Day 4 - Evora and the Alentejo

Today we checked out of our hotel in Estoril and drove to Evora which is deep in the heart of Portugal. Portugal is divided into regions and we are now in the Alentejo region which is hot and arid. Evora dates back to over 2,000 years ago, because remember Portugal is one of the oldest countries in Europe. Evora was once a Roman town and still has sites where you see the evidence.

Roman Temple dating back 2,000 years. Part of the forum and main square.

Everything I read said how dry it always is there, but not today. It started raining and while not a downpour was pretty steady. The locals said it was a blessing. They grow grapes and olives so really needed some rain. We next went to see the Evora Cathedral which dates back to the 12th century. It is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles and is most known for a 15th century painted statue of the Blessed Mother pregnant. Apparently that didn’t go over well so the statue was removed and hidden for 200 years. Now it is beloved and a symbol for mothers and their love of their children.

You can see her round belly and her hand resting on it.

The Cathedral also has a very old (16th century I believe) organ that is still played. The horizontal pipes sound like trumpets.

We tried to see another church called Saint Francis but there was a wedding and nervous groom getting ready to start, so instead went next door to see the Chapel of Bones. Yep bones! Sounds creepy and it actually kind of was. It was the work of three Monks that got the bones and skulls from various churchyards in the area. They were concerned about society’s values at the time and thought this was a good way to remind people that we are all the same regardless of wealth. In the end we all die and money doesn’t make a difference in the bigger picture. Still true today.

The sign in Portuguese at the entrance says “We are here and waiting for you.”

It stopped raining and cleared up nicely so I was able to go back and take a picture of the Evora Cathedral. You can really see how old it is.

Time for lunch! We wandered down some little side streets and settled on a place that only had 4 tables. It was great but I forgot to take pictures of our food🤦🏼‍♀️ Melted sheep cheese with tiny toasted bread and a roasted chicken salad over cold pasta and greens. Delicious! Bottom right was the sink to wash your hands. So unique!

We had some additional time so just walked around the main square and browsed in some cute shops. It was very quiet in town - maybe the rain kept people away? Only about 10,000 people live within the walls and there is a university there also.

Our egg tart quota has not been met for the day so found an adorable coffee and pastry shop down one of the tiny little streets. Only 1 euro for this delicious piece of heaven.

Tonight we are staying in a nice hotel in a vineyard close to Beja so when a wine tasting was offered we had to say “why not?”

The white was my favorite. Got to go down into the cellar too.

For dinner we ate in the hotel and had a very forgettable meal so no pictures to post. The highlight was gelato with chocolate sauce. Not every meal can be a winner so I’m not complaining. More sites to see tomorrow!

My current summary of Portugal is GO!! It’s beautiful, relaxing, delicious food and wine, lots of history and the people are so nice. Check back soon as tomorrow we are heading further south.

Day 3 - Fátima, Óbidos & Sintra

An action packed day! 3 amazing towns and all quite different. I will post pictures and a little bit on each. First stop Fátima. On May 13th, 1917 three children were tending sheep and the Blessed Mother appeared to them and brought a message that peace was coming and the end of World War I. She appeared to them on the 13th of each of the next 5 months and on October 13th 70,000 people assembled there and witnessed a miracle. Since then millions of people have visited there and now we can say us too! Of course now it’s a large complex of various buildings - a chapel built where Mary appeared, the original basilica built after for the large groups of people to attend Mass, a new church that seats 9,000 people, a museum and various other places of worship. We had an hour and a half there so lots of ground to cover. We were fortunate to receive communion in the apparitions chapel where an English mass was going on first, visit the basilica where the body’s of the three children are buried, the museum and light lots of candles.

Top - Chapel of apparitions, Bottom left - statue of Mary on a marble pillar where she actually appeared, Bottom right - original basilica where the children are buried.

Candle lighting is a big deal to Catholics, and they have taken it to a new level at Fátima. They have a special area off to one side of the Apparition Chapel where you actually light the candles, but you go to another area to purchase them. The candles are quite inexpensive as they recycle them. After you purchase the candles you take them to what I call the inferno. If you want to experience the fires of hell - Fátima is a place to experience it. At times the flames were shooting 4 feet into the air - I felt like the hair on my arms was singed! I finally resorted to literally launching my stack of candles into the flames. I prayed for Tom, Keeley, Matt, Anna, and all my friends and family. It was a special experience.

Top left - Julie lighting her candles, Top right - large modern cross in the square, Bottom - crown the Blessed Mother statue wears on the 13th of every month that has one of the bullets that hit Pope John Paul II on the 13th of May, 1981.

