Monthly Archives: July 2015

Today we headed off to the Museu Serralves, a contemporary art museum. It was about a forty minute walk from our hostel, and it took us to a different side of town that was more similar to suburbs. This museum is rather out of the way and was hard to find the proper entrance, we eventually did! Now going inside just proved to me some more how I don’t know anything about art. There were so many abstract things here, essentially everything. There were some art pieces that I feel I would have been able to do, like a canvas with a stroke of paint on it. Also there was literally a display case that had only a contact case and solution in it. Now how this is art I literally have no idea! Especially since there were no descriptions about any of the art pieces.

The museum also had garden in it as well. Now I was expecting just a few flowers, but I was in for a rather big shock! These gardens were huge! There was a vineyard, fruit trees, animals grazing, waterfalls, lakes and so much more! I know understand why they needed so much space outside of the city centre.

We then grabbed some lunch afterwards and headed off to walk back. Now this was such a LONG walk, that either of was were prepared for. We walked along the riverside and went over this really cool part where both the cars and pedestrians go over the water for this portion of the road. Walking along when I looked down I could see the water down below through open grate paneling. It was so cool, I was walking on water! As we were walking we passed by the beaches and there were people out in what I imagined to be freezing cold Atlantic Ocean. Now this beach did not compare whatsoever to Lagos…

30,000 steps later, yes that’s right we’ve finally got a pedometer we made it back to the city centre of Porto. And oh my does Porto have an insane amount of hills. We stopped by the hostel and researched where we could get a good traditional Portuguese dinner. I wrote down the addresses of three different places, only to come so realize that they were all closed because of Sunday! Thankfully we figured this out before we went to any of them. So much for trying to be organized. Instead we wandered through the streets and eventually came to find a restaurant that fit our criteria. We ordered Bacalha, Francesinha and Vino Verde. Bacalha is cod fish. Here is it has over 300 different ways to prepare it! It is dried out with salt and stored until use. Before you want to eat it, you need to soak it in water two days prior before preparing to eat. We had what the waiter said was the traditional way, which was eating it deep fried. Francesinha is specialty dish to Porto. It translates to ‘little French fattie’, it has the most meat on a sandwich know to anyone! It has layers of sausage, ham, steak on just a mere two pieces of bread which are then smothered in melted cheese and soaked in a beer sauce that has ketchup and spicy spices. And to wash that all down we had some Vino Verde, green wine. It’s not actually green though, it just called this since the grapes that are used are young and therefore have more sugars than if they matured. It as a result is sweeter and fruit like than typical wines, again I don’t know anything about wine, I am just regurgitation information. After we were stuffed from dinner we walked back to our hostel and got our bags all packed up and went to sleep early so we could wake up on time for our flight to Paris bright and early!

This morning we went on a walking tour unfortunately, it was not good. The guy seemed very disinterested and extremely unprofessional. As well the beginning of the tour was sort of like a review from yesterday’s sites. We went inside the train station, and it was stunning. The whole interior was decorated all in blue and white tiles, typical Portuguese. What was interesting was that each depiction had a different story from history. The second half of the tour took us closer to the Douro riverside, once we ended the tour Andrea and I headed off to cross to the other side.

We crossed over the Dom Luis Bridge. I have it say that it reminded me of the Granville street bridge back home. Once we got to the other side we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Porto and the old ships anchored in the river. These ships used to be used to transport the wine from the Douro Valley to the cellars here in Porto. Although today big trucks are used as a transportation method. We walked along the riverside and saw many shops selling anything you could think that could be related to wine, and of course the typical souvenirs. We make our way to Croft Winery. It is the oldest one in all of Porto and we went for a tour of the facilities and a tasting at the end. What we were told is that Port wine can only be made in the Douro Valley since it uses grapes form that region. Just like champagne can be made in the region in Champagne in France. And apparently the best of the best grapes are taken and squished by feet still to this day to produce the best bottles of Port, rather using a machine! I also learned that a vintage Port is able to age inside the bottle and can be kept for twenty years, however before you drink it you have to drain it first and then drink it immediately within the next few days. A tawny port is when an aged Port is combined with a new Port. The last interesting thing that I remember is that the Portuguese don’t actually drink Port that often. It is instead used for special occasions such as weddings or given to the new parents to drink when their child reaches the legal drinking age to share together. On the tour I realized how little I know about alcohol in general!

Once we left Croft we roamed the streets and ended up in a really interesting local neighbourhood. There was laundry hanging from every single balcony and children were playing cricket in the streets! We then made our way to find a view if the sun setting across the river. We weren’t the only ones that found this place either. It was full of locals enjoying one another’s company outside. We joined everyone on the grassy hill and took in the view.

