Thursday, September 23, 2010
We were woken up early this morning...6am for our exciting breakfast! So we went to the dining cart to have our toast, croissant and pastry thing. Breakfast of Carbs...alright! So we then went back to our room and packed up our things to leave. The conductor came by and gave us our Eurail passes back (YEAH!) and told us that we wouldn't be going to Hendaye this morning and would have to get off at an earlier stop. When we asked why, they had trouble explaining in English but we got the impression that the French were on strike again and as soon as we mentioned the word "strike" they confirmed that yes, that was what the problem was. BRUTAL! Anyhow, without any idea of what we were going to do or how we were getting to Paris then to Munich we got off of the train and looked for information. The one desk was closed and the open one was super unfriendly and not helpful. So, we took it upon ourselves to figure things out without them. We went in search of a cafe with free wifi and after a few no's, we finally found one! Perfect! It only took us an hour to connect with Heather's laptop, that for some (vista) reason doesn't like certain routers. ANyhow, we connected and started looking into different ways to Munich....bus, fly, rental car...all of which were dead ends as they were way, way too expensive or didn't exist. So, instead we went to the train station to find the other desk was open and quite helpful. He looked into the schedule and told us we could take a regional train to Hendaye and from there an 1130 train to Paris. In Paris however, it didn't look as though we could make the only night train going to Munich as it was leaving before we'd arrive. We thought it would be best to get to Paris or as far as we could so that we could shorten our travel day tomorrow. So off we go to Hendaye...5 minutes down the road to find that the only scheduled train to Paris was at 530 pm bringing us into Paris at midnight. So we had all day to try and find an alternate route to get us to Munich as soon as possible. Only problem was, we have no wifi and the train station was closed so we couldn't book new trains for tomorrow. So, we met up with this Aussie lady and all went on a search for wifi. Hendaye is not a big town and when we did finally find wifi we were relieved. It wasn't much help though and we didn't make any new plans. We did however, decide to price out a rental car. How much could it be between three of us? We could drive to Paris, ditch the lady and then drive onward to Germany. HAHA! They wanted 140 Euro to just get to the France/German border without a GPS. No thanks!!! So there we sat in the train station, drinking big bottles of beer, dreaming of the day we arrive in Munich. We grabbed some lunch (with a pitcher of Sangria of course!) and Heather had a great lunch of chicken and veggies and I ordered the bolognese which was a can of Chef Boyardee. EW! Great day, getting better each second. Lol! Anyhow, we met some people at the lunch restaurant and ended up hanging out with them at the train station. We noticed that the ticket office did reopen so we decided to book new tickets. This is where we met Tommy who would be our new friend for the next 24 hours. Tommy was an American who was also heading to Munich and trying to get there as soon as possible. So at 530 we all hopped on the train to Paris, still unsure whether or not it was going all the way to Paris. We had some good times on this train. We kicked two middle aged women out of our seats after they refused to move for 5 minutes. We were persistant...our seats and we had done this before, we knew this train was about to get a whole lot busier. For the next 5 hours we rode this train and those ladies ended up getting kicked out of their new seats and not happy at all. Lol! Tommy ended up sitting with these French men who thought he was a model and were speaking to him in French and Spanish...pretty much anything but English. Very, very entertaining to try and act as an interpreter when our French is terrible.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Farewell Portugal...You will be missed!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
We planned to meet up with Ari and Andrew again this morning for some shopping and light sightseeing. We hit H&M of course, this shot bar that Andrew recommended, a church that burnt in a fire and they just left the burnt areas of the church. Pretty impressive! We then had a late lunch and had to say our farewells as we had a night train to catch. Our train left at 430pm and didn't arrive in Hendaye, France until 7 am. Long, long train ride ahead! So we took the subway to the train station and were pretty pumped because in less than 40 hours we would be arriving in Munich!!! Our last stop on the European adventure. We made our train (but cut it close for sure) and were off to France. We were super smart and booked a bed for this train ride haha (more like we didn't have another choice and paid big bucks for it) and were going to take advantage of the fact we had a bed and wouldn't on tomorrow's night train from Paris to Munich. The night train went without a hitch and we even had an electrical outlet to charge the laptop so we had access to our downloaded movies all night! It was great! The only concerning thing was the conductor insisted on holding on to our Eurail passes all night...we didn't like that too much but what other choice did we have? He said it was so that when we crossed into Spain in the middle of the night they wouldn't have to wake us to check our ticket and we would get them back at breakfast! Breakfast!?!?! We got breakfast??? Apparently and we were pumped!!!! So off to bed we went!!!
