Portugal & Seville - June 2000

Day 1: From the airport in Lisboa we rented a car a headed straight south to Palmela and stopped by the local castle. We then headed for the ferry in Setúbal and stopped by one of the beaches in Tróia for lunch. After that we headed southeast to Beja and Serpa. We then headed south until we reached Portimão and spent the night at the fantastic Vila Rosa hotel.

Day 2: Went to the beach :-)

Day 3: Went to the beach some more. Near the end of the day we went to Sagres for a stunning sunset at Cabo de São Vicente. It was in Sagres that Columbus leanrned to navigate, a few years later he discovered the Americas.

Day 4: Woke up really early and drove to Sevilla. Now this is a place with history! Very very very beautiful! At night we saw a wonderful Flamenco show.

Day 5: We had planned to spend the day in Córdoba, at the Medina Azahara and Mezquita, but we changed plans and spent an extra day in Sevilla. Well worth it! We had tapas at a bar by the Rio Gadalquivir while watching the sunset.

Day 6: Headed back to Lisboa. After all, we had a wedding attend. Along the way we stopped at Aracena to visit it's 2km (about 1.3 miles) long cavern! This is where "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was filmed! It was like another planet. Since we were close by we stopped in Jabugo, known to have Spain's best jamón ibérico. I don't know if it was the best, but it was damn good. After hitting the road for a while more, we stopped at Évora, a beautiful university town founded by the Romans. We arrived in Lisboa just in time for dinner with friends.

Day 7: Visited the Torre de Belém in Lisboa. We then headed back to the hotel to dress up for the wedding. We all drove together to Malveiras, a charming suburban town, for the wedding. The church was beautiful, the bride was beautiful, everything was wonderful. Everybody had a wonderful time. The party was about as fun as it gets, with lots of delicious food, a band playing some really cool music from Moçambique, and lots of fun people. Time the party ended: about 5:30 AM.

Day 8: No time to waste!! We visited the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, where Fabiana's grandmother had studied, then went to downtown Lisboa. Lisboa is not that great, so we didn't spend too much time there. We then decided to go up the mountains to Sintra. Wow! A beautiful town, two palaces, and a 2000 year-old castle on the top of the highest mountain. What a view.

Day 9: This day didn't really count. We packed, said goodbye to this beautiful land, and boarded the plane.