We then went to one of the most beautiful bookstores in the whole world, the Livraria Lello. It is also one of the oldest bookstores in Portugual! Apparently it is also nicknamed the Harry Potter bookstore , due to the illusion of a floating bookcase inside. JK Rowling lived in Porto so lots of people believe that this city inspired and influenced the series. I can agree that it is stunning, definitely the nicest bookstore that I have ever seen!

Afterwards we went on search to find a good restaurant. Neither of us were feeling that hungry though or know where to go to avoid the typical tourist ‘traps’ so we called defeated and went back to the hostel to eat our leftovers form last night. We have gotten use to eating at a very late,around 10pm. I guess you could say that we are fitting into local life. We then started to plan for our time in Paris and the UK. I can’t believe the trip is coming to an end, only two more countries left!

We woke up this morning and headed to the bus station to go to Porto! We both managed to sleep for some parts of the ride, but the scenery or at least what I did see what nothing extraordinary. Thankfully I didn’t have it feel bad about not being able to keep my eyes open.

Once we got it the we walked up the many hills to out hostel. This is completely different than Lisbon. The streets are all so much narrow and weave into one another like a maze. The local life seem much more authentic here, ladies hang list of laundry form their balconies, people sit in cafes nursing their drinks while socializing with one another and people watching. Many shops are all so unique here. Their is a local shop for everything varying from door hinges to even door knobs. Many of the buildings here are not only very old since Porto is a UNESCO city but also abandoned. Rent control was removed a few years ago, leaving landlords with no money to properly restore their property since it is so expensive to get them back to their original form. It was rather unfortunate to see so many buildings that were crumbling.

After getting to our hostel we had some lunch before we got picked up for our walking tour. We went on ‘alternative’ tour of Porto. It’s focus was about Art and Romanticism, our guide was so much fun and passionate about her hometown. We walked through the streets and leaned that the English had provided a substantial amount of funding for Porto to build many of their buildings, therefore many of them have English charms about them. As we visited one sight from the other I noticed that there were a lot of street art, both in the form of murals and graffiti. Apparently the former mayor made any street are illegal and painted over any existing artwork. The current mayor has allowed street are and has dedicated certain ares of the city for artists to paint freely. We then went to the old jail and court house, where Camilo stayed and wrote one of his most famous works. It has now ben converted to a library, but you can apparently still see his cell if you go inside and look for his publications. We then passed the Clerigos Tower, now when it was built even though it is just stories hight it was the tallest building in Portugal and apparently all of the sailers use to use this as an landmark to know where to go back to. Towards the end of the your we went down Art Galleries Street. In Porto there are apparently thirty art galleries all around and just on this one street I counted five art galleries on just one block. To end the tour we went to Crystal Palace Gardens where I learned what a turn romantic garden is. So to have a romantic garden you need to have an avenue with trees lined on either side with benches that are lined either along the sides or middle and you must have a lake ink the somewhat close distance. Walking through this garden we made our way to a view of the Douro River. Afterwards, Andrea and I made our way back to our hostel, had some dinner and prepped ourselves for another busy day of exploring tomorrow!

For our final day in Lisbon we have quite the itinerary!

We started the day off by heading into the center to meet our walking group. Now this was with a company that we had done before and thoroughly enjoyed our time when we were with them! We learned all about the history and great influence that Portugal made on the world both within the past and also today. In the world there are eight different countries that recognize Portuguese as their official language, and it is the fifth most spoken language in the world! We then made our way to Cervejaria Trindade. Originally it was constructed to be used as a ministry and was the biggest building in Lisbon, but later on it become a pub. Making our way we ended up going to see the oldest bookstore in the WHOLE world! Its called Livraria Baraterira and was opened up in 1732 and is still operating out of the same building today. It even had the Guinness World Record certificate hanging proudly on the store window.  We then made our way to the Santa Justa Lift, an elevator that I would never want to pay to go into, or that you could pay me to ride. I will happily take the stairs! It was actually built in order to attract citizens to the newly created center when it was formed.  When the tour was over, it left us in the perfect spot to catch our tram to the neighborhood of Belem.

