Evil Cats Destroy Lives In Europe

Category: Friends

  • Our First Thanksgiving In The North

    Our First Thanksgiving In The North

    It was our third Thanksgiving in Portugal, but the first in our very own house. Experiencing a very American tradition is a bit of an odd thing when living in a different country, not to mention that some expats’ relationship to holidays and their homeland can be a bit complicated. Some are homesick and missing…

  • Urgezes House Tour

    Urgezes House Tour

    We had the very best of intentions. The plan was to film a post remodel house tour before the never-ending unpacking began. Andrew, myself, and the pets arrived after 9:00 pm on Wednesday August 28th and by 8:00 am Thursday August 29th our property started arriving. I am not a morning person on the best…

  • Olhão: We’ll Miss…

    Olhão: We’ll Miss…

    We’ve talked a lot about why we decided to move to Guimarães but wanted to take time to go over some of the counterarguments. We weighed each of these ten things (and more) as we made our decision. In no particular order here are ten of the things we know we will miss that won’t…

  • Goodbye Dear Neighbor

    Goodbye Dear Neighbor

    I have been totally neglecting my cross stitching hobby. I purchased a couple of cross stitch magazines at a bookstore within months of moving to Portugal and unfortunately they sat on a shelf untouched. Maybe I am dedicating more time to playing piano and more frequently saying yes to social engagements. Maybe the arrangement of…

  • UEFA: 3 Ways

    UEFA: 3 Ways

    UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is the European branch of FIFA that hosts a European Championship tournament every four years. This tournament is the second most popular in the world with only the FIFA World Cup ahead of it. Football (soccer for our readers in the United States) is extremely popular throughout Europe, but…

  • Random Adventures With Elsa

    Random Adventures With Elsa

    Have you found that the most memorable parts of a vacation are the surprises, unplanned excursions and serendipitous diversions that lead you to something unique? Sometimes unexpected themes emerge. We stumbled onto a few of these awesome adventures with cousin Elsa. All You Can Eat: We have never been huge patrons of all you can…

  • Coimbra: Creepy Art In A Cryptoporticus And Higher Education

    Coimbra: Creepy Art In A Cryptoporticus And Higher Education

    When we wrote up our last trip to Coimbra we mentioned that we hadn’t seen some of the historic highlights of the city, specifically the University. During the planning stages of Elsa’s trip we explained that Portugal (for a first time tourist) has two major cities (Lisbon and Porto), the sunny beach filled Algarve region,…

  • Put On Your Hard Hat: Spelunking In Loulé

    Put On Your Hard Hat: Spelunking In Loulé

    Michelle: One of the adventures we planned with cousin Elsa was a salt mine tour in Loulé. Andrew visited the mine back in 2023 and found it so intriguing that he recommended another trip. Jorge and his friend visiting from Lithuania had both wanted to see the mine for years, so we made reservations for…

  • Festival Med 2024

    Festival Med 2024

    We LOVED our time at Festival Med in 2023. This year our full time guest was my cousin Elsa, but we also enjoyed a day with Jorge and his friend from Lithuania, and a day with Karen. The festival itself, for the first time, had a featured country – Morocco – and every aspect of…

  • Tourists For A Day In Tavira

    Tourists For A Day In Tavira

    During cousin Elsa’s visit we tried to balance relaxation and beach days with travel, attractions, and tourism. One of the best day trips from Olhão is a quick 30 minute drive to Tavira. There are a ton of great restaurants, scads of picture opportunities along the Gilão River, cultural events, plenty of shopping, and even…