Sózinhos em Portugal!

Here we are sózinhos em Portugal (alone in Portugal) once again…ok maybe we aren’t really alone since there are about 10 million other people who live here too…but we are without dad! He’s in Canada for a couple of weeks and the worst of it is that he went to the lake without me. Can you believe it?! I think this may be the first time he has gone to the lake without me in the 8 years I’ve been walking and sniffing this planet. So not only am I missing my dad, but I’m also missing the lake. 

Thank goodness mom makes up for dad being gone by being extra cuddly and spending more time with me and Smudge, which of course dad does too when she’s away. What have we been doing while dad’s been gone you may wonder?

Well mom has been catching up on her Portuguese homework and Smudge and I have been catching up on our naps cuz’ it has been sooooooooo warm here that it makes me sleepy! (ok, so maybe you’re thinking that I’m sleepy no matter what the weather is like…you might be right on that count, but what the heck…I’ll take any excuse for a nap!)

 

Usually it’s a bit of a competition on who gets to the mat or our favourite chair first, but sometimes Smudge just nuzzles his way in even if I got there first. And then he gets a little pushy until he ends up with most of the space!

As you can see from my expression…I’m NOT impressed!

But you may have figured it out by now; Smudge is pretty good at getting his way. Like the first day dad put a chair out on the balcony and then he went to get a beer…guess what happened?

I think we should change his name to “Smug”, what do you think?

Of course we have not spent the entire week lounging around the house and napping…we have been going to the park a ton and to the beach too! And mom has been taking the ball with us…which I just love!

Smudge thinks it’s real funny to take the ball from me and not give it back…can you see it in his mouth? And I do believe he’s taunting me.

MOM…make him stop!

But the good part is that Smudge does not like to go in the water so when mom throws the ball in the water, he cannnnnnnn’t get it!!!!!

 

Now I don’t want you to get the impression that we fight ALL the time cuz’ we don’t. We can actually get on quite well…when the “wee white one with big attitude” wants to play nicely. In fact we have been doing a lot of exploring and digging together at our local beach.

 

We even made a new friend who is the same age as me and loves to swim and dig…just like me!!!

With the warm weather…everyone is swimming and enjoying the beach every day and even into the early evenings.

Mom has been lucky this week too cuz’ she was invited to our friend João’s birthday party at Pedra do Sal (which means Saltstone). It is in S. Pedro do Estoril…just down the street above the local beach close to where we live. In fact we have been to Pedra do Sal many times on our walks becuse it is a great place to enjoy the evening and drink water from their little pond.

 

And there are cool rocks, pathways and other stuff to explore too!

Mom was also invited for Easter (Pascoa) lunch at her friend’s home (Cristina), where she got to met her parents. They had a great meal, so she said….while Smudge and I hung out at home (sózinhos again!) and had the usual dried kibble…ok, there was a little pumpkin and carrot added for good measure, but frankly I think it was a bum deal!

But all in all, it has been a good week for all of us and as you can see… estamos sózinhos nas não nos sentimos solitários (we are alone, but we do not feel lonely)….cuz’ we have each other and lots of new Portuguese friends (of both the two-legged and four- legged variety).

Lots of lambidelas (licks) from Smudge and me….and mom sends her beijinhos (kisses) too!

A Primavera em Portugal

Primavera (spring) in Portugal is a beautiful thing. Although I could also argue that Portugal is beautiful all year round. But Primavera brings out some special things…like lots of smelly flowers (and I mean smelly in a nice way).

 

 

And there are so many fruit trees in full bloom! Although I am not much a fruit guy, I do like maca (apple) with my kibble…it kind of changes things up a bit in between the cenouras (carrots) and abobora (pumpkin) that mom keeps mixing with my food. She says it is good for me and keeps me regular (not sure what she means by that), but I like the taste, so what the heck! 

But a dog has to be careful cuz’ there are some sneaky plants (called cactuses) that look pretty but can really bite!

 

And I have pay attention when I am walking in the woods and some of the parks around here cuz’ there are a lot of really big pine trees with very long spiky needles…but I like sniffing the pinecones these trees drop and dad says they are good for kindling for starting fires (except they don’t taste very good).

 

The other thing about spring and the really nice weather it brings…it also means that more and more people start coming to the beaches. The people here really like to sit in the sun and there are a lot more foreigners (like us) coming to enjoy the sun, sand and sea! Can’t blame them can you?

