Tuesday, 29.08.17. Ericeira, Portugal. 2 days until the wedding. Third full day in Europe.
Ahhhh, our fourth day in Portugal and 2 days before the wedding. Shit was start to get very real, as we were leaving for Ericeira today, hosting our first official wedding event this evening, and saying goodbye to Lisbon (temporarily, I’ll be back)!
One last shot of beautiful Lisbon before the wedding events commence!
Monday, 28.08.17. Lisbon, Portugal. 3 days until the wedding. Second full day in Europe.
Ah, Monday. Three days before our wedding and our third day in Lisbon! It was really nice not to have to go to work on a Monday or check email (#weddingweek – this would never happen otherwise). Dan and I woke up relatively early and went to breakfast around 9, where we ran into a lot of our guests! I, of course, had another croissant with Nutella…
Breakfast at Hotel Avenida Palace!
Sunday, 27.08.17. Lisbon, Portugal. 4 days until the wedding. First full day in Europe.
Day 2 was everyone’s first full day in Lisbon, and it was a packed one! I organized a self-guided tour of Bélem for our guests who had arrived in Lisbon and an evening sail on the Tagus river during sunset. We also had dinner plans with Craig, Michelle, and Andree and Hotel Avenida Palace thew us a surprise sparking wine party! Needless to say, we started early, with a bus picking everyone up (well, 13 of us) at 9:00 AM (after Nutella croissants, of course!). While I think a few people were skeptical of my Portuguese bus renting abilities, our driver arrived early in a nice bus/van with room for everyone. He even spoke a tiny bit of English! Pro tip – if you are traveling with a large group, a bus rental is a FABULOUS idea.
First stop – the Jeronimos Monastry in Belem!
Saturday, 26.08.17. Lisbon, Portugal. 5 days until the wedding. Arrival in Europe.
After a good 2 hours in the Art & Lounge lounge at Newark International Airport, the 9 of us flying from Newark to Lisbon together (me, Dan, Michelle, Andree, Craig, Betty, Tony, Aunt Di, and Nonni!) enjoyed a smooth flight across the Atlantic and arrived in Lisbon bright and early at 5:00 a.m…. A prearranged van picked us up from the airport and drove us directly to the Hotel Avenida Palace, our home for the next 3 nights. Although our rooms were not ready when we arrived (expected), Hotel Avenida Palace was super welcoming and gave us all free breakfast, which was an excellent way to start wedding week… Hotel Avenida Palace also has the most awesome croissants that are terribly tasty when dipped in Nutella! #whatweddingdiet?
Welcome to the Hotel Avenida Palace.
If you read my series of wedding posts, you may know that I had lunch at Restaurant Nortada on the Atlantic coast of Portugal on a day trip to Sintra and Cabo da Roca from Ericeira. What you may not know, are how many restaurants that I looked at before choosing Restaurant Nortada! In any case, Restaurant Nortada was amazing and it was definitely the best choice!!
Taking in the view at Restaurante Nortada, Praia Grande, Portugal.
Restaurant Nortada is an upscale, pricey, seafood restaurant set in a GORGEOUS location between Sintra and Cabo da Roca in Praia Grande. There is no question about any of those adjectives. Restaurant Nortada was recommended to me by a tour company, Tours by Jorge, and I was initially put off and thought this was “referral” scheme. But, it turns out it wasn’t and Nortada was truly an excellent experience that I recommend.
