It’s been quite a while since we holiday blogged. The addition to our family of first four legs, then another four somewhat cut short our long international cycle rides. First to arrive was Zoly our smooth haired Hungarian Vizsla, he was just 8 weeks old when he came to live with us (and stole our hearts) in late 2013. 

Jump forward four years and we decided to adopt Jojo a wire haired Vizsla. She’d had quite a life by the time she came to us – she’d been found on the street in Hungary with a nasty broken leg after what was believed to have been a hit and run car incident. She went through months of surgery and recovery all paid for by the amazing charity Vizsla Mentés before she was rehomed in the UK.

Unfortunately things didn’t work out for her in her new home so she was back with foster carers which, is when we met her and fell in love with her fury joy for life. When she came to live with us in January 2017 she was still only using three legs, but after two years of regular running to help rehabilitate her, this super dog is now powering on all four paws. 

Zoly and Jojo make our family complete, but alas despite some attempts with a bike trailer (filled with lots of chicken) Zoly made it very clear he preferred to keep his paws firmly on the ground. So our dreams of cycling holidays with dogs happily watching the world pass by from the comfort of their bike trailers turned out to be just that, a dream. So instead of two wheel adventures we’ve discovered the joys of dog friendly campsites, and with the help of our wonderful dog walker/sitter Jake, re-kindled our mini-break trips to European cities. Which brings us neatly to Lisbon, where we’ve come to escape the grey and drizzle of early March in the UK.

As I’m sure you know Lisbon (or Lisboa as the locals say) is the capital of Portugal. As capital cities go, this one has got to be one of the most chilled out there is, it has a distinctly ‘shabby-chic’ feel about it, perfect for a chilled out weekend break. And for those of you who love their Eurovision facts (that’d be me then!) last year Lisbon hosted the 63rd Eurovision Song Contest following the countrie’s first ever win. Singer/songwriter Salvador Sobral won the 2017 edition in Kyiv with his song Amar Pelos Dois. Although Portugal had never won the contest before, it does have one rather unique Eurovision claim to fame. In 1974 Portugal’s entry “E depois do adeus” was used as the first of the two signals to launch the Carnation Revolution. So there you have it, Eurovision is revolutionary – fact.