sintra: palácio da pena

 I think a lot of people think of the Pena Palace when they think about Sintra. And it's no wonder - it's one of the most stunning places I've ever visited and definitely a bucket list worthy location. There's so much to see and every corner of the palace is the prettiest. I mean, I really struggled to pick favourites out of all the photos I took because I liked them all, so here's plenty of them:

sintra: castelo dos mouros

 It's a year since I left Portugal, but I still have a couple of posts from back then to share - from everyone's favourite fairy tale town, Sintra. Even on an overcast (but hot) day, every corner of Sintra was so pretty, and our first stop was at the Castelo dos Mouros. Or the Castle of the Moors.

azores: mosteiros

Another one of my Azores favourites was Mosteiros. It's the prettiest, most quaint little town and definitely worth checking out if you're in São Miguel. The name of Mosteiros means monastery in English and it's called that because one of the islets looks like a church. I really loved it!

azores: sete cidades

 One of the main things I had wanted to see in São Miguel, and the Azores in general, was Sete Cidades. If you google Azores, the chances are that pictures of this stunning place pop up. And no wonder, the crater lakes, the volcano, the village and everything in the area is simply gorgeous.

azores: museu militar dos açores

 I think it's become somewhat clear that I'm into my museums and history. It'll be no surprise that I had to squeeze in at least one museum visit on my Azores trip. And the Museum Militar dos Açores was well worth seeing!

azores: whale watching

 Whale watching is a major attraction to anyone going to the Azores and, honestly, it was a highlight for me too. It was so good! These are all basically just the same photo of the ocean over and over, but I couldn't help but include them all.

the azores: ponta delgada

 I honestly thought I had blogged about my trip to the Azores when it happened last May, but it turns out I haven't. So get ready for lots of Azores pictures and posts! My friend Camilla and I spent a few days on the São Miguel Island, which is the largest of the islands. And it was such an amazing time in such a gorgeous place.

porto: antiga, mui nobre, sempre leal e invicta

 One of the cities in Portugal I'd like to go back to and explore more of is Porto. All the red roofs (I'd call that orange but every Portuguese person I've met insists the roofs are red), the river, old buildings and walls, little alleyways and the atmosphere make for such a charming place. And I also like the city's motto Antiga, Mui Nobre, Sempre Leal e Invicta (Old, Most Noble, Always Loyal and Undefeated) - I like it when places have mottos in general! Porto really is quite cute.

figueira da foz

This time last year I made the first of my many trips to Figueira da Foz. Figueira is only about an hour on the train away from Coimbra (where I lived), so what could be better on a day off than going to the beach! Now looking out thew window to a gloomy, rainy day in Finland, it's a bit bittersweet thinking about Portugal.