After a tram ride that was a little too close for comfort we got off right in front of the Jeronimos Monastery. It was stunning with all of its detailing in the stone work. It also reminded me of the Parliament Buildings in Budapest. We went inside to buy our tickets and were rather disappointed when we found out that we could no longer purchase them for the day anymore. So there went our plans to go inside and to climb up the Belem Tower. Instead we went inside the Church and then made our way over to the river to marvel at the Padrao dos Descobrimentos. This massive statue was built in order to commemorate the age of Portuguese exploration in the 15th century. In the background, overlooking the Tejo River, I was also able to the 25 de Abril Bridge which is in honour of the revolution that defeated the dictatorship on this date. It is the longest suspension bridge in all of Europe and the 26th longest in the world! Afterwards we walked over to the Belem Tower and then made our way to the Pasteis de Belem. This is the first shop that sold the Pastel de Nata, a delicious custard tart. We had read online that it could take an hour to get inside before you could try one of these delicious desserts that have a special recipe to others that are only used at the original store. Now to our surprise even though the line looked very long it took us less than 5 minutes to have the fresh and warm treat in our hands. I can see why this is considered the best place to have a Pastel de Nata!

By this time we had reached the consensus that we just wanted to head on back to our place. We first of all had some jobs to do along the way. A quick trip to the bus station to buy our ticket to Porto for tomorrow. There were many anxious people behind and in front of us in the line trying to buy tickets to catch their bus that was leaving so we as nice Canadians kept letting people go in front of us. Once we finally got out ticket we stopped off at Campo de Luz to the Benfica Shops. Now I knew that the Portuguese took their love of football to another level. Entering the Benfica merchandise shop it literally had everything you could desire Benifca! From globelts, notebooks, underwear and even a toaster that put the Benfica logo onto your piece of toast! Going in here was a like a mini culture shock. We then  met with Fernando to thank him again in person for letting us stay at his place and then we packed to get our thing ready for Porto!

After  a quick trip to the grocery store to buy some breakfast and lunch to go we are off to Sintra! After a subway, train, bus and a few hours later we arrived to Sintra. We choose that we could take the bus ride up to on of the many placed, the Palacio da Pena rather than do the hour walk upwards, instead we will walk down. The big city bus could barely drive in ans through the narrow streets. At one point the bus driver had to do a three point turn just to be able to angle the bus enough to that he could drive on his side of the lane! We made it up to the palace in one piece.

The Palacio de Pena is nothing like any of the other places that I have ever seen. It is so brightly coloured, the red portion of the palace is the old sections, whereas the yellow portion is the new section and was originally built to be a monetary. The architectural design a fascination between  Moorish and Portuguese Romanticism design. It was incredibly picturesque. We did a walk along the palace walls that went around the perimeter of the palace. It was so incredibly windy that at some times I thought it would be possible to fall off the steep cliff with a big gust of wind since there were no railings! With our view I was able to look out into the distance and see the Moorish Castle. It was not colourful and looked as though it melted down the hilltop. We then had our lunch on a bed looking at the Pena Palace for the perfect lunch break spot. Afterwards, we went inside the palace. In all honesty the exterior was more impressive than inside. It seemed as though a large majority of the bedrooms and exhibitions were under restoration and what was inside I found was rather simple compared to other outlandish palaces that I have seen so far on this trip.

Afterwards Andrea then walked up a kilometer to the Holy Cross, the highest possible point we could go to get a view. Once we got up to the top it seemed as though we were at the top of the world! It has defiantly been the highest I have ever climbed. Which makes it so that the views were not disappointing. Not only was I able to see all of Sintra I was also able to see out to Lisbon and the Altantic Ocean as well! Descending down the hill we went through the gardens, which I founds to be just like a forest. Our walk through transported me back to walking in the wood back home. We made our way to the Pena Farms and Stables and then followed the road back down to the center of Sintra. The town was so small that the streets within it were only pedestrian friendly. There were so many craft shops and restaurants that we passed by and some streets had colourful streamers that hung from one side of the road to the other! It really added to the towns character. We eventually made our way back to the train station and were extremely happy to be able to sit down. The last of our lazy beach days must have stayed with us since we were so tuckered out when we got back to Fernando’s that we grabbed some dinner and watch a few movies. A perfect way to end a busy night and to charge up for a day full of sightseeing tomorrow!

Off to Lisbon today! We took out time getting ready in the morning and then went off to the bus station and four hours later we were in the capital of Portugal. Fernando was kind enough to pick us up at the bus station and took us back to his place. In the drive he gave us a mini tour of the city as we passed by! Once we got to his apartment we dropped off our things and went to his favourite restaurant for lunch. Now since we are outside of the city, we are able to see Lisbon as a true local. That was defiantly the case with the restaurant. Apparently people tend to view lunch as the biggest mea, of the day and as a time to socialize. So there were tables with families and friends that were enjoying one another’s company with lots of food. Andrea and I opted for Pregos, for the perfect lunch. We went traditional and had a Prego consisting of grilled steak, garlic seasoning in a freshly baked Portuguese bun.

