Marisa Vitale Photography

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Day 302 Malaga, Spain 🇪🇸 The only 3 pictures I took all day. Malaga is not a place we necessarily planned to go, but whe...
01/06/2024

Day 302

Malaga, Spain 🇪🇸

The only 3 pictures I took all day. Malaga is not a place we necessarily planned to go, but when you find a cheap flight out as well as l a place to return a one way rental car in the same city, you find yourself there.

We left the historic city of Granada with its centuries old city layout & buildings & replaced it with flashy Malaga. We cruised the marble shopping walkways looking for shoes for Macy to no avail, but we also were reminded of this world called, shopping & a place called a mall.

We exited this area & b lined it to our hotel in a different part of Malaga on the beach. This is where I always long to be. The rest of My family are not the biggest beach fans so we did a rare thing in the last 10 months of our trip, we split up.

I went to my happy place, sitting on a bed in the sand & listening to the waves lap upon the shore (with a distant sound of rave & dance music, cause this is Malaga) I plopped myself in between European tourists, turning beet red & downing drinks & opened the same book I’ve been reading for 10 months. This is how little down time we get that is not spent planning our next steps. No, we haven’t planned the last 6 weeks so it’s not like we’re done, we just needed a break. If anyone has any Croatia or Albania recs, send them on over.

The book I’ve been reading is “Church of the Wild” it ends with a call to reconnect our relationship to nature. As we recount our time on this trip, the constant is that our fave times were when we were out in nature. This is a huge takeaway for us to KNOW this about ourselves now, that we need more nature in our lives & that nature needs our love.

In the book, Andreas Weber is quoted by saying “earth is currently suffering from a shortage of our love” she goes on to explain “falling in love with particular places & beings, like particular people, means that we open our hearts to groan as we feel the pain of other as our own. The whole creation is waiting for the awakening of wild human souls to restore the broken relationship” we care for what we love, but in order to love we need a relationship. I urge everyone to begin a deep relationship with earth.

Real alcazar palace of Sevilla Since the palace was built over time and under many different rulers, the architecture an...
28/05/2024

Real alcazar palace of Sevilla

Since the palace was built over time and under many different rulers, the architecture and details throughout the palace reflect different time periods from the Middle Ages to Islamic to sevillas’s own creation known as Mudejar and gothic became the base. But additions from the renaissance including yet another Baroque style as well were added, leaving how it stands today, a mix of many cultures and styles.

This is one of the longest royally inhabited palaces in the world. In fact when Spanish royalty come to Sevilla, this is where they stay. It was hot as could be, even at 5pm so we didn’t last long and tried to find some air in the garden mazes, but even these were filled with hot air. A beautiful sight to behold indeed. Alllll the details and the multiple peacocks crying throughout the grounds. They’re my new favorite animal sound 🦚

catedral de Sevilla, Spain 🇪🇸 One of the largest churches in the world and one of many we’ve seen now that have gone thr...
26/05/2024

catedral de Sevilla, Spain 🇪🇸

One of the largest churches in the world and one of many we’ve seen now that have gone through the changes of time and ruling between being a place of worship for Muslims as a mosque and a Catholic Church when the Spanish took over ruling the city. just like the Haga Sofia in Istanbul which it rivals as largest religious center in the world. Today, haga Sofia firmly planted as a place of worship for Muslims and the Sevilla cathedral for Catholics.

At this cathedral, many notable Spaniards are buried here, but also one sticks out more than the rest, an Italian by the name of Christopher Columbus. His body held in a prominent area of the church inside of a box held by 4 male statues representing his conquerings. As we learned, Columbus requested money for explorations from the king multiple times, being denied every one until the kings territory had grown. Rich and delighted with newfound glory, he finally granted Columbus’ wish. And hence, 4 more voyages to find and conquer the new world. We learned by his last voyage he was not praised upon his return and died a lonely and poor man. Maybe that’s karma.

