Have T@b will travel: July 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Nouveau Brunswick!

I'm embarrassed to say we had no idea that New Brunswick had such a large Francophone population! 33% to be exact, with an Acadian origin. Truth number 2... I had no clue as to what Acadian meant until we visited New Orleans a few years back and received an education on the Acadian/Cajun connection! Briefly, the Acadians are descendants from France who were expelled in the 1700's when they refused to take an allegiance to King George III! And I complained about Canada not having enough history during our trip to Portugal! Ok, enough of the history lesson! We had a great time in NB! When we drove through the province in early April we were not impressed.... Sorry New Brunswick! But it was cold, and gray with a few feet of dirty snow piled high on either side of the road... Needless to say we didn't slow down to have a second look! This time round we were super impressed! It's so green! Rivers run everywhere along the Appalachian Mountains! It really is beautiful! Along with the total absence of traffic, crowds, and noisy cities, we were super impressed! We stayed 4 days at a nearly empty campground, and it's July! We had trees, lakes and rivers surrounding us. It was fantastic! We also took the hour and a half drive to the Bay of Fundy. Unfortunately or fortunately the fog rolled in... Not the greatest weather but we captured some stunning photos! We also visited Saint John's, which again was a quaint historic city. While the car was parked for 2 hours we wandered around the town ducking in and out of shops and snapping photos (big surprise!) Returning only to have a man run out of a restaurant and tell us a van had reversed into our car and took off... But not to worry, they wrote down the license plate number! Ok, maybe we have been on a Portuguese farm to long with not much human contact, but we thought that was pretty nice! Anyhoo! We had an exceptional time in NB and would recommend it to anyone.... During the summer months that is! Here is a mish mash of Nouveau Brunswick pictures!

The "Reversing Falls", where the river runs through the gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. This was "Slack Tide". Apparently not much going on we were told, but still looked very turbulent to us! The birds would start surfing from the top of the current catching fish on the way down, only to fly out and start all over again!

Peek-a-boo! Nice leggings!

Remember I said "stunning" photos? Ok, maybe not so much. That said, here is a look at a portion of the Bay of Fundy! Which by the way we learned is a Portuguese word meaning deep! Crazy right?!

The city of Saint John and some of it's locals!

We happened across the "Longest Covered Bridge in the World" on our quest for the "Covered Bridge" Potato chips below! LOL! Lobster flavoured! Who knew!

Another NB covered bridge in the town of Florenceville

My kind of town!!

I have no shame!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Ready, set, roll!

It is hard to believe that only a week ago we were standing on the most western point of mainland Europe, and now we are on the most eastern shores of Canada! After leaving our friends in Halifax we drove straight to Cape Breton Island on the suggestion of a woman we met back in April. She told us we must visit the Cabot Trail before heading west. We arrived at our first campground since April and booked two nights where we could leave the trailer and drive the rest of the way up to the Cape Breton Highlands. The roads are steep and we didn't trust the power of our little car. In the end we were thankful that we left the little T@b behind, the roads were twisty and steep, but the views were breath taking! On that note… We can honestly say we are happy to be back in Canada! We missed the trailer life, and we are pretty sure that Mango missed it most of all! She is back to sharing our small bed, enjoying walks through cool forests, and daily dips in the ocean! Man, this dog has it good! Ok, time to sign off! We are taking advantage of a Walmart parking lot for the evening. Free camping for those of you that may be raising your eyebrows! We just wrapped up a few days in Near Fredericton, New Brunswick! A new post to follow soon! Tomorrow we enter Quebec… must brush up on our French!

Leaving Halifax!

The trail is named after the explored who landed in Canada in 1497!

Baddeck Cabot Trail Campground

The Cabot Trail is 298 km long

Mango in her glory with her best friend the "orange ball"

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Goodbye Old World, hello New World!

It is early morning here in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as I begin to write my final Portugal blog entry. Where did the time go? We arrived back in Canada on Sunday, and have spent the last 2 days prepping the T@b for the next leg of our journey. Driving across Canada! But before I can begin posting about that, I must tell you about our final week in Portugal. Our Swiss hosts arrived back at their Marvao home on July 14th, giving us 6 days to get reacquainted, which of course only makes it harder when you have to say goodbye. Werni and Christa generously offered to drive us the 230 km to the Lisbon airport, turning our last day into one of the most memorable! We managed to visit some beautiful sights before making our way to the airport. Cabo da Roco the western most tip of mainland Europe, walking the beach and cliff side trails of Praia Grande, before enjoying a picnic lunch! And later exploring the nearby town of Sintra, which by the way is one of the most beautiful towns we have ever visited! We timed our departure perfectly, traversing the city in the midst of a medieval festival! There were thousands of people, vendors, music, and delicious food. The town centre was alive with energy! The city of Sintra is a UNESCO heritage site and feels like you are being transported to a fairytale land. Beautiful villas, old mansions, and castles dot the hillside, while cobble stone lanes, parks, squares, museums, and beautiful architecture dating back to the 11th century make up the rest of the old city. We were clicking pictures like maniacs, trying to grasp our final memories of Portugal. So without delay, here are way to many pictures of our last week in paradise! Thank you Werni, Christa, Tanja, and Noel!