 

 

Mom left us for the weekend (AGAIN!). She said it would be last time she will be gone while we are over here (I hope she isn’t telling me one of those little white lies that parents tell their kids to keep them from fretting or being sad). She went to London for three days to visit some friends. She said she had fun…went to a show, went out to dinner and walked in this cool (and really big) natural park, called Richmond Park. The park had deer, ducks, swans, a big pond, lots of other dogs and all kinds of things I would just love. Too bad she didn’t take me with her.

So when mom is away, you know what that means…we go on LONG walks with dad. I like them, but I’m not so sure about Smudge. With his little legs, it’s kinda hard for him to keep up! So dad thinks it’s really funny to let me walk him for awhile!!!!

 

But when we are exploring things that Smudge likes…he is super keen and way out in front.

 

With dad we always explore different neighborhoods and things he has seen on google map that he thinks might be cool. So we found this big deserted piece of land (not that far from where we live) that had an old abandoned well on it. Many of you know how much dad likes old contraptions…so he was pretty excited about finding this well.

 

And dad found a new beach café that we haven’t tried out yet, but it is just down the beach from us below a seafood restaurant that mom and dad really like. He thinks the locals might hang out there.

 

Of course we went to dad’s favourite beach café (Avencas)…which is always good for everyone cuz’ dad gets to have a beer and we get to have a well deserved rest!

 

Dad sure takes us on some fun walks…but I like it when mom comes home cuz’ she feels sorry for me (for all the walking we did) and spoils me with extra cuddles and attention. You may have noticed that I really like cuddles and lots of attention…in addition to treats and toys! (Just as a reminder for when it’s my birthday next year or if you just feel like sharing some extra love!)

Mom, Smudge and I are alone now cuz’ dad went back to Canada for a couple of weeks. He said there is still a lot of snow there…and I sure miss the snow! Have fun dad and don’t worry about the home front…I’ll take care of mom and Smudge while you’re away.

Happy Pascoa (Easter) everyone!

A Tail in a Tail

It has been a very interesting week. Not only is today the halfway mark (or metade as they say in Portuguese) for our stay in Portugal, but we also went on a great road trip exploring the Douro region and the North Central part of Portugal last weekend AND we had a “guest dog” staying with us during the past week.

I am going to let Mel tell her own story…so sit back and enjoy this “Tail in a Tail”

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Hi everyone…my name is Mel, which means honey.  Once you see a few photos of me, I think you will understand why this name was chosen for me. I am an 8 month old adventurous and playful cadela pequina (which means small female dog).

Let’s start at the beginning…which to be honest did not start out very well. On Saturday, April 2nd, I jumped over the fence in my yard and wandered off.  I am not sure how far I got from my home, but I ended up at this big apartment complex on Praceta das Tilias (which happens to be where Dexter lives). I was a bit confused and thought that I was outside my own home…but in actuality, I was completely lost!

After whining outside the gate for a while, a nice lady let me into the complex. But then I was still stuck outside of the apartment building so I just laid down on the mat and waited for my family to come and get me. Unfortunately this did not happen, but at least another nice lady gave me some food and water during the night. I was really scared and lonely cuz’ I spent the whole night curled up on the mat outside the apartment building…waiting for someone to let me back in to what I thought was my home.

Thankfully my fear and loneliness did not last long. A really nice man (who I now know is Dexter’s dad) saw me curled up on the mat and kept checking on me. He thought that perhaps someone was visiting someone who lived in the building, but didn’t want to let me into the apartment (which frankly I think is kind of mean). After a short while, Dexter’s mom came and got me and brought me to their apartment where I met Dex and Smudge. In the meantime, Dex’s mom posted some notices on various apartments in the complex and on our street with my picture and her phone number so that my family could find me.

That was the end of the bad part….so now on to the fun part!

It was so wonderful how Dex’s mom and dad, Dex and Smudge made me feel so welcome. They gave me food and water, cuddled with me and provided a safe place for me to sleep.

   

Smudge and I are closer in age (than me and Dex) and we both like to play a lot. Was I ever impressed with all of Smudge’s great toys! Although he wasn’t so keen on letting me play with them at first, once I showed him how well I share and how much fun I am to play with…he jumped in whole heartedly.  

    It was really quite amazing how well we all hit it off from the beginning.

