The return

2019 was the year of the last post on this blog (and it was not even a complete post), of our last vacation abroad, and last year of being a family of 3. Since then, in addition to the pandemic that changed all of our lifes and halted travel for most of us, we have also had another big change in our lifes. To keep P (Pedro) company, Inês came to the scene to increase (exponentially) the level of chaos in our life, and travels! 😜

So now it is 2022, A&A are back at experiencing the world, now with the company of two little ones making things less spontaneous, maybe, but just as adventurous... And as I am now in a hotel in a new place, I thought of reviving this blog. With new posts, for sure different to the previous ones, maybe with some tales that only parents will get, but still a travel blog, our travel blog that has evolved with me, as I have moved from telling my stories, to telling the stories of A&A, and now the stories of A&A&P&I! 

As this has moved into a family travel blog, we will be adding some photos of the 4 of us, but as we have pledged to keep photos of our little ones out of the web, whenever they appear, their faces will not be identifiable.

So now, as for where we are! An enlarged family, with out-of-practice parents regarding this type of adventures, calls for a simplification of our plans. So we chose a place where I had been and was wishing to come back to, Andre has been wanting to meet, that was relatively hassle free and with great food that the kids would eat: GREECE!

So with Greece as our destination, 10 days to use, and 2 kids in tow, we could not do the hop-on hop-off kind of travel we were used to. So our main plan was a bit of Athens with an Island tour in between. Naxos seemed like a good option. Picturesque and family friendly! Perfect!

As I write this, our trip is in its 3rd day already and days have been filled with new experiences and it has been great so far and the following days, promise to continue this trend. But for more on this, follow the next posts! 😉

Beaches, mountains, and big colours

People call Cape Verde, soft Africa. A nice and easy introduction to the continent where the people are (or seem to be) genuinely nice and where it is still possible to find European like products (even if at an inflated price, sometimes). Most serious diseases for which one has to take a shot or take pills are absent or are very rare, also. All of this contributed to our choice of our first true holiday destination as a family of 3. 

Santiago, where the capital Praia is located, was our first destination and our first time (for all of us) in Sub Saharan Africa. One of the things that got me first, even from the plane, was how dry the island was. I had heard that the archipelago, as a whole, was very dry, but the extent of the dark brown that dotted the landscape was striking and somewhat unexpected for me. But as we started walking around the city, it was amazing to see the contrast of that with how colourful everything was! The buildings, the clothes, the stores and the children's play areas (okay this latter one is normal).

(The above was written in 2019, just after our trip to Cape Verde. However, the post was never concluded and never published. Time has always seemed to run away whenever I wanted to finish it. 

It is 2022 now. A pandemic has happened in the mean time halting all travel for a long time. A lot has happened and the vivid descriptions I try to include in these posts are no longer possible. But as I want to reboot the blog, I am publishing this post as is, dated when it was written, with only a little introduction and all the photos that were already uploaded. Hope you all still enjoy it.)

Finally, a new post, a new adventure!

After a gap of almost two years, we have finally booked our next "foreign" adventure!

In the mean time we moved back to Lisbon, became A&A&P and learned that new adventures can happen in our own houses, between nappies and dummies and sleepless nights! But, as the previous ones we knew, these new adventures brought a smile to our faces - okay, the sleepless nights were not always fun, but a mini-laugh/smile the next morning almost made us forget about those not so great moments!

So... New adventure! :) This is one that we were discussing for a long time, even as an option against others that we had (this was one of those times), so it is one that we are very excited about! At the end, we always thought that, for logistical reasons (all flights stopped in Lisbon), that it would be a nice trip to do once we moved back to Lisbon. And here we are, in Lisbon! P is now big enough and everything is stable enough for us to be able to plan something like this! In a nutshell, flights are booked, a hotel is booked and excitement levels are running high again!

As a teaser, I will just leave an image below (not mine, obviously):

(I'll add the link once the destination is revealed! 😉)

The Postcard England

After a great year with loads of travels (Dubai, Southeast Asia and Dublin), this year is looking a bit shy in terms of travels. But believe that it is for a good reason. Maybe the best of reasons! :) A&A are expanding and this is how it is looking now:

At our (very pink) hotel room

Yes, "we" are pregnant! :) And as I move (very) closely to the third trimester, flying is something we are trying to avoid. Exotic destinations (our favourite kind) are also not recommended so this year we looked to explore a bit of the country where we live in! In fact, it seemed only fair given that we have been living in the UK for nearly 3 years and we know very little of England outside of London.

The Lake District was an option, but after looking at the travel time and booking options (all of this was planned quite late :/), we decided for the Cotswolds. Before we went, I was told that it was the typical picture-perfect English landscape with great tea-houses and pubs in small villages. So, how best to spend our English holidays in this so English part of the country?

And what is more British than a green landscape dotted here and there by sheep on a cloudy day?

"Are you taking my picture?"

A sign for the future to come :P

"This is my best angle!"

Andre is no sheep, but I just love this photo! :)

We were even told a (very British, I would say) story about a yellow car of a village-resident that was "ruining" the touristic photos! It all happened in Bibery, one of the most photogenic of the Cotswolds villages, and apparently there were complaints that the yellow car was just too ugly and noticeable to go with the rest of the scenery (more details here). The pressure on the car owner was so big that he actually changed his car for a much less flashy grey version of the same car. We had to go to this town, for its beauty, and for the story! And we actually found the new car which we partly recognised due to a delicious detail: this man could not go without his favourite colour, so instead of having a yellow car, he now has yellow car seat covers, which is quite a rebel move in my view! Loved it! (Yes, we were actually looking for the car in that corner and even peeped inside :P)

Bibery scenery, with no "ugly" car!

"My car may be grey, but the seats... the seats will be yellow!"

As for the rest of the costswolds... well, I managed to understand why so many people like it so much and why some pay so much to have a house in this area. Each village is so beautiful (even with a lot of tourists like us in this long Easter weekend) and so unique at the same time. Each one had its own charm, its own appeal and in each one I thought, "Yes, if one day I would go searching for peace and quiet, this would be a good place for it to happen!".

But better than words, here are some images (only a small sample) of what these days were like.

Our 4 wheels for this trip (yes, that is me inside the car :P)

The killer look

Beautiful (and crowded!) scenery

Priority to green vehicles in the all the green surrounding us

"I can do this, I can... do... this...!"

At the top!

We actually stayed in Cheltenham, a very charming city just outside of the Cotswolds. This was taken in the park at the center of Cheltenham.