Afterwards we got a full tour of the neighbourhood and of the place. Andrea and I then made our way to the centre. We walked conveniently by many shoe stores and did only window shopping, I promise! We then made our way to walking tour. It was the smallest that we have done yet, just five of us in total. We began the tour going around then main square and getting acquainted with the history of Lisbon. Something I never knew beforehand was that there was a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami and the fires in 1755 that not only killed a third of the population but also destroyed the majority of infrastructure in all of Lisbon. However although they were beaten down the people they resilient and rebuilt the city. Something that I found very interesting it that on the ground of main plaza the floor in comprised of tiles which form a wave pattern, this is to remembered the tsunami and destructive nature disasters that occurred. We then walked past what looked like an ordinary building, but it was actually a castle, but today is a restaurant. When we went inside and the details were absolutely stunning. It was very much Morrish inspired with all the intricate patterns. We then went walks to the area where Fado began. The most basic description in that Fado is very passionate and emotional singing and usually occurs in restaurants, but to the people it means so much more. Now was the difficult part of the tour, walking up the HUGE and STEEP hill. Now I was pleased to see that the tour guide struggled as well,as least it just wasn’t me!l From the top we towered above the Sao Jorge Castle, see the river, out to the ocean, the 25 of April Bridge and the entire city. Well worth the climb!

After the tour we made our way back to Fernando’s but not before stopping off at Columbo Mall. It was huge and super modern, similar to the mall in Kraków. By the time we finished wandering around we grabbed a bite to eat and continued on the rest of the way back to the comfort of our beds,

This is our last beach day for our time in Lagos AND also for the rest of our trip as well! Yesterday while we were kayaking we paddled past Prahia de Camilo and we chose to head out there today. We started to walk along the coast and I was gawking at the beautiful grottos and crystal blue water.

We got a little lost along the way, and so when I asked a local not only did he speak Spanish and directed us there but he took us to the beach. Overall our walk was nearly over an hour, but trust me that was well worth it! We lounged on the beach and soaked up the sunshine. I may have had a nap or two…Later we explored all the other grottos nearby. We crawled through one grotto to get us to this huge cave area that had an opening up on the top. It was just stunning! We kept exploring and swimming to other different little beaches, we then made our way back to the shore and stayed on the beach until the sun began to leave. We then made our way back into the main town square and explored all the little shops and vendors along the streets. It amazes me not only how businesses can all operate even though some sell the exact same items right down the street form one another and also by how unique some store truly are!

Once we had finished adventuring we grabbed some dinner to eat and sat along the ocean walkway with the beautiful view of the sun setting and just took in the last bit of our time in Lagos. For me Lagos was a much needed break from our vacation. Hopefully I will feel recharged enough to keep going for the next month ahead of us!

While we were here in Lagos we wanted to go out for hike, but as we started looking at the different routes we could take none of them would give us a view and they all consisted of us having to walk through marshes.

Therefore, we decided to head off to Sagres, the furthest Western area of all of Europe! After grabbing some lunch to go we got on the bus and in less than hour arrived in the town. Now even though it wasww Sunday in a Catholic country I don’t think that can justify how empty the town of Sagres is. We walked around looking for anyone or anything that was open. We were able to grab a cool drink and then followed the path to lead us to the beach. Enjoying the view we had our lunch and prepared to go to the national park.

Walking there is seemed like I was literally at the end of the world or in a different planet. Now to me a park is an area of lush of a green forest, or at least this is what I have grown up knowing but this was the last thing this park was. It looked as though we were on Mars! The ground was so dry and the bushes acted as cactuses, soaking up any morsel of water. The view of the water was so gorgeous from this high vantage point though. We then entered inside the fortress. This is where navigators and explorers form all over the word came to Sagres to learn about exploration in the 15th century. Before the Portuguese found the new world this is what was considered to be the end of the world! This is also where Christopher Columbus sailed off on his expeditions. Looking out in the distance I tried to imagine what it would be looking out into the distance and seeing nothing but the ocean and imagining thinking that there was nothing else there.

We then finished walking around the park, learning about all the different grasses, bushes and flowers that are both or this area and those that migrated with the explorers when they returned form their journeys. What is also interesting is that Sagres is an area where over two hundred different species of birds come to migrate.

We then made our way back to out hostel and rested up so me could fully enjoy our last day in Lagos tomorrow.

This morning Andrea, Maude and I went out to go on a three hour kayaking tour. Both Andrea and Maude have never been kayaking before so I hoping that we won’t flip! The kayaks were designed more like a paddle board, in the sense that it had a very thick and flat surface. The only thing that was authentic about this kayaking was that the paddles were the same. Hopefully this means that it will be easier for Andrea and I to work together!