We planned to meet up with Ari and Andrew again this morning for some shopping and light sightseeing. We hit H&M of course, this shot bar that Andrew recommended, a church that burnt in a fire and they just left the burnt areas of the church. Pretty impressive! We then had a late lunch and had to say our farewells as we had a night train to catch. Our train left at 430pm and didn't arrive in Hendaye, France until 7 am. Long, long train ride ahead! So we took the subway to the train station and were pretty pumped because in less than 40 hours we would be arriving in Munich!!! Our last stop on the European adventure. We made our train (but cut it close for sure) and were off to France. We were super smart and booked a bed for this train ride haha (more like we didn't have another choice and paid big bucks for it) and were going to take advantage of the fact we had a bed and wouldn't on tomorrow's night train from Paris to Munich. The night train went without a hitch and we even had an electrical outlet to charge the laptop so we had access to our downloaded movies all night! It was great! The only concerning thing was the conductor insisted on holding on to our Eurail passes all night...we didn't like that too much but what other choice did we have? He said it was so that when we crossed into Spain in the middle of the night they wouldn't have to wake us to check our ticket and we would get them back at breakfast! Breakfast!?!?! We got breakfast??? Apparently and we were pumped!!!! So off to bed we went!!!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Mmm...Port Wine!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
We got up this morning and my laundry was wet, of course! Well, it was at least damp and the dryer was being used by someone else. Brutal! So, I hung my clothes from my bed and turned on a fan to dry them. While we were down getting breakfast our stupid roomates shut it off eventhough they saw me hanging up my wet clothes and they had checked out early. What the heck? I was super annoyed. Anyhow, I turned the fan back on and tried to super quickly dry my clothes before we took off back to Lisbon. We checked out from the hostel and headed down to the river to check out the port wineries. We had wanted to go to a winery our whole trip but never made it. This was our very last chance and we wanted to take full advantage of it. But because we were so slack this morning and then had to wait for clothes to dry, the wineries were closed until 2pm. So we had lunch on the waterfront which was great! A pitcher of sangria and two great meals later we were heading back to the wineries for the tastings. I should mention Heather had this interesting traditional dish that you can only get in Porto and it consists of meat and bread with a spicy sauce covering it. Strange but kind of delicious. It had an egg on top too. Not your average lunch but hey, when in Rome. So then we headed to this winery that was recommended to us by the hostel as it's the oldest and meant to be the best. When we arrived however (and it was the furthest one) it was not offering an English tour until 4pm which was way too late since we had a train to catch around 430. So we found a smaller one that had a tour starting in a few minutes and we would have just enough time to do one tour and head back to grab our things. That's what we did!! It would have been nice to have more time in Porto but we had to move on. So we caught the train back to Lisbon. We had a dinner date with our friends Ari and Andrew. It's crazy how quickly time flies because their last stop is Lisbon before they head to Africa this weekend. WOW! We are super excited for them and slightly jealous. Anyhow, we had planned to meet them at their hostel at 8pm which turns out is owned by the same owners as our hostel. So we popped over there and they were waiting outside for us...YEAH!!! Super exciting to see them again! We all agreed that it was time for some Japanese (sushi in particular) since we never did get sushi together in Prague. Heather had found this place in the Lonely Planet guide and Andrew had mapped it out and got us there without a hitch. The streets in Lisbon can be a bit confusing but we made it. We had a great meal and got to catch up on each other's trips from the last time we saw them...must have been Budapest! Long time to catch up on! So after a great supper with great company, we all headed back to our hostel for some cocktails. I guess the cocktail bar switches between our hostel and theirs. So after a few amazing cocktails and some more chatting, we were pooped and all decided to call it a night and tuck 'er in.
