For this post I’m focusing on photos from the second half of our Portugal leg of the trip, specifically around Aveiro Ericeira and Lisbon, plus some of the stops in between.
Read MoreOwls and Raptors at Boundary Bay
Sunday we had to do a bunch of running around and ended up down near the ferry terminal at the big mall. After getting everything done we still had a few hours of daylight and the rain had mercifully stopped. So we decide to head down to Boundary Bay to see what might be around on this early winter afternoon. We ended up with a pretty great day, with lots of owls and raptors to entertain!
Read MoreOne Last Trip to Galiano in 2023
This is a bit of a catch up post, but we had a last trip to Galiano before heading back to Ontario for Christmas. We wanted to make sure we were keeping up with the projects on the island, and had one short weekend to fit in a few things.
Read MoreEuropean Trip Photo Gallery - Portugal - Obidos to Porto
It’s still taking me awhile to get through posting all the photos from the trip to Europe. For this post I’m focusing on photos from the first stage of our Portugal leg of the trip, specifically around Obidos and Porto.
Read MoreSome Fun Times Around Vancouver and a Week Off on Galiano
This post is a bit of a catch up. There’s been lots going on over the last month or so with no downtime to write it all down or post. We’ve been doing lots around the city, I took a week off from work to head over to Galiano to catch up on some projects and as part of that trip was able to swing by Victoria for a day and a half to catch up with some friends. It’s been busy but fun!
Read MoreEuropean Trip Photo Gallery - Scotland
After more than a month, I am finally finished sorting through the photos off my Canon. So I am going to post a series of photos from the trip, in 2 or 3 posts, with some new photos from the trip. For this first one, I’ve pulled together a series of photos from the first leg of our trip to Scotland.
Read MoreA Fall Visit to Reifel - We Scored an Owl!
It’s been a while since I posted much - getting through the Europe posts and getting through the over 3,000 photos I took on my proper camera in Europe has taken a lot of time. This will be a shortish, photo-heavy post of a recent trip to Reifel. We got very lucky with birds of prey on this trip - eagles, hawks and an owl! We also made a short stop at the farm on Westham Island, which was all decked out for Halloween.
Read MoreA Last Day in Lisbon, then Home with a Short Stop in London
We’ve finally made it - the last full post from our trip! I’ll try and get to proper photos soon, but for now, let’s wrap up the journey.
We had half a day to explore Lisbon further before heading to the airport to start the journey home. We were stopping in London which gave us the chance to meet up with Justine’s parents and her family friends for an entertaining night out.
Read MoreSetubal and Lisbon
We had to part ways with Michael and Maureen today, so we dropped them at the airport and spent the day exploring south of Lisbon. We decide to head to Setubal, and while the town ended up being a bit underwhelming, we still had a nice day. And saw flamingos! Then it was on to Lisbon for half a day of sightseeing!
Read MoreMichael's Big Day and a Side Trip to Ericeira!
Our time in Ericeira was focused on Michael’s birthday, exploring the surrounding area and hanging out at the beach. We were in a stretch of spectacular weather, and we really enjoyed our time in this cool little beach town.
Read MoreA Second Day in Porto, then South Down the Coast
For this post, we’ll cover our second day in Porto including finally doing some port tasting! Sadly, we then have to leave Porto and head south on the coast to our next stop that will cover another few days. Along the way we make a couple of short stops and see some more amazing sights.
Read MoreWelcome to Porto!
In all my trips to Portugal, I had never been to Porto. I’m not sure how that’s possible - I love port and it’s always been known as a great city. And after this visit, it’s certainly cemented as an amazing place to come back to explore further. We only had a couple of days to explore Porto and we filled them up. This one will take a couple of posts to cover off.
Read MoreSo Long Scotland, Hello Portugal!
This a short one today - one last quick trip into Edinburgh, then off to the airport for the trip to Portugal. After spending a very short night in Lisbon, we hopped in our rental car and drove to Porto, exploring the countryside and making an amazing stop in Obidos along the way. There were some good photos along the way…
Read MoreDeparting Islay and Exploring Edinburgh
Sadly, our time on Islay had come to an end. Two days was not nearly long enough and I am definitely wanting to come back. There’s so much more to explore and I need to play that golf course again. We had to make the drive back across Scotland, and the plan was to do it fairly quick in the hopes of exploring a bit of Edinburgh before catching our plane to Portugal on Thursday.
Read MoreDay Two on Islay: More Scotch Tastings and Another Walk
Tuesday was our last full day on Islay and again we tried to cram in way too many different activities and get to too many distilleries. The weather was also not that helpful, but we made the best of it and had another amazing day!
Read MoreA First Day on Islay - Golfing, Hiking and Scotch!
The reason we were on Islay was mostly to do with me. Justine loves Scotland, but I love the scotch that they make on Islay. It is typically peaty and smoky, and I love it! There are many distilleries here, with a history dating back as far as anyone can remember. The official distilleries date back to the early 1800s, and I was hoping to get to see as many as possible. But we also wanted to do some other things, including some sightseeing and hiking in the Scottish countryside. It was a lot to try and pack into a couple of days. And we had the notorious Scottish weather to deal with.
Read MoreTarbert Castle and the Ferry to Islay
Once we arrived in Tarbert, we spent some time exploring the ruins of the castle. The weather wasn’t great, but it wasn’t too bad. After some time wandering the ruins, we headed into town to =find some dinner before finally heading to the ferry for the trip to Islay!
Read MoreScotland: Sunday - The Trip to Islay
For today’s post, we’re traveling from Edinburgh across Scotland to the west coast to catch our ferry to Islay. There was a fair bit to see along the way, as we gave ourselves lots of time and planned to make a few stops to explore. The weather was OK - not great, but not miserable either and we got to see some of the spectacular Scottish scenery.
Read MorePlanes, Trains and Automobiles… Our European Adventure
This is the first post of many of our trip to Scotland and Portugal. I assume it will be the first of many, and I think I’ll follow the same approach as our summer road-trip - start with the content and photos from my phone, and add more photos later. We had an amazing time, saw lots of new and interesting places and had great family time along the way.
Read MoreOne Last Post Before our Big Vacation - Off to Europe!
On Friday, we are off to Europe (Scotland and Portugal) for a much needed vacation! So there are not going to be many posts for a while, until well after we’re back. This past week, before we headed out, we had a couple of fun local events - Julius Caesar at Bard on the Beach and Feast of Fields.
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