We fell in love the city immediately. It was all dressed up for Christmas and even though it was the coldest part of Portugal (which was still 30F degrees warmer than London so no love lost) 

Short story: FAIL. And guess what? Same thing happened when we tried to get a specific picture on this cute bench swing.
I know BENCH SWING! It could have been great...but I love this guy.

Cute French couple for this win! I have zero confidence in the random people but I won't give up because I never get to be in our travel pictures.

Cais da Ribeira

A UNESCO World Heritage Site from the coolest/scariest bridge

Across the top of Ponte Dom Luis I, there is little to zero barrier between the pedestrian path and the train. On the lower level, a narrow pedestrian path means two people can't comfortably pass in opposing directions. So you're always just THIS close to being hit by a car or train haha

Roberta Square :)

Palacio da Bolsa

TILES!

Doors!

They are all just so charming and photographable.

I seriously love all the tile facades

Inside the Porto Cathedral

It's pink on the inside!

View from the Tower

Sao Bento, one of the prettiest train stations I've ever seen

The blue tile work is gorgeous

See??

We tracked down a recommendation along the Cais da Riberia for one of the many, many recipes for the dried cod that the Portuguese love so much.

One of the weirdest things I can't get over about the traditional Portuguese food is this: while there are over 350 dishes in which they prepare cod, they never have FRESH cod! Probably have never tried fresh cod ever. It's always salt dried cod. WHAAA? (Refer to my Lisbon post to see the photo of the dried cod)

This is the cod post-multiple water soaks to remove the majority of the salt, roasted with potatoes and crumbled cornbread with a generous amount of olive oil.
Very tasty but a different texture to the fish which needs no additional salt or flavouring.

Our hotel was in the center of the city, just a block from Plaza Catalunya.

I love the colours!

La Sagrada Familia from our hotel rooftop.

It was gorgeous weather, chilly but not nearly as cold as London. Look at all the blue!!!
This is just a teaser. All about our trip, favourite bits and all the pictures coming soon.

Suffice it to say while I'm working on the next post...we WILL be going back to Barcelona. Cracked into the top 3 trips we've made.

Valentine's day. Usually that would be my perfect excuse for chocolates and romantic comedies. Up until last year, that is. 

Taylor loves this holiday. His goal of Valentine's Day 2013 was to convert me. 

And he succeeded!

I have to tell the story in another post. My kids and future generations will truly appreciate it. It may even spark some inspiration for readers ;)

But THIS Valentine's day? VD2014 is another one for the record books. 

We kinda failed to get up for a romantic breakfast but it turned out to be a tender mercy. I dropped Taylor off on campus for an extra credit thing and headed to the local Einstein's. I love a good bagel in the morning but whose beautiful face did I see the second I walked in? My lovely friend and former roommate Dominique Stay!!! (soon to be Tecklenberg. Might have botched the spelling.) It was meant to be! I just love her to pieces. 

When I picked Taylor up, he told me that there was a surprise waiting for me at his brother's place in Provo. 

Taylor is really good at secrets and surprises. And I'm extremely trusting. 

I had to close my eyes as we walked inside and when I opened them, I was in shock...

He is so soft and fluffy. A great little dachshund mix with a pomski. He wouldn't get much bigger which I think is even more adorable :)
Lion King style. This is so you can get a real size reference.

Taylor is a very sharp dresser (I've mentioned this many times) and he wanted a place to keep his collar stays. When I found this, I knew it would be perfectly sentimental for my man. Collar stays in a travel case that have sweet love notes? Yes, please! He loved them.