Roman Aquaduct

You pass under this on your way from the airport to Lisbon proper.

Costa da Caparica, Portugal

Found this while out on a walk. I had to send it to Liberty.

Costa da Caparica, Portugal

The lads playing soccer on the beach in the sunset, barefoot. What a great memory for them to have.

Me and João

João and I first met on my last trip to Portugal. We have become good friends over the years. On this trip he brought me one of his old jerseys that he wore when he played semi-pro soccer. This is one of my favorite memories.

The Coaches and Guide

Out for a walk along the beach after a n amazing meal together. (Pictured left to right, Bill, Forrest, Tyler, and João.)

Mem Martins, Portugal

Arriving at the field to play.

Mem Martins, Portugal

Listening to the pregame talk in the locker room.

Mem Martins, Portugal

The opposing bench. Love the smiles and the thumbs up. The thumbs up seems to be an international gesture.

Mem Martins, Portugal

Forrest and the head coach from the other team. This is the jersey that they gave to Forrest as a gift for the game.

Mem Martins, Portugal

Both teams posing for a photo after the game. What a cool experience for these guys to have.

Mem Martins, Portugal

The lads post victory.

Private Selfies

The back story to this photo is that this glass heart was given to me by Liberty a month after we started dating. I carried it in my pocket with me everywhere. When I was away from her traveling I would take photos and selfies like every one else. However for every selfie you see posted, there is another one just like it with the glass heart held prominently, that I sent to her. You are always with me, my love.

Lunch at the Hotel

The foods that they offer us every day is amazing. This was onions, Lima beans, fish balls, octopus, Morcela (blood sausage), Linguiça, and Farinheira (flour sausage). Delicious!

Surfing!!

Coaches

Praia do Castelo, Restaurante

João and I ducked into this tiny taverna to grab a quick bite, a non-alcoholic beer, and watch some footy on the tele while the others got out of their surf gear and cleaned up.

Sesimbra, Portugal

Coffee!!

Sesimbra, Portugal

There was a lot of super cool tiling and art on the walls all over this town.

Sesimbra, Portugal

This is what happens if you are late or fall behind the group. Ethan Yang and Hawkins Sanborn (left to right) had to do doing pushups in the street.

Sesimbra, Portugal

More wall art.

Sesimbra, Portugal

I happened to come upon this man prepping fish hooks and lines for the morning catch the next day. I found it fascinating having come from a fishing community.

Sesimbra, Portugal

Walking around the town.

Sesimbra, Portugal

‘. Me and Marcello just chillin with a beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Sesimbra, Portugal

Tyler and I getting Photobombed by Michael.

My friend João

We met on my last trip to Portugal and have stayed on touch ever since.

Sesimbra, Portugal

What a view!

Sesimbra, Portugal

Luca Mtskhetadze, Emmett Graesser, Jaden Krauser, and Tyler Hill. (Pictured left to right)

Setúbal

This stone path was amazing. I loved how this huge tree just stood in the middle of it and how the stone work seemed to draw you right in to it.

Setúbal, Portugal

Some of the boys checking out the town with me and João.

Dolphin Bay Golfinhos em Setúbal

Out in the bay looking for Dolphins. I couldn’t really get any good photos of the dolphins. They were playing out in front of the boat about a hundred yards or so.

Dolphin Bay Golfinhos em Setúbal

A Bottle Nose Dolphin in the wild.

Dolphin Bay Golfinhos em Setúbal

Chillin’ on the fan tail.

Dolphin Bay Golfinhos em Setúbal

We took a tour out into Dolphin Bay to look for Bottle Nose Dolphins, do some swimming, and eat some food. This villa was pointed out to us as the place where Jackie Kennedy came to recover after JFK was assassinated.

Quinta da Regaleira

The Eternal Well.

Quinta da Regaleira

In the gardens. Marcello, João, Forrest, and Travis. (pictured left to right)

Quinta da Regaleira

Ducks in a pond, filled with duckweed. This is in the Quinta da Regaleira after going through a small series of tunnels in the rock. You step across stones, located to the right of the picture, to get across the pond.

Quinta da Regaleira

Forrest exploring the grounds.

Quinta da Regaleira

Me and João.

Quinta da Regaleira

Heading up to the castle.

