Our summer vacation this year first took us to Portugal, to the cities of Lisbon and Sintra. It was Mateo's first time on an airplane and traveling internationally. Alexi is a seasoned traveler and picked up many Portugese words on our travels.
After nearly missing our connection from London to Lisbon, and almost having to wait on line 2 hours to pick up our rental car, we made it to Portugal. Our first stop was a place called Kidzania, a fictitious town run by children. Alexi had a really great time there and especially enjoyed getting to do his dream job of being a firefighter and working in a grocery store as a checkout clerk.
We spent an entire day in Sintra and had a fabulous day there. In the morning we visited Cabo da Roca, which is the westernmost point in Europe with a great view of the cliffs and Atlantic Ocean.
We toured the Moorish ruins and visited the Pena Palace in Sintra. Alexi and Mami walked all along the walls of the Moorish ruins and climbed to the top of lookout towers for beautiful views while Mateo and Papi took things in at ground level.
We discovered a stellar vegetarian restaurant called Soul Food. It is run by an ex-pat in the backyard of her home in Sintra. We sat on cushions on the lawn and had an absolutely scrumptuous vegan meal.
In Lisbon we visited Calouste Gulbenkian Art Museum. Highlights included illuminated manuscripts of the Koran and Impressionist paintings. The concierge from our hotel joked with David that it is better to have a wife who loves to go museum hopping than who loves to go shopping!
Both children had a fabulous time in Portugal. Mateo stayed in his very first hotel in Lisbon and Alexi got to photograph all the cool places we visited.
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