Neither of wanted to bring our cameras out on the water, despite having a water proof bag to use. It was an amazing experience and I wish I could have captured it so I could share it! Our guide led us through the grottos, we passed by so many different caves and were able to go inside some of them as well! We paddle sting to avoid going into the whirlpools and inside one of the caves there was a circular opening in the middle that was like mother natures own skylight. Inside other cave entrances that we passed thorough there were fisherman casting reels and setting traps up. Also in the waters there were so many boats for private tours, it seemed like they had first priority in the water since our guide always urged us to move to the side to let them pass, it was also a good thing or else we would have gotten run into! They seemed like they were in a tight timeline. We then continued our way down looking at all the different beaches there are here! We picked out our favourite one Prahia do Camillo ( Camel Beach, since the grottos supposedly appear to look like one). It is apparently the most popular one here in Lagos known by locals so we will be sure to make a trip there tomorrow! The water here is like a chameleon. It changes from a beautiful blues all so radiant and luminescent! It is like nothing I have ever seen before! For a quick break we stopped off at a beach and swam and explored the grottos before heading back into out kayaks. This time though we all connected our kayaks together in a chain and got pulled back by a boat; talk about easy sailing!

Afterwards we all grabbed some lunch and made our way back to the beach. We didn’t go out as far out to the beaches that we saw earlier, instead we went out a few meters past where we went kayaking. The sand was different here form the other beach and since the grottos enclosed around us we didn’t have to worry about the crazy winds like before either. What was really interesting is that as I explored the grottos I noticed that the water temperature different from each beach. I had to climb through and inside the different grottos to get to the different beaches. Once I was done exploring I headed back to soak up the sunshine and I watched people jump off of the cliff. After Maude jumped off I needed a little convincing and I jumped off too!!

We the got cleaned up and went out for dinner. The three of us split tapas on of which was chorizo. They brought it out in a little grill with alcohol in the bottom and then light it on fire and we grilled it to perfection! The flame actually got really big and the sever got really nervous and brought out her boss to extinguish it! Afterwards we went out on the hunt for pastel de nata for dessert. Coming back successful to our place we went up to the balcony to enjoy the view and joined an impromptu pub crawl. I think we have the hostel a new business idea, Paula took us out to see the Lagos nightlife, that just like other places we’ve been doesn’t start till basically the morning!

This morning we went to catch our bus to Portugal. Lucky for us, the bus station was less than a five minute walk from our hostel so not only did it make it less difficult to get lost, we also didn’t have to wear our backpacks for too long of a time. They might have gotten a little bigger from the shopping we did yesterday…

On the bus I have to admit my heart sunk when it started to rain! We are going to Lagos to go to the beach and there isn’t much else to do there besides from that. I am happy to say that it thankfully stopped raining, crisis averted.

From the bus stop we walked up windy streets filled with local shops. I could smell as we walked by that there had been a fish market earlier in the day, so we will have to make another trip to see all of the fresh seafood. A lot of towns in Portugal and especially along the Algarve are known to be fisherman’s towns which make this the prime area.

We were able to find our hostel without any major issues, primarily since it is too small to get lost in, at least that is my hope and assumption for now…As we got into our room we found out that our two other roommates were Canadians. Way to represent! After getting settled in we went to the grocery store and grabbed some fresh portuguese buns,chorizo and cheese and sat along the walkway going along the ocean. We were happily surprised to see how much cheaper food was here, even compared to Spain! We grabbed our things and headed to the beach. Now the beach that we ended up at was not what I had been expecting. Dont get me wrong it was still beautiful! The sand was so extremely fine it was carried whenever the wind blew. As the day went on I gave up trying to get the sand off of me and instead went into the ocean which was not whatsoever the same temperature as the ocean in Valencia, unfortunately. When the winds picked up it was like I was in a sandstorm! I had to surrender to the sand and we headed back to our room and attempted to get rid of all the sand in what seemed like bringing it all back with us. The thing was that it was literally so fine that you could not possibly just rub it off.

Andrea and I then went out for dinner with one of our Canadian roommates,Maude, for dinner at Casa do Prego. We grabbed of course the typical prego and a salad and enjoyed our sangria and with one anothers company.  We then headed off to a bakery to find some dessert, a pasteis de nata! I had to hold off on eating it right then and there until we got back to our hostel and went up to the rooftop terrace. Our hostel was about the tallest building in all of Lagos, so we were able to have a beautiful and unobstructed of the town even out to the ocean!