Sintra, Portugal

Team photo gathered in the town square. (Pictured left to right, back row) Michael Ivanov, Will Rogers, Cole Warnick, Coleman Bellin, Sam Patterson, Forrest Marowitz, Hawkins Sanborn, Slater Duea, Luca Mtskhetadze, David Smoots, Tripp White, Tyler Hill, Tyler Bennett, Travis White, (front row) Emmett Graesser, Alex Arron, Marcello, Derek Snyder, Jaden Krauser, Ethan Yang, Jonah Hyman, Harry Quinlan, Bill Hanson.

Sintra, Portugal

We walked around the streets of this beautiful town after exploring the Quinta da Regaleira.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel, Costa da Caparica, Portugal

Lunch time back at the hotel. I miss the meat selections at each of the meals.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

More meat for lunch.

R. Amora Futebol Clube, Amora, Portugal

The badge fro the team we played today.

R. Amora Futebol Clube, Amora, Portugal

Team photo in the sunset.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

A little Aquasize. Low impact stretching and movement with light resistance. This helps to keep the blood flowing and regenerate for the next match.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Those are Squid rings, not onion rings.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

I think this was cream of broccoli soup.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Desert!!

Benfica Campus

The lads walking to meet their Benfica trainers for the duration of our trip.

Benfica Campus

Forrest and I are excited to see the training grounds at Benfica.

Benfica Campus

In “The Cage” getting our first set of instructions for the drill. This was a super cool place to be. Out of the sun, enclosed by mesh to keep the balls in, with a small pitch.

Benfica Campus

Juggling while walking and finishing with a shot. IF you were able to juggle the ball to the designated line.

Benfica Campus

Getting some more instructions from our fantastic Benfica trainers.

Benfica Campus

In the locker rooms at the Benfica training grounds.

Costa da Caparica, Portugal

This is a sign for the local team. We were allowed to use their training ground while we were in Portugal. We had a practice there almost everyday.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Swordfish steaks for lunch today. Oh Baby!! I love me some swordfish.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Gathering in the lobby, getting ready to go to the game.

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

The stadium prior to the game. What an amazing experience!

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

An international friendly between Benfica vs Royal Anderlecht from Belgium. We were very lucky to get to see this. Normally there are no games during the period of time that we are there.

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Fireworks!!! Right from the sideline, wow. Also before every match they have a bald eagle fly around the stadium. The eagles are from Canada.

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Me, Tyler, and Forrest at the game.

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

The coaches discuss the strategies being used, while the boys enjoy the experience.

Benfica! Benfica! Benfica!

Benfica playing Royal Anderlecht from Belgium.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Breakfast at. the hotel. Bacon and beans on toast, with scrambled eggs and ham, hash brown like things, fresh fruit, yogurt parfait, and coffee.

Grupo Desportivo dos Pescadores da Costa da Caparica

Getting ready for training.

Grupo Desportivo dos Pescadores da Costa da Caparica

Some simple touches to start.

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Game day ticket!!

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Lunch. Salad, Olives, some sort of casserole I can’t remember, and fresh fish. We ate very well this whole trip.

Torre de Belém em Lisboa

Belém Tower. This tower is positioned at the mouth of the Tagus river. It was designed to look like a heavily fortified ship protecting the harbor. This was to ward off possible attackers.

Belém Tower

Me, Slater, Clayton, and Jonah.

Belém Tower

The team making fun of Tyler who was posing for some photos. They all jumped in to mimic him. Turned out to be a great photo.

Belém Tower

Me and Coleman Bellin.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

This statue, that you can go inside and on top of, has representation of the great Portuguese explorers. Built in 1940 and made permanent in 1960 to mark 500 years since Henry the Navigator’s death.

Atop the Padrão dos Descobrimentos

Looking north at the Praça do Império Garden (Imperial Garden and Palace.)

Lunch Time!

Pastéis de Belém

Here it is all about the Pastel de nata. They are a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry, optionally dusted with cinnamon. This is supposed to be the birthplace of the Pastel de nata.

Lisbon, Portugal

This is a photo I took of the guides and coaches standing in front of a mirror wall that we saw on our walk around Belem. (Left to right) João, Hugo, Bill, Tyler, Forrest, and Marcello. I took this with the phone hidden behind Tyler’s arm, shooting out through the nook in his elbow.

TRYP Lisboa Caparica Mar Hotel

Dinner back at the hotel. Fish and rice.