Also linking to Tom's signs.
Saturday 1st - Karina was going to attend the Web-Summit in Lisbon, so decided to take a few days extra to spend with the family, as she could work from home.
She arrived in Lisbon at 1pm, and since she had hired a car at the airport, she drove to Cascais in time for a late lunch at my sister's place.
Monday 3rd - I returned to the dentist to have the stitches removed from the 3 teeth I had extracted and screws implanted the previous week. Everything looked good, so the dentist proceeded to extract the remaining 2 teeth on the left side and insert two more screws.
Tuesday 4th - My sister and brother in law were driving to Vilamoura, in the Algarve (southern Portugal). She is an estate agent and had scheduled a couple of apartment viewings with a client for the following day. Jose and I tagged along. My my face was already slightly swollen, but fortunately I only needed painkillers for one day.
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| Crossing the 25th of April bridge from Lisbon over the river Tagus. The Statue of Christ the Redeemer on the other side of the river. |
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| From my sister's apartment |
Wednesday 5th - We drove to the beautiful town of Tavira, and because I love seeing houses, my sister's client was happy to let me join them. After the visits we walked around the city centre, and then had lunch.
Thursday 6th - The 4 of us drove to Faro to have lunch with Jose's oldest brother and sister in law who live there. I booked at the restaurant "Há Pátria" , they serve share plates, and both the food and service were wonderful.
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| Left to right - Jose's eldest brother, Jose, my sister Isabel, my brother in law Jose, me and Jose's sister in law |
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| The delicious share plates |
Friday 7th - We left for Lisbon at about 9,30h after breakfast, the trip taking around three hours. When we arrived, we had lunch at my parent's place.
On the way we stopped once for coffee at a petrol station on the highway and I was amazed at the choice of goodies they had for sale - souvenirs, alcoholic drinks, packaged food, packaged desserts, traditional sweets...
They also had a kids entertainment area and toilet facilities.
After lunch, I unpacked and repacked my carry-on, this time with warmer clothes, as my parents, Jose and I were joining Karina on a road trip to Carregal do Sal, a small town in central Portugal where we had lived for 12 years before moving to Australia.
We left around 4pm, arrived about 7pm, and only had time to drop our bags at Hotel Salinas, before heading to my cousin's house so we could go out to dinner together at a very busy country restaurant. We were almost the last t0 leave!
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My cousin V, my Mom, me, my cousin's wife, Karina, my Dad and Jose
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Saturday 8th - After a very basic hotel breakfast - toast or a ham and cheese sandwich and coffee or tea for me - we visited long time friends of my parents.
We then had lunch with my friend Rosa at Hotel Salinas, followed by another visit to the recently widowed husband of a distant cousin.
At 8pm, we went back to my cousin's house for dinner so the men could watch an "important" soccer match. It was midnight by the time we returned to the hotel!
Sunday 9th - With our bags packed, we left the hotel after breakfast at around 11am, stopping once more to visit our former neighbour, before starting our journey back to Lisbon.
On the way, we stopped in the town of Mealhada, about 1 hour west, and guess what for? Lunch at Pedro dos Leitões. (Peter of the suckling pigs).
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| Pedro dos Leitoes Restaurant |
The town of Mealhada is famous for its many restaurants that serve roasted suckling pig. I'm not a fan of pork, so I ordered salmon instead 😊. There is always room for dessert of course!
And on to Lisbon finally!
Monday 10th - Jose and I drove to Lisbon to drop Karina off at Hotel Itália, so she could join her boss and colleagues for the Web Summit that was being held from the 10th to the 13th at one of the Expo pavilions. We kept the hire car until our return home.
We then visited the area where we had an apartment in Lisbon, back when Karina was at Uni and Jose was working in a project near Lisbon. Then lunch at Expo.
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| Seen somewhere in Expo |
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| A painted car with what appears to be tile motifs |
Tuesday 11th – I began painting three pieces of furniture in my parents’ guest bedroom. I had brought Fusion Mineral Paint all the way from Perth.
