Friday, September 25, 2009
Winding down...
Last few days of the trip! We spent the night in Cordoba, and visited the Mezquita this morning, an massive building which has alternated between a church, a mosque, and now a huge cathedral. Really interesting blend of catholic and muslim influences in the building.
Hope to get postcards sent before we leave madrid...hopefully!
Hope to get postcards sent before we leave madrid...hopefully!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Algarve and Southern Spain!
Haven´t had internet for almost a week! Writing from a little (read cramped and busy) internet cafe in Granada. We really enjoyed Lisbon, and also visited Sintra and Cascais which were fantastic. Next two nights were in smaller towns, staying at gorgeous Pousadas. We stayed one night in a CASTLE, and another night on an estate at the top of a mountain with a stellar view on all sides, including an ocean view from our room. Dinners at these places were also fantastically good.
Did a few days at beaches in different areas, ranging from small beaches with cliffs and little islands, to multi-mile long super sandy beaches. Perfect weather every day.
Next we did Seville, and enjoyed walking around all the pedestrian shopping streets downtown. Saw the Cathdral which is the 3rd largest in the world. This is probably the 10th massive and incredibly ornate church we´ve seen. Had a really yummy dinner, including a venison stew.
Yesterday we drove through the mountains (and literally mile after mile of olive trees, I´ll have to post pics), and stayed in Granada. Didn´t get around to wandering around downtown until after 8pm, but stayed out until almost 11, and had dinner on a nice patio in a square. We went to see the Alhambra today, but got there too late to get tickets to go inside...we´d intended to book online in advance, but didnt get it done, so settled for walking around the outside which was still nice.
Off to Cordoba tonight, Toledo tomorrow, and finally back to Madrid on the weekend. Hard to believe it´s been two weeks, but we´ve seen SO much! Laura´s got us up to something like 800 pics...thank goodness for digital cameras, or we´d be spending a fortune on film!
Did a few days at beaches in different areas, ranging from small beaches with cliffs and little islands, to multi-mile long super sandy beaches. Perfect weather every day.
Next we did Seville, and enjoyed walking around all the pedestrian shopping streets downtown. Saw the Cathdral which is the 3rd largest in the world. This is probably the 10th massive and incredibly ornate church we´ve seen. Had a really yummy dinner, including a venison stew.
Yesterday we drove through the mountains (and literally mile after mile of olive trees, I´ll have to post pics), and stayed in Granada. Didn´t get around to wandering around downtown until after 8pm, but stayed out until almost 11, and had dinner on a nice patio in a square. We went to see the Alhambra today, but got there too late to get tickets to go inside...we´d intended to book online in advance, but didnt get it done, so settled for walking around the outside which was still nice.
Off to Cordoba tonight, Toledo tomorrow, and finally back to Madrid on the weekend. Hard to believe it´s been two weeks, but we´ve seen SO much! Laura´s got us up to something like 800 pics...thank goodness for digital cameras, or we´d be spending a fortune on film!
Labels: Honeymoon
Friday, September 18, 2009
Porto and Coimbra!
The past few days have been super busy, but lots of fun. We drove from Braganca across to Porto through the Douro valley, one of the biggest grape growing regions in Portugal (home to all the grapes grown for Port wine). This has to rank among the top 5 drives of my life, easily comparing to the Rockies in terms of beauty. Crazy mountains and valleys, all with terraces carved into the sides of them, for miles and miles, growing grapes and olive trees. Nutty beautiful.
We stopped in Regua, one of the main towns along the river, and visited two wineries. We did a tour at one of them, and saw them stomping the grapes by foot - we even could have done some stomping ourselves, but were behind schedule.
The drive into Porto was...an adventure. The road systems here are very different from back home, especially in towns. Roundabouts and 5 way intersections are the norm, and there´s no notion of a grid-based road network...everything just winds and twists...roads are all very narrow, and people drive at breakneck speed(150-160 on the highway is pretty normal, as the speed limit is 120). We´ve been navigating via a combination of google maps directions and a GPS, to mixed results. The GPS is fantastic for getting us through the mazes of tiny streets in town, but has led us astray a few times getting IN to town. Porto was the worst. By far. We ended up very very lost on these extremely tiny streets, with stone walls on both sides, that were "two way" streets, but barely wide enough for one car, going up and down steep hills, and crazy windy....as the sun was setting. We FINALLY made it into Porto by around 10pm, totally exhausted.
Our hotel room in Porto was very tiny, but in a great location. We managed to get out and see most of the big sights by early afternoon, including lunch right down on the river. The afternoon was spent doing Port wine tours/tastings across the river...we only actually visited 5 of the 16 or so Port Houses, but probably had an average of 5 large samples per place. Port is fortified red wine, so pulls in at 20% alcohol, so by the end of the day we´d each had probably the equivalent of 10 plus shots of booze. We stumbled home along the super hilly, cobbled streets, sobered up a bit and had a really nice dinner at a place called Cafe Majestic.
