2024-03-19 19:15
Here be photos from two rounds of eating at CHAMA, a Porto restaurant with no menu but loads of personality, a wood oven, and lively staff.…
Restaurante CHAMA: With Food and Friends… Read More
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Gail At Large | A Canadian In Portugal, Travelling The World Blog
gailatlarge.com
Gail Aguiar, Canadian photographer blogging since 2002, highlighting Porto + Portugal since 2013. 4x expat, 30 years of mostly solo travel so far.
2024-02-18 19:57
We explored the Occitania region of southeastern France for a week at the beginning of October 2023. Here's a gallery of highlights from the trip.…
Vignettes From A Week In Occitania… Read More
2023-12-31 21:29
A post from the road, can you believe it?…
Happy New Year From Vietnam! Read More
2023-09-10 16:10
A short but sweet getaway to Vienna, where I reunited with some of my closest Canadian friends to be tourists together.…
A Reunion In Vienna Read More
2023-08-26 11:57
Two Embassy runs later, I have a new passport and fresh pictures of Lisbon (post-renovations).…
Fresh Lisbon Pics, Thanks To A New Passport Read More
2023-07-28 15:48
If you clicked through to this post expecting to hear me prattle on about the beauty of Barcelona, the architectural curiosity that is Park Güell and the other modernist works of Anton… Read More
2023-06-23 06:55
Armenia is an unheralded destination for tourism as it is a small country, too small to publicize itself to a large degree.…
Snippets of Armenia Read More
2023-05-13 12:17
That deep Mediterranean blue called to me last month. I'd be crazy to say no!…
Scenes From Sardinia Read More
2023-03-09 11:09
A February day trip to Gerês, Portugal's national park.…
A Winter Day Trip to Gerês Read More
2023-01-29 13:55
2022 was a milestone year for many reasons, so why did the blog go silent?…
What Happened To 2022? Read More
2021-12-05 09:21
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from July 2020.
Source Read More
2021-11-30 03:38
Is there such a thing as a Seven-Year Itch for living in a foreign country? If so, I've passed it.
8 Years In Portugal Read More
2021-10-31 15:53
According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, Senhor Ice is Middle Age in human years. He's definitely slowing down, but still adventuring during the pandemic.
Seven Years of Ice Read More
2021-09-07 01:59
A wedding at a church, outdoor café tables brimming with people, kids riding around on scooters… my little corner of Europe feels more like the “days of yore” (pre… Read More
2021-08-09 02:10
We were in Ponte de Lima last weekend to celebrate Paulo's birthday — and by celebrating, I mean the 2021 version of celebrating, which is just leaving the house.
Scenes From Ponte de… Read More
2021-07-28 05:10
Commemorating 19 years of Gail at Large.
19th Blogiversary Read More
2021-06-29 01:39
COVID birthday trip #2 is officially done and dusted! Just like the first COVID birthday last year, it was a mix of wonderful and strange. (After three COVID tests since April, I really don… Read More
2021-05-10 22:24
This post is to give a glimpse of Caldas da Rainha through a smattering of photos I took around town, pre-pandemic. Caldas is known for its fabulous produce market, by the way. It's also we… Read More
2021-04-11 15:54
How do you know when you've been away a long time? When you arrive home and your neighbours greet you with: "Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy Easter!"
Home Sweet Home Read More
2021-03-07 18:24
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from June 2020.
#EverydayPortugal, Month 19 Read More
2021-02-10 18:50
My father saw this device on TV and decided he couldn't live without it.
Eldercare 101: Nasal Hygiene Needs Supervision Read More
2021-01-31 12:04
If 2020 made me greyer, January 2021 already turned one eyebrow white.
Making Time Count While The Pandemic Rages Read More
2021-01-31 12:04
If 2020 made me greyer, January 2021 already turned one eyebrow white.
Making Time Count While The Pandemic Rages On Read More
2020-12-31 23:45
Filing this post under: Things I Could Not Have Predicted One Year Ago Yes, that is a pinball machine. I’m quarantined in what I like to call “The Clubhouse” situated on a… Read More
2020-12-25 23:57
The title of this post is a nod to the Christmas classic made famous by Andy Williams’ dulcet tones. I’m sure there are a zillion covers of it, but his voice is the one I associ… Read More
2020-12-17 05:46
Yes, there is a village in Portugal with the current misfortune of a name that’s reviled in the world right now. We passed through Covide a bit less than two months ago, which in 2020… Read More
2020-12-03 15:56
Here's to you, dear Helma. The world is a less funny place without you in it.
