Aiyer, Family of Four, vacation Part Two: Sintra, Portugal

After 5 nights at the lovely Martinhal resort in Sagres, we flew out to Lisbon and then drove 30 minutes to a town called Sintra. It was only a 45 minute flight but we got delayed and were stuck on the plane for an extra 45 minutes which would have been a nightmare but my kids were behaving perfectly fine:) Riya was plowing through her gallon sized snack bag and contentedly staying seated while playing with her sticker books and stamps. I'm so happy we bought her this harness that attached to her seat belt, I think its the reason she stayed in her seat for all 3 flights. Obrigado Laine for the recommendation!!!

Another side note, we survived the long car rides and all 3 flights with zero screen time for Riya. As a parent, this made me really happy, but it also meant we had to do the bulk of entertaining, which was tiring. 

Okay, back to the trip. 

We arrived at the beautiful Penha Longa Resort around 2pm. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready yet and though both kids desperately needed a nap, it wasn't happening. We fed them both and enjoyed a drink while we waited for our room. Riya was happily running around the property proving that she was "not tired." Sintra wasn't as windy as Sagres was, so we felt the heat more. Thoughtfully, our hotel had an indoor play area that had everything a 2.5 year old could want- a home corner outfitted with a kitchen and plastic foods, drawing station, dolls, several different types of slides, a ball pit, and more. 

The next morning, we had plans to drive to the zoo in Lisbon, which is reputed to have one of the best zoological collections in the world. Unfortunately, Riya woke up with tummy trouble and we decided it wasn't a good idea to do the 30 minute drive and be out in the sun all morning. Once again the play areas at the hotel came in hand and despite feeling crummy at times, Riya was entertained. She even jumped on a trampoline for the first time!

The next day we set out to the Aquarium, another must see in Lisbon. Riya was not interested in seeing fish of any kind. Sigh. So we zipped through that place in record time. We did get to see Penguins (my fav!), Dragon Sea Horses, Frogs and other colorful reptiles.

Puffins! 

Sintra is a beautiful town that hosts several castles. For all my Bachelorette fans, you may recall the castle in Portugal in Season 6 with Ali. One of the episodes aired at Pena Palace, which is in Sintra! Pena Palace rests on a hilltop. I'm sure the pictures don't do it justice, but it looked so beautiful. I really wanted to check it out but it was a hike to get up there and it was impossible with kids in tow:/ Ah well, next time. 

Pena Palace

Because of Riya's tummy trouble, we also had to steer clear of the pool on this part of the trip. What a shame though because the pool was gorgeous with the mountains and golf course as a back drop. Ram and I did manage to take turns checking out the restaurants at the hotel at night. The food was excellent as were the mojitos:) I wish we had one more day in Sintra. These two places are definitely at the top of our list for future family vacations!

Aiyer, Family of Four, First vacation

We did it! We managed to trek a toddler and baby over to Portugal for our first family vacation of the year. The sheer amount of stuff we needed to make this vacation happen was insane, I wish I took a picture. But this is what it felt like-

To be fair, our vacation was for 9 days (5 in Sagres), so we did need plenty of clothing options plus beach and swim gear. Despite a 5:30am wake up, both kids did great. Rayan was a pro on his first flight, just like his big sister:) We flew into Faro and drove another 1.5 hours to a town called Sagres and stayed at the Martinhal resort.

Ram did a lot of research and found this highly rated resort that catered to families with little ones.  This place had EVERYTHING. We were so pleased, as was Riya, with all the amenities available. Our 2 story home was equipped with a lovely outdoor space, washer, full kitchen, baby bath tub, potty insert, stair gates, and two cribs. There was a grocery store on site, toddler splash pools, a bounce house, and several play areas throughout the property, 2 of which were next to the pools which came in handy! The added bonus was every restaurant had a play area with staff on hand to watch your child play as you eat AND every bathroom on the property had separate toilets for little ones.  They also had kid and baby club drop offs where they are entertained for several hours a day if you want some kid-free time. (We opted not to do that on this trip). This place really thought of everything and the attention to detail was impressive.

The weather was a mix of warm and cool. The city is right off the path of the Sahara Dessert, so strong winds were constant but with the sun shining through, it wasn't too bad. I was so excited to bring Riya back to the beach. We had been playing with sand for weeks and talking about building sand castles but once we got to the beach, she was not interested. She took one look at the sand and said "it's dirty!" and that was that:/ I don't know where this diva-ness came from. I was so disappointed. But she was happy for Mommy and Daddy to get their feet dirty so she could "stand" in the ocean!

Rayan had a lot of firsts on this trip: first passport stamp, first flight, first time at the beach, and first swim. He loved his first dip in the pool despite Riya stealing his floatie, lol. I was so impressed with how he traveled. Poor guy was teething badly those first few days and would boycott a nap or two but was otherwise his happy smiley self. I was worried that his 3 nap a day requirement would hold us back, but luckily his midday nap coincided with Riya's and then he got to do one nap in the room and one on the go. Worked out perfectly:)

Here's a slideshow of the first part of our trip:

Sagres was the perfect place to kick off our vacation. Next up, Sintra!