Since my family had not yet found me and Dex and his family had a weekend trip planned (to go to the Douro region of Portugal), they decided to take me with them. I was thrilled of course…..it was a road trip! But little did I know how cool of a place we were going to. It was a renovated old mill (from the 12th century) that has been converted to a rural eco-tourismo site called Moinhos da Ti’Antaninha. It was amazing!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was water everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact they used the water to generate power….along with solar energy.

We had so much fun exploring old buildings…

 

 

 

 

Walking in the fields and hills around the old mill…

Drinking from the pond…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Swimming in the pond right outside our cottage …

Swimming in the large natural pool down the road… (Dex sure is a good swimmer)

And napping of course….(swimming takes a lot out of little ones like me you know)

We also went on some road trips to explore the Douro region…and Dex’s mom let me curl up on her lap part of the time…you can probably tell that I really like to cuddle and sit on people’s lap.

 

 

We  saw even more old things…

 

 

Drank from an old town watering/washing hole…

And of course took time for a few photos-ops…

We even met some new friends…Nina and Borisht, who are mom and son. They live at the renovated mill where we stayed and they came on all of our walks with us…to keep us safe and make sure we found our way home!

Speaking of home, or more accurately “home away from home”…on our drive back to Lisbon, we saw lots of fruit trees, 

vineyards and other agriculture terraced on the side of hills.

We made a few pit stops…

 

and saw the amazing Douro river!

I had soooooooooo much fun on this road trip with my temporary foster family.

And the icing on the cake was on Monday evening, April 11th, my real dad called Dex’s mom because someone told him about the poster with the photo of me on it. Dad and Sara (my older two-legged sister) came over right away and picked me up. I was so excited to see them and Sara was so relieved to find me that she cried “happy tears”.

But I will never forget my temporary foster family and how they welcomed me into their lives and hearts.

Thanks Smudge for sharing your toys and playing with me…and thanks Dexter for letting me be a guest writer on your blog!

Adeus from Mel!

A few of my favourite things

With just over ten weeks under my collar…I have accumulated quite a few favourite things while being here in Portugal. So I thought I would share some of these with you.

First and foremost I am so happy to be here with mom, dad and Smudge…I especially appreciate that the Portuguese like dogs so much…cuz’ then Smudge and I can hang with mom and dad at the “Esplanadas” (patio cafes).

  

And I really like the dog park across the street… if you look closely, you can see Smudge, Cookie and me in the park.

Of course there are amazing smells on OUR very own beach just down the street (yes it is ours alone….but we are nice enough to share it with others who kind of like it as well).

I just love catching a wave or two at the beach…ok, so maybe the wave thing was an accident…in case you are wondering why my ears are down and I am soaking wet (I’m just a wee bit embarrassed).

Our beach is great for just hanging around…

 

But nothing beats rolling…in the sand…in the grass…or in whatever is around (the smellier the better)

   

Of course taking the train is always an adventure.

And there are the super long walks with mom taking care of us by bringing our water bowl.

 

But what really warms my heart is seeing dad having so much fun learning how to kite surf…

  

 

Of course this picture needs no explanation…I’m a dog…remember?!

  

But at the end of a long day, week, or month (or anytime in between), there is nothing…and I mean nothing… like a good rest!

  

Boa noite….and nice dreams!

Missing My Mom!!!???

I’m not sure how to say this cuz’ I don’t want to hurt dad’s feelings….but I kinda missed mom when she was off on her “vacation from her vacation” (at least that’s what my cousins Mitchel and Bennet called it).

Last week mom went on a plane, train and automobile trip with her friend Jo-Ann for 8 days, while the guys (dad, Smudge and I) just hung around home. OK, that isn’t exactly true, cuz’ dad had us out walking so much that he wore our eight little paws and two feet off.  I was sooooooo tired , I couldn’t even work up the energy to do my blog last week…but more importantly, did you miss me?

Well…I better get started…there’s a lot of catching up to do. First of all, we had an amazing full moon. Here it is from our balcony.

  

Isn’t it cool!

Since mom had a week full of train rides to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Frankfurt…why don’t I tell you about all the train rides we took while she was away…even though they weren’t in those exotic European cities like she visited, I personally think they are pretty cool!

But first I want to show you the path we take to our local train station, which is also part of the walk we take every day when we go out for our morning constitution (since it is right at the bottom of our street).

And here is our local train station in S. Pedro.

Guess where we were headiing….STARBUCKS in Belem! Dad really misses his Starbucks so this was our first order of the day.

And then we were off to see the sights…like this fountain…where we got our own refreshing drink. and there was this really old church!