Helma-isms Read More
2020-11-08 13:08
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from May 2020.
#EverydayPortugal, Month 18 Read More
2020-11-01 02:09
This post about tips for Americans moving to Portugal started off partly as a joke, written mostly in one sitting and in the form of a Public Service Announcement. I scribbled most of the i… Read More
2020-10-30 14:53
With nearly the same number of years in Portugal as I had in Toronto, Portugal still holds far more novelty these days, but it's taken more than a few weeks for the anniversary to sink in an… Read More
2020-09-27 12:14
Capela do Senhor da Pedra, aka the Chapel at Miramar Beach, is one of my most favourite places in the Porto area but visiting it wasn't the original plan that day.The Chapel At Miramar And B… Read More
2020-09-23 03:05
August was an intense work month and towards the end of it I was in dire need of flora, fauna, and photography to recalibrate. Cue Serra da Freita!A Weekend Escape To Serra da Freita Read More
2020-09-16 00:10
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from April 2020.#EverydayPortugal, Month 17 Read More
2020-09-11 04:03
This post is brought to you by fine end-of-summer day beside the Rio Douro and a freshly-cleaned camera, which for me is every bit as satisfying as driving around in a freshly-cleaned car.A… Read More
2020-08-24 06:14
A beach break for a few hours before I had to go back to work was suddenly of the utmost importance. I also wanted a francesinha and a beer.A Beach Break Read More
2020-08-16 04:41
I'm excited by the recent crop of Asian restaurants bravely opening in Porto during less-than-ideal times for the restaurant industry. Olá Vietnam is one of them!Olá Vietnam: A… Read More
2020-07-30 22:50
In the spirit of morale-boosting, I'm taking these unpublished Lisbon summer photos and putting them up to remind us that pandemic measures won't last forever.As of July 30, Lisbon and Tejo… Read More
2020-07-28 22:00
18th Blogiversary, achievement unlocked! What does reaching 18 years mean for a blog? Let's say the "age of majority" allows it to vote other blogs off the internet. And buy its own booze.18… Read More
2020-07-26 17:22
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from March 2020.#EverydayPortugal, Month 16 Read More
2020-07-25 19:40
The evolution of Casa do Penedo ("Stone House"), an unusual house made of four boulders in the mountains of Fafe, near Cabeceiras de Basto.The Evolution of Casa do Penedo, Serra de Fafe Read More
2020-07-24 02:52
There are windmills all over Portugal, but I picked this ordinary one for the post because it seemed fitting that the Longfellow poem would accompany a simple windmill in the middle of the c… Read More
2020-07-20 22:54
My random list of 48 Things that brought me to 48 — the good, bad, and ugly.48 Things At 48: Gains, Losses, Floundering, and Some Surprises Read More
2020-07-05 13:38
My vote yesterday for a day trip to Minho was for a part Beach Day, part Explore Towns Day because it was too hot to do just one or the other.A Day Trip To Minho For Tourism Lite Read More
2020-07-01 18:41
Nothing beats a road trip around Portugal when it feels like you've got the whole place to yourselves!A Road Trip Around Portugal: 8 Districts In 8 Days Read More
2020-06-26 14:37
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from February 2020.#EverydayPortugal, Month 15 Read More
2020-06-17 22:58
I'm in the middle of my vacation, and I'm posting photos and videos of my dog taking a boat ride in Lagos. Why? Because the internet doesn't have enough Ice the Dog...Take A Boat Ride In Lag… Read More
2020-06-09 22:28
Nearly three years ago, I stepped up to answer this "Canada or Portugal?" question on the popular Q&A website, Quora. It was mostly to illustrate why "X or Y" falls far short of satisfyi… Read More
2020-06-04 16:18
"Oh, you're one of THOSE people," said the person seated to my left at the birthday dinner on Friday night as he watched me point my phone light at the plate of deconfinement sushi.Deconfine… Read More
2020-05-25 22:30
Maybe this is just all too much for Porto: empty streets, empty restaurants and cafés, stores closed, no festivals or tourists.An Eerily Vacant Porto Read More
2020-05-24 19:16
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from December 2019.#EverydayPortugal, Month 14 Read More
2020-05-18 01:21
If you asked me what my favourite hangout spot is in Lisbon, a major contender would have to be Livraria Ler Devagar in LXFactory. Thing is, it defies an easy description.Livraria Ler Devaga… Read More
2020-05-12 02:06
