Sagres: It's More Than a Beer

Long, winding roads roaming among the purest of landscapes. Lush, green fields complete with grazing animals and a mosaic of beautiful flora. Quaint villages with a real sense of community. Invigorating scents of natural freshness. All of these elements led to Sagres, the southwestern-most point in Europe.

To put it simply, Sagres did more than just pacify my sense of wonder & imagination. It sounds extremely cliche, but I honestly didn't understand how fulfilling looking out into the vast ocean could truly be. Sun reflecting across the irridescent waters, we were barred by nothing except the edge of enourmous cliffs. It seems as though most elevated coastal views in the US are outlined by some sort of fencing - now, I'm not against safety, but the natural outline of the landscape quietly stated that Sagres was anything but a tourist attraction. Even if by the common definition of the term, it just may be.

A sneak peak at some prime rib views of the namesake of a delicious brew:


*Defenders of the Fortaleza de Sagres!


*Imposing cliffs of Sagres..


*Voila! The photo that made us famous. Thank you, Improper Bostonian!

"We are the famous"

Let's quickly hop aboard the "Straight Talk Express" (not an endorsement of the McCain / Palin campaign - consider it the opposite). Beyond the experiences, one of the best perks of traveling is (what else) bragging about it to your friends. Yes, it can also be fun to spread an interest in traveling by telling people about your amazing stories - but, again it is really all about the bragging. I hate to admit it, but in some cases word of mouth and email just aren't good enough.

After a recent trip to Portugal and Morocco, my friend Lauren became obsessed with going that extra mile in the quest to prove to as many people as possible that we had gone on a really freaking sweet vacation. A local magazine called The Improper Bostonian has a section in each issue which is dedicated to showing pictures of people (some of them actually famous) holding a copy of the "Improper" all around the world. They are typically those types of pictures that make you want to say: "well look at that pompous, bragging d-bag." In an effort to become several of those d-bags, Lauren had us pose in about 30 different strategic spots throughout our trip.


Upon our return, Lauren then promptly submitted a photo to the magazine. Weeks and months passed, and no picture in no magazine. Lauren soon began to feel that the picture that she submitted was too politically incorrect. Judge for yourselves:

(*I think it might be the fact that you can't really see the magazine, so it kind of just looks like we sent a vacation picture)


Never unswayed, Lauren submitted yet another image. Months go by, and NOTHING. Then, one morning I hear a shriek across the wall in our office, and Lauren comes bouncing around the corner. "We're IN THE IMPROPER!!" Although I mask my excitement, and call her a D. - I have to admit, it was purrty dern cool.

Also, purrty dern cool was in the following week getting emails from people I hadn't talked to in years saying they saw our picture in the magazine, and our trip must've been amazing. As Kristen said: "we are the famous now"...and the EGO was the satisfied.