The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on our Trip to Portugal and Italy

My travels throughout Europe have been limited but we are increasing our travel across the pond. The richness of the culture in the various European countries seems boundless. Within the same country, you can find extreme diversity and distinctly different beauty. In our travels, we have visited London, Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Venice, and Frankfort. England, France, Portugal, Italy, and Germany have so much to offer. I can not begin to put all of the information about our adventures in these countries into a blog. There are endless books about these wonderful countries that are centuries older than the U.S. It is also immediately obvious that Europe tackled its struggle with racism much earlier and more directly than we dealt with it in the U.S. as the various races seem more ingrained in the culture of the countries. This embracing of diversity lends itself to an enriching and enlightening travel experience.

On our most recent trip to Rome, Venice, Lisbon, and a brief stop in Frankfurt, we had a great time. We did not use a travel agent to plan the trip. We planned and made all arrangements ourselves. We took our time over a matter of months to develop our itinerary. Some of the planning was based upon family events. My sister (by love not by birth) is Portuguese and we visited with her mom (who is like family to me) during our travels. Let’s start with Portugal. Portugal is an absolutely breath-taking country. Lisbon is a mix of San Francisco and London. We stayed in Lisbon a few days and felt like we could have stayed at least a week more. We did a hop on hop off bus ride and ate dinner at the top of Sao Jorge Castle. The views are amazing. In addition to the hop on hop off bus, we did a hop on hop off boat ride. It is amazing that the same statue in Brazil, Christ the Redeemer, exists in Portugal, Christ the King (inspired by the sculpture in Brazil).  There is also a bridge (25 de Abril Bridge) that reminds you of the San Francisco Bay Bridge because it was designed by the same firm. The hilly streets, many of which are cobblestone are beautiful. The people are kind but do not speak a great deal of English so download a translator application. Lisbon is now one of my favorite cities. I also enjoyed my visit with family in Mangualde and Mesquitela. Visiting the village and the nearby city was very enriching culturally. I enjoyed the hospitality and time with loved ones. 

Rome is one of those cities you can visit again and again and never feel like you have seen it all. We enjoyed a private tour of the Vatican and the Colosseum. The Vatican is a spiritually moving experience that can not be described. You must experience it for yourself. The Colosseum is one of the most visited sites in the world and you can see why instantly. It is amazing to see something with that much history preserved and still allowing for people to be in awe of the structure. It is ominous to think of how many people died there but extraordinary to see that historic site. We highly recommend a private tour to skip the lines and hear the history from a professional. We also visited the Spanish Steps and the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum is a must do. It takes a significant amount of time to walk through the Forum but it is well worth it. We had a great stay in Rome at the St. Regis. It is an extraordinary hotel and the service is white glove all the way. We highly recommend this hotel. 

The moment we stepped off the train in Venice from Rome, we were in awe. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We walked and walked around Venice. We visited Doge’s Palace and walked St. Mark’s square. We took a gondola ride and enjoyed romantic dinners. We stayed at the JW Marriott and took a boat to and from the hotel. It was an amazing resort. We highly recommend that resort. As you know, we are loyal to the Marriott brand and now that Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) have merged, we have more options available to us. We highly recommend you pick and stick when it comes to airlines, hotels, vacation clubs, and rental car companies to get the most bang for your buck when you travel. As far as our trip to Portugal and Italy, it was almost all good, wonderful actually!! The bad was our flight to Europe on Condor. We flew first class but the food was horrible and the seats just ok. The ugly was our flight back when we were bumped to regular economy seats and the seats were too tight for any adult and the food was horrendous. When we complained to the airline, they barely apologized and only refunded the difference in fare for the seats for which I had paid vs. the horrible seats to which we were bumped. I suggest you never fly Condor! That was the only downside to the entire trip. We enjoyed our hotel stays, our sight-seeing experiences, our train rides, our boat rides. Every aspect was a dream. We also decided we will always visit multiple countries on our trips overseas. It allows for a richer travel experience. Live, Love, Laugh and travel!!