There's no better time than the present to do some Mediterranean armchair travel back to Malta and Gozo.Let’s Armchair Travel To Malta and Gozo In 50 Photos Read More
2020-05-10 20:59
Outside of Brazil, many people know about the Cristo Rei statue in Almada across the river from Lisbon, fewer people know about the one in Madeira, but we were surprised to discover a third… Read More
2020-05-03 09:04
Rojões is one of those traditional Portuguese dishes that forces you to open all the windows, crank up the ventilation fan, and shut the door to the kitchen while you're cooking. We l… Read More
2020-05-01 15:12
Coastal Portugal has its own winter charm, and Nazaré is one of those places that turn up the charm in winter. I've listed some major points about why Nazaré is enjoyable in of… Read More
2020-04-27 16:43
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from November 2019.SourcePossibly Related Posts:#Ever… Read More
2020-04-24 02:16
I'm no Domestic Goddess, but I've made some of the best meals of my life in the past six weeks (partly by chance, I'm sure).SourcePossibly Related Posts:Arroz de Polvo (Octopus Rice) I arri… Read More
2020-04-19 14:06
I'm not kidding when I say the island of Corvo in the Azores is tiny. At 17.1 km² (4 km long, 6.3 km wide), it's the smallest island in the Azores and Vila do Corvo is the smallest muni… Read More
2020-04-11 02:07
Forte de São João Baptista das Berlengas was previously a monastery before its remains were used to construct a fortress in the 17th century.SourcePossibly Related Posts:Penich… Read More
2020-04-08 18:59
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from October 2019.SourcePossibly Related Posts:#Every… Read More
2020-03-30 23:30
What happens to a once-wealthy German mining town in the Namib desert when its inhabitants decide to chase diamonds elsewhere? These pictures will show you the effects of about six decades o… Read More
2020-03-29 02:16
Sintra is renowned for its palaces and vestiges of royalty, but I highly recommend taking a break from that to visit the Museu do Ar (Air Museum) in Pêro Pinheiro.SourcePossibly Relate… Read More
2020-03-21 13:25
Are you searching for information about how Portugal is handling COVID-19 and having a tough time finding information in English? You're not alone.SourcePossibly Related Posts:Things To Avoi… Read More
2020-03-20 12:20
What I really should be doing: learning Portuguese. What I am doing: writing quarantine-related haikus for Ice the Dog.SourcePossibly Related Posts:Spring In Vancouver … it doesn&rs&hell…Read More
2020-03-17 03:43
We returned a few days ago from a tour of four Azorean islands, three of which were new to us: Corvo, Faial, and Flores.SourcePossibly Related Posts:Don’t Cut The Flowers! I was admir… Read More
2020-03-14 23:50
The Everyday Portugal series consists of little anecdotes about living in Portugal, accompanied by a phone picture. This is the round-up from September 2019.SourcePossibly Related Posts:#Eve… Read More
2020-03-05 02:21
Now that March is here and winter is winding down, meals are getting brighter and more colourful with all the fruit and vegetables waking up for their season (including my in-laws’ avo… Read More
2020-02-29 13:21
I've written about the northern beaches of Porto before, including Angeiras Norte, but this will be the first post when I combine street art with beachy pictures in this particular location… Read More
2020-02-22 01:17
As Ice the Dog grows older, the more his Fan Club grows in size. This furry creature is SO POPULAR!SourcePossibly Related Posts:The Stepping Stone Bridge In Chaves There’s a fun stepp… Read More
2020-02-08 09:03
Two weekends ago I was in Cascais for four days for work, with a side dash to Alfama in Lisbon for dinner one night and a long oceanside stroll another day. I even had a chance to patronize… Read More
2020-02-05 03:32
I may be too busy to blog these days, but I’m never too busy to eat. My Instagram Stories are well-known for featuring food, from restaurant fare to home-cooked meals, but I have to ad… Read More
2020-01-21 04:23
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2020-01-06 09:27
I’m piping up after a long absence from the blog to greet everyone a Happy New Year from chilly Boston, at the end of a busy and meaningful three-week trip divided between the USA and… Read More
2019-11-15 10:48
Just before we went to Namibia in June, I attended an annual conference that was hosted by JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) Portugal with other JRS groups in Europe working and volunteering with… Read More
2019-10-27 23:57