We got up this morning and my laundry was wet, of course! Well, it was at least damp and the dryer was being used by someone else. Brutal! So, I hung my clothes from my bed and turned on a fan to dry them. While we were down getting breakfast our stupid roomates shut it off eventhough they saw me hanging up my wet clothes and they had checked out early. What the heck? I was super annoyed. Anyhow, I turned the fan back on and tried to super quickly dry my clothes before we took off back to Lisbon. We checked out from the hostel and headed down to the river to check out the port wineries. We had wanted to go to a winery our whole trip but never made it. This was our very last chance and we wanted to take full advantage of it. But because we were so slack this morning and then had to wait for clothes to dry, the wineries were closed until 2pm. So we had lunch on the waterfront which was great! A pitcher of sangria and two great meals later we were heading back to the wineries for the tastings. I should mention Heather had this interesting traditional dish that you can only get in Porto and it consists of meat and bread with a spicy sauce covering it. Strange but kind of delicious. It had an egg on top too. Not your average lunch but hey, when in Rome. So then we headed to this winery that was recommended to us by the hostel as it's the oldest and meant to be the best. When we arrived however (and it was the furthest one) it was not offering an English tour until 4pm which was way too late since we had a train to catch around 430. So we found a smaller one that had a tour starting in a few minutes and we would have just enough time to do one tour and head back to grab our things. That's what we did!! It would have been nice to have more time in Porto but we had to move on. So we caught the train back to Lisbon. We had a dinner date with our friends Ari and Andrew. It's crazy how quickly time flies because their last stop is Lisbon before they head to Africa this weekend. WOW! We are super excited for them and slightly jealous. Anyhow, we had planned to meet them at their hostel at 8pm which turns out is owned by the same owners as our hostel. So we popped over there and they were waiting outside for us...YEAH!!! Super exciting to see them again! We all agreed that it was time for some Japanese (sushi in particular) since we never did get sushi together in Prague. Heather had found this place in the Lonely Planet guide and Andrew had mapped it out and got us there without a hitch. The streets in Lisbon can be a bit confusing but we made it. We had a great meal and got to catch up on each other's trips from the last time we saw them...must have been Budapest! Long time to catch up on! So after a great supper with great company, we all headed back to our hostel for some cocktails. I guess the cocktail bar switches between our hostel and theirs. So after a few amazing cocktails and some more chatting, we were pooped and all decided to call it a night and tuck 'er in.
Exploring Porto!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Today we were off to see Porto and the first stop was the beach. Heather really wanted to try surfing and I was considering it but was not thrilled because of the cooler weather. So, we grabbed the local bus to the beach and got to see the city along the way. It was on the complete opposite side of town as our hostel so the bus was a lengthy trip. At least it was scenic! When we arrived to the beach, it was not what we had expected. It was full of seagulls and feathers and nobody around. It was dead! The surf shops were not as plentiful as we had expected and it felt like a ghost beach. We laid out for awhile to catch some "sun" which was hidden behind the clouds. After awhile we decided to grab some lunch and were told that there were some great fish restaurants nearby. After wandering for awhile we settled on a spot that looked reasonable. We both ordered the salmon and boy were we happy that we did. It was a huge serving of salmon and cooked to perfection. It was served with salad and potatoes (salted heavily of course). After stuffing ourselves silly, we went back to the beach to enquire about surf lessons. We had seen a group lesson going on while walking to find lunch so we thought we'd check it out. The guy at the surf shop said the day was not good for surfing and to try back Wednesday. Well, since we would no longer be in Porto then, it was a bit of a lost cause. So instead we laid back out on the beach and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. At around 630 we went to catch the bus back into town. We came back to the hostel and just hung out for awhile. Heather was planning to Skype with her parents so we just grabbed some quick dinner and hung around the hostel. I watched a movie while she skype'd with her parents and grandparents. We then went to bed. I left my laundry with the staff to be done overnight hoping that everything would be dry in the morning as we were leaving once again.
Today we were off to see Porto and the first stop was the beach. Heather really wanted to try surfing and I was considering it but was not thrilled because of the cooler weather. So, we grabbed the local bus to the beach and got to see the city along the way. It was on the complete opposite side of town as our hostel so the bus was a lengthy trip. At least it was scenic! When we arrived to the beach, it was not what we had expected. It was full of seagulls and feathers and nobody around. It was dead! The surf shops were not as plentiful as we had expected and it felt like a ghost beach. We laid out for awhile to catch some "sun" which was hidden behind the clouds. After awhile we decided to grab some lunch and were told that there were some great fish restaurants nearby. After wandering for awhile we settled on a spot that looked reasonable. We both ordered the salmon and boy were we happy that we did. It was a huge serving of salmon and cooked to perfection. It was served with salad and potatoes (salted heavily of course). After stuffing ourselves silly, we went back to the beach to enquire about surf lessons. We had seen a group lesson going on while walking to find lunch so we thought we'd check it out. The guy at the surf shop said the day was not good for surfing and to try back Wednesday. Well, since we would no longer be in Porto then, it was a bit of a lost cause. So instead we laid back out on the beach and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. At around 630 we went to catch the bus back into town. We came back to the hostel and just hung out for awhile. Heather was planning to Skype with her parents so we just grabbed some quick dinner and hung around the hostel. I watched a movie while she skype'd with her parents and grandparents. We then went to bed. I left my laundry with the staff to be done overnight hoping that everything would be dry in the morning as we were leaving once again.