Yesterday we drove from Porto down to Coimbra, home of the oldest university in Portugal (started around 1350). They´ve got a GORGEOUS library and chapel, and strangely all their students dress in uniform, which includes a cape. Seriously.
Last night was our second night staying at a Pousada, this time we stayed in an old convent high up in the mountains, with an AMAZING view, miles and miles in every direction. Played some tennis, went for a swim, and had a fantastic dinner (I had veal and portuguese sausage, followed with a sweets/pastry buffet!)
Off to Lisbon today!
We stopped in Regua, one of the main towns along the river, and visited two wineries. We did a tour at one of them, and saw them stomping the grapes by foot - we even could have done some stomping ourselves, but were behind schedule.
The drive into Porto was...an adventure. The road systems here are very different from back home, especially in towns. Roundabouts and 5 way intersections are the norm, and there´s no notion of a grid-based road network...everything just winds and twists...roads are all very narrow, and people drive at breakneck speed(150-160 on the highway is pretty normal, as the speed limit is 120). We´ve been navigating via a combination of google maps directions and a GPS, to mixed results. The GPS is fantastic for getting us through the mazes of tiny streets in town, but has led us astray a few times getting IN to town. Porto was the worst. By far. We ended up very very lost on these extremely tiny streets, with stone walls on both sides, that were "two way" streets, but barely wide enough for one car, going up and down steep hills, and crazy windy....as the sun was setting. We FINALLY made it into Porto by around 10pm, totally exhausted.
Our hotel room in Porto was very tiny, but in a great location. We managed to get out and see most of the big sights by early afternoon, including lunch right down on the river. The afternoon was spent doing Port wine tours/tastings across the river...we only actually visited 5 of the 16 or so Port Houses, but probably had an average of 5 large samples per place. Port is fortified red wine, so pulls in at 20% alcohol, so by the end of the day we´d each had probably the equivalent of 10 plus shots of booze. We stumbled home along the super hilly, cobbled streets, sobered up a bit and had a really nice dinner at a place called Cafe Majestic.
Yesterday we drove from Porto down to Coimbra, home of the oldest university in Portugal (started around 1350). They´ve got a GORGEOUS library and chapel, and strangely all their students dress in uniform, which includes a cape. Seriously.
Last night was our second night staying at a Pousada, this time we stayed in an old convent high up in the mountains, with an AMAZING view, miles and miles in every direction. Played some tennis, went for a swim, and had a fantastic dinner (I had veal and portuguese sausage, followed with a sweets/pastry buffet!)
Off to Lisbon today!
Labels: Honeymoon
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
In Portugal!
We picked up the rental car yesterday, and did a 5+ hour drive from Madrid over to norther Portugal, to a town called Braganca. Our car´s actually quite nice, a Citroen C4...and most importantly, it´s an automatic!
The drive was really gorgeous, very dry, rugged terrain. We saw lots of solar panels and lots of wind turbines. We made a pit stop in this very small town...probably about 200 stairs up a cliff to a castle, and a whole little town inside the castle walls. Really well kept and very cute.
The last leg of the drive was through crazy twisty up and down mountain roads (we were doing between 20 and 50km/hr to give you a sense). Finally arrived in Braganca, at our Pousada: Sao Bartolomeu. Man, what a hookup! This place is absolutely gorgeous, and has a fantastic view of the castle, and rolling hills for as far as the eye can see.
Dinner last night was terrific...I had rabbit. Like a WHOLE rabbit. And it was amazing. SO much meat, and so tender and delicious. We also had a really nice local red wine, and a bunch of little tapas-type dishes.
Breakfast this morning was also amazing, lots of breads with a whole slew of choices of locally made preserves and honeys. There were also cheeses and 4 different ham-type choices, then a choice of 5 different fresh squeeze juices (and champagne to made your own mimosas!).
We head off today to Porto, driving along the douro river, one of the biggest wine and port regions of the country! The grapes are grown on the banks of the river, and the wine and port are produced on site, then shipped down the river to Porto where they are cellered and aged. Two nights in Porto!
The drive was really gorgeous, very dry, rugged terrain. We saw lots of solar panels and lots of wind turbines. We made a pit stop in this very small town...probably about 200 stairs up a cliff to a castle, and a whole little town inside the castle walls. Really well kept and very cute.
The last leg of the drive was through crazy twisty up and down mountain roads (we were doing between 20 and 50km/hr to give you a sense). Finally arrived in Braganca, at our Pousada: Sao Bartolomeu. Man, what a hookup! This place is absolutely gorgeous, and has a fantastic view of the castle, and rolling hills for as far as the eye can see.
