“Those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect.” -Brené Brown
We were on our way to Malta, but because there were no direct flights, we decided to turn a layover into a few days. Neither of us had been to Lisbon before and were pretty excited. It was a bit chilly and drizzly, but that didn’t stop us from getting out and exploring the old part of town, Alfama, which was where we were staying. 
Unfortunately, after viewing this pretty church we decided to get groceries. On our way home it was dark and we were hurrying and the sidewalks were mangled and well, I stumbled, crashed on my hands and knees, groceries flew everywhere and I sat on the middle of the sidewalk and ugly cried. I had a pretty bad gash in my palm and pain in my knee. I was actually a little nervous that I tore something. Luckily, this part of town is made up primarily of staircase after staircase. I hobbled along trying not to cry, while listening to Indra wail because she was so concerned. After some ice and rest that night, I thought I could venture out the next day. I was grateful I hadn’t landed on my belly.
Walking around the Comércio Plaza. Doing cool stuff like chasing birds and picking up rocks… when in Lisbon! 
Beautiful tiles everywhere.
After limping around all morning, my knee had had enough. So besides a few smaller outings I decided to put my leg up and just rest. Luckily, I had this sweet babe to cuddle with. We didn’t do much on Valentine’s day but I was with the ones I love. And Ezra had been taking such good care of me.
I struggle with feelings of guilt when Ezra goes out to explore and I, either don’t want to, or in this instance, can’t. Thankfully, he went to visit a castle that I wasn’t all that interested in. This is my blog so really I shouldn’t even post any of his pictures. It’s sort of like the age-old-question of “If a tree falls in the woods… did it really happen?” A similar pondering “If I didn’t visit the castle, does it really exist/matter?” Hmmm…
It looks horribly ugly anyway!
Lisbon was a tiny bit of a bust, but that’s ok. You can’t win them all. We’d actually really like to come back to Portugal when it’s warmer and drive around taking our time. So c’est la vie.
Indra training for the subway olympics.
After a month in the Canary Islands, we decided to go explore. Ezra came up with seeing the Azores. I knew very little about these islands, but was excited to see them – and what a gem they were! This post has way too many pictures, but really, like I said, it really was all about the landscape.
We landed on the island of São Miguel and decided to stay in the capital of Ponte Delgada for about a week. With the time difference Ezra often started work in the early afternoon. So the mornings were spent exploring. During the rest of the day Indra and I did our usual. Which means we looked for playgrounds and parks and shopped for groceries. Only the setting was significantly more beautiful than what we were used to.
Our first outing was to Vila Franca do Campo. I don’t really remember why we picked here, but it was a quaint little town. I’m not sure how many people visit the Azores, but it can’t be many. We had a difficult time finding a good guidebook, so we piecemealed this trip together through little snippets online and blogs. Anyway, the most important find in this town was a bakery that was known for their queijadas – which are basically little custard cakes. And they’re damn delicious.
Gorgeous countryside and rows of tea.
View from our rental. Not too shabby.
There was the most amazing park by our apartment, but the pictures I took turned out really poorly. Here Indra is harassing a cat. This was after she harassed a duck for quite some time.
On to the town of Furnas which was known for its hotsprings and thermal baths. 
It was also known for another incredible park called Parque Terra Nostra, where we whiled away quite a few hours.
And where we took way too many pictures….
Hot springs at Furnas lake.
Just some more landscape porn.
After a week we headed to the island of Pico. 
We had gorgeous sunsets every night looking at the island of Faial.
View from our apartment. I also think its worth mentioning how every host in the Azores left you local treats. Special breads, cheese, jam and a bottle of wine. The hospitality was really quite extraordinary.
About 19 weeks.
Pico is known for a few things. But probably the most memorable are Mt. Pico which is the highest peak in Portugal. And also these incredibly strange vineyards. These are walls made of lava to protect the vines from the wind and salt. They’re actually a Unesco world heritage sight. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Ez must have been on a call, so we’d be up top kicking a ball, drying laundry or watching the ferry go back-and-forth between the islands.
