In August, 2025, we visited our dear friends Sam and Brian in Portland, Oregon, before heading up to Vancouver, British Columbia, to celebrate our 20th Canadian Anniversary. We’ll post pictures from Vancouver in a separate post. During our stay in
For our first extended-travel trip, we visited Portugal and Spain for four weeks, which was longer than any trip we had taken previously. Most of our previous vacations have been seven- to twelve-day cruises, typically accompanied by two or three
For our last leg of the trip, we visited Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands. We stayed in downtown Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital. We enjoyed our visit. We both agree that this was our favorite stop on
On our second day on Tenerife, we drove from our apartment in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Puerto de la Cruz, on the north side of the island. The main points of interest there are the Jardin de Aclimatacion de
We enjoyed four days in Funchal, Madeira. Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, located approximately 500 miles southwest of the mainland. Here are some highlights. Photos from the Monte Palace Tropical Garden are in a separate post.
During our stay in Funchal, Madeira, we visited the Monte Palace Tropical Garden. We were inspired to take dozens of photos, so we decided to create a post specifically for this destination. Of course, it’s not only the destination, it’s
During our recent trip to Portugal, we spent five days on São Miguel, the largest of the nine islands that comprise the Azores. We stayed in Ponta Delgada, the largest city on both the island and the Azores (pop. approx.
For the third stop on our month-long Portugal adventure, we stayed in Carvoeiro, a beach resort town on the Algarve coast. Carvoeiro differs from most other Portuguese towns in that it doesn’t have several centuries of history. While it started
During our day in Portimão, we visited the 3D Fun Art Museum. Calling it a museum is a bit of a stretch, but we had fun taking goofy pictures against backdrops. Dave was a bit more into it than Jeff,
Sand City, near Lagoa, Portugal, claims to be the largest park of sand sculptures in the world, with at least 120 sculptures spread over 12 acres. We believe it! We spent an hour and a half wandering around, admiring the