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2019-10-10 02:52
Summertime in Lisbon means heat, humidity, and crowds. But you know where you can cool off, take panorama shots, and get some peace from the buzz of Rua Augusta? At the top of the arch. When… Read More
2019-09-30 14:09
Yesterday was my 6-Year Anniversary in Portugal. You might’ve noticed that I wrote summary posts at the Year 1 and 2 marks and then the anniversary posts morphed into something else, l… Read More
2019-09-25 02:33
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2019-09-17 00:15
Last Friday, I brought my camera to dinner in Porto to shake off the proverbial cobwebs and do some night shooting. Unfortunately, I grabbed the camera and walked out the door without checki… Read More
2019-09-02 05:26
We’ve just returned from more than a week of exploring some new-to-me regions of Spain with Ice the Dog, who happily rolled in Spanish dirt and grass every day like a furry Portuguese… Read More
2019-08-09 11:34
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2019-08-02 03:41
17 is a significant number around Casa Aguiar these days. The blog turned 17 on July 28, but the bigger news is that Paulo is leaving his workplace after 17 years and going to a new job in a… Read More
2019-07-14 02:46
I’m an unabashed bridge nerd on occasion, especially when people compare one bridge to another mainly because of its colour, something that annoyed me enough to compile a 700-word post… Read More
2019-07-12 08:55
What can I say about our trip to Namibia? It was like being inside a National Geographic program! Is there anything more adorable than baby elephants taking a bath? (Don’t answer that… Read More
2019-07-04 01:04
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2019-06-04 12:55
I’ve written twice before about the tiny-but-mighty medieval fair of Moreira da Maia, and my fondness towards these small community events only grows over time.Sure, I’ve been bo… Read More
2019-05-27 13:25
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2019-05-22 02:48
My cameras have been gathering dust lately (cringe), but I have a cache of morning sky photos from January when I pulled too many all-nighters before the Asia trip. I also have a batch of ev… Read More
2019-05-09 01:39
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists… Read More
2019-05-02 22:55
This interview is an excerpt from the ebook Gypsy of the skies: Expat stories from around the world (Kindle edition published April 2019) by author Juliet Sullivan, of The X-Pat Files blog… Read More
2019-04-20 22:55
If you ask the folks in Lisbon and the Algarve what the weather in the north of Portugal is like, you’ll hear reports of gloomy rain, overcast days, and colder temperatures.
For th… Read More
2019-04-13 22:55
How many calories must be consumed to find the tastiest blast of calories? This is an age-old question, my friends. I’m a lifelong researcher, and this is not a diet blog.
My person… Read More
2019-04-09 22:55
This past weekend in Sintra/Cascais was originally organized around a work trip then morphed into something quite different in the end, but we returned with a mountain of images from two cam… Read More
2019-04-03 04:03
I’d love to show you more photos of my recent trip, but if I wait much longer to post the photos, I won’t remember where I took them! I can’t forget the photo above, though… Read More
2019-03-26 02:57
If you’ve been wondering if I’d fallen off the face of the earth, you wouldn’t be the only one! I didn’t quite fall off, but I did go to the other side of the planet… Read More
2019-02-01 01:00
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists… Read More
2019-01-18 23:55
At the end of October 2018 I started a weekly series on my Facebook page called Everyday Portugal, with a hashtag so I could find the collection. The series consists of little anecdotes abou… Read More
2018-12-31 23:55
We closed out the year around the Ria de Aveiro, then the sand dunes of Praia da Torreira where Ice the Dog ran his little heart out. As you can see, we had the beach nearly to ourselves and… Read More
2018-12-30 23:55
This third and final installment of Christmas photos grew and grew, because I kept adding more places with lights and skating rinks and decorations. Driving around the countryside, it’… Read More
2018-12-29 23:55
The second installment of Christmas 2018 photos: when the sun beckoned us to the beach on Christmas morning. (Well, I beckoned us to the beach but need to give credit to where credit is due… Read More
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