But the cathedral itself is glorious. Can’t even imagine what the sounds of the organs must be like inside that grand space. We took the hike up 35 stories to the bell tower, a raised platform so that the king could be rolled up to the top saving him from having to walk up actual stairs.

Traveling through Europe is a whole different animal than when I was in my 20’s. Everything requires advanced tickets and often times they’re sold out. Which was the case for the cathedral and it’s times entry options. However, there was an option to simply wait in a line. Thankfully, on this day, it wasn’t too painful and we only waited about 30 minutes before entering this incredible space.

Sevilla, Spain 🇪🇸 There’s nothing like first impressions. We arrived in this town in the late afternoon following our ca...
25/05/2024

Sevilla, Spain 🇪🇸

There’s nothing like first impressions. We arrived in this town in the late afternoon following our car map directions which led us straight into the tiny and maze like old town of extremely narrow streets. We had just inches from the sides of our car and the walls of residences and bars. Scratches and chunks taken out of walls and corners as years of cars trying to weave through these streets left their marks when they couldn’t quite make their way through. We got hip to the game & got out of there unscathed, parked our car in a lot and walked ourselves in instead. We immediately dropped our bags at our Airbnb & set out to get our bearings by walking the streets.

What an absolutely gorgeous city! The moor influence is everywhere, old beautifully ordained buildings with iron balconies and decorations, walls and undersides of balconies outfitted with tiles made right here in town. Sevilla and all of Andalusia is known for their tile work and it is shown all over town. Unlike Portugal where entire sides of buildings were covered with patterned tile, here it’s used more to create signs or religious scenes on building walls.

As is the way in Spain, people are hanging out in squares, cafes, everywhere they can to meet their friends and have a drink or a snack. Tapas and sangria are staples here, cheeses and meats, gazpacho and seafood. People are just out, starting in the early afternoon to the wee hours of the night.

On this night, Peter and I got a rare chance to go out sans kids. Our Airbnb being right in the heart of the old town, we were able to sit in a square, stare at a beautiful salmon colored church, listen to flamenco singers make their way through the squares and relish in glasses of sangria and tinto de Verano (wine with soda water) and lean into this Spanish way of just enjoying ourselves in the company of fellow Sevillans. We’re back in Spain 🇪🇸

Day 292 Lagos, Portugal 🇵🇹 Pretty sure Lagos is considered “the big town” compared to our little Alvor that we’re stayin...
24/05/2024

Day 292

Lagos, Portugal 🇵🇹

Pretty sure Lagos is considered “the big town” compared to our little Alvor that we’re staying in. With the wind and chill being too strong to hit the beach, we decided to check out this neighboring town and see what it was all about.

Yep, just like every other Portuguese city we’ve stopped in so far, charming as could be! Beautiful cobblestone streets, grand paseos, colorful street art, and since we’re in the Algarve, a gorgeous beach.

Lagos seems to be a little looser than most towns we’ve been in, the murals a little grander, and little more punch and the international tourism crowd a little more varied and larger in volume. Seems to be no matter where you are in the area, you find a beautiful beach to sneak off into

Day 290 Alvor, Portugal 🇵🇹 We’ve heard of the lure of the algarve area of Portugal and peters even been here before. But...
23/05/2024

Day 290

Alvor, Portugal 🇵🇹

We’ve heard of the lure of the algarve area of Portugal and peters even been here before. But with his faded memory from two decades ago and lots of coastline to choose from, it was a little overwhelming to find our place in this serene coastline to settle for a few days. Always looking to be away from the high rises and big crowds , this actually became a challenge when trying to figure out where to settle. We landed on this town called Alvor. It seemed like it had a cute little old town and wasn’t just a spot in the midst of condo landia.

When we arrived we realized yes, there are also giant high rise hotels and many condos around this area, but our Airbnb was nestled into the old town just 1/2 a block from the main drag filled with sports bars and overpriced food and drink. But also, we had our own roof deck which was its own piece of paradise and a short walk to the beach. Still windy and cold, but the long wooden boardwalks are still very pleasant to walk along and get our feet back in sand and get close to that delicious ocean water. Spring must be coming, it must be.

