julia and i travelled to lisbon last december – it always takes us some time adjusting to the different routines, and we have so many family and friends to see and make up for lost time, ‘we’ figured we would take it easy and just enjoy a staycation in lisbon for the holidays.
i always have a big list of errands and new spots i want to go to, but this time i tried not to be a ‘prisoner’ of my list and took it a day at a time, instead. we spent a lot of time at home, having long breakfasts with the family, visiting my grandmother and the occasional escape for some me time with friends.
here are a few pictures of our trip if you’d like to see –
we were in lisbon for over a month, i chose not to travel and stay in the city – giving me enough time to see everyone and enjoy our vacations without having to rush anywhere…or pack! but on the last weekend before we left, we made a little escape and spent it at the 
julia and i went with my parents and couldn’t have had a better time, specially julia. we saw sheep and cows, only that can be pretty exciting for a toddler. we went on a bicycle ride, which was too much fun. we had a cooking lesson to make our own dinner with local ingredients. and the highlight for julia was definitely the afternoon spent at the indoor pool (i had barely put her bathing suit on, when she started running around the room as if with the highest sugar rush!). as for us adults, it was really the perfect place to relax, read and actually spend quality time with each other without interruptions.
the hotel has 12 rooms, each one decorated differently, julia and i stayed in a fun one, the shelter room, with penguins on the ceiling, a cozy rocking chair perfect for reading and a bathtub that looked like a pool. the public areas are big, with lots of rooms and different nooks to chose from, with lounge chairs, fireplaces and an honesty bar.
the staff were super friendly and helpful, our dinner and breakfast were delicious, with a lot of attention to detail. the hotel was full, but because of all the lounging areas available, we always felt like we had our own space. 
this year we travelled to 
we’ve been on vacation in portugal for almost a month now, time flies and it’s been a roller coaster of short trips and long summer days spent in lisbon catching up with friends and family. our first stop was in the algarve, we drove just a couple of hours from lisbon, and met up with our friends who live in rio de janeiro and are also spending the summer in portugal. our friend, and james, used to live in the algarve before we moved to turks and caicos, so it was nice to visit our favorite spots. 
m y s e a s t o r y 