Next stop - Óbidos. I had never heard anything about it until I started researching Portugal, and what a delightful town! Óbidos sits atop a hill, with a 14th century wall 45 feet tall surrounding it. It has narrow lanes lined with whitewashed houses trimmed in blues and yellow. Lots of cute shops and restaurants, and lunch was uppermost in our minds. We went off the beaten path and picked a great little spot where we could sit outside in what felt like someone’s back yard. It was called The History Man.

Caprese salad for Julie and veggie with goat cheese for me. And delicious inexpensive Portuguese wine😊

The walls of the city while totally intact are under renovation, and the tour guide advised us strongly to not climb up and walk on the wall. So of course Julie insisted that we immediately find a place to climb up and do it. I’m glad we did - the views were wonderful!

Height is not my favorite! Top right - you can see two people walking the wall. That’s where we were!

Óbidos really feels medieval.

Last stop - Sintra. Sintra is just 15 miles from Lisbon. It was the summer getaway of Portugal’s kings, and there are many castles and palaces. One of the most famous is the beautiful Pena Palace which I visited in April 2016. If you’re interested in seeing it refer back to my archive and an entry dated April 25, 2016 for the history and lots of pictures. We had an hour and a half on our own so browsed through the cobblestone tiny windy streets in pursuit of Ginja, a cherry liquor that is pretty much the national beverage of Portugal. You see it being sold everywhere - always priced at 1 euro - a shot glass or a smaller amount in a chocolate cup. We had been wanting to try it and this time we were doing it.

We went with the dark chocolate cups. Tasted like a chocolate covered cherry. Ginja has a very high alcohol content so a little goes a long way but it was delicious.

Lots of tiny streets like this with shops and restaurants.

Beautiful tile everywhere. I love the yellow and blue.

Sintra

Back to Estoril for dinner and packing. Off to central Portugal.

Spaghetti Bolognese for Julie and risotto with cod for me. More Portuguese red wine too. Delicious!

Such a great fun interesting day. We are both loving Portugal. The weather is great, the food and wine fantastic and inexpensive and the people are so lovely. There is so much history here. I can’t wait to see more! Thanks for coming along!

Day 2 - Lisbon

This was a fun but busy day which means this will be a short blog post as we have another busy day planned for tomorrow, and the internet at the hotel is very slow tonight. Kind of makes me sad because I have so many pictures I love and want to post them all. But I’ll just have to be satisfied with hitting a sampling of what stood out to me most.

We headed into Lisbon to take a walking tour of the Alfama area, which is the oldest area in Lisbon. Lisbon is called the city of seven hills, and Alfama is on the highest hill, so has the best panoramic views of the city. There was a huge earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 which destroyed all except the Alfama area, so it’s the best representation of the original city. And at the top of the hill is the Sao Jorge Castle. There is not much left of the original castle but it does give you a fantastic view of the city, so that was where we headed on the walk.

Entrance to the castle.

It was windy on the terrace of the castle, but there were these cute cut out places to sit right on the wall and look out over the city - so of course Julie and I had to try it.

Alfama is a tangle of tiny winding streets with lots of cool little restaurants and shops. And you just keep climbing higher and higher.

Just one of many staircases we climbed to get to the castle.

I love the tile houses and all the beautiful intricate patterns. The Alfama like much of Lisbon is undergoing a major renovation, but the laws are very strict in terms of making any major changes. If a house or hotel or business has a tile facade then it must be kept even as far as color and pattern. So many great examples and this was definitely not the best example but just so sweet in terms of the detail.

On our walk through one of the shopping areas we saw a store that was very old selling salted cod. Cod is one of the main dishes in Portugal and is prepared hundreds of ways. I just assumed that it was because it was available abundantly but actually learned that it is all imported, and shipped salted and dried. When you buy it then you take it home and soak it to remove the salt and cook it. Who knew!

Salted cod sitting in huge pieces on the counter. No refrigeration necessary.

Our other event of the day was dinner and Fado music. Fado is kind of like Portuguese Blues. A singer is accompanied by one or several musicians playing a Portuguese guitar, and it’s a sad melancholy tune. Of course it’s all in Portuguese so we couldn’t understand the lyrics - but it is quite haunting. And the dinner was great!

Sea bass with mashed potatoes and carrots. Chocolate dessert with raspberry sauce and a tiny macaron!

I’ve got to get some sleep as we start early tomorrow. More to come! Thanks for checking in and sharing my day😊

Day 1 - Portugal!