Then it was off to see the Vasco da Gama statue.

(Notice the wavy tile pattern…these are all over Portugal and my nails click when I walk on them)

Then we headed off along the water…where you can see the Ponte 25 Abril (bridge) in the background.

And we went by the electrical museum (which dad is itching to go see).

Of course as you would expect, at some time we had to get back on the train and head home. Here’s the train station at Belem (where Starbucks is).

After walking, walking and walking some more, we were completely pooched! As you can tell…

During our many walks while mom was away, dad was pointing out all these cool old houses he would like to buy and fix up. I love hearing him tell me all the things he wants to do with them and especially when he talks about the big yards or decks, cuz’ they would be so much fun to play in.

 

And then there was this one house that looked pretty new, so I think we could have moved into it right away!

Did I mention how hot it was when mom was away? We had a few scorching days…as  you can tell from our local little beach. The Portuguese like their sun and sand…and who can blame them! And it’s only going to get busier…

So all in all, it has been a busy couple of weeks, so I am sure  you can understand why need so much rest…

In case you have been wondering what is directly below the amazing balcony we have been snoozing on…take a look!

But don’t worry, we are safe and sound way up on the fifth floor, and besides, we have dad to take care of us.

And I am really glad mom is back home too…I like it best when we are all together.

Ate logo…until later!

One picture is worth 1000 woofs

You know how one picture can say it all…without the need for a lot of extra woofs? Well here are some of those…

Nature’s “Life Blood” 

  and  Man’s “Lifeblood”

Full Service…

and Self Service…

Feeling life fully…

Smelling life fully…

Seeing life fully…

                   Just “being”….

   

Living….loving…  

and enjoying many sunsets!

 

So much to think and dream about…

Been a walkin….

Been a walkin…along the coastline, on more beaches and in some new parks. Wish I knew how many kilometres I’ve put on these paws of mine. At least my nails are nice and trim…as is my waistline. Funny thing though… how come with all this walking, I’m the only one who appears to be fit and slim. The walking doesn’t seem to have any affect on mom, dad and Smudge (don’t tell them I said that though…I don’t want to hurt their pudgy little feelings)

On both Saturday and Sunday we jumped on the train (which I am getting pretty good at if I do say so myself) and went up the coastline several stops from our place. Then we got off the train and walked around other districts just west of Lisbon proper and saw some new parks and beaches. There is a really cool pathway along the sea between the districts of Paco de Arcos and Carcavelos which goes for a 3.3 kilometre stretch.

This is the train stop at Paco de Arcos where we started from…can you imagine living this close to the tracks?  

We started our walk through this neat park before heading to the beach. By the way, in the background is Ponte 25 de Abril, which is a main bridge in Lisbon. 

Since we started rather late in the day for our walk (as it was pouring rain in the morning), our first  stop was lunch at the beach.  Well at least some of us had lunch while others of us waited patiently for the walk to begin…ok so maybe I wasn’t waiting very patiently, but what choice do I have.

Finally…off we went! I was just a wee bit anxious to get going, so that’s me you see wayyyyyy in front!

And Smduge going as fast as his little legs will  let him.

Along the way, there was this cool little sea break that we walked on.

If only these rocks could talk…      

Good thing they’ve thought of everything along this seawall path…Smudge really had to go.

They even have pooch parking at some of the cafes along the sea, but thank goodness mom and dad did not park us there… 

We passed by Praia Oeiras, which is where we had gotten off the train the day before and stated walking from. This is quite a long beach, but not very busy. Here we are at the start of the beach…

… and then looking back after we walked along the whole beach.

Finally we reached the end of the 3.3 km seawall pathway. It ends, or starts depending on which direction you are coming from, at Praia de Torre, where there is a really cool sculpture of a whale’s tail.

… just another tail from Portugal!

After the seawall pathway ends (or starts), there is a really big beach called Praia Carcavelo. We really like this beach and have been here many times…so I was trying to get mom and dad to hurry up…

There are many kite surfers and regular surfers at this beach.

Not only does this beach have tons of surfers, there are usually other four legged friends to play with. Smudge made a new friend and I have never seen him be so playful…don’t be fooled though, it isn’t me in this picture!

Finally, we headed home. Poor little Smudge was a wee bit tired so he was draggin’ his paws a bit. Dad came up with this new trick, he has me walking Smudge instead of him….I’m not so sure that it’s such a good deal!

Ok…so maybe all of us were tired after so much walking this weekend…

Boa noite meus amigos!

