Where were you on June 11, 2021?

I can tell you where we were.  We were landing at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado International Airport, beginning our Portuguese adventure in the middle of the Covid Pandemic!  It has been two years since we made the jump from the USA to Portugal.  And yes, we've had occasional frustrations with the bureaucracy, with a myriad of cultural differences, and with how to get things done in a foreign (to us) country. But as we look back at the last two years, we've truly enjoyed our time here and look forward to many more years of getting to know this amazing country with its fantastic, welcoming people.

One of the things we love about living in Portugal is how easy it is to travel, to other Portuguese regions and to other European countries.  Here is a list of our trips over the past two years:

• Beja (southern inland Alentejo), Portugal – July 2021
• Alentejo coast (Sao Teotonio), Portugal – August 2021
• Lisbon – September 2021
• Tomar/Bussaco/Evora, Portugal – October 2021
• Madeira, Portugal – January 2022
• Lyon, France – March 2022
• Seville, Spain – May 2022
• Lisbon (Santo Antonio Festival) - June 2022
• Douro Valley, Portugal – July 2022
• Northern Spain (Asturias/San Sebastian) – August 2022
• Alba, Italy (White Truffle Festival) – October 2022
• Tenerife (Canary Islands), Spain – January 2023

Our travel has slowed down a bit in 2023, particularly due to our decision to purchase an apartment early in the year, but it will pick up again soon.  In July, we will return to Tomar in central Portugal for the Festa dos Tabuleiros (Feast of the Trays) which only occurs every four years.  We will then see family in Barcelona in October.  And we plan to visit some of Central Europe's Christmas markets in December.  

Until then, here are some random flashbacks of our first two years in Portugal and our visits to other European countries.

We celebrated our two-year anniversary with a nice dinner at the tapas restaurant D'Gusta here in Tavira.

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