Cascais Part 2

 7/25: The double dose of sun at the beach and then pool yesterday got the best of the kids - they both got a bit of sunburn (Quinn worse than Simone). Fortunately it wasn’t too terrible, and a day out of the sun will work wonders. As it turned out, today was really windy, so it wasn’t great beach or pool weather.

The day for Bob and me started in my favorite way - exercise and then a jump in the pool afterwards. Today Bob and I left the house and ran to the beach and back. A jump in the pool by 9:30 before anyone is out, and before the sun is too high, and we’re so hot from working out…is just so great!

The whole crew enjoyed an afternoon movie together (IF) in their family room and ate the delicious carrot cake that their cook made

Paulo with the favorite cake

The evening plan was a late (9pm) dinner reservation at one of Paulo’s favorite restaurants. He and the kids love the pork and the chocolate fondue. We all loved it!

Simone on the hammock on the patio at home

7/26: my favorite start with a HIIT on the patio and a dip in the pool. Another windy day kept the kids away from the pool. We had lunch together (lunch is the main meal of the day and usually around 2pm).

Then, the main event was Quinn and Bob getting haircuts at the salon in Paulo’s neighborhood. We said yes when Quinn asked to get a buzz cut and bleach it.

Here we go! It’s all coming off!

The kids have never had their hair washed at the salon, and when Simone saw how much Quinn was enjoying it, she wanted to get a haircut too!

The stylist thought it was so funny this was the kids first time having their hair washed.

The bleach is in!

Finished product! We all had a lot of fun :-)

Bob took me to the Post Office to mail some cards back home, and then I took the 4 kids to the mall to watch a movie. It was a bit of an adventure for me to drive abroad, but we made it! The kids enjoyed Inside Out 2 while I roamed around the mall - not usually my favorite place, but more interesting in a foreign country…and I found a HUGE grocery store! I’m the rare one who loves the grocery :-). I found Cheerios for Quinn - we could not find them anywhere in France (hence the new love affair with toast, butter, pb, and banana) or in the grocery store near Paulo, so this was very exciting.

While we were at the mall, Bob and Paulo were nearby at the Diana Krall concert.

7/27: Workout, pool, and a coffee on the patio - love it! Quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the last items for the company coming over tonight: the Robinson’s have arrived from CO, and Paulo's neighbors.

After lunch we set out to play a bit of fresco ball before the evening party. It was still windy, so we tried the City Center beach first, but it was too crowded. We headed to Ginsha beach - our favorite, but knowing it would probably be really windy. It was indeed, but we made the best of it, and enjoyed the TONS of windsurfers and kite surfers that were enjoying the strong wind.

The evening together at Paulo's house was really lovely.

Bob, Me, Johnny, Paulo, Brandy, Robo, Mark

The kids had a blast playing ping pong.

Enjique, Quinn, Simone, Cecelia, Francisco

7/28: On our way to explore Belem (suburb of Lisbon) by 0930. We met up with the Robinsons and enjoyed the beautiful day (thankfully not as hot as earlier in the week when we went to Lisbon).

Charko in Belem

Statue celebrating Portuguese exploration

Robo, Neve, Quinn, Simone, Kristin, Brandy

A pastry stop at the famous Pasteis de Belem

Outside the Presidential Palace

At the Quake Museum where we learned about the Lisbon earthquake in 1755.

All of the kids went home with Paulo while Brandy, Robo, Bob and I explored a bit more.

When we got home, I went to the pool with Simone and got ready to leave for Porto tomorrow. Bob and Paulo headed to our favorite beach (Guincho) for more fresco ball and a gorgeous sunset.

What a fun week together in Cascais!

Cascais!

 7/20: We said goodbye to our central Toulouse apartment and took our Prius Plus to the airport (lessons learned: that car will indeed fit us and all our stuff, and probably better to take public transport when in cities with great public transport options and limited Ubers! Fortunately we were not in a rush, but we waited for close to 30 min for our driver).

The travel to Lisbon was easy (2 hr delay because of the cyber glitch). Paulo picked us up at the airport and took us back to his home in Cascais.

The kids made a new friend on the plane.