Made it! A long but very smooth travel day to our first stop in Portugal. I’m always a little nervous when I have a lot of connections but traveling with just a carryon and personal item at least on the way over is consolation that worst case scenario my luggage and I will always be together. My worries were for naught because things couldn’t have gone smoother.

I’ll be spending the next few weeks with my dear friend, partner in fun, inspiration in how to live a life of adventure and joy - Julie!

We’re here! We didn’t plan to dress alike - it was just a lucky coincidence. Hello Cascais Portugal!

This is my second time in Portugal, but the first time I spent the majority of my time in Lisbon, a beautiful city. This time we will be seeing more of the central and southern part of this tiny but spectacular country.

After arrival and getting to the hotel we changed into lighter weight clothing as the weather is still quite warm and very sunny. We walked down the promenade from the resort town of Estoril to Cascais - considered to be the French Riviera of Portugal. Portugal is a small country with a beautiful coastline - where much of Europe travels to in August for their holiday. September is a great time to visit since it is less crowded but still great weather.

I love to paddle board but have never seen a group paddle board. 8 people on this one which looked so fun - till they all fell off!

We loved Cascais! Portugal is well known for many things - wine, cork, explorers (Cristopher Columbus) and tile. Many of the buildings have beautiful tile designs and the streets are works of art with cobblestone designs.

The street looks bumpy but wasn’t. So cool!

Time for lunch. I wanted to look up a recommendation on Yelp, but Julie insisted we use our gut so we got off the main drag and found a place that we both loved. House of Wonders was indeed a wonder. The owner was a warm engaging woman with a great enthusiasm for her amazing creations - all vegetarian made with ingredients freshly available that morning. An added bonus is that we got to enjoy our amazing meal and a glass on wine on the rooftop overlooking the tile roofs of Cascais and the boats on the water. Her artistic ability was also evident from the beautiful space she had created all through her restaurant.

We shared two dishes, one hot and one cold. The cold was an assortment of every salad available that day - all delicious. The warm was all green. The base was puréed spinach, goat cheese and spices baked and topped with blanched broccoli, avocado and a cooked egg. Portugal is really known for wine - especially red so I’m planning to leave my comfort zone and try some while we’re here. But today went with what they refer to as green wine - because it’s white that is very fresh and not aged. Loved it!

Now for dessert! I’ve been dreaming of the Portuguese egg tarts since my last visit in 2016. I couldn’t wait to have them again. Pastel de nata is worth a trip to Portugal. Think creme brûlée in a flaky pastry crust topped with cinnamon and powder sugar. Fantastic!

Be still my heart 💕 I’m holding it in the palm of my hand to give you a sense of size. Then I swallowed it in two or three bites. Pretty sure I will have at least one every day I’m here! Maybe two😊

Just a few more fun pictures from our walk.

Top left - a beautiful building with a stunning wall artistically decorated with broken glass - scaling that would hurt! Top right - good to know if a tsunami hits we can evacuate safely😱 Bottom left - more beautiful cobblestones. Bottom right - sardines! Portugal is also known for sardines and this entire store was full of the most beautiful tins of all kinds of canned fish. Going to work up my culinary courage and try them while here.

Sand art! This artist was working on this on our walk back along the promenade. Wow!

Next up a very short nap - just 50 minutes since it’s so important to tough out the big time change on day one. I took a shower and we headed out for dinner. Lots of fish here and I plan to enjoy lots of it.

First course was a kale soup, main course Hake fish (in the cod family) and potatoes, an almond tart for dessert. Wine of course with a nice glass of port as the finale. All delicious.

So that was our day! A good nights sleep and ready to roll for day two. I’ll do my best to blog frequently so thanks for coming along!

Three Blonds and a Brunette in NYC

Long time no blog! You might be wondering what’s up? Kind of taking a break this summer. I took 2 trips to Chicago and 3 to Lake Geneva Wisconsin this summer, and I may still do a couple of posts about those trips as they were all fun. But I wanted to post about my most recent trip to New York City as I do get a lot of questions about traveling to that great city - definitely one of my top couple places to go. I wouldn’t exactly say I am a local there - more of a very comfortable frequent traveler. Last year three blonds and a brunette had an excellent trip to Chicago, so this year we decided to visit NYC together. It was equally action packed and fun. Lots of site-seeing, shopping, eating, some drinking and walking. Lots of walking! One of the ladies kept track of our miles and I believe in 3 days we walked almost 38! And that was in addition to lots of subway rides. When I say wear comfortable shoes you better know I mean it.

