Merry Christmas!

From Carrots from Heaven

London Bridge is not falling down

So we went to London for 2 days...and as you might suspect, had a great time.  We went to see The Cure play at Royal Albert Hall but spent 2 full days exploring too -  and barely made a dent.  We walked all over the center of London and hit most of the major sites (look kids, big ben!)  We also enjoyed good food (I know, I know, not exactly what England is known for - but spend 6 months in Portugal and you'll understand our appreciation) and not having to rehearse every conversation before it happens (ENGLISH, I LOVE YOU).

We pretty much ran through the British Museum and headed straight to the Rosetta Stone.  The most interesting thing I learned is that names in hieroglyphics are phonetic.

We also explored the Tower of London - again very quickly - we had about an hour from when we entered here - and by the time we left it was already dark.   I'd like to go back and take an official tour - I think it's a pretty interesting place.

Trafalgar square with the National Museum in the back - we stopped by there too and checked out all the JMW Turners (Matt's favorite), Monets and Van Goghs amongst others.   I was surprised by how much I really liked the Van Goghs.  He's one of the artists whose work I'm most familiar with but was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and vibrant the colors and impasto are in the originals - the prints and textbooks just can't compare. 

Ok - I think I'll go back to monitoring budget airlines for cheap flights to London now...

in Marvão

It's been a busy few days. We went with a group of friends to the small town of Marvão near the Portugal/Spain border. I'd write more but after getting back late tonight we had to pack and get ready to go to London tomorrow. We'll be back soon though and can fill you in on some of the sights of Marvão.

Parabéns!

Matt and I finally  made it to the infamous Docas area last night - literally translated it means the docks  and its an area along the water with tons of restaurants and clubs.  We were out celebrating one of our favorite Marine Guard's birthday.   We had a lot of fun - and apparently the Marines visit Docas and this bar often, because when the bartender found out it was this particular Marine's birthday,  this is what he prepared in his honor:

Lazy Sunday

Matt and I took an impromptu ferry trip to the other side of the river today and saw Jesus!

Turns out,  there's not much going on over there.  We just walked along the waterfront to a viewpoint (or a miradouro, as the Portuguese say) and then headed back to the ferry.   This shot is from the top of the viewpoint - the ferry terminal is not too far out of the top of the shot below. 

The entire time we were there I couldn't help but feel like we were missing something because of all the Portuguese people striding along purposefully to......nowhere?!   I think I have some googling to do...

from switzerland with love

Matt put together this awesome video of the couple days we spent in Switzerland. I'd like to particularly draw your attention to the cows approximately 2 minutes and 10 seconds in - those 4 were definitely plotting something. Also - I'm thinking its pretty clear I'd make a good-looking hunchback. Please enjoy!



p.s. let us know if you want anything explained in more detail.
p.p.s. The music is Amor Fati by Washed Out, check them out here.

Night in the Alps

While in Switzerland I took a couple of photos after the sun set and the stars came out.



Living in Lisbon, DC, Los Angeles, and even Northern Jersey you don't really get to see the Milky Way ever. It is not the clearest I have seen it but it was still pretty amazing.



Below you can see an attempt at an extended exposure. The snow covered mountain in the right part of the photo is Jungfrau the third tallest peak in the Bernese Alps.