A Day Trip to Mafra

New Years Eve, we all headed outside of Lisbon about 20 minutes to a town called Mafra. Mafra is known for its old palace and monastery, which is now being occupied by the military and the country. There is so much history in this country, I am always amazed to learn something new about this place everyday.



 

 One of the many relics we saw.

the centre court grounds

The ceilings and the artwork were incredible.

The Librairy - the monks here used to bind all of these books themselves.

For lunch, we headed to Ericeira, which is about 10 min away from Mafra. The beautiful part of being in Ericeira was being able to be at the ocean. I have been waiting to visit the ocean here since the day we arrived and 2 days ago it came true! It was not beach weather, but that did not stop me from going in. The socks and shoes came off, the jeans were rolled up as high as I could get them and I enjoyed the water. The Atlantic ocean is not exactly warm this time of year, but it was not too bad. I have endured colder water temperatures at the cottage in the spring and fall in comparison to here.

Seeing as we were by the ocean, us girls took the opportunity to do a mini-photoshoot together. My pants ended up being quite wet due to the waves, but it was SO worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.