Later Lagos!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
We missed breakfast this morning because we decided that we would rather sleep in. When we got up, we went out for breakfast at this local spot that served all day breakfast and was really good. We wandered around a little after breakfast and then went back to the hostel to check out. They let us check out late since they wouldn't get to cleaning our room until later anyhow. So we went back, grabbed our things and were back off to the train station to explore a new place. Off to Porto!! We caught the 2pm train to Porto but since it was across the entire length of the country it was a long train ride and we didn't arrive to our hostel until almost 9 pm. We went to a local spot to have some dinner and made it back to the hostel so I could Skype with my family before bed. It was an uneventful day but a necessary travel day. Tomorrow, we shall see Porto in all of its glory!
We missed breakfast this morning because we decided that we would rather sleep in. When we got up, we went out for breakfast at this local spot that served all day breakfast and was really good. We wandered around a little after breakfast and then went back to the hostel to check out. They let us check out late since they wouldn't get to cleaning our room until later anyhow. So we went back, grabbed our things and were back off to the train station to explore a new place. Off to Porto!! We caught the 2pm train to Porto but since it was across the entire length of the country it was a long train ride and we didn't arrive to our hostel until almost 9 pm. We went to a local spot to have some dinner and made it back to the hostel so I could Skype with my family before bed. It was an uneventful day but a necessary travel day. Tomorrow, we shall see Porto in all of its glory!
Beaches and Indian!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
We were woken early by the bustling of the people in the hostel and our noisy roommate. So we woke up and decided to go check out the famous crepes prepared by "mama". Up in the kitchen, there was a huge line of people waiting to get a seat at the big wooden table. So after a few minutes we sat at the big "family" table where "mama" (cute Portugese lady) had crepes cooking inside, outside and she just threw them onto your plate. She also had "mama's magic tea" which was a lemon tea and is meant to cure your hangover. It was great! We loved the crepes and I really enjoyed the "magic juice". After a really lazy morning we decided it was time to hit the beach. Today was also the booze cruise but after what we had experienced in Corfu, we decided to sit this one out...:) We were told though that we should take a grotto cruise as it is quite beautiful and cheap. So, we went down to the harbour and met this guy who took us out on his speed boat. We had a 45 minute boat ride along the coast and in and out of the rock grotto's. It was neat! Afterwards we found a quiet beach to go hang out on. We found a really secluded beach where we had to walk under a rock to get to and of course the tide comes up after Heather is through and I get soaked!!! The sun was short lived as the afternoon sun is covered by the huge rocks. We stayed there for awhile anyhow and hung out/slept. We then decided to head back to the hostel to shower and then go to dinner. We have learned our lesson from last night...always go to dinner looking your best! Haha! So on our way back to our hostel, we ran into half of the bachelor party, including the groom who are all looking and feeling quite rough. The groom had to go home quite early last night as he had a few too many shots. Anyhow, we chatted for a few and agreed to party again later and maybe see them around. So we got ready and were off on a mission for a fish dinner. Mama recommended this place in town and said it was the best. So we headed to the fish place and found it was closed for vacation. We were really bummed. However, we passed this good looking Indian restaurant on the way. We walked back towards the Indian spot and took one look at the menu and were convinced. We had an amazing meal and headed bak to the hostel for a big night on the town. We met some people at the hostel and were drinking and chillin with them. We found out that they were part of a big group of people and we moved the party upstairs. We met some fellow North American's that we ended up going out to the club with and partying with the whole night. As we were walking home, I was a bit further behind the others (because my feet were sore and was walking slowly) and I ran into the boys from the bachelor party! They were heading home but tried to convince us to go back out and party some more. I was way too tired and my feet way too sore to continue so we had to sadly decline. We said our farewell's and were back in bed. Solid times in Lagos!!!