As well as painting, I sorted out my mom’s wardrobe. She had loads of good clothes that no longer fit but were still kept “just in case” she one day fit into them again. We managed to donate 4 boxes to a charity organisation that helps a dog refuge.
Meanwhile, José was helping my dad clean out the garage, donating a few things and throwing away a lot of useless stuff!
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| Two of the pieces of furniture I painted for my parents' guest room |
Thursday 13th – Karina came to dinner at my sister’s house to say farewell to the family, as she would be departing for Doha early the next morning. After dinner, José and I drove her back to her hotel in Lisbon.
Sunday 16th – My great-niece K turned six, and my sister invited the whole family for brunch before my niece T took the kids to the birthday party venue where they would celebrate with the school friends.
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| Cake made by my niece decorated with little K's help |
Saturday 22nd - Our last day in Portugal arrived, we left home at 10,30 to drive to the airport for our 14,20h flight to Doha.
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A photo with my parents before we left the house
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| Flying over Lisbon - the Expo area (left) and Vasco da Gama Bridge (right) |
Sunday 23rd - We arrived in Doha at 00:30am. Passport control and baggage collection were extremely quick—most passengers seemed to be in transit—so our bags were already going around the carousel when we got there.
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| At the Arrivals hall - ORYX (national animal of Qatar) - 3 of the 8 pieces by Dutch artist Tom Claassen |
We didn’t want Karina to pick us up since she needed to sleep to go to work the next morning, so we took a taxi home and had a well-deserved rest.
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| The street cats having a feed in Karina's street |
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| The Falcon hood - the building houses the Al Gannas (Falconry) Society of Qatar. |
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| The toy shop and Museum |
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Karina and Jose in front of the amphitheatre  |
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The Blue Mosque and Pigeon Towers |
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| The Golden Mosque |
Monday 24th - While Karina went to work, José and I took an Uber to walk around Old Doha Port. I found a couple of murals that I had missed during my December visit. The area was quite deserted when we arrived, but by the time we sat down to lunch there were loads of people. We visited the Fish Market , a beautiful building with stained glass ceiling. Everything was so clean inside, it hardly looked like a traditional fish market...
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| The pigeon and cats mural |
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| Formula 1 helmet sculpture to commemorate the F1 race the following weekend |
After our return home, while I sat by the pool, José and Karina went to see the Under 17's World Cup match between Italy and Austria. Karina had wanted to buy tickets for the Portugal-Brazil game, but it was sold out. They realized why when they saw how small the venue was.
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| Sitting by the pool and sunset on the lagoon by Karina's house |
Since they couldn’t attend that match, after the Austria–Italy game they joined Thomas and I at La Liga Twenty Nine's, a pub on the 61st floor of the Kempinsky Hotel, so we could watch the semi-final between Portugal and Brazil. Portugal won on penalties!(A few days later Portugal would win the U17 World Cup title 1-0 against Austria).
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| View from the 61st floor |
We returned home, finished packing and later that night, we took an Uber to the airport for our 2,40am flight to Perth.
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| The Golden Falcon in front of the airport |
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| A Formula 1 car inside the airport to commemorate the F1 race being held the following weekend |
Luckily I had just been upgraded to "Silver" member of Qatar Airways, so had lounge access, and we managed to be a bit more comfortable for a few hours.
Wednesday 26th - We arrived in Perth at 18,45h. It took us a week to get over the jet-lag!
Friday 28th - We visited the "Tiny Homes Expo" in Victoria Park. Such cosy tiny homes...I would have to get rid of a lot of stuff though :)
Sunday 30th - Our Wedding anniversary was celebrated with a lovely breakfast at Olive & Oil Cafe in the suburb of Mount Pleasant.
Wishing you all an extra special holiday season. Happy New Year!
Not much time for you at home Sami, but I sure there will be in 2026. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteSo many beautiful pics Sami ! I like a lot your way to describe
ReplyDeleteevery journey .Best wishes for a Happy New Year!