One-Track Mind

It's all that DW and I have been able to think about for the past few months: travel.

I'm not talking about the kind of trips that we've made since the pandemic, once travel was permitted. We flew to Cuba—one of the safest countries in the world when it came to vaccinations and safe distancing, with masks. We also flew to the Mayan Riviera of Mexico, where we also made sure to mask up.

There was little to no planning for those trips. We simply boarded our flights, gained transportation to our resorts, and relaxed. Eat, swim, eat, drink, lounge, eat, drink, sleep.

And repeat.

I've talked about these vacations in past posts and I've recently mentioned that DW and I have been planning our next vacation. We've researched, we've booked, we've made lists, and we've bought required supplies. And now I feel as though I can share those plans with you.

We're heading to Portugal for just over two weeks in September.

To be honest, Portugal was never really on our radar before this spring. Our original destination was southern Spain, mainly in Seville.

When we first started planning for Spain, we looked into airfare, thinking that we would fly from Ottawa or Montreal to Madrid, and then take a train south, to Seville. But when we were quoted prices for airfare, we decided to see if we could fly into somewhere else—somewhere that would take no longer to travel to Seville than from Madrid.

We found inexpensive tickets by flying into Lisbon, Portugal.

"I don't know anything about Lisbon," I told DW.

"Neither do I," she said.

We turned to YouTube and watched an Expedia-produced video of Portugal's capital. And I fell in love immediately.

"You know, I could just spend two weeks in Lisbon."

"I agree," said DW.

All I knew about Portugal is that it was the home to port wine, something that both DW and I love. We love a good tawny. We watched a few more videos of Lisbon, and made the decision to make this city our prime destination. But we also wanted to visit Porto and explore the Douro Valley, home of the Portuguese quintas, or vineyards.

Over the past couple of months, our trip has taken shape. We'll fly from Montreal to Lisbon and then take an express train, north, straight to Porto. We'll spend three days exploring this beautiful city and touring the Douro Valley.

From there, we'll fly to the southern coast of Portugal and to the Algarve region. Beaches, beautiful cliffs, and rock formations. We'll relax in the city of Lagos for two nights and then move over to another Algarve town, Portimão, for one more night, before taking a train to Lisbon.

We've rented a lovely apartment in the happening neighbourhood of Bairro Alto and will explore the heart of Lisbon. (I've watched so many videos of Lisbon that I'd have no problem finding my way around without a map.) We've also planned some day trips to the nearby towns of Sintra and Cascais, on the western coast.

All of our airfare is purchased. All of our accommodation is booked. In the next couple of weeks, we'll be able to reserve our train tickets. Our itinerary is almost complete.

All that's really left is the waiting. September cannot come soon enough. Because Portugal is all that DW and I are thinking of.