While the wind whips outside, we’ve found ourselves cozy inside and remembering how to cook and draw again. We all needed a bit of a pause and this has been just the respite that we needed

Lisbon! I just can’t quit you 💗
22/05/2024

Lisbon!

I just can’t quit you 💗

Day 288 Lisbon, I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s one of those places that gets implanted in your heart and continue...
22/05/2024

Day 288

Lisbon, I can’t stop thinking about you. It’s one of those places that gets implanted in your heart and continues to live there, only getting stronger with time away from it.

Lisbon has easily moved up to one of our favorite cities on this trip. All over town we were seeing painting and billboards of carnations. When we looked it up we found that April 25, 1974 is known as the date of the carnation revolution. A military coup to overthrow the dictatorship and began democracy and the end to their colonial rule around the world. A million Portuguese returned from these colonies known as the retornados. The carnation name came from the fact that the coup was virtually non violent and one woman who began passing out carnations to soldiers that then spread like wildfire for everyone to throw carnations everywhere.

This is definitely a town we wished we’d spent more time in. And now know, we need to come back 💗

Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹 Oh, this city and all its beautiful tile 🤩
20/05/2024

Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹

Oh, this city and all its beautiful tile 🤩

Day 287 Pt 2 Lisbon on a Friday afternoon Wow, what an absolutely gorgeous city! We are enamored already, even after jus...
19/05/2024

Day 287 Pt 2

Lisbon on a Friday afternoon

Wow, what an absolutely gorgeous city! We are enamored already, even after just a few hours here. The trolleys, the tile, the stairs, the squares, the fountains, the colors, the peacocks, the hills, the views, the cobblestone streets, what’s not to love?!

Day 287 Cascais, Portugal 🇵🇹 A delightful seaside town of Cascais. Our Airbnb in Sintra was covered in mold, the host kn...
19/05/2024

Day 287

Cascais, Portugal 🇵🇹

A delightful seaside town of Cascais. Our Airbnb in Sintra was covered in mold, the host knew it and worked with us and Airbnb to relocate us to another place where we could breathe freely. This took us to the town of Cascais instead.

Peter had a distinct memory of coming here in his youth and swimming in the waters here. However, once we arrived, nothing was familiar and in fact, quite possible he was thinking about an entirely different town.

Regardless, happy to spend some time in this super cute town. Rain, wind, sun. The pattern here has been the same. Still too cold to swim here, but you can see that this is a great town to come for a weekend in the summer and stroll its cobblestone streets and swim at the small beach in town. There is also the nicest, biggest grocery store we’ve seen in a long while. The little things that become exciting while traveling. If we had more time, we would definitely spend some extra days here. Every Portuguese town has been so charming

Day 286 Sintra, Portugal 🇵🇹 A hilltop town that seems it’s taken straight out of a fairytale book. Small square stone si...
17/05/2024

Day 286

Sintra, Portugal 🇵🇹

A hilltop town that seems it’s taken straight out of a fairytale book. Small square stone sidewalks, often times set in beautiful patterns, mazes of streets leading to colorful castles, bustling streets or nature trails through the hillside.

You can see how this town was absolutely magical when it was simply draped in fog and trees and just the inhabitants here allowed to live in its mystical lore. Today however, it was been very discovered and some parts I felt were like the “portoguese town” at the Epcot center (I haven’t been to the Epcot center since I was 12 so this may be off, but you get the point) tourists streets are picture perfect with colorful tiles and lots of vinho verde being slung all around. But getting off the main streets and you can still get that feeling of magic lingering in this town.

The moor accents, the castles, the renaissance bars with cats that chill with you, the patterned streets and sidewalks , the painted fountains and walls, the tiled buildings and cobblestone streets, the public sculptures, the painted doors that seem like they would open up into a portal to another time, this is Sintra

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Málaga

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