Coimbra and Fatima
The next day, we said goodbye to Olga and Fernando and headed south to Coimbra, just a short ride on the fast train from Porto. Coimbra appealed to me for a couple of reasons....
Category: Travel
Stories and recommendations from our travels
Porto and the Douro Valley
After our long week cycling in Alentejo, our taxi came to the farmhouse to take us to the train for the next leg of our trip, up to Porto, Portugal’s second city and the...
Exploring Alentejo with Portugal’s Best Cycling
After our first few days in Lisbon, we headed out for the centerpiece of our trip, our bike tour with Portugal’s Best Cycling. We followed Claudia’s advice and took the bus from Lisbon to...
Two visits to Lisbon
We began and ended our Portuguese journey with Lisbon. We started with a few nights to get acclimated and see some sights. Since we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get...
20 Days in Portugal
I’ve been dreaming about traveling to Portugal for years. I bought my first Lonely Planet guide right after I left my job in 2018. We visited Italy first, then circumstances kept us from going...
New Zealand Wineries: best regions to visit for Pinot Noir
We visited many New Zealand wineries during our 30 day trip. We discuss our favorite regions and experiences. I used to love beer and didn’t have much use for wine. After living in Portland,...
How to Find Penguins in New Zealand
When we first started planning our trip to New Zealand, I wasn’t thinking about seeing penguins. I knew there were some little blue penguins in Australia, but I always assumed if I wanted to...
Three Days in Auckland
We end our New Zealand journey with three nights in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. From Rotorua, we continued our journey north to spend our last three days in Auckland. But on the way,...
Rotorua, New Zealand – More than a Smelly Tourist Trap
We spent three nights in Rotorua, home of amazing geothermal attractions and Māori meeting grounds. From Martinborough we continued our journey into the North Island and the town of Napier. Napier had a deadly...
Three days in Wellington, New Zealand
We spent three days in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city and tacked on a perfect wine weekend in Martinborough.