We were lucky to stay with my fiance’s family in Lisbon, so I got to see Portugal in a very non-touristy way. The people are wonderful, the wine and beer is cheap, and the country must be explored to truly appreciate it’s offerings. We went to the northern mountain region (picture from there) as well as Faro in the Algarve, where we actually got engaged :)

Amazing seafood, amazing sushi in Faro, amazing barbequed chickens anywhere. Shopping is great, fashion is amazing. I would recommend going in the summer, as we were there 3 weeks ago. It’s not cold but the dampness made it feel cold.

The architecture of Portugal is amazing. The driving is nuts. Portugese is easier to read if you know french or spanish or italian, it is latin. BUT, it has 4 sounds more than english and sounds like german. Anyway, i could go on and on, here is a link to one of my posts from Lisbon, with pictures :)

http://gottabekd32.blogspot.com/2005/12/portugal-updated-with-pictures.html