We settled into his homes basement apartment and enjoyed some white wine and cheese, while Quinn and Simone enjoyed hanging out with Paulo’s kids, Cecelia and Francisco. We ate delicious lasagna for dinner and then the kids headed to the neighborhood pool while Paulo, Bob and I drove to the beach to watch the sunset.

Home to play ping pong in the basement (we had to move our air mattresses:-) with all of us and one of Francisco’s friends. What a blast!

7/21: Awake at 0730 to join Paulo on his 5 mile run (he is training for a half Ironman in October) at the beach - a fantastic way to start the day! We stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get some final items for the bbq he had planned for that afternoon. 

Beef, chicken, and sausages

White port and tonic (a drink we were introduced to by Brandy Robinson recently - their family will be joining us soon for our trip to Porto and Madeira).

We wanted to play fresco ball (sort of beach tennis with a racquetball and wooden paddles) so Bob, Paulo, and I headed to a different beach with a nice hike down to the water. Unfortunately, the afternoon was super windy, and we decided to save it for another day. It was a gorgeous spot though!

On our way home we saw a fire that must’ve started not too long ago. It seemed to be growing fast - fortunately our route home was far enough away from the blaze. We heard and saw firefighting planes all afternoon bringing sea water to drop on the flames. We learned the next day that one of Paulo’s friends lived close enough to the fire that his house was covered in ash.

More ping pong to close out the day - very fun when all of us can play together!

7/22: Bob and I started the day with some Apple Fitness while Paulo was doing his swim workout day. We fed the kids and took them in Paulo’s car downtown to spend some time at the beach. There was a lot of traffic, and we made one wrong turn which put us in this matrix of narrow one way streets that was not easy to get out of. Bob eventually got us to the intended parking lot to find it full. We eventually found a spot on the street, but when I got out to head to the beach, I saw it was totally jammed with people. By this point we all decided to just skip the beach and head home to the lovely pool 🤷‍♀️

The early evening was gorgeous, and Bob and I still had not played fresco ball yet…so Paulo, Bob and I headed to the beach, hoping the wind wouldn’t prevent us from playing. We were pleasantly surprised that we could play!

Paulo and me

25 year friends! So fun that their chance meeting on a trail in the Grand Canyon has lead to so many lifelong memories together!

Home to make pizzas - a fun end to the day!

7/23: We took an Uber into Lisbon for a few hours and walked to a cathedral and the city fortress.

Pretty, narrow streets with laundry hanging out everywhere on sides of buildings.

We wanted to take a tram around the city to see some highlights, but the line was really really long, and it was a super hot day. The pool was sounding like a great idea, so we called it quits in Lisbon a bit earlier than we thought. We enjoyed a little pool time followed by an early chicken and potato dinner. Bob and I headed out to the beach for some fresco ball while the kids chilled at home (Paulo was gone for the night in Madrid). Bob and I just love fresco ball on the beach!

7/24: We took Quinn, Simone, and Cecelia to the beach hoping that it wouldn’t be too windy, as this particular beach is really windy most of the time (but way easier to park, and we didn’t want a repeat of the parking debacle from the other day!). The kids were not super excited to go, as they all said they prefer the pool to the beach, but we persevered - when you’re 10 minutes from gorgeous beaches, you’ve gotta go to the beach!

Bob and I were psyched to find there were few people and almost no wind when we arrived! The tide was out which revealed so much flat perfect sand to play fresco ball with the kids. I loved my walk up and down the beach and couldn’t believe there were no weeds and no shells - just perfect sand. Cecelia and Simone spent some time sunbathing, and Quinn loved playing in the water and sand. We all had fun! After 2 hours we came home and enjoyed a delicious lunch that their cook had prepared. What a treat!

Simone action shot!

Simone and Bob - 45 in a row!

Quinn and Bob - 42 in a row!

Simone and Cecelia

We had some pool time in the afternoon, and Paulo arrived home from Madrid with some of his favorite empanadas. We enjoyed that with fresh guac, and then the three adults headed out to the beach for Paulo to swim (too cold and windy for Bob and me at 8pm!) While Paulo took a dip, Bob and I enjoyed watching the kite surfers fly 30 feet into the air! Really fun to watch! :-)