Portugal Movement Excursion
Movement, Magic, & Memories: Our Portugal Excursion 2025
If you followed along on Instagram @Pilates4Fitness, you know that part of October was not spent in the usual spaces. Instead, I proudly joined a colleague and co-led our movement practice across the Atlantic, trading the four walls for the golden cliffs, tiled streets, and endless horizons of Portugal.
From October 11th thru 18th, we embarked on a movement excursion that was about so much more than just exercise. It was about exploring the angles of a new landscape and finding new curves within ourselves.
The Setting: Angles & Azulejos
Portugal in October was perfect —the light is softer, the air crisp, and the ocean is a deep, inviting blue. We arrived with open hearts and ready bodies.
Portugal challenged each of us in the best way possible. Whether we were navigating the steep walk up to our daily movement classes, the cobblestoned hills of Lisbon (a glute workout that requires no reformer) or finding our center on a mat overlooking the reflecting pool, the environment became our apparatus.
Highlight: Our morning mat session on the hill terrace. There is something profoundly grounding about "hugging the center line" when the horizon line is right there in front of you.
Morning Pilates Mat
We didn't just leave our stress at the airport; we moved it out of our bodies.The week was dedicated to Movement Therapy. We slowed down. We focused on the breath. We worked on the spine using the yoga bolsters in place of the spine corrector, used that core to truly ride horseback and enjoyed each other poolside chatting about travel and life.
One of my favorite sessions was sunset movement with my co-lead Anayra Calderon, we enjoyed the light and her voice to move our bodies and use our balance and stabilizers. It was a reminder that both Pilates and Yoga aren't just a series of exercises; but a way of carrying yourself through the world—tall, aligned, and resilient.
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We wrapped up our days chasing sunsets. Portugal gave us some spectacular ones. There is nothing quite like sitting by an infinity pool, watching the sky turn from blue to fiery orange, silhouetting the tall grass.
The Nourishment: A Taste of the Good Life
You can't talk about Portugal without talking about the food. Part of the "Pilates Lifestyle" is enjoying life’s pleasures, and we certainly did that.
We fueled our movement with fresh Mediterranean flavors— foods prepared specially for us by our private chef; grilled fish, chicken and/veggies, vibrant salads, homemade dressing and yes, the occasional Pastel de Nata (because balance!). We toasted our progress with local Vinho Verde and shared stories late into the night.
The perfect end to a perfect week. Serenity found.
Unforgettable Experiences
Experiences that I am grateful and blessed to have had the chance, opportunity and gumption to go.
At this writing, I am beginning the planning for an excursion-retreat-escape to Portugal in 2025 with the hopes and intention of keeping a good thing going….traveling and exploring. Planning to co-host a movement excursion with Anayra Calderon, the trip leader for both the Egypt and Morocco trips.
An African Proverb says,
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Want to come?
A few incredibly memorable experiences.
Japan at 30
- Bullet train to Mt Fuji province
- Weekend in Kyoto
Turkey & Paris 2007
- Turkish Tea sitting on the Bosphorus River
- Strolling Taxim Square cafes drinking Raki
Egypt at 65 years
Morocco in 2023
- 5am Sunrise Balloon Ride and Breakfast
- Mountain trek to visit Women’s Cooperative
Costa Rica @ 67
- Afternoon lunch spent in the BLUE Zone Guanacoste province with coffee farmer and his family.
- Costa Rica in the Rain
Costa Rica in the Rain
It rained quite a bit while we were there. As a result, it allowed me to slow down and appreciate the special peacefulness of being in a Blue Zone region of the world and the wonder of nature’s elements.
This was a Pilates Retreat with a gifted friend and teacher, Bonnie Grove, and move we did! A lot of it, in the rain, via TukTuk shuttles back and forth to a health and wellness facility that housed the Pilates Apparatus we had the pleasure of using throughout the week.
While it was wet, it was wonderful.
Guanacaste Blue Zone
Coffee, lunch, and a visit with Don Vidal, a 72 yo Guanacaste Province Farmer, and his daughter, Mariaolsa.
