I can not believe we have just completed our third pet sit. This type of travel can be very addictive. However, this will be our last pet sit till July. Our next adventure will be to the States for our daughter’s wedding in May!!!

This pet sit was located on the beautiful Silver Coast again. Our last pet sit was only about 40 km away from this sit. We love the Silver Coast. The town where we did this pet sit-in was called Caldas da Rainha.

One of the best things about Caldas ( the locals shorten the name to just Caldas ) is its vibrant local market! Every day of the week you can visit an outside market to explore stalls filled with fresh produce and unique artisanal products. It’s a great way to soak up the local culture! We love visiting local markets because you can get a really good vibe of the town by people watching. The market is located in the middle of a beautiful park. The park is called Parque D. Carlos. It’s a lovely spot to unwind, with charming sculptures and fountains that create a peaceful atmosphere. We visited the park on a weekend and it was bustling with activity. What we loved most was watching all the kids play while the parents chatted on a side bench. There was such a peaceful vibe to it. We walked 14,000 steps that day just navigating the park, and the market and got lost looking for a gluten-free place to eat for lunch. We never found that dang gluten-free cafe and then out of pure starvation we went to McDonalds!!!!! McDonalds has a lot of gluten-free here in Europe. ( I did regret it later lol )

The Silver Coast has some stunning beaches like Foz do Arelho and São Martinho do Porto. The weather was a tad cold and rainy, but we did manage to get to the beach and had a lovely glass of wine and a few appetizers while we took in the view. I am telling you, the coastline in Portugal is outstanding and always takes my breath away.

The house we were staying at was in a new development. I think the majority of people who are living in the development are expats. The house was very close to town, which we love. The house was only 2 years old, which we dug as it had a lot of modern conveniences. However, the best part of the house was the view. All we had to do was look out the window and we would see green for days. The forest-like scenery reminded us of Bodega Bay in the Bay Area or someplace in Oregon. When you have green and lots of pastures in Portugal, this can usually mean only one thing. SHEEP! I can not tell you how much pleasure I get from watching and listening to sheep. This was a true treat of the pet sit. Every day I would wait for the sheep to enter the pasture. When I heard them I would race outside and wave to the Shepherd. He spoke 100% Portuguese and would rattle off words to me like we were old friends. I just keep smiling and saying “muito bonito” which means ‘very beautiful” in Portuguese lol. If you follow us on Instagram ( @adventuresoftwoexpats.com ) you will see some of the videos of the sheep.

We did not walk around town as much this sit because we have been in this area before. We did not find a Mexican food place which makes me so sad nor did we find a wine bar lol. This trip we did meet some awesome people with two of the cutest puppies you will ever see, Winston and Alphie. We actually are going to go back and do a pet sit for them later this year.

Pet sitting has been a great adventure for us. Each sit has been different and made an impact on us. We love this way of traveling. If you are at a time in your life when you can do something like this, please check out Trusted Housesitters. Feel free to message us if you have any questions.

PS: One thing I think is so interesting is every pet sit we have done there has been a spiritual theme to the house. As Mike would say, they are woo-woo like you Judy. I LOVE it.