In 2022 the extended McCarthy family took another vacation. This one to Portugal, 18 of us spent a week holed up in a luxurious newly built villa the Algarve followed by 4 days in a large, very hot, air-conditionless, downtown Lisbon townhouse.

In true McCarthy fashion while in the Algarve we had a blast, whether we were hiking on top of cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, riding on some highly powered R.I.B.s (Rigid Inflatable Boats) looking up at and entering caves under those same cliffs, swimming in one of the villas two pools or at the near by beach, it was nonstop fun.

We also ate and drank very well, there were many beachside restaurants serving classic Portuguese favorites like bacalao and sardines. With 2 professional chefs and several aspiring way-better-than-most-home-cooks amongst our ranks we did not suffer when we did our own cooking. As far as drinking, the local Portuguese wine was inexpensive and plentiful, the beer was crisp, cold and also cheap. Several of the teenager McCarthy’s took advantage of the lower and laxer drinking age requirements (hello Shane).

After the week at the beach we headed to Lisbon for a few days. I do love this kind of vacation, chilling at the beach followed by exploring in the city. Lisbon and our day trip to the small, mountainous town of Sentra were great, we jammed so many memories into such a short period of time.

This photo was not one that I had much time to think about, we, some of us, not all 18 of us, were walking near the rented townhouse and I saw the streetcar coming down the street. It stopped a few feet in front of us and I looked up thinking that it would be a good photo. I had just enough time to dig my phone out and take quick photo before the street car stared moving again heading directly towards me. I got lucky, the photo came out great and whenever I see it it conjures up some cool memories, the photo hangs in Za’s women’s restroom. Because of its location I do not see this photo everyday, when I do it always congers up some great memories.

Here’s a few more photos from our family’s 2022 Portuguese adventure.