Te amo, Portugal!
Portugal was a magical experience for me. The cobblestone streets felt strangely familiar as I remembered the letters Blair wrote me years ago describing them. Although my Brazilian Portuguese is slightly different than Portugal's, I felt at home communicating with people that my husband loved so dearly. I'm so glad I got to see this wonderful land! It was the perfect ending to an absolute trip of a lifetime!
We went to this beautiful church called Bom Jesus. This beautiful staircase goes from the church down to the valley down below and each different level houses a building portraying a scene from the Savior's life. It's quite the hike up those stairs, but I loved the symbolism of finding our way to heaven through the example and grace of Christ.
Behind Bom Jesus there are stunningly green gardens and staircases laced with moss. We walked around the gardens and took a boat ride in one of the lakes.
We visited more beautiful churches. I don't remember the name of this one, so I call it Star Church.
One of my favorite things about Portugal is the azuleijo designs (the blue designs painted on the tile) everywhere. I wanted to buy a whole bunch of kitchen dishes in this design. I love it!
We ate at some amazing restaurants with breath-taking views.
Walked along huge bridges with orange-roofed views.
Joined in the celebrations for Sao Joao. Oh this made me miss Brazil so much...
And most importantly got to spend a lot of time with the families that Blair taught and loves so dearly.
We love you Portugal!!
We went to this beautiful church called Bom Jesus. This beautiful staircase goes from the church down to the valley down below and each different level houses a building portraying a scene from the Savior's life. It's quite the hike up those stairs, but I loved the symbolism of finding our way to heaven through the example and grace of Christ.
Behind Bom Jesus there are stunningly green gardens and staircases laced with moss. We walked around the gardens and took a boat ride in one of the lakes.
We visited more beautiful churches. I don't remember the name of this one, so I call it Star Church.
One of my favorite things about Portugal is the azuleijo designs (the blue designs painted on the tile) everywhere. I wanted to buy a whole bunch of kitchen dishes in this design. I love it!
We ate at some amazing restaurants with breath-taking views.
Walked along huge bridges with orange-roofed views.
Joined in the celebrations for Sao Joao. Oh this made me miss Brazil so much...
And most importantly got to spend a lot of time with the families that Blair taught and loves so dearly.
We love you Portugal!!
Comments
do you and Blair speak Portuguese to each other? or about other people when you're like in public places and you want to tell a secret? are you gonna teach it to your kids? i always thought we'd teach Spanish to our kids. but now Ellie is a motor-mouth. and it just sounds hard. (excuses, excuses).
question 2 (even though the question #1 had like 5 questions in it....just overlook that): how did you learn your camera so quickly? i am amazed by the pictures you have taken. do you use a different lens than came with your camera? i try reading blogs and such and just get overwhelmed. i really want to take a class. and will eventually. but it ticks me off that i just can't figure it out sometimes. i guess i just want to know, what are your tricks, and will you share them?
love you and your blog. it has your good heart and soul written all over it. and truth be told, because of that, it's one of my faves. sending a hug to you in that vast tropical island out there.
Marci
Question 1 - We do speak Portuguese together. Not as much as we should, but we do. We plan to teach our kids. We bought a couple of things for our future children while we were in Portugal (movies, books, etc.) Is that totally lame? haha.
Question 2 - I haven't learned my camera quickly I assure you. I still don't really know what I'm doing. One book that really helped things to click for me was a book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. But it. It'll really help :) Also, I'll invite you to our photog blog where a bunch of us share tips, etc.
P.S. I love your face.
Deixa-me contar como eu sinto,
Tu tens nos dado tantos bencaos,
Eu te amo!
Remember singing that at a zone conference? It was weird and cool.
Saudades.