Portugal | East of Málaga

JANUARY: I kicked off the year by fulfilling one of my long awaited “Bucket List” dreams – to see the New Year fireworks over Sydney Harbour, Australia! If you want to see what I saw, click HERE!

FEBRUARY: By now, I had moved on to New Zealand. This is the view from Mt. Paku, a twin-coned volcanic peak dominating the head of Tairua Harbour on the east coast of the Coromandel peninsula, New Zealand. See what I saw by clicking HERE.

MARCH: If you had been in my shoes, you would have been in Melbourne, Australia, sitting by the Yarra River. I was there for the opening race of the Formula One motor-racing season – well I am a petrol-head! Join me for a look around beautiful Melbourne, HERE.

APRIL: Time to head home to the white, mountain village of Cómpeta, east of Málaga. Behind the village you can see the highest mountain in this part of the world, Mount Maroma. Let me show you around the village, HERE.

MAY: My birthday treat was a few days away in Seville, the fourth largest city in Spain and capital of Andalucía. Seville is well known for religious festivals, flamenco, world-class tapas and sherry drinking, but did you know that the tomb of Christopher Columbus is inside Seville Cathedral? See the city for yourself, HERE.

JUNE: Whenever we have visitors come to stay, I always take them to the pretty, white village of Frigiliana. If you watch THIS VIDEO of the village, you can practice your Spanish, too!

JULY: Situated in Jaen province, Andalucía and crammed full of Renaissance architecture, the towns of Baeza and Úbeda celebrated the 10th anniversary of being granted UNESCO World Heritage status. The towns offered a special accommodation deal over a ten day period of only 10 euros per person each night. How could I resist?! To see what you missed, look HERE.

AUGUST: This is the month of the Málaga Fair – and OH BOY – the city sure knows how to party! In the above photo you can see the elegant pedestrianised shopping street of Calle Marqués de Larios transformed into a huge party venue, full of people dressed up, dancing and having fun! Watch the video and join in the fun HERE.

SEPTEMBER: A trip to the nearby town of Nerja happens every month, and it’s always a pleasure to stroll along the scenic promenade adorned with palm trees and exotic plants to the Balcón de Europa. Indeed, in a few days I will be seeing in the New Year 2014 in this very place. If you want to see more of Nerja, click HERE.

OCTOBER: Porto, the vineyards of the Douro Valley and Lisbon, Portugal were my destinations in October. Even though the weather was showery for most of the time, there were plenty of places to get out of the way and enjoy the cakes! Here you can see one of the iconic Lisbon trams. There’s an introduction to Portugal, HERE.

NOVEMBER: At the end of the month, I began a 16 day trip to the German Christmas markets (another Bucket List dream) as well as to Prague in the Czech Republic and Budapest, Hungary. First stop was Nuremberg for the Christkindlesmarkt, the oldest of the German Christmas markets. If you’d like a stroll around the market with me, click HERE.

DECEMBER: My final destination of the year allowed me to cross off my third Bucket List item this year – Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. As the train from Munich got nearer to Fussen, snow began to appear – making for a picture-perfect scene. I couldn’t have wished for a more wonderful day! I hope you will join me HERE to learn more about the structure on which Walt Disney modelled his fairy-tale castle.

Where have you been this year? Where are you hoping to go in 2014? Do you have a “Bucket List”?

We often look forward, left and right, lively or on the bright side – but how about trying a new perspective?

The theme for this month’s CBBH Photo Challenge is LOOKING DOWN. Tell me what you see.

Don’t forget that the CBBH Photo Challenge is a little different from some other challenges, in two ways. First, it’s only once a month – giving you lots of time to consider your entry before the end of the calendar month. Second, and most important, this is a BLOG HOP (after all, it is the CBBH – Conejo Blanco Blog Hop, meaning white rabbit in Spanish), so DON’T FORGET that in your post you need to add links to two blogs that you have visited and commented on during the past month. That way, when we visit each other, we can HOP OVER to your links, connect with others and share a little blog love around!