I used Hotels.com to find us hotel rooms in an area we wanted to stay in for a decent price. And I’ve also had good success with Booking.com. We stayed at the Hotel on Rivington which is on Rivington St in basically the East Village. Call it Nolita (North of Little Italy) if you want - it’s a great area and easy to get anywhere to in Manhattan. I much prefer to stay outside of the midtown touristy area. My recommendation is to either stay north or south of midtown.

First I’ll post about all the things we did - then cover at least some of the food. One of the new big draws in NYC this summer is seeing The Vessel in Hudson Yards on the west side. The Vessel is described as a structure and landmark in the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project - but to me it’s really more of a piece of sculpture you can walk through. You do need a ticket to enter as they only allow 700 people in at a time. You can just go and take your chances that there are tickets available, book for a specific time slot online up to 2 weeks in advance, or buy a ticket (the first two options are free) up to 6 months in advance for $11 a person and you can enter at any time the day of your ticket. Since we didn’t want to worry about the first two options we just bought tickets in advance. Worked out perfectly and it was pretty awesome.

Top left - we’re in the Vessel. Top right - view of the vessel in comparison to the buildings around it. Bottom right - The Shedd which is next to the Vessel and used for concerts. Bottom left - elevator inside the Vessel. We went all the way to the top and it’s higher then it might look from the outside dwarfed by the skyscrapers.

There is a big mall right across from the Vessel with lots of shops and restaurants plus a large food court modeled after something you would find in Spain called ironically Spain. We walked through it but didn’t stop to try anything. And the way to get to Hudson Yards and the Vessel is by walking on The Highline so check that out as well. We also walked through the Chelsea Market which is a place I really like, but I’ve blogged about it and the Highline in previous posts so I won’t post pics of those again.

We started day 2 at the 911 Museum. I got our tickets in advance because I highly recommend doing it with a tour guide. It’s a large place and I have done it before and got a lot out of it with a guide. If you’re 25 or older you remember that day so clearly and the museum is really so well done. I would allow at least a few hours and even then you can’t take it all in.

Standing outside one of the reflecting pools of which there are two. Top right - the last piece removed from ground zero. Bottom left - a piece from one of the towers. Bottom left - the Survivor Stairs. Saved the lives of over 200 people who escaped using them.

The museum is constantly being updated as new information comes to light as far as victims being identified and illnesses of the survivors documented. There is a new area called The Memorial Glade dedicated to those whose actions led to their injury, sickness and death.

The Memorial Glade on the grounds of the 911 Museum.

It’s not a trip to NYC without seeing a Broadway Show - so off to see Tootsie we went. We all loved it. A great cast and a fun story similar but not identical to the original movie. And the guy who played Tootsie does a better job in high heels then I can!

Yes that actually is Barry Manilow! And no he didn’t play Tootsie. His show is playing right across from the theater Tootsie was in and when we were leaving we saw him right across the street. Bonus!

Next up a fairly quick stop in Times Square. All the theaters are in close proximity so it’s worth walking through. Just hang on to your purse or wallet.

Times Square!

It wouldn’t be a Patti Part Two trip without a museum stop so we were off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the upper east side right in Central Park. I make it a destination almost every single time I’m in NYC because there’s always something new to see. This time there were two exhibits we were interested in seeing. Play it Loud Instruments of Rock & Roll and the new fashion exhibit called Camp. We got to see both but the weekends are the busiest times so it was quite crowded. But still fun.

Yes the real instruments from the Beatles. And that’s a piano Lady Gaga played on in one of her shows. I’ve never seen a guitar like that! Belonged to Ricky Nelson I believe. There were so many Instruments from so many super famous musicians it was pretty overwhelming.

The fashion exhibit was great too. In fact after the girls left on Sunday I went back on Monday to see it more closely again - without the crowds.

Some of my favorites - got to love the TV dinner dress!

One of my favorite stops on a beautiful day is the 5th floor terrace overlooking Central Park. It’s a great place to have a drink or snack if you have time.

On the terrace with gorgeous views of the sky line.

Central Park is never a bad idea so after the Met we headed to the park with a destination of Strawberry Fields and the Imagine memorial. I’ve seen it a number of times and there are always people there.

Bottom left is the Central Park reservoir where Jacqueline Onassis was known to take frequent walks.

The girls wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and we were running out of time so 6:30 AM on Sunday was the plan. We were out the door and on our way at 6:30 promptly and that is actually a great time to go. We almost had the bridge to ourselves, and it really is beautiful.

If you walk the bridge then go under the overpass and visit the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dumbo. Dumbo stands for Down under the Manhattan Bridge - clever. It’s a super cool neighborhood and has lots of interesting things to see - like a Bridge Over a Tree!