Purely magical afternoon of sharing the genuine simplicity of life and #BlueZone living.
They opened their home and shared all the produce of the farm with us with such love and generoisty.
True love for the earth and its bounty.
Guanacaste Province is home to the Nicoya Peninsula, recognized as one of the world’s five Blue Zones, where residents often live beyond 100 years.
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After preparing and serving lunch for the group, Mariaolsa shot the header image of Bonnie and I giggling like two kids. 😉
Sunrise Over Marrakech
One of the most memorable events in Morocco was the sunrise Hot Air Balloon ride and breakfast at Moroccan Sky Ballooning.
Unquestionably, a jaw dropping and mind blowing experience. We arose at 5am for a 50-60 minute ride to the camp to catch the sunrise over Marrakech and enjoyed breakfast with the pilot and team after the 120 minute excursion.
Kings Valley
This is why I say Egypt is a massive cemetery. The rocks, pyramids and sandstone are ancient burial sites.
The Valley was used for primary burials from approximately 1539 BC to 1075 BC. It contains at least 63 tombs, beginning with Thutmose I (or possibly earlier, during the reign of Amenhotep I) and ending with Ramesses X or XI, although non-royal burials continued in usurped tombs.
Despite its name, the Valley of the Kings also contains the tombs of favorite nobles as well as the wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs. Therefore, only about twenty of the tombs actually contain the remains of kings. The remains of nobles and of the royal family, together with unmarked pits and embalming caches, make up the rest.
I only entered the tomb of Queen Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut and then sat talked to Ahmed while I waited for the group to finish.
Thankfully, weather was comfortable and agreeable. Touring these ancient tombs in 100 degrees would not have been as pleasant an experience. Neither Ahmed, nor I would have been smiling.
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepshut
This temple was built for the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the longest reigning female pharaoh, regarded by historians as one of the most successful leaders of Ancient Egypt and as the “first great woman in history“.
The sanctuary is a mortuary, or memorial, temple, constructed in honor of the pharaoh under which it was built. Despite being around 3500 years old, its long colonnaded terrace almost looks like contemporary architecture, and the elegant symmetry contrasts strikingly with the rugged cliff face that looms above it.
Temple of Hatshepsut is located opposite Luxor, on the west bank of the Nile, famous as the site of thousands of years of royal burials during Ancient Egypt.
The temple was vandalised by Haptshepsut’s stepson Tuthmosis III and the early Christians, amongst others. Many of the artifacts and reliefs at the funerary temple of Hatshepsut, the most successful female pharaoh of ancient Egypt were destroyed, after the queen’s death, by her successor, Thutmose III, in attempts to obliterate her memory.
Horus Temple At Edfu
Wednesday was the breakneck day. We visited a minimum of four (4) ancient temples, used horse-drawn carriages, two different bus transports and a water taxi to cross the river and avoid the city traffic and make it to the last temple before closing at 4pm.
The morning started at 7am and the Temple of Edfu, located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt and was actually used as a community home during ancient times. Our guide pulled out a 50 pound bill to show that the face of the bill reflected the temple face.
A magnificent structure, to say the least.
The day was so packed, the fearless trip leader wore a T-Shirt admonishing all at the start, “Today was not the day” for foolishness, tardiness or haphazard forgetfulness.
Temple at Edfu
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For more than 200 years, the structure was buried under almost 40 feet of desert sand and silt from the Nile, which helped to preserve it. This is why the financing and construction of the Aswan Dam was so crucial to Egypt.
This is the largest temple dedicated to Horus, one of Egypt’s most important historic deities, statues of the falcon-headed god are found throughout the complex, and its extensive wall carvings have provided valuable information to historians about the Hellenistic period of Egyptian history: the exquisite reliefs gave insight into the religion, mythology and way of life during the era.
Street Scenes | Egypt At Work
Streets are bare. Dirt and sand can be found everywhere. Construction and renovation was ongoing and yet, everyone appeared at peace with the chaos of life.
Tourism, and its support system, is the major driver of the economy.
