Lovely Lisbon

I stayed in a guest house (Chalet d'Avila) in Lisbon (a little further out than downtown but right across the street from a metro station - Saldanha on the red line).  Great breakfasts, spacious rooms (shared bathrooms) - really great staff.

Lots of walking here too - flat shoes recommended as most streets are cobblestone. There is a lot to see in Lisbon and fantastic boutique stores!

Pastels de Nata (custard tarts) 

Belem - Monastery Jeronimos 

Sintra (Portugal)

Sintra was once a summer residence for the kings of Portugal  - it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The Palacio Nacional da Pena (the palace) is a must see.  There is a lot of walking and steps (not handicapped accessible) - limited parking. But completely worth it. 

town of Sintra

Pena Place and The Castle ( Moors' Castle)

Picturesque Portugal - Algarve

There are so many beautiful, even stunning beaches in this area.  I definitely could have used another week or 2 to explore more areas, but what I did explore from beaches to mountains to little villages all beautiful.

I found a gorgeous beach called Beliche on my way from Luz to Sagres. The water was crystal clear, beach soft - absolutely stunning.

Cliff views around Sagres

Southern most spot in Europe

so much inexpensive yet beautiful pottery

Carvoeiro

Beliche Beach

You can easily drive to Sagres to the lighthouse which is the furthest southern point of Europe. 

Up in the mountains provide cooler temperatures as well as beautiful views of the Algarve area.  I headed to Monchique. 

There are many picturesque towns.  I particularly liked Ferragudo - a fishermen's village. 

Ferragudo

Another popular town and beach was Carvoeiro - for me, this was too large of a town and the beach was very shelly and small. 

However, what everyone should do is visit the  Ponta de Piedade off of Lagos.  I initially looked into the boat tours from TripAdvisor which were larger boats and scheduled at certain times, which didn't work in my schedule.  But then as I was walking along the canal, there were many different tour companies which offer boat trips. So I went out with one which cost me 20 Euros for 45 minutes and it was a smaller boat which could go further into the caves.  I would have done a kayak trip if I was someone else.

I will definitely go back.  Gorgeous environment, lovely people (most speak English), great weather (no humidity) - relaxing. 

Picturesque Portugal - Algarve - Praia da Luz

My home base was in Praia da Luz - a beautiful town and beach.  The sand on the beach was soft and clean.  I stayed in w different places here - both places were an easy 5-minute walk to the beach.  An apartment with a wonderful view was a friend of a friend's AirBnB -  it was a bit big/much for one person but great for 2-4 people.  But it has a great balcony.
The other place I stayed in for 4 nights was a place called Oasis Apartments - which also has a pool.  It's a fully furnished apartment with a patio.
On the 3rd night, I returned home from a day trip I didn't have any water. 
For some reason, only my apartment didn't have water when I returned from a day outing! It was after reception hours and Portugal was playing in the World Cup. I called the number on the business card and someone came right away to assess the situation. No plumber was available that evening. Kasper the guy who came to assess my situation offered another apartment in Lagos for the evening. He drove me there and since I had not had dinner walked me to a recommended restaurant and paid for my dinner. He then let me sightsee in Lagos that day. When I asked him to pick me up at 2 pm the following day - he did. I was so impressed and appreciative!

Great restaurants in Luz - YOLO (You Only Live Once) - they had the BEST banoffee.  The owners of YOLO also own Boaty's which is open for all 3 meals.

View from AirBnB - Luz beach

Picturesque Portugal - Algarve - Faro

My 46th country in my 46th year of life.  Portugal was one of the only western country in Europe I had not visited and I am happy that I have now seen.  I spent about 2 weeks there and I truly enjoyed it.  I spent about a week in southern area called Algarve. 

I spent one evening and half a day in Faro. A small town in the middle of the Algarve.  I stayed at Hotel Alfonso III  - a 3-star hotel but clean, easy 5 minute walk to town, safe - breakfast alright.  Free parking on the street.

There is not a lot to see in Faro - a day maximum you can do it.  There are some boat trips off from Faro. Walking to the top of the cathedral gives a nice 360 views of the small port town.

Taiwan

I have flown through Taipei quite often but never stopped in.  Erin and I went for 5 days over March Break 2018.  We stayed at Beauty Hotel a Roumei Boutique Hotel.  We each had our own rooms which were spacious.  They had great Japanese toilets.  However, the breakfast was mediocre.  There were not a lot of western restaurants.  Yet for breakfast, we did find was NY Bagel Cafe. 

We walked around the city.  The people were nice and helpful.  Of course, we did Taipei 101.  We did it at night, probably during the day is better as you can see more.

We did do an all day tour to the Gorge with Viator. 

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Taroko Gorge

Eternal Spring Shrine

Jill and Erin B.

Taipei 101