It's happening! We are finally taking the trip to Portugal that we started planning September of 2019 and got waylaid by COVID-19. We did manage to travel in 2021 but we stayed much closer to home.  You can check out our adventure to Asheville, North Carolina.  

Our group has changed this year.  Three members are not able to join us for this adventure; my mother, Toby,  Linda Kessler and Victoria Caplan. We are sad that they will not be with us physically but we know they will be with us in spirit as they follow us through this blog.   We are very excited to welcome our newest member of the Summer Traveler Club, Sandy Church. 

I remember seeing a short video of traveler going downhill in a toboggan and thought that would be a fun experience.  Upon further investigation, I located this activity on the Island of Madeira which is part of Portugal.  That was all it took for me.  I wanted to see Portugal and the island.   Sharing this with the travel club members, it was agreed that our next adventure would be to that country.  Who knew that it would take so long to get there. 

We started revisiting this trip last September, still not sure what was happening in Europe with COVID-19, but we couldn't face missing out on the exciting trip that was planned so long ago.  Linda C. contacted our travel agent and "got the ball rolling" again. We were very happy to hear that almost all of the activities we had planned the first time were still very doable.  We purchased our plane tickets in February and finalized everything else in March. 

We will be starting in the city of Porto which will be our home base for the first part of the trip.  Our plans are to visit the medieval town of Obidas, participate in a gastronomic experience with a food walking tour, check out the World Heritage area of the Douro Valley known for its gorgeous scenery and terraced vineyards, and experience the areas of Coimbra and Aveiro.  

Next, we will take a short flight to the Madeira Islands for some spectacular views.  While visiting Madeira, we are looking forward to a catamaran tour of private beaches and a Mediterranean buffet.  This is where we get to experience the downhill toboggan ride in the traditional wicker Funchal basket that excited me about Portugal in the first place.

After this, it is back to the mainland , where Lisboa will be our homebase for the remainder of our trip. 
To learn more about the foods the country, we will participate in a cooking class which will teach us  the secrets of some of the most traditional Portuguese recipes. Just as exciting will be the traditional Fado performance along with dinner on our second night in Lisboa.  

We will also be checking out Sintra, city of Romanticism, exploring  beautiful palaces in the area.  No trip would be complete without a wine tasking experience which we will do in the Alentejo area. Our last day will be filled with visiting Tomar, the Templar City, exploring St. John the Baptist's Church and the Synagogue among other areas in the city.

We are very excited and hope you will follow along on this exciting adventure.