When we were inside, Indra could usually be found near this bag which housed her toys.
None other than Mt. Pico making an appearance.
Call me strange, but I found this little house charming. It’s sort of what I want some day – maybe a little more modern, but someplace small, in a beautiful setting and quiet.
Practicing her midwifery skills. I just recently heard the heartbeat for the first time! At about 19.5 weeks, so exciting!!
Now off to Faial for one full day before our flight. Finally getting to ride the ferry we’d been watching all week.
But hoping we don’t end up like that boat in the background!
Arriving in to Horta and excited to explore!
Mt. Pico from the other side.
Needing a little caffeine and sustenance after a super early morning.
More calderas and tunnels that look like hobbit holes.
Trying to get a sweet picture. These turned out pretty good I’d say!
See, gorgeous landscapes everywhere!
It just keeps getting better.
Even though we were only on Faial one day, it really stood out. We made the most of it and I was feeling sad we would be leaving the following morning. I will always treasure our time here. We were so inspired, it had been awhile since we had that zest for exploring again. We were talking a lot about our future and excited for what it held. And I will treasure our mornings together as a family.
These two bring me such feelings of bittersweet joy. I will always remember this moment. I was already missing it as I watched them together. 
Enjoying the harbor and reminiscing about our sailing days… and how we were so over it! But it was still fun to look out over the water with my beautiful daughter. Until next time Azores, I dearly hope there’s a next time.
After the rough start to our trip we cruised on over to the island of Tenerife and things started to seem brighter. We had decided to stay in San Andrés which was on the north side of the island. It was a quaint little fishing village and while the weather was cooler here, it was away from the package tourists and had a beautiful beach. This was the view from our apartment. Not so bad, eh?
During the week we stayed around our home base but on the weekends we explored. We thought about moving over to Puerto de la Cruz, but it didn’t really feel like our speed. We enjoyed wandering around nonetheless and hit up a little playground. Indra was just starting to get interested and confident in her play yard abilities.
During the week we had our routine, sort of like at home. We started with listening to music and dancing, followed by copious amounts of oatmeal. The only difference really was getting to run around this beautiful beach.
I just can’t handle the cuteness!
After the beach sometimes we wandered around town to get groceries, but because the town was pretty small, this errand was usually a short activity.
Otherwise we did really interesting things like peeking in mirrors, jumping inside suitcases and running up and down the hall. There was also a teeny tiny park that we would go swing at and while away the hours, especially when we were frequently kicked out for Ezra’s conference calls. Sometimes this meant just going and hanging out in the car if it was late or windy.
We went to El Teide and had fun driving through the pretty impressive landscape. It was super windy so we let Indra sit in the car while we would take turns getting out to snap pictures or climb to vantage points.
We had lots of memorable drives that afforded incredible views. As we worked our way further south and the weather warmed, I was kind of wanting to move locations. And actually, I sort of felt like being around other tourists and maybe just kick back a little. Traveling with a toddler was making me want to do things that were just fun and easy. Like being around more kids, speaking English with all the Brits, and actually having a supermarket.
Because it was busy season and we were on a budget it was hard to find someplace to stay. We ended up in this little town called El Médano that was super great for windsurfers because of (you guessed it) all the wind. But this wind did not make for a very enjoyable experience if you wanted to do something like just walk around town. There was one day we had to get out of the apartment for Ezra’s calls and it was waaay too windy to walk around or go to the beach. So we went to the car. The gusts were so strong it felt like a hurricane was rolling in. Indra was crying because sand was whipping in her eyes, I could hardly see, people were walking sideways and being pushed into things. Once safely inside our little sand-covered auto, it started rocking. So, maybe not ideal. Plus it had the feel of a soviet bloc town – sort of a bummer. Ezra drove us to the super touristy part one day and Indra and I happily walked from beach to beach and ate ice cream.
cultivating joy 