awful thing for 2 weeks. We all had to try out the new and improved bed. Doesn’t this fabulous bed, if nothing else, make you want to come and visit us?

Jo wins the easiest guest in the world award. All that is required is sleeping-in and having cold cereal on hand. Done!  And a Mexican dinner (how could I forget!).  Jeff and I have adapted to the hours in Portugal and find ourselves sleeping in until 10 or 11 easily, so Jo fit right in! 

Here we are looking very Euro (note, big hair is back!) before a Mexican dinner at the Marinha.

The itinerary for Jo Jo’s whirlwind weekend visit was sleep (Jeff and I appreciated this as we were pretty exhausted from work), cereal, wine tasting and Lisbon (walking tour ala Naomi). Jeff and I decided to give Jo the self guided wine tour that we had taken with Kirsten and Tiago. Perhaps not the most original sights, but it was a good test to see if we could make it back.

But first stop, in true Portuguese style, LUNCH (the Portuguese LOVE their lunches, they’re usually pretty big and then they dine on something lighter for dinner, like soup).

The traditional Portuguese post-lunch pole dance

We toured the oldest wine producer in Portugal, Jose Maria de Fonseca

Jolene is quite the sophisticated wine taster.

The 'Jardims'

Jo and I ventured into Lisbon and this was my big test to see how much I remembered from my walking tours! We also practiced our scenic shots…we were quite the photo-journalists.

Jolene getting ready for the train ride into the big city.

The Rossio - considered the main downtown praca.

One of the main churches of Lisbon and the only one to survive the 1755 earthquake.  This church played a major role in the Portuguese Inquisition and the accused received their sentences here.  On a ligher note, if you look in the lower right hand corner, this is the Ginja bar (horrible cough syrup tasting alcohol).  This bar serves as a local meeting spot and they say that a shot of Ginja cures any ailment. 

View of the Rossio

I LOVE these purple trees and need to find out what they are.  They are in bloom all over Lisbon and are absolutely stunning.  This praca marks the center of the 1974 Revolution. 

The roof of this gothic church caved in on a bunch of people during the 1755 earthquake and is now a memorial to that day. 

This is Barro Alto, the party district!  

Kirsten and Jolene - thank you so much for the visits and helping us through our first month abroad!  We had a fabulous time and can't wait to have you back.  Miss you!

Jolene gives Portugal a thumb's up - come and see for yourself!