CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAYS – PORTUGUESE STYLE!

It's often said that the holidays are exhausting.  All that visiting with relatives, worrying about what gifts to purchase for whom, traveling between houses, and then there is the preparation and consumption of all that food! This being my first holiday spent in Portugal, I  was without any of my family members or friends from home. …

IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS…

....everywhere I go in Portugal, with colorful lights sparkling and holiday decorations filling the windows of shops and restaurants.  The above is a photo of my Christmas 'bough.'  It's not a whole tree, just a limb from a pine tree growing in the backyard of the parents of my landlord Jorge's beautiful wife, Maria Joáo. …