(Good night my friends!)

As praias e mais praias…

Beaches and more beaches…will they ever end?

(I sure hope not!!!)

Talk about an overdose of beaches. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not complaining, but rather I am in awe.

Here is our beach (near S. Pedro) when it was a very high tide.

Now here is the same beach when the tide was quite low.  Quite a different look, eh?

Of course there are many beaches along the Avenida Marginal (which is the main road that runs along the coast of Lisbon) where we often go for a walk. Some of the beaches are rocky and others are sandy.

In particular, there is Praia dos Avencas, which is one of our favorites.

Then this past weekend we visited two new beaches. One was near the village of Magoito…

And the other one was in Ericeira. It was called Praia do Sol (Beach of the Sun or Sunshine Beach).

At Praia do Sol, there is a neat hotel right by the beach and a little lagoon that mom tried to get me to swim in (but I’m still not so keen on this salt water stuff)

So….in case you are wondering what the point is of this little ”praia” excursion…since I have been in Portugal, (which is a whopping 41 days now), I have learned that “all paws lead to a beach”!

But before you start thinking Portugal is only about beaches… or that heaven forbid you think I have a one track mind (and it isn’t about food DAD)… there is much, much more! Of course many of the great things about Portugal are related to water, which makes sense given its geography, and since I have a personal affinity for the almighty wet stuff, I think I will stick with that theme for awhile.

For example, on our way to the lovely little town of Ericeira, we stopped at Azenhas do Mar (Mar is the sea in case you were wondering). It was such a fun place. First there was this neat waterfall park…

Where we could drink to our heart’s content.

Then to top it off, this cool park led down to….you guessed it…o Mar (the sea)!

To a place called Azenhas do Mar…and there’s that Mar again… 

Dad really liked this place cuz a lot of it was carved out of the natural rock and so much work went into it. And yes, those are houses built into the cliff above.

There was also this really cool natural swimming pool where the waves would crash into.

OK, enough with the water theme, it’s making me think I should go wee and mom doesn’t want to take me downstairs to go…again! 

I mentioned the pretty little town of Ericeira that we visited on the weekend. Well, there was a neat central area where people were gathered and buskers were playing music, although it was a quiet time of year, so there weren’t that many people around. 

And there seemed to be a blue theme going in this town, which one might argue may be related to that water theme again…

After such a busy weekend and all those cool beaches (not to mention rolling in the sand and splashing in mud puddles, which I didn’t want to bring up in case Aunty Linda is reading this)…we went home to continue the water theme with a BATH!

Although I can’ see Smudge’s expression, I am pretty sure he is gloating since he has finished his bath already!!!

See you at the next praia…

New Friends in Setubal

Did we ever have a fun-filled weekend! We went to this fishing town about 50 km south of Lisbon called Setúbal and stayed in a cool B&B called Ha Mar ao Luar (which literally means “There is the sea in the moonlight”)

   It really was a unique place with rustic charm in the heart of the Arrabida Nature Reserve (more about that later). They renovated an old windmill on the property, which you could stay in,  but it was not available when we were there.

Our place was nestled in lush green hills and when it wasn’t raining, we had a great view of the River Sado Estuary and Setúbal bay.

We made some new friends (who live there)   and the 3 month old puppy sure liked dad (I mean really…who doesn’t).

The puppy really liked Smudge too….

Where we stayed was right next to this giant park called Arrabida Nature Reserve so we went for a walk through the woods and ended up being able to see our place from across the valley. 

 See the windmill in the distance?

After our long walk and all the new smells, Smudge, mom and I had a little cuddle before mom and dad went out for dinner.  Mom went on and on about how good their “peixe” (fish) dinner was, while in the meantime, Smudge and I dined on the usual “food ala dog”…I’m not sure if it is exactly fair!

Enough whining though…cuz on Saturday we had a really big day! Although it rained until early afternoon, it didn’t stop us from exploring. First we went to the local market and did it ever have a lot of stuff…  And just look at all the peixe …

Then we went to this amazing beach that Cristina recommended called “Praia do Portinho da Arrabida”, which was connected to that giant Arrabida park I told you about.  It was a neat little port, which is what Portinho means. See…even though mom is the one taking Portuguese lessons, I’m learning “muito tambem” (lots also). We started out on a walk along the beach when

the tide was low …  but by the time we were finished our walk and mom & dad had lunch (at the little restaurant you can see in the background), it was high tide and some of us got a bit wet!  

