Author: Patio Girlz
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Happy Birthday to Me!
(or, How I spent my day with other old things) While planning our trip out west, I decided there was a place I really wanted to spend my road trip birthday, that being Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks, Alberta. The park is a Unesco World Heritage site, which consists of 75 square kilometres of hills, […]
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Another Patio Girl on the Road
I promised the girlz, I would try to continue our stories of Patio Girl adventures on the road. After all the great posts from Gwen’s trip to Portugal, I hope I can produce something as interesting as hubby and I drive out to British Columbia. It’s been hard to decide what to blog about first, […]
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Street Party
The atmosphere of Porto when we arrived on the holiday weekend was definitely that of a street party. The weather was ideal for it: sunny and warm. Tour guides carrying bright green umbrellas bustled their groups everywhere you looked, children played patty cake while parents lounged on the lawn in one of the squares, art […]
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Castle of the Knights Templar
Perched on a hilltop in Tomar, is a castle built over 800 years ago by the Knights Templar. The church is an impressive circular (eight-sided) oratory modelled after one in Jerusalem. From the outside, it is an impressive sight, but from within, even more so. The castle includes the Convent of Christ complex built around […]
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The Big Wave Pilgramage
When planning our trip I looked at a variety of accommodations, including those on AirBnB. Little did I realize at the time of booking that our accommodations in Nazare that overlook the beach would introduce us to a famous Big Wave professional. Garrett McNamara is famous for introducing Nazare to the Big Wave surfer world. […]
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Evora: Roman ruins, a chapel of bones and a collection of nativity scenes
Evora, a UNESCO World Heritage city, was impressive. To start, the Roman temple remains, which date back to the 2nd or early 3rd century AD are thought to be the best preserved in Portugal. According to the guide book, the temple managed to survive as it was walled up to form a small fortress in […]
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Next stop – The Alentejo region
Heading north we entered Portugal’s largest region, the Alentejo. Despite the rain, we enjoyed the landscape of rolling hills, olive tree plantations, fields of grape vines, interrupted by whitewashed villages and medieval cities that dotted our route. One such city is Beja. Although not as touristy and well known as Evora, it was a delightful […]
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Algarve beaches
They seem to go on for ever. We stopped at Armacao de Petra for a late lunch in a restaurant right on the beach. It was a very modern building with very cool hanging beaded lights that seem to capture the airiness and colour of the water. Beyond our table a father and son flew […]
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Cliff top trails and white horses?????
As previously mentioned, we decided to follow the cliff top trail from the parking area to see the Benagil caves from above. The trail was a section of the inland Rota Vicentina trail. It was arid and rocky and definitely well travelled by those wishing to see the scenic coastal views and emerald-coloured water from […]
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Hike Portugal
Rota Vicentina is a walking trail in Portugal that runs 350 km down the coast called the Fisherman’s Way, and a second route inland. Both are made up of sections and connect through villages. During our meandering into Salema, a small coastal town in the Algarve we came across a trailhead sign board. We had […]
Patio Girlz 