TRAVEL GUIDE: PORTUGAL
Well, it may have been 2 years late BUT Matt and I made it to Portugal!
This was a trip we had originally booked for 2020 as an epic surprise for his parents, who were there to celebrate their wedding anniversary…. buttttt we know how that story goes (the 2020 travel part).
Nonetheless, we made it happen and holy smokes was I excited!
If you didn’t already know, my husband is Portuguese. So being able to experience Portugal with him was always on my bucket list.
We decided to keep this trip short and sweet and just focus on one destination, Sao Miguel island in the Azores. It was beautiful!
We had a bit of a rocky start with getting there thanks to flight delays out of Toronto Pearson… which caused us to miss our connecting flight from Newark to Sao Miguel… which meant a 24 hour layover in Newark, NJ. Awesome.
Obviously this was NOT part of the plan- but once we got our pouting and frustrations out of our system, we had a quick nap and decided that it was time to turn our frowns upside down and grab an Uber to Manhattan and make the most of the day… and that we did!
I mean really… there are worse places to spend 24hrs, right?!
Now, back to Portugal.
For years I remember Matt and his parents telling me all about the beautiful blue hydrangeas that pretty much covered the island. I can’t tell you how much I looked forward to seeing these! The island did not disappoint. They were gorgeous and I immediately asked Matt how we could replicate these at home haha.
Our first Portugal photo!! (after what felt like 23765 hours of travel LOLLL)
If you know Matt, you know he LOVES food, especially Portuguese food, so he had a running list of all the spots he wanted to go for lunch and dinner.
He was a happy little limpet (it’s a Portuguese shellfish, like a clam, so thought it was a fitting analogy) with his octopus, chorizo, fresh fish, Portuguese potatoes and of course the bread and fresh cheese- a personal favourite of mine.
Can we also take a minute and highlight the wine experiences in Portugal? First of all, there are some lovely wines from the islands but second of all, its 5 euros for a GIANT glass of wine- talk about value!!
The island is a lovely size where it is completely manageable to drive around to different towns during your stay.
They have a website with web cams that show you the weather in these towns and I highly recommend using this during your stay so you can be sure to enjoy the sunniest spots for your beach days!
One of my highlights this trip was without a question the dolphin excursion we did.
I am low-key obsessed with dolphins and kind of feel like they are my spirit animal.
They are such beautiful creatures!
I also want to clarify that this is an organized excursion (90 euros, very reasonable in my opinion) out of the Ponta Delgada Marina that takes you on a boat out into the ocean where you are seeing the dolphins in their natural habitat, NOT a water park.
Watching the dolphins soar through the waves and jump out of the water was such a beautiful sight that it actually brought happy tears to my eyes.
Matt and I did an experience like this in Hawaii about 7 years ago and it still remains one of the best days of my life- though I think this Portugal experience tops that because we saw something like 35 dolphins!
We did the 8am booking which had us back to the marina around 11:30am.
I recommend you travel light in terms of what you bring, though they do have complimentary lockers at the marina where you can store your belongings. Most definitely wear a bathing suit because you get in the water with snorkel gear and can watch the dolphins swim underwater below you- so spectacular!
I can’t say enough wonderful things about this experience, so if you are heading to the Azores I highly, highly recommend adding this to your agenda!
My Spirit Animal - I loveeeee dolphins!
Once we wrapped up our quick stay on Ponta Delgada we made our way to our next destination, SENSI.
Holy smokes guys, this place was a dream.
Matt and I had both been following them for a while on Instagram, so it was a no brainer that we wanted to spend the bulk of our stay at their property.
SENSI is a 21 room spa resort in Ginetes that is owned and operated by a lovely couple, Teresa and Miguel. They opened their doors in March 2020, just 15 days before the pandemic hit. Can you imagine? They endured quite the journey, like a lot of us, and are now flourishing with consistent sold out weeks and months!
The resort is an old horse farm and stable, so there is a lot of character to many of the buildings. All of the decor pieces were hand chosen by Teresa and beautifully curated with the aesthetics of the resort.
It's also extremely important to note that there is not one but TWO golden retrievers on the property - need I say more?!
They have a beautiful, small spa on the property that I encourage you to book into as well as a Turkish bath experience that is by appointment, which is a nice touch that you and your spouse get to enjoy it privately.
The staff were fantastic, knowing our names within the first hour of being there and every day during our stay.
I also must highlight their hotel music - the playlists changed throughout the day but my goodness it had to have been some of the best hotel music that we had ever enjoyed.
The rooms were meticulously clean, the beds heavenly, great shower pressure (this is important!), delicious hand crafted cocktails, breakfast included, a beautiful pool that looks out to the ocean and the most stunning sunsets in the evening!
This was a 10/10 experience for us and we are already excited to go back!!
Even though we had a slightly turbulent start to our Portugal trip, I must say that we enjoyed all that we experienced and are already excited to go back and do the mainland, with visits to Lisbon and the Algarve, Porto and of course back to the Azores to stay at SENSI and swim with dolphins!!