Before I get to the food pictures - which is really what everyone wants to see - I will just give a shout out to Airbnb. When the girls left I moved to a great little studio in the Murray Hill neighborhood that I found on Airbnb. It was a wonderful location and very clean. It can sometimes be a less expensive option - especially if you’re traveling alone, so consider Airbnb. I have had great success all over the US and Europe, just read all the reviews and do your research on where you want to stay as far as location.

As mentioned I went back again to the Met to see the fashion exhibit, and also checked out the French Impressionist galleries and the modern galleries. I happened across an entire room of Thomas Hart Benton murals and that was really a nice surprise. I stopped in the main lobby of Grand Central Station on my way to the subway and it never ceases to leave me in awe. So gorgeous!

Grand Central Station lobby.

One museum a day is often not enough so I stopped in at the Guggenheim. It’s located very close to the Met and very manageable in terms of size. The building itself is amazing - designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the spiral walkway is impressive. There was a special exhibit by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that I had heard was there, and it was really wonderful and thought provoking.

The Guggenheim and Basquiat exhibit. Bottom right is the spiral walkway and glass ceiling.

Now onto food! So much great food in NYC! There is never enough time or appetite to try it all. First stop for lunch was The Meatball Shop. Probably at least 8 kinds of meatballs, sauces and things to have them on or in.

Chicken meatballs for me with tomato sauce, side of quinoa cauliflower salad. Tom joined us and brought us our Tootsie tickets which he had gotten for us from the theater. Saved us the large service fee per ticket - thanks Tom!

For lunch one day we went to the only Chobani restaurant in the country located in Soho where we were doing a little shopping. Great salads, sandwiches and of course yogurt.

I think we all had the Mediterranean salad, and shared a bagel with smoked salmon. Wish I had time to go back for the breakfast bowl. Looked amazing.

For dinner before Tootsie we went to Epistrophy in SoHo. I had eaten there before and really liked it.

Lasagne, great salad with peas and asparagus and fresh orecchiette with Pancetta. All delicious.

One of the meal highlights was a trip to Clinton St Baking Company. Located on the corner of Houston and Clinton St and serving one of the greatest breakfasts in NYC! The blueberry pancakes are not to be missed! Warning - you must get there a half hour before they open in the morning to have any hope of getting in for a table. We got there at 8:30 for a 9 AM opening and got in in the first seating - success!

That’s the line around the corner to get in at 9 AM. And the blueberry pancakes lower right picture. Yumm1

Saturday night dinner was at Market Table in the West Village. I have been there a few times before and it was always great. This time it didn’t disappoint either.

Mussels, salmon over summer corn risotto, grilled filet with fingerlings and onion rings and fries with old bay spice. A feast!

Our last meal together was brunch at Loring Place. Might have been my favorite of the trip. Delicious and really interesting combinations of ingredients.

I think we had a few items I didn’t get pictures of but here is a sampling. Homemade fritters, breakfast pizza with delicious things on top and an egg quinoa dish with fresh vegetables. I think we had a cheddar and ham waffle also. Must have been consumed before I could photograph it!

I ate dinner with Tom and Anna at a great place called Frankie’s in the West Village but totally forgot to take pics. It was Italian and great! Ate another night with them at The Butcher’s Daughter. It was a vegan restaurant and delicious.

Top left is my kale salad with chicken made from potatoes. I liked it! Bottom left - a great cinnamon raisin bagel from Murray’s and bottom left the DKA. Dominique’s Kouign Amann. A croissant with a caramelized crunchy crust. Dominique Amannl is the NY baker that created the cronut. A combination of a donut and a croissant. It was amazing!

That’s it for food except for multiple stops at coffee shops along the way and in the morning. Too many to post. We did some shopping - mostly in Soho and for me mostly at my favorite store - UNIQLO. Great basics and great prices.

We took the subway everywhere. It’s the best as far as I’m concerned. Really reasonable and easy to navigate. We only had one unexpected trip to Brooklyn - totally my fault! But easy to fix and we reversed ourselves and only wasted about 10 minutes. We did have one bomb scare while we were on the train - and actually it was at the stop we were supposed to get off at. The trains weren’t stopping there for a few hours until they discovered it was just someone leaving rice cookers around the stop. Why we will never know.

Here we are on the subway - it can get a little crowded! Hang on!

Kind of a long post but lots to do and see in New York. If you made it all the way through thanks for reading! I’m leaving soon for Portugal and the south of France and will try and blog a little every day. I hope your summer has been great! Jump while you can!