Pump your brakes

Surprise surprise, Blogger loves Portugal. About a month ago, last year even, Blogger had the opportunity to grab the last place on one of two buses going to Portugal with some of his closest friends from Barcelona. Not being one to shy away from last-second plans, Blogger jumped at the chance, and signed up for a 12 hour drive. He even volunteered to drive, which was quite an adventure given the necessity to follow our trips leader, native Portuguese Ricardo "The Original Kahn" Montalbán, (names changed to protect the innocent) who drives like a crackhead, on crack.

Despite being a Despot at heart, Ricardo was an amazing host, taking the group to some of his favorite spots in Lisboa, up the coast to Sintra (below) and to his home town of Cascais, where Blogger ate one of the best chili dogs of his life. He even brought the group to his Great Uncle's Vinyard in the country for one of the best meals and most relaxing country days Blogger has ever had (sorry, no pictures yet).

A highlight of the trip was our stop at a little restaurant south of Cascais, perched on a cliff over the western most point of the Iberian Peninsula. Blogger had to be restrained from jumping over the Atlantic to England, which he could totally do if he wanted to.

There's much more to tell about the trip and the wonderful time Blogger had with his friends, but he's sick of this particular post and wants to get back to his new book, Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Holy shit it's good.

So here's one last jumping picture, from the outer terrace of the King's vacation palace in the hills of Sintra, Portugal.