Back to the beach part though…it was a beautiful, long beach and we walked all along it …getting wet of course cuz it was raining.  We walked amongst the multi-coloured rocks and very soft sand. And did I mention all the cool smells and nibblies on the beach that we are not supposed to eat (or roll in)!  So of course we had to walk back the way we came…and by then we were all quite drenched, but it was still good fun!  

Smudge and I dried off and napped in the car, while mom and dad had lunch at the little seaside restaurant (sound familiar so far?)

After lunch, we drove along the coast and made a few pit stops in Arrabida park…since it had finally stopped raining and the sun came out. This park goes on forever  and there was a cool old quarry that dad got really excited about…  Smudge and I particularly liked all the new smells and things to explore, but mom and dad kept going on and on about the view.

   and look at that sky!

When we got home dad was excited about trying the new sym card he bought for the ipad… (we fondly refer to him as gadget-boy) and Smudge and I had a nap…after all, it was a very long and busy day!

On Sunday we visited Castelo da Sao Filipe (Castle of St. Filipe). Well actually, dad walked around the castle and the rest of us walked around the grounds, (which was pretty cool too)…    It was one big, old castle and it had great views of the area….like the marina in the town of Setúbal.  And the beautiful bay…  And of the place we stayed at for the weekend…

On the way home we took the scenic route to see the local villages and countryside. There sure are a lot of cork farms in Portugal 

And dad wanted to take the Vasco da Gama bridge on the way back into Lisbon since it is the longest bridge in Europe (at 17 km) and the ninth longest bridge in the world!   

Well like I said, it was a fun-filled weekend and here we are back at “home sweet home” again…and guess what, it’s time for a nap…and a wee bit of wine (but just for the two-legged ones).  Adeus e ate logo!

It sure can rain here!

I’m sure some of you will be happy to hear that it isn’t always paradise here. In fact it has been raining and mostly cloudy for the last several days. I can’t believe mom and dad expect us go out in this weather, but then I guess a guy has to do his business and I am not sure if Auntie Linda and Uncle Dave would like us soiling their new balcony!(Not to mention the people living below us, where our balcony empties…they likely wouldn’t like it either.)

One thing that is great about the weather here is that one minute it is raining and ohhhhhhhh soooooooo windy, and the next minute the sun is shining…but the wind is likely still blowing! You gotta admit, it does look a bit ominous.

But enough grumbling about the weather! On to sunnier memories.

I want to tell you about some highlights from the past week or so. In fact I forgot to mention on my last blog that we all met up with Cristina, who is mom’s friend and Portuguese teacher. We went to this neat cafe on the beach (where else would it be?!)  called Avencas.  Mom and Cristina are yakking and Smudge and I are resting…sound familiar?

 and dad’s taking photographs of the beach and cafe…  

I know it’s going to get hard to remember all of the great things we are doing here. After Monsanto park, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. And THEN we went to Guincho beach last Saturday. OHMYDOG was it fun!!!

This beach goes on and on and on……if you look closely, you can you see mom and Smudge wayyyyyyy down there towards the cliffs? They ran ahead of us.

As we walked along, of course we met other dogs…they sure are friendly here in Portugal… We slowly made our way towards the cliffs…I can’t believe how much sand there can be in one place! …and look at those cool waves behind mom. Dad and I almost got caught by one… We had so much fun…playing in the sand, but REALLY, does Smudge think he can actually CATCH me!?  

Until finally, we had to walk back the way we came.  Then we took a little break on the rocks where I had a drink of water (sand makes me thirsty)  and dad watched the waves…Smudge was exploring and ignoring mom (as usual) so he’s not in the photos!

And then mom and dad had lunch at this cool restaurant and hotel at Guincho beach.  which had a great view of the water!  Aunty Linda brought mom and dad here on a previous trip.

On our drive home, we stopped near Cascais to watch the waves crashing on the shore. It was pretty amazing to see, even though they left me in the car with “he who whines when he is left alone”, so I couldn’t hear the waves or smell them but they still looked pretty cool! Watch the progression and regression of this one wave…

Well, all in all, I would say that it was another full week. I think we better take a nap, eh Smudge? Smudge!?  I guess he is a bit ahead of me, I better catch up…

Adeus os nosses amigos…ate logo

(I can’t figure out how to use accents on this new keyboard)

For those of you who do not speak Portuguese yet, it means “goodbye my friends..until later”