Last year, I took a little trip to Portugal and thought Lisbon was the bee's knees. It's a super cool city with endless design shops, amazing food, and plenty of sunshine. I can't wait to find a good excuse to go back. But what I might've left out was how completely in love I fell with the countryside down south in Alentejo and along the Algarve coast.

On our way south from Lisbon, we stopped at every parque natural we could find and every last one was as gorgeous as the last. Coming home every night to a farm in Odemira, we explored the coast from Sines to Lagos. We hiked out to see the pounding surf and took long walks along the dunes. We drove through so many tiny whitewashed villages and took the long way home. We ate simply grilled fish and hearty seafood stews. Did I mention the wine?

You should find an excuse to go there, too. Be still my heart.

All photos shot with either my Pentax 645N & Kodak Portra 400 or my iPhone.

Portra just loves that Portuguese sunshine.