Birthday bowling

After the dumpling crawl, Eileen had organized a birthday expedition to Bowlmor.



Eileen (last row), with a new grip, breaks 100 for the 1st time!



Although the snow is pretty, we are very ready for winter to end.


Lauren has photos of her artwork up here.

And you can find Daily Show segments with the Bedspring King here.

Dumpling crawl

Last weekend, we went on a dumpling crawl through Manhattan's Chinatown. (The 3rd crawl, following burgers and tacos.) We visited six spots and Prosperity Dumpling was the clear, consensus winner.




Sarah has a write-up with more photos at the Fine Cooking blog here.

Lisbon, Portugal

We spent a rainy evening in Lisbon before flying home.

Obidos, Batalha, & Alcobaca, Portugal

We hit several other cities north of Lisbon. Obidos was having a huge chocolate festival




Batalha has a dramatic church



and Alcobaca has Portugal's largest church, with a spectacular kitchen (not pictured) and lovely courtyards

Ourem, Portugal

In beautiful late afternoon light, we visited the castle in Ourem.

Tomar, Portugal

Our next stop in Portugal was Tomar and the Convento do Cristo.

Sintra, Portugal

After Madeira, we went to mainland Portugal, starting with the spectacular city of Sintra. Highlights were the Palacio Nacional de Sintra




and the Palacio Nacional da Pena

Madeira

We just returned from a much-anticipated vacation to Portugal. It was great to get away to warmer weather and spend time outdoors.

We're still sorting through photographs, so this first batch is all from our visit to lovely Madeira.

The view from our hotel room




Madeira tasting (just for Jesse--luckily, Eileen doesn't like Madeira anyway)




Hiking along the historic levadas



The market in Funchal



The "Nun's Refuge," where the nuns hid during pirate attacks

Eileen with her growing belly