Portugal was added to the list of places to travel to, because well, it's Portugal, it's amazing, I'm Portuguese, AND my cousin was getting married so my entire family would be coming over from Canada - YAY FOR REUNIONS!
We arrived in Porto, Portugal (in the north for those of you who don't know) Thursday evening and we were picked up by my sister Nicki and my cousin Luisa! HIIIIIII!!! Out for dinner (10pm style in Portugal - they eat late), and were overcome with what we ordered. The name of the dish/sandwich thing is called a Francesinha. OMG. This photo speaks for itself:
Francesinha (meaning Little French Girl in Portuguese) is a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with molten cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauceSo anyway, moving on from the crazy meat-filled sandwich... we spent the next day touring around the city of Braga where my uncle and aunt live, realizing that Portuguese men are by far the worst cat-callers in all of Europe (that we encountered thus far). The three of us were standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change and a car was driving past us... the man driving looked over at us, called out something and then pressed his horn. If only a blog could portray what his horn sounded like... but let me try anyway. It began with a horse neighing, followed by one of those "hey good-lookin'" whistles. Some people! We were also referred to as supermodels, and had many a man hiss our way. My heritage :) Hahaha.
Aside from the cat-calling, the town was really different from anything we'd seen so far on our trip. The ceramic tile mosaics on all the buildings were really cool, and the hospital looked awesome! See below:
Who would have thought that a hospital could look so cool!?
The house my dad grew up in (Parafita, Portugal)
The streets of the village - can you see the cow poop?
My family with the gorgeous view from the house
Aside from the cat-calling, the town was really different from anything we'd seen so far on our trip. The ceramic tile mosaics on all the buildings were really cool, and the hospital looked awesome! See below:
Who would have thought that a hospital could look so cool!?Moving along... the day ended with Apes and Steph heading to Porto for the rest of their stay while I stayed with my family for the wedding the next day. YIPEE!
The wedding was gorgeous, let me just say, in an old church in Porto, then followed by the reception at a Port Wine vineyard - so pretty! Welcomed with a glass of port wine, we were then fed from 4pm until the wee hours of the morning. Once 3:30am came around, I was ready to call it a night, and out comes another feast - caldo verde soup and entire BBQ buffet - WHAT!? I guess they sure know how to do it in Portugal! :)
Port wine storage - our entrance to the reception
Little Joao (cutest kid ever)
Inside at the reception
The wedding was gorgeous, let me just say, in an old church in Porto, then followed by the reception at a Port Wine vineyard - so pretty! Welcomed with a glass of port wine, we were then fed from 4pm until the wee hours of the morning. Once 3:30am came around, I was ready to call it a night, and out comes another feast - caldo verde soup and entire BBQ buffet - WHAT!? I guess they sure know how to do it in Portugal! :)
Port wine storage - our entrance to the reception
Little Joao (cutest kid ever)
Inside at the reception
The next day was calm and relaxing - just spending some nice time with my family and feasting on the leftovers from the wedding. What was originally going to be a small luncheon, turned out to be a feast with 17 of us! Amazing though!
On Monday, my immediate family plus Abe, and my aunt and uncle, all piled into two cars and drove up into the mountains to Parafita - the village (more like the hamlet) where my father was born and raised. How amazing was this!? It was almost like stepping back in time to a quiet old village where animals (cows, chickens, etc.) were free to roam the cobblestone streets - trust me, there were some cow patties along the way hahaha. I got to see the house where my dad grew up (which is now a getaway place for my aunt and uncle's family - cottagesque).
On Monday, my immediate family plus Abe, and my aunt and uncle, all piled into two cars and drove up into the mountains to Parafita - the village (more like the hamlet) where my father was born and raised. How amazing was this!? It was almost like stepping back in time to a quiet old village where animals (cows, chickens, etc.) were free to roam the cobblestone streets - trust me, there were some cow patties along the way hahaha. I got to see the house where my dad grew up (which is now a getaway place for my aunt and uncle's family - cottagesque).
The house my dad grew up in (Parafita, Portugal)
The streets of the village - can you see the cow poop?
My family with the gorgeous view from the house
For the afternoon, we were invited over to my dad's cousin's house (in the village 5 min up the road known as Friaes). What an experience this was!! Remember how I was mentioning stepping back in time before? This time it was more unreal! We walked into the kitchen/dining room which was not accessible from the main house, but in a separate section to itself. In the open fireplace (yes, open in the middle of the kitchen), there were 3 cauldrons cooking in the flame! So cool! Lunch wasn't going to be ready for a little bit, so my sister and my mom went exploring in the village - watch out for the poop! Chickens and cats were all over place hahaha. Roosters having a crowing competition, you know, typical village stuff.
I told you the fire was open in the kitchen
From L to R: The 3 sistas with the Wonder Chef, Maria!
After the meal, it was time to explore some more. We had heard some baa-ing and realized that they had baby goats living in a little room under the kitchen. So when Maria came out to feed them, we were so excited and out came the camera. The exact same thing occurred when we discovered that they had lambs too!! Best experience ever!
Maria had a little lamb
And a little goat!
I told you the fire was open in the kitchen
Some more people arrived for this incredible feast and the food was ready to be served. Let me just mention now that EVERYTHING that was served was homemade/homegrown - including the chicken, goat, pork, etc. This meal was ludicrously filling - homemade chicken soup, bread, wine, potatoes, goat, chicken, chorizo, sausages, rapini, AND the amazing desserts (yes, plural). I could not believe how much food this woman had made! She truly is a wonder chef!
From L to R: The 3 sistas with the Wonder Chef, Maria!
After the meal, it was time to explore some more. We had heard some baa-ing and realized that they had baby goats living in a little room under the kitchen. So when Maria came out to feed them, we were so excited and out came the camera. The exact same thing occurred when we discovered that they had lambs too!! Best experience ever!
Maria had a little lamb
And a little goat!
After this exquisite feast, we said our goodbyes and piled back in the cars to head back to Braga for the night. We all had a calm relaxing evening trying to digest the food we consumed that day, and I got ready to head to the airport the next morning.
Mom had brought me an entire case of PC white cheddar macaroni and cheese to bring back to France, but I had no room in my luggage! I ended up taking the powder back with me and leaving the boxes of noodles! And I also got a lovely homemade chorizo to bring back too :) SO GOOD! I can't wait to visit again :)
Mom had brought me an entire case of PC white cheddar macaroni and cheese to bring back to France, but I had no room in my luggage! I ended up taking the powder back with me and leaving the boxes of noodles! And I also got a lovely homemade chorizo to bring back too :) SO GOOD! I can't wait to visit again :)
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