10 - 5 - 22 We travelled to Lisbon, Portugal and Seville, Spain from September 20 til October 4. While there we took a train from Lisbon to visit Sintra, an hour away, north of Lisbon. Beautiful place, lots of art works along walkways and into the historic center, where there are lots of shops and tourists, along with hills, villas and lush gardens. While in Lisbon, we stayed in the Belem area, the historic centre, close to trams, metro and buses, lots of restaurants and walking distances to sites. No liter anywhere, not on the sidewalks or streets, nor where any of the numerous outdoors cafes are. People are eating delicious pastries and coffee from morning til into the night. Rode the 15E around the area and along their museum row to see the district. On Friday, we took the train, which is a 3 hour ride into Faro, along The Algarve. Faro is much more low-key than Lisbon, less tourists around. Walked to the "Old Town", where the walls are built during the 16th and 17th century, all cobbled stone tiled streets and sidewalks. Visited the Chapel of Bones, where there are the remains of 1,245 monks. Next, train trip was to Tavira, one hour south of Faro. Convenient hotel to the ferry that takes you to Tavira Island, costing $2.20 round trip, is one of the best beaches along The Algarve. Tavira is a beautiful town with cobbled streets and sidewalks, lots of outdoor dining, cafes and gelato places. Everyday was mild, sunny with blue skies From Tavira, a bus takes 3 hrs to arrive in Sevilla, Spain. The hotel is a morner mansion, built in the 18th century, situated near the magnificent Cathedral The Cathedral of Sevilla is the oldest gothic Cathedral in the world. The Royal Alcázars of Seville historically known as al-Qasr al-Muriq and commonly known as the Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, situated near the Cathedral The Spanish Royal family uses it as their offical Seville residence. Both places are UNESCO sites. The Museo Bellas Arts had a lot of religous paintings from the 1500's and was once a former convent. While in Seville, walked across the Rio Guadelquivir river to the Triana area, where there are beautiful home along the river. After four days in Seville, we returned to Lisbon. Taking a lift to half way up the highest hill to visit the Castle S. Jorge, built in the 11th Century by the Islamic. During our visit, we encountered lots of tourists everywhere and would have liked to have been immersed with the people of Portugal and Seville, but renting a car would have been required to drive outside of historic centre and area, into the countryside and elsewhere. Overall, it was great to visit this part of the world!

5 - 24 - 22 Went on a roadtrip from May 17 to May 24 to Maine. Stopped in Ogunquit, Me, is a quaint town on the coast, lovely, no fast food places and has one on the best sand beach on the coast of Maine. Day a day there and nite, walked the Marginal Way path, is 3 miles long on the ocean side and ends in Perkins Cove, where there are lots of restaurants, especially seafood. Next, head to BarHarbor and Acadia National Park, is a our 3rd vist to Acadia, always a treat and walked the 6 miles around Eagle Lake, took about 3 hrs. to do, very scenic. Did the stops on the Loop road to Sand Beach, Blow Hole, Jordon's Pond and Cadillac Mountain, 10,000 ft high, very windy. After 3 nites, went to Lubec, very low-key at this time of year. Only 2 restaurants were open, along with a few deli's. Is very close to Canadian Internationl Bridge and a State Park over to the Canadian side. Liked very much. Went to Cobscook State Park, which is 888 miles in area and Quaddy State Park, where the eastern most lighthouse is. Walked the coastal path, rocky and beautiful. Back to Ogunquit for a half-way point before back to Asbury Park. Went to the Ogunquit beach, lovely, lots of people sitting on the beach or walking oceanside. Enjoyed dinners at the Fisherman's Wharf in Lubec, mussels and haddock, Thai food in Bar Harbor, Pizza in Ogunquit. Enjoy the week's road trip and being in nature.