Dinner last night was terrific...I had rabbit. Like a WHOLE rabbit. And it was amazing. SO much meat, and so tender and delicious. We also had a really nice local red wine, and a bunch of little tapas-type dishes.
Breakfast this morning was also amazing, lots of breads with a whole slew of choices of locally made preserves and honeys. There were also cheeses and 4 different ham-type choices, then a choice of 5 different fresh squeeze juices (and champagne to made your own mimosas!).
We head off today to Porto, driving along the douro river, one of the biggest wine and port regions of the country! The grapes are grown on the banks of the river, and the wine and port are produced on site, then shipped down the river to Porto where they are cellered and aged. Two nights in Porto!
Labels: Honeymoon
Sunday, September 13, 2009
My feet are sore!
It´s been a really hectic 2 days in Madrid, but lots of fun! We´ve managed to get all sorts of things done, and minus a small hiccup last night meeting up with my aunt and uncle, things have gone quite smoothly!
Yesterday our flight got in around noon local time, and we took the subway to the hotel, which turned out to be gorgeous and super conveniently located. Went for a walk and saw an egyptian temple, a huge park with a rose garden, twin churches, the royal palace, a big cathedral, the opera house, and another big park. After a quick nap we took the subway to meet my aunt and uncle for the leonard cohen concert(by the way, it`s a super complicated system here...just getting over to meet my aunt and uncle required 3 subway connections!). Unfortunately our google maps directions got us lost and we ended up taking a taxi to their hotel. We went out for a really nice dinner, then were blown away by the concert - leonard cohen literally played three and a half hours, including FOUR encores. The concert didn´t end until almost 2am, a little ridiculous!
Needless to say we slept in this morning, but still checked out a massive flea market, the train station, plaza mayor (where they filmed the assisination scene from Vantage Point), a fantastic pastry shop, an art museum, the botanical gardens, and a long walk along Gran Via, similar to NYC´s Broadway. My feet are SORE. The strangest thing is that restaurants don´t open for dinner until 8pm or later. Smoking is MUCH more common here, food is generally fairly expensive, but the subways are super cheap (1 Euro!).
We pick up the rental car tomorrow and head to Portugal, with our first night in a Pousada!
Yesterday our flight got in around noon local time, and we took the subway to the hotel, which turned out to be gorgeous and super conveniently located. Went for a walk and saw an egyptian temple, a huge park with a rose garden, twin churches, the royal palace, a big cathedral, the opera house, and another big park. After a quick nap we took the subway to meet my aunt and uncle for the leonard cohen concert(by the way, it`s a super complicated system here...just getting over to meet my aunt and uncle required 3 subway connections!). Unfortunately our google maps directions got us lost and we ended up taking a taxi to their hotel. We went out for a really nice dinner, then were blown away by the concert - leonard cohen literally played three and a half hours, including FOUR encores. The concert didn´t end until almost 2am, a little ridiculous!
Needless to say we slept in this morning, but still checked out a massive flea market, the train station, plaza mayor (where they filmed the assisination scene from Vantage Point), a fantastic pastry shop, an art museum, the botanical gardens, and a long walk along Gran Via, similar to NYC´s Broadway. My feet are SORE. The strangest thing is that restaurants don´t open for dinner until 8pm or later. Smoking is MUCH more common here, food is generally fairly expensive, but the subways are super cheap (1 Euro!).
We pick up the rental car tomorrow and head to Portugal, with our first night in a Pousada!
Labels: Honeymoon
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tomorrow's the day!
We leave for the ol' honeymoon tomorrow! Really excited to get it started - we've been planning for ages now, and I'm tired at looking at MAPS of cities, and want to just get there and get started!
First stop, Madrid. We're actually going to a Leonard Cohen concert on Saturday night with my aunt/uncle. Should be interesting!
Aside - I've rekindled my love for the library. I'd been hitting them up trying to secure free museum passes, and have actually really had a lot of fun finding / reading a handful of books in the past few weeks. Knocked out 2 John Grisham's, A Spot of Bother (same guy who wrote the curious incident of the dog in the night), and Ray in Reverse (the same guy who wrote Big Fish). My only qualm...they're computer search is hard to use if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.
Aiight. Off to Europe! Not sure how often we'll have internet, but I'll try to post when I can!
First stop, Madrid. We're actually going to a Leonard Cohen concert on Saturday night with my aunt/uncle. Should be interesting!
Aside - I've rekindled my love for the library. I'd been hitting them up trying to secure free museum passes, and have actually really had a lot of fun finding / reading a handful of books in the past few weeks. Knocked out 2 John Grisham's, A Spot of Bother (same guy who wrote the curious incident of the dog in the night), and Ray in Reverse (the same guy who wrote Big Fish). My only qualm...they're computer search is hard to use if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.
Aiight. Off to Europe! Not sure how often we'll have internet, but I'll try to post when I can!
