What does it take to feel comfortable if you live abroad? I was interviewed for a television documentary about my experience as an expat in Portugal. The producers were exploring the concept of home comforts; how certain objects might affect the way that people living away from their home countriesRead More →
In 2012 I invited readers who have travelled in Portugal to share their stories in an interview. The first of these weekly travel tales features the lovely Cat Gaa. Who are you? Name, age, nationality, where you’re based, what you do… I’m Cat, a Chicagoan by birth but a sevillanaRead More →
As you might expect from a museum that’s got everything from royal carriages to Popemobiles there’s a fair amount of gold and fancy features on show at the National Coach Museum in Lisbon. While some of them manage to remain pretty and elegant, others are just gaudy times ten. Buy your advancedRead More →
Coimbra’s national museum opened its doors to the public in 2012 after years of renovation. It’s a uniquely fascinating space with underground treasures and life-size chapels that was incorprated into Coimbra’s UNESCO World Heritage area in 2019. Here are five very good reasons why you should incorporate a visit toRead More →
I’d been curious about Elvas ever since I picked up a brochure at Lisbon’s annual tourism show. After UNESCO granted it World Heritage status in 2012, I decided to see it for myself. My excuse to visit arrived in the form of an International Hot Air Balloon Festival hosted thereRead More →
I try to keep an open mind about Portuguese food, really I do. Despite more than a few disappointing if not disgusting experiences, I continue tasting different dishes hoping to understand what makes the Portuguese so proud and fond their cuisine. Sometimes, I’m rewarded with a tasty treat but this isRead More →
The wind did its best to thwart my attempts to fly in a hot air balloon but I finally got the chance to make one of my dreams come true at the International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Elvas in Portugal’s Alentejo region. Find out what my experience of hotRead More →
Watching little old ladies in nylon wrap-around housecoats performing acrobatic feats has been the highlight of the olive harvest for me. Every year, around the end of October, the ladders and buckets come out, sheets or nets are spread on the ground and whole families muck in to pick ripenedRead More →
Update 2020: When I originally wrote this article in 2012, I was still rather ignorant of the racist connotations of the term expat. I recognise now that I am, of course, an immigrant in Portugal and proud to be one. Still, these musings on my journey to accepting that myRead More →