We were woken early by the bustling of the people in the hostel and our noisy roommate. So we woke up and decided to go check out the famous crepes prepared by "mama". Up in the kitchen, there was a huge line of people waiting to get a seat at the big wooden table. So after a few minutes we sat at the big "family" table where "mama" (cute Portugese lady) had crepes cooking inside, outside and she just threw them onto your plate. She also had "mama's magic tea" which was a lemon tea and is meant to cure your hangover. It was great! We loved the crepes and I really enjoyed the "magic juice". After a really lazy morning we decided it was time to hit the beach. Today was also the booze cruise but after what we had experienced in Corfu, we decided to sit this one out...:) We were told though that we should take a grotto cruise as it is quite beautiful and cheap. So, we went down to the harbour and met this guy who took us out on his speed boat. We had a 45 minute boat ride along the coast and in and out of the rock grotto's. It was neat! Afterwards we found a quiet beach to go hang out on. We found a really secluded beach where we had to walk under a rock to get to and of course the tide comes up after Heather is through and I get soaked!!! The sun was short lived as the afternoon sun is covered by the huge rocks. We stayed there for awhile anyhow and hung out/slept. We then decided to head back to the hostel to shower and then go to dinner. We have learned our lesson from last night...always go to dinner looking your best! Haha! So on our way back to our hostel, we ran into half of the bachelor party, including the groom who are all looking and feeling quite rough. The groom had to go home quite early last night as he had a few too many shots. Anyhow, we chatted for a few and agreed to party again later and maybe see them around. So we got ready and were off on a mission for a fish dinner. Mama recommended this place in town and said it was the best. So we headed to the fish place and found it was closed for vacation. We were really bummed. However, we passed this good looking Indian restaurant on the way. We walked back towards the Indian spot and took one look at the menu and were convinced. We had an amazing meal and headed bak to the hostel for a big night on the town. We met some people at the hostel and were drinking and chillin with them. We found out that they were part of a big group of people and we moved the party upstairs. We met some fellow North American's that we ended up going out to the club with and partying with the whole night. As we were walking home, I was a bit further behind the others (because my feet were sore and was walking slowly) and I ran into the boys from the bachelor party! They were heading home but tried to convince us to go back out and party some more. I was way too tired and my feet way too sore to continue so we had to sadly decline. We said our farewell's and were back in bed. Solid times in Lagos!!!
Algarve!!
Friday, September 17, 2010
We woke up today and packed our things to check out so we could spend another magical day on the train. We were pretty excited to be heading to Lagos in the Algarve which is southern Portugal. Warm weather, beaches and good times!!! We caught the train on the other side of town to head to Lagos. It was quite the long train ride as we had to switch in the Algarve to a local train and it was painful. It stopped at every little town and our stop was, of course, the last one. When we finally arrived around 5pm, we were hungry and tired but not willing to waste precious time. So, we took the winding streets to our hostel...."The Rising Cock" was it's name and it was recommended to us by fellow travellers. When we arrived, we were instantly welcomed and knew we would love this place. The mentality of the owners/workers is that it should feel like home, and it was quite homey! We were hungry and dirty and our stomachs took priority as we planned to eat and then come back and get ready for the night. We quickly heard about a popular spot to eat as they have "power hour". This "power hour" was 10 euro's and included a meal and all you could drink wine or beer for one hour. Heather and I being the "experienced" drinkers that we have become, took full advantage of this and were essentially chugging wine. Bad, bad idea! Needless to say, we never made it home to shower/change. We met a group of guys from England here for their friends bachelor party. We started partying with them and it turned into quite the night. We bought the groom a couple of shots and he took it as a challenge and started buying us shots!!! We went to the first bar and it was pub like and quite chill but the boys knew the owner and we were never without a drink in our hand. We then went to this club (don't know the name) and danced late into the night. Much like Spanish partylife, the Portugese stay open late and party hard. We soon retired to the hostel to catch a few zzz's before morning.
We woke up today and packed our things to check out so we could spend another magical day on the train. We were pretty excited to be heading to Lagos in the Algarve which is southern Portugal. Warm weather, beaches and good times!!! We caught the train on the other side of town to head to Lagos. It was quite the long train ride as we had to switch in the Algarve to a local train and it was painful. It stopped at every little town and our stop was, of course, the last one. When we finally arrived around 5pm, we were hungry and tired but not willing to waste precious time. So, we took the winding streets to our hostel...."The Rising Cock" was it's name and it was recommended to us by fellow travellers. When we arrived, we were instantly welcomed and knew we would love this place. The mentality of the owners/workers is that it should feel like home, and it was quite homey! We were hungry and dirty and our stomachs took priority as we planned to eat and then come back and get ready for the night. We quickly heard about a popular spot to eat as they have "power hour". This "power hour" was 10 euro's and included a meal and all you could drink wine or beer for one hour. Heather and I being the "experienced" drinkers that we have become, took full advantage of this and were essentially chugging wine. Bad, bad idea! Needless to say, we never made it home to shower/change. We met a group of guys from England here for their friends bachelor party. We started partying with them and it turned into quite the night. We bought the groom a couple of shots and he took it as a challenge and started buying us shots!!! We went to the first bar and it was pub like and quite chill but the boys knew the owner and we were never without a drink in our hand. We then went to this club (don't know the name) and danced late into the night. Much like Spanish partylife, the Portugese stay open late and party hard. We soon retired to the hostel to catch a few zzz's before morning.
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