One of the pains of international travel are all of the “twists” you encounter: things don’t go according to plan, circumstances change… but it’s also one of the unexpected joys of being somewhere new! Adapting to changes and allowing yourself to be so immersed that you’re flexible and shrug it off is going to pay off in the end ☺️

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Once Dani and I had nasal swabs stuck up our noses, we checked out of our charming AirBnB and started our journey to Cascais–a lovely beach town on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Although our tests went smoothly, the journey to breakfast didn’t. Our driver was very touchy on the breaks, and in tandem with the windy roads, Dani was a little car sick. We chose to grab a quick bite to eat in the fresh air with a stunning view. And to add even more to our “off” morning, it took us forever to grab a bus from Sintra to Cascais, and when we finally arrived in the mid-afternoon, we were both feeling a little woozy.

As we freshened up and got settled in the city center, we called an Uber to drop our bags and change into our bathing suits at the AirBnB. Our driver was one of the nicest I’ve met, and even got out of the car to ask someone in a café where our building was located in the complex and carried Dani’s luggage up to our door. The elevators in the building were semi-broken, and the apartment itself was… bare bones to say the very least. Our host even made us leave four euro in her mailbox as a COVID tax–something the other hosts didn’t even mention or require of us.

All of these bizarre turns irritated both of us, but we handled it in very different ways; Dani was more “put off” than I was, and I tried to shake it off and make the most of our beach day. We strolled downhill toward the coast for about 15 or 20 minutes, and the rest of our afternoon and evening was one of the most relaxing we had the entire trip. Stay tuned… 🙂