Portugal 2026

Denise, and I, along with her sister Laurie and her husband Tim, just returned from 12 days in Portugal. Our fiends, Joe and Lois, welcomed us to their home on the stunning volcanic island of Madeira, where we spent 3 days sight seeing, dining with friends, and tasting Madeira wine.

Then the six of us flew to Porto, north of Lisbon for 4 days. We spent some time exploring the city, especially the Gaia area across the Douro River, took a river cruise, delicious food tour, and finally a trip to several vineyards in the Duoro Valley where most of the Port is produced.

Denise, Laurie, Tim and I then took the train to Lisbon where we explored the city, attended dinner and a Fado performance. Fado is a traditional folk music of Portugal, that began in Lisbon in the part of the city founded in 1147 as an enclave for the Moors. Their influence is everywhere in the form of decorative, hand-painted, usually blue tiles.

A few photos of our trip, should you be interested. I took many more, but could only post a maximum of 9 here in this post.