Yes, we visited both countries during our trip. Five of us flew down to Faro, Portugal, and rented a car.  It was the most relaxing and beautiful place! Because of the off-season, there weren’t too many tourists around. We saw Faro, which is the capital of the southern region of Portugal - Algarve. Then we explored the beaches of Portugal. It was not really warm there, so we ended up driving east to Spain’s beautiful beaches and explored their towns as well. This trip was wonderful.

Many people do not usually go to Portugal, and I do not understand why. The towns were beautiful, the people were extremely friendly and the prices were very low.  It was probably one of the cheapest trips I have traveled so far. The weather was gorgeous. It was sunny and in the low 70s. The towns had lots of a type of palm tree, which really enhanced the beach atmosphere. Faro was a very historic town and had an old district that was unique and interesting.

The greatest thing about this trip was that I spoke Spanish to everyone there. The people in Portugal speak Portuguese, but they all understand and can speak Spanish as well. I was so impressed with how well I spoke Spanish. I was able to express myself 100% and understood just about everything that people were saying to me.  I want to thank all of my Spanish teachers, especially Hermana O’Connor. (The seed has definitely grown into a beautiful plant!) I can’t wait to start traveling more in Spain!

I took almost 400 pictures of our trip, but here are some of the highlights:

Portugal:

Spain: