30 September 2014

Sintra, Portugal

September 30, 2014 12
Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone 

Sintra, the first center of European romantic architecture making it the capital of romanticism.

 Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone 

Steeped in history, palaces for royals, lush hills, beautiful gardens and a sweet little village.  It's understandable why Sintra is such a gem!

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone 

Like Lisbon, we were happy to wander through the beautiful, narrow, cobblestone streets of Sintra.

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone 

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal,

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal, cobblestone

The National Palace of Sintra

palace, Sintra, travel, Portugal

Streets, Sintra, travel, Portugal

To finish up my last post on Portugal, I'll leave you with some photos of the coast around the Guia Lighthouse in Cascais.

lighthouse, Guia, Cascais, Portugal, travel

Guia, Cascais, Portugal, travel

Guia, Cascais, Portugal, travel

stone, steps, Guia, Cascais, Portugal, travel

Linking up again with BonnieCamilaJessi, and Amy for Travel Tuesday.



26 September 2014

What We're Up To: #1

September 26, 2014 18
Hi All!

I've decided to join Kate's link up, Daily Diaries, to give a glimpse of what our week to week looks like.

So let's get started!!

These ladies we are calling our American-Russian refugees!  


They are American student volunteers working in Russia and teaching English.  It's a fun part of working for a charity.  We meets lots of amazing people working in various places around the world.  They had visa problems and camped out in England while they waited for new visas. 

We did a bit of sightseeing while they were here.
I love this shot of the 3 of them at the viaduct!

girls on viaduct

They were staying in a colleague's house, but we had them over for dinner most nights.  My kids loved having them here!



Some messing with the cat might have been involved!

 
The downside of having guests is having to say "goodbye!"  We miss them already!

The remembrance of the 100 year anniversary of WWI has been widespread in the UK.  Just look at the installment at the Tower of London!

Tower of London Poppie Installment


Check out a post from Mandy who blogs at Emm in London about the poppy installment.  She gives a lot of great information about it.

Beefeater with poppies, Tower of London

  The kids have been learning different aspects of the war.  One of them are recipes made during that time.  For a class project Karis wanted to make one of the recipes.  She chose donuts!



If it weren't for the time, mess and calories we might make them more often!


That's the highlights, I'd say.  You don't need to know all the details of my sweating through Taebo and hours of dish washing (that's me roughing it in England.....no dishwasher!)

I'm excited for the weekend.  I'll be attending another great London Bloggers Tea!!  Can't wait to tell you all about it!!

Happy Weekend!!

23 September 2014

Belem

September 23, 2014 26
Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel,

A jewel in Lisbon's crown!  It's easy to see why!

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel,

Belem Tower, meaning Bethlehem, has guarded Lisbon's harbor since 1520.

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel,

A UNESCO World Heritage Site due to it's significance in the Age of Discoveries.

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

The last thing explorers laid their eyes on as they journeyed across the Atlantic and the first thing that came into view upon their return.

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Once inside, there are all sorts of nooks to explore.

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Looking out to the 25th of April bridge.

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

The spiral stairwell is quite narrow that a red light/green light system is set in place to keep the flow of people running smoothly.

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Belem, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

Only €6, it's worth every penny!

After touring the Belem Tower, we made our way to Pasteis de Belem near the Jeronimos Monastery for a pasteis de nata, custard tart.

custard, tart, Belem, Pasteis de Belem, travel, food

 custard, tart, Belem, Pasteis de Belem, travel, food

Creamy custard is baked in a tart shell and served warm with a sprinkling of powdered sugar!!  Yum!  Take me back now, these were heavenly!!

custard, tart, Belem, Pasteis de Belem, travel, food

A tip we learned....don't be fooled by the long line snaking outside the front door.  That's for take away.  Capture the full experience by making your way inside (don't let the small store front fool you either, there are several rooms in the back), rest your weary feet and order yourself some tarts and coffee.  Aww, bliss!!  You will leave wanting more!!

On our way to locate these amazing custard tarts, we couldn't resist the area around the monastery.

Jeronimos, Monastery, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

This fountain was so amazing!

Jeronimos, Monastery, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

A 500 year old Gothic style monastery and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Our third one to see on the coast of Lisbon.

Monastery, Jeronimos, Lisbon, Portugal, travel

We decided not to tour inside, but we had a little peek.

monastery, Lisbon, Portugal, travel, Jeronimos

All located within the parish of Belem in Lisbon.  Makes for a great day of sightseeing.

If you find you're here during lunch time, we highly recommend Restaurante Os Jeronimos just down from the bakery.

restaurant, food, Portugal, Lisbon, Belem, travel

Authentic Portuguese food and atmosphere.  The waiters are hilarious with lots of fun banter and shouting amongst themselves with some of the most amazing food we've ever had!

Have you toured Belem or tried the famous Belem pastries??

Linking up again with BonnieCamilaJessi, and Amy for Travel Tuesday.


19 September 2014

Highlights of Vienna

September 19, 2014 8
Vienna, Austria, Gloriette, Schonbrunn, travel, expat

Wiener Schnitzel at Figlmüller!  You must have schnitzel in Austria and this is a great place.  Look at these portions!
 
Vienna, Austria, travel, expat, schnitzel

Demel Chocolate
Amazing hot chocolate with various cakes and chocolate to try!  You can even watch them making the chocolates.

Vienna, Austria, Demel, travel, expat, chocolate

Vienna's museums
We fell in love with the Natural History Museum, namely, the dinosaur hall.

Vienna, Austria,travel, expat, museums, dinosaurs

Rathaus & Christmas Markets
Rathaus, the town hall, is a beautiful Gothic design.  Add the market at Christmas and you've got a great day out!

Vienna, Austria, travel, expat, Rathaus

 Wiener Prater
Ride the most unique ferris wheel, the Riesenrad.  First constructed in 1897.

Wiener Prater, Vienna, Austria, travel, expat, ferris wheel, Riesenrad

You can also find this swing that, until recently, held the title as the tallest, the Prater Turm.

Prater Turm, Vienna, Austria, travel, expat, Wiener Prater

Vienna Philharmonic
I had the treat of attending the Summer Night Concert.  Our friend was one of the trombone players.

Vienna, Austria, Schonbrunn, travel, expat, Philharmonic

Visit the world's oldest zoo Tiergarten Schonnbrunn.

Tiergarten, Schonbrunn, Vienna, Austria, travel, expat, zoo

Schonbrunn Palace & the Gloriette
This was absolutely my favorite place in Vienna!
Beautiful interior, amazing gardens, statues and fountains.

Vienna, Austria, Schonbrunn, travel, expat, palace

With the Gloriette on the hill above.

Gloriette, Vienna, Austria, Schonbrunn, travel, expat

Vienna has so much more to offer than you see here!!  From palaces to cathedrals, music to horse shows!  We didn't get to all of it before we moved away.

Be sure to check out Momondo if you're looking to book a trip.  I really like how they have their page laid out giving price estimates for the year along with snippets of information about your destination.

Have you been to Vienna?  What was your favorite?

Deeper

  Deeper - adj. 1. extending or situated relatively far down from a surface: a deep pool. It's been a long time since I've ...