Hello Portugal!!! ...Introducing the city of Porto

Landed in Porto waiting in line for our Taxi to the hotel

Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge (view from our Hotel)

riverside view of Vila Nova de Gaia

Amazing view!

I am finally back to my normal schedule! It took me a good week to get my body & sleep schedule back to normal eastern time zone! Also, omg i was so HAPPY to see my 3 little munchkins!!! They did so well adjusting while we were gone & coming back! what a blessing to have awesome family (shout out to my big sis~ Sophal, Charles & Charlize for babysitting our girls) I'm so excited to blog about our 10 year anniversary trip to Portugal :-) If i could sum up our trip w/ one word it would be "AMAZING!' What a beautiful country to visit & a blessing to celebrate our 10 year anniversary together in another country!  I love that we could experience these adventures together & to make memories that will last forever!

Everyone always ask us, "why visit Portugal?" well Spain was always on our bucket list of places to visit & since our friends relocated to Portugal a couple of years ago they put it on the map for us! We told them we'd hope to visit them while they were out there & i'm glad that it worked out b/c the timing was just perfect since they are leaving soon! For those who need a refresher on Portugal, it is a southern European country on the Iberian Peninsula bordering Spain and the Atlantic Ocean. The Capital of Portugal is Lisbon and the official language is Portuguese. The currency used in Portugal is Euros. Much of the nation's architecture dates to the 1500s-1800s w/ medieval castles, cobblestone villages, captivating cities & golden beaches are the many experiences of Portugal.

Our first stop was the City of Porto, it looked like a colorful pop-up town from a children storybook w/ 20th century townhouses, narrow lanes & stairs throughout the city, beautiful vintage architecture, village styled plazas, restaurants & knowing that the Roman ruins lay beneath all of the city makes it all the more interesting! Porto is Portugal's second largest city & since it's the birthplace of the port it is famous for it's long running mecca for wine aficionados. You can visit riverside wine cellars always open for tasting or go across the Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia where all of the popular wine cellars are available for tastings & tours!

We stayed in Porto for 3 days so our schedule was jammed packed w/ tours & discovering the city on our own w/ our downtime. We stayed at the 16th century Pestana Vintage Porto Hotel which is romantically situated along the Douro river & right on the historic Ribeira square. The room had a beautiful view of the riverside & a rustic, vintage feel in the atmosphere of the Hotel. Here are some pics of our first day discovering Porto! FYI, I will be blogging my Porto trips in 3 parts since i have so much to share :-)

Front view of the Pestana Vintage Porto Hotel

The city of Porto had many hills great for walking!

Dinner on the first night!

Cheers to Love & Port wine

Irish coffee & Espresso Martini

Cafe right next to our hotel

Enjoying a Pastel

Chocolate cake...i just had to!

After all that walking, eating, drinking wine, coffee & martinis we ended our first night hanging out in this beautiful room in our hotel enjoying the romantic atmosphere of Porto! To be continued... Part 2 of Porto Adventures in my next blog!

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Much love to all ~ OopsieDaisy