Chris and Leighanne - World Travelers

We were never really confident they would come. I had to remind Chris, the best man from our wedding, numerous times that he really needed a passport. But then he and Leighanne bought tickets, and we thought, "wow, they're really coming." We had a moment of doubt when we got to the airport and couldn't find them, but it was quickly resolved when it turned out they were at a different airport cafe. 


They wanted to explore the country and see places off the beaten path, so after a couple days in Lisbon, we went north. Along the way, we stopped in Guimarães, the birthplace of Portugal and home to its first king, Afonso Henriques, who was responsible for the reconquest from the Moors in the 12th century.

We kept moving north, almost to the border with Spain, to a small town called Arcos de Valdevez. We stayed in an olive oil press mill from the 1880s, which had been converted into a small hotel. The city was only a couple miles from Portugal's only national park, Peneda-Gerês, a mountainous area of inhospitable granite. The park is sparsely populated with small villages where life has not changed much in several hundred years. We packed a lunch and drove into the park, expecting to find clearly marked trails. After talking to a local woman, she pointed us in the direction of a trail that visitors sometimes hike. She looked at us like we were a little crazy though for wanting to walk up the mountain for fun.

As we hiked, we crossed stone walls used for grazing cattle. It was interesting to see how high up the mountain they would take their cattle to graze. 

The brown dot near the summit is a cow grazing. 

Although we didn't make it all the way to the top, we decided this was close enough for a group photo. 

We kept encountering the same cow. The first time, I came around a corner and almost ran into it. 

I'm not sure who was more surprised, us to see a cow on the side of the mountain or it to see people up there.

On our way out of the park, we saw some people hiking to a pool with a waterfall, so we decided to follow. We didn't have as stylish hiking boots as this girl, however.

The water was cool, but it was a warm day, so we decided to go for a swim..

We made our way to a few other cities of the north, including Ponte de Lima, Viana do Castelo and Braga.

Hillary and I had to get back to work, so we left Chris and Leighanne in a small town with advice on how to get back to Lisbon. They spent a couple days exploring Porto and Coimbra and made it back to Lisbon on their own with little trouble. The day they got back, we went to a UEFA Cup soccer game between local team Sporting Club of Lisbon and Lazio from Rome. Sporting won 2-1 in an exciting game in front of a packed stadium.

Their trip ended with one last crazy night on the town with our friends to celebrate my birthday. 

It was really great to have them visit and share with them a country we've come to love.