I love photography. For me its one of the most important souvenirs I take back from my travels. Because we travel with carry ons only it is definitely a choice to bring my SLR camera, including three lenses on our trips. Basically it means that I have less shoes and less everything else, but it’s entirely worth it.
We recently returned from an epic five week trip trip to Brazil, Cape Verde, Morocco, and Portugal. The trip included both land and cruise excursions. I am including some of my very favorite photos along with an explanation of why I love them.
BRAZIL
On a nighttime excursion in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil we were treated to a beautiful slide show on the outside of this art museum.
I enjoyed watching these two little boys play soccer with a barely intact ball in the shadow of the cathedral in Salvador de Bahia. I love how the older boy decided to photobomb his buddy.
On board the AZAMARA PURSUIT I had fun playing with this photo orb borrowed from fellow passenger and Instagrammer, Ade Roberts Insta @CruiseImage
CAPE VERDE
We visited the town of Mindelo, Cape Verde. It was absolutely gorgeous. One of the fishing villages we visited did not have running water in most of the homes so residents picked up water and carried it on their heads. This village was full of very happy and content people. What they may have lacked in everyday conveniences was made up by the most beautiful view of the ocean.
This happy little girl was bringing water home, she stopped to give me a sweet smile.
These very modest homes boast spectacular ocean views.
The sands on Playa Grande are from the Sahara desert deposited there from sandstorms.
MOROCCO
We spent two days in Morocco in Casa Blanca and Agadir.
Sights and smells from the souk in Casa Blanca, Morocco
In Morocco we took part in a cooking class and watched this worms cook the tasty local bread in the traditional wood oven.
We visited Hassan II Mosque and were amazed at it’s beauty and size. It’s such a gift to visit and learn about other cultures,
PORTUGAL
Get your walking shoes on in Lisbon.
Hills? Did somebody say hills? We were just happy to find the elevators between some of the streets in Lisbon.
One of the great things about walking all the hills in Portugal is it’s a great workout to enjoy all of the great Portuguese food and wine.
Evening time in Albufeira in southern Portugal. This town had a great restaurant and bar scene with plenty of live entertainment every night.
Our AirBnB Super Host took us on a tour of the area, including bringing us to this tiny hand crafted bar built entirely from found shells and beach finds. We had a drink here and the friendly owner insisted on taking Greg’s picture
We took a boat tour along the coastline and caves in the Algarve in Southern Portugal
This marina in Albufeira is so colorful.
This bridge in Porto was designed by Eiffel.
Our view at dinner in Porto. We found that asking our AirBnB hosts for suggestions was a great way to find hidden gems in town.
Our final stop was outside of the town of Sintra. The road up to the AirBnB was terrifying to say the least, but the view, the tiny town and the Cinderella castles were not to be missed. Once we arrived at our AirBnB we took Uber, which is very inexpensive in both Portugal and Brazil.
We enjoyed a great little hike from our flat, it was full of colorful surprises.
The ocean view from our balcony. We enjoyed the view and it was even better with some great Portuguese wine.
Imagine how excited we were to discover a charming vineyard with wine tasting walking distance from our AirBnb. The proprietor started the winery in his later years and placed his life motto on every bottle. “It’s never too late.” He lived to be 102
The colorful Pena Palace looked like a real life Disneyland castle. We arrived early and were happy to avoid some of the crowds.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of mean and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all ones’s lifetime.” MARK TWAIN
Retired Rambling 