SPOILER: SCROLL DOWN FOR DETAILS OF HOW TO GET MY $25 THANK YOU GIFT – FOR EACH ONE OF YOU!

I’ve just returned home after spending ten days in Portugal, split between the cities of Porto and Lisbon, so my photos for this month’s CBBH Challenge are all from this trip. The first photo was taken from the top of the Torre Dos Clérigos in Porto. The views across the city are spectacular and here you can see the famous Sandeman Port Cellars on the other side of the River Douro.

This was my view looking down from the iconic Dom Luis I bridge, spanning the River Douro. Here you can see one of the rabelo boats – traditional Portugese cargo boats used for transporting goods and people along the river. These boats do not not exist in any other place of the world and their history is closely linked to the production and trade of port wine.

During my stay, I was fortunate to take a train ride into the Douro Valley wine region. The Douro river route is surely one of the great European journeys, as well as being one of the most scenic – a 200 kilometre ride or stately cruise from Porto all the way to the Spanish border. This was my view looking down the river. Gorgeous, isn’t it?

After riding to the top, I got the chance to capture the view looking down the 45 metre shaft of the Elevador de Santa Justa, the only remaining vertical, urban lift in the city of Lisbon. At one time steam-powered, the lift connects the lower streets of the Baixa district with the higher Largo do Carmo.

The Christ the King statue is a Catholic monument and shrine looking down over the city of Lisbon. Inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Cristo-Rei was erected to symbolize gratitude that the Portuguese were spared the effects of World War II.

On my journey to northern Portugal, I was invited to stay with fellow expat blogger, Sue, of The Hidden Spain at her home in Alange, Extremadura. Sue posts wonderful photos every day on her Twitter account, not only of the spectacular view from her home, but also of Mr. Moon looking down on us all. My camera is nowhere near as good as Sue’s, and all of my previous attempts to capture this kind of image have failed. However, she let me use her camera! Just look at those craters on the moon! Thanks Sue xx

My Featured Blog Links for this month:

*** Sandra Danby is a writer and journalist living in a secret valley in the heart of the Spanish countryside. Her blog, Notes on a Spanish Valley, paints a vivid picture with tales of her daily feast of nature, wildlife and food, surrounded by wild land, olive groves and forests of encima oak trees grazed by Iberian black pigs. I love Sandra’s recipes including Spanish “bruschetta” for tea and sweet, home-grown stewed plums for breakfast.

Another great feature of each of the posts on Notes on a Spanish Valley is the “5 to remember” – five useful Spanish words associated with the post. It’s always good to learn new Spanish words. Why not hop over and say HOLA?!

*** I make no excuse for once again featuring Kiva, a non-profit organization close to my heart, with a mission to connect people through lending, to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world. Learn more about how it works.

Kiva gives you the chance to make small loans to borrowers working to start businesses and improve their lives. I’m already a Kiva lender and as a way of saying thank you for your support of my blog, I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER YOU A $25 FREE TRIAL.

To redeem your Free Trial all you have to do is CLICK THIS LINK and choose who to lend your money to – BUT HURRY – THERE IS A LIMITED NUMBER OF FREE TRIALS. IT WON’T COST YOU A PENNY – I PROMISE! Kiva will notify me if any of my readers take up a Free Trial, but I’d love you to still let me know in the Comment section, below.

TOGETHER, LET’S TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS MONTH!

So that´s the CBBH Photo Challenge for November, everyone!

Remember, all you have to do is post your entry by the end of the month, tag your entry ‘CBBH Photo Challenge’, link back to this blog and, most importantly, don´t forget to add links to any two blogs that you´ve commented on during the past month, so that we can all HOP OVER and have a look. Make sure you FOLLOW THIS BLOG so you don´t miss next month’s exciting challenge!

For more information on how the CBBH Photo Challenge works click here.

I hope everyone taking part enjoys the exposure the CBBH Photo Challenge offers to featured blogs and, who knows, you may end up finding a new favourite! I´m looking forward to seeing your interpretations.

[CBBH logo Image credit: (cc) Mostly Dans]