BALEAL

It is hard to believe that we have been in Europe for a month and a half and in Portugal for two weeks already! Time is flying by.  France already seems long ago, as does living in New York.  Portugal is so different than France, though equally as beautiful in completely different ways.   In many aspects I have been surprised and in others, it is just as I imagined.  We are staying on a tiny island called Baleal that is joined to the mainland by a sand bar.  The island naturally separates two beautiful sandy beaches on either side.  The beach to the south stretches in endless dunes all the way to the town of Piniche, which is a fisherman's village and where we go to do our shopping.  To the north, the beach has beautiful rock formations with cliffs that line the sea.   The beach to the north is the one I prefer given its dramatic landscape and amazing colors.  From our kitchen it reminds me a bit of the Santa Barbara coastline, but up close the cliffs take on amazing hues of red rock, ash blue and slate grey.  The north beach also provides a sheltered little cove from the wind and has great tide pools for Annabelle to explore.  The island of Baleal is up on a rocky cliffs providing dramatic scenery, particularly when the surf is big.  The climate in Baleal has a desert feel.  Despite being on the sea, not much grows here, leaving the island quite stark with the exception of succulents and ice plant.   Just a few minutes inland, however, is lush farmland and rolling hills.  The central coast of Portugal seems part undeveloped So Cal, part Mex, and part Greece all in the same country. 

We have come upon what Nate calls the "dog days of summer".  Many of the homes on the island have shut their storm shutters in preparation for the winter ahead, and everyday the beach seems more and more vacant. We have had a few chilly days with high winds that make you imagine what it is like here in the dead of winter, but also have had those long Indian Summer days where the sun still warms your skin late into the afternoon when the sun begins to set.  We shared our first week here with my parents and are looking forward to more visitors in the coming weeks.  More of Portugal to come...

Baleal

Baleal North and South Beaches

Pinniche

View from the Kitchen

Piniche

NANI & PAPA JOHN

After three days in Paris, my parents arrived via train in Biarritz.  Yeah!  We are so excited to have them here and Annabelle is enjoying spending time with her grandparents.  We had just one night with them in France so we showed them just the highlights.  We left the very next day to start the second leg of our adventure to Portugal.  All together the drive to Portugal was 10 hours which is a lot with a 15-month-old, so we broke it up and spent one night in Salamanca, Spain.  We arrived yesterday in Portugal and are ready for our first full day at our new home for the next month.  More on Salamanca and Portugal to come! 

THE NEXT ADVENTURE

It has been quite awhile since my last blog entry.  Things have been very busy for the Ellis' in the past two months getting ready for our next big adventure.  After 4 truly amazing years in New York, we have decided to pack up and return to California, but not without first spending some time abroad.  A week from tomorrow, our little clan will board the red-eye for France and spend the next few months soaking up the culture of a foreign land.  We will begin our journey for the month of August on the beautiful shores of Biarritz, France.  We have rented a little flat on the beach where we hope to sample the local cuisine, surf, cook, read books, possibly write a book, and spend as much time with little Annabelle as possible.  My parents will be joining us st the tail end of our Biarritz stay.  From Biarritz we will make our way southwest to Piniche, Portugal, which is about an hour north of Lisbon.  In Portugal we are staying here and hope to do much of the same but in a different country and with a few dear friends and family visiting.  As the seasons turn and we head into October, we will return to France to visit Nathan's extended family in Toulouse where Diane and Michael will be joining us.  From there our plans are open to see where our travels might take us...Switzerland? Italy? Hmmm...the world could be our oyster, no? 

When we originally came to New York in 2007 we had no idea what we were in store for.  We had no idea how much we would love the energy of the city, the historic streets of our neighborhood, the diversity, and the new friends we would meet.  We did know, however, when it was time to go we should do something a little different.  Neither of us having ever lived abroad, we felt this would be the best time to do it with Annabelle still really young and with neither of us working.  We do not speak a lick of French or Portuguese aside from the limited vocabulary from the budget version of Rosetta Stone that we have been trying to find the time to practice.  Ou se trouve le banque? We anticipate some challenges with the communication that I am sure will be frustrating and comical all at the same time. 

This week has been a series of goodbyes, which for me is the hardest part.  Nathan and I both wrapped up at work on Friday and it still hasn't hit me that I will not be returning to the office on Monday.  I wonder at what point the days will bleed into one another when you can't tell Tuesday from Wednesday, or when I will stop counting down the days to the weekend.  We said goodbye to the cats - Bruce and Walter will be taking an extended stay at Great Grandma Irene's.  We also said goodbye to Vido, our beloved nanny and to several different waves of friends both with tears and laughter.  Goodbyes always make transitions difficult but inevitable.  This final week in NY we will devote to packing the apartment, painting,  prepping for the big trip and saying goodbye to the city that has been so good to us.