Nothing like a little pandemic to give you plenty of time to catch up on the blog, and reminisce about European adventures (since we're most likely canceling the next one- boo COVID). After my mom left, wrapping up the mother-daughter part of the trip, I had a couple of days to myself to explore Lisbon before Ben joined me.
Basically, that meant wandering around Lisboa, eating in hipster coffee shops, reading lots of books, and enjoying free happy hour [seriously. gratis. total win] with new friends at The Goodmorning Hostel. I love Ben, but I also love solo travel, so this trip was my dream come true.
After a couple of days, my handsome husband arrived! We headed off to a tiny coastal town- Setubal. It's only about a 45 minute drive south of Lisbon, but it is such an idyllic, sleepy little Portuguese town. The weather was wonderful, the people were friendly, there weren't many tourists, and we loved just wandering around, playing games, people watching, and getting in some runs [Ben was in peak Ironman training time]. Of all of our time in Portugal, this was my favorite spot, hands-down. We were there for about 2 1/2 days, but could have done 4.
Side note, there are a TON of beaches here that are very famous in Portugal. However, there is not enough parking and the 2 lane roads end up like an LA traffic nightmare. We ended up scrapping the "highly rated" beaches for a less popular one, which was fine. Just good to know in advance what you're getting yourself into.
We set off from Setubal to head into the countryside for a little glamping getaway. About an hour and a half south, just a short drive from the beach town of Sines, we found the most amazing treehouse to stay in [more on that in a bit]. Since we were a bit bummed with our less-than-ideal beach day, we decided to stop at a beach along the way. Doing the electronic equivalent of throwing a dart at a map, we blindly chose Praia do Pego. Total win. Beware that the road to get here is long, sandy, and not maintained. You'll see people parked for what feels like miles, and anticipate the beach will be packed, but the beach is HUGE, so just keep going. Also, for reference, when we say huge, this beach is so long they host an ultra-marathon each year where runners race along the entire beach, which is 43 km. I told Ben to hop on it because it would be good training, but he just side-eyed me and drank his beer.
After our little afternoon road trip, we ended up at our glamping castle in the middle of nowhere. This place was a retreat that was pretty much designed for us. Gorgeous views, great trail runs, a lap pool (!!), and amazing family-style dinners under the stars that allowed us to meet everyone staying across the grounds [while drinking plenty of vino verde]. We were there for 2 nights and that was plenty for us. The small town nearby didn't offer much, and we were getting antsy to do more exploring.
We headed back up to Lisbon for a few days of exploring [and work for Ben] before heading off the the Azores. We had so much fun going for runs by the waterfront, checking out new coffee shops, drinking mimosas (well, for me, while Ben brought home the bacon), and being tourists in our matching outfits [unplanned].
After our Azores island adventure, we only had 1 short day back in Lisbon before heading home. Ben had to work, so we hunkered down at the Marriott for the day. Rather than exploring, I took full advantage of their spa, gym, pool, and poolside cocktail service as the cherry on top to this incredible Portuguese getaway.
Start-to-finish, Portugal was amazing. One of my favorite European countries so far, and an amazing way to spend our last "summer break."
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