Showing posts with label Portugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portugal. Show all posts

25 November 2010

Portugal

Oh dear, I've been AWOL, haven't I? So sorry, been terribly busy around here with the little ones, overseas guests, lead up to Xmas and end of our school year.  The beach has been our go to place lately, so who wants to sit indoors at a computer.

Will be slow here over the next few months and I'm thinking of refocusing my blog for next year, how?  Not sure.  I appreciate your loyalty, patience and friendship so I hope you will stay with me.

I finally downloaded and sorted through my photos from our Portuguese leg of our holiday back in August!  Most are of  extended family shots and due to the extreme heat (35C-40C) every day that we were there, not much site seeing was done, we spent a lot of our Portuguese holiday by the beach and pool.  The boys were not interested in site seeing either so we accepted that fact and just enjoyed the trip as a summer holiday rather than a cultural holiday.

So a few shots of some things we got up to in my ancestral lands.



Roman ruins of Conimbriga








The university city of Coimbra

The boys and I with mum and her brother overlooking the Coimbra from his penthouse garden

A Bronze Age hut just outside my mum's childhood town

Praia Grande, near Lisbon which had a 100 metre pool













A night at a bullfight in Lisbon which is done on horseback, the dressage horses are beautiful and amazing(while the bulls are not killed in the ring, the animals are still hurt, so I felt squeamish and guilty) and yes that is a man throwing himself at a bull, they are known as forcados



Picnic with all my aunts, uncles and cousins

I'll be back soon.

Have a happy day and Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers.

06 October 2010

Travel Tips


So after many weeks (actually months of missing in action here in blog world) I'm finally able to share some moments of our 6 week trip to Europe.  First, a few tips I would like to pass on to any first-time long haul travellers with young children:

  1. Do not let your 3 and 5 year old watch every single kid movie on their personal TV screen over and over again or play all the games you've packed repeatedly.  An overstimulated child will not sleep despite how tired they are (it was a 25 hour flight to Paris not including the 3 hour stopovers).  Your fellow travellers do not appreciate being woken by kicking (I kid you not) and screaming children.

  2. Don't forget to order the kids meal 48 hours before you check-in (we made this mistake both to and from Europe!!). Despite the snacks we packed, they hardly ate on the flight.

  3. If travelling in Europe in late July and all of August with a 3 and 5 year old, forget site seeing, you'll spend pretty much every day at the beach or in a pool. Actually forget site seeing altogether, their not even interested in castles.

  4. Stay in a house rather than a hotel. This was the best decision we made, the boys settled quickly and it provided a sense of familiarity for them which made the trip that much easier.
Ah, the joys of family life!!

Despite a few hiccups, we had a great time.  So on to the good times. I hope you enjoy just a few of my holiday snaps in the following posts.

30 September 2010

Touching Base


Hello there, I just wanted to stop by quickly and let you know I'm home. Thank you for all your emails and comments enquiring asking if all is well and it is.  Life is just really busy right now, the boys are home on their Spring holidays, we have overseas guests, the weather is just too wonderful to be sitting in front of a computer and I have a few more things on my plate at the moment.

I will soon post some holiday snaps, so I hope you will be patient.

Oh, last night on a current affairs programme, this American mum was interviewed, I don't know how contreversial I am being posting about her, but I think what she has to say just makes so much sense, what do you think?

09 July 2010

All is Quiet


We're packed, all appointments have been attended, all plans have been finalised. F is out with the boys kicking a ball and I'm taking the time to enjoy a cup of tea and do some final blog reading.

We head off tomorrow mid-morning so this will be my last post for a bit. We're away for 6 weeks, 2 weeks in France and the rest in Portugal and I do intend to post a few of our adventures. Not sure how I will post the photos as the camera attachment for the iPad is in shortage worldwide!! I'll find a way to post photos of our holiday.

Welcome to my new readers, you have found me at an exciting time for my family, I hope you and my regulars enjoy the journey along with my boys and I.

I wish you all well until my next post somewhere in Europe.

Have a happy day.

08 July 2010

Packing

"Two more sleeps Mama" L said as he jumped into bed this morning with F and I.  We're packing today and these are the looks I'm going for:





Have a happy day.

05 April 2010

What's For Dinner



The cool weather has definitely arrived and according to the Weather Chanel (we are addicted in this house to the weather) it is here to stay.  So this week marks the beginning of some lovely meals to warm the insides.  Last Thursday I received in the mail, the latest edition of Donna Hay magazine which has some lovely winter recipes I can't wait to try over the coming months, two of which I will try this week.  So onto this week's menu:

Tuesday - Proscuito wrapped beef mince patties with potatoes, tomatoes, beans and olives
Wednesday - Red lentil & white bean soup with crispy pancetta
Thursday - Pasta fagioli
Friday - Crispy potato, trout and beetroot salad
Saturday - Farfalle with smoked chicken, seeded mustard and thyme
Sunday - Caldo verde (Green soup - traditional Portuguese soup)

Bon apetite!

Image: Australian Gourmet Traveller