Monthly Archives: April 2013

España! First stop, Madrid!

One of the differences between traveling for 4.5 months and our prior 2 week vacations is the flexibility. We can take our experiences, and what we learn along the way, and make changes to our trip.  In the beginning  our rough plan was to spend a month in Madrid with the goal of experiencing what it is like to live in a foreign country. But during our travels we learned two things that changed our course: 1) Barcelona and other cities in Spain are equally as great as Madrid and worth a visit and 2) when we aren’t fluent in the language allowing us to converse with others, or if we don’t have a greater goal (like Spanish school, community service projects, a job, etc.) 1- 2 weeks is usually enough for us in the same place. Therefore we decided to spend one week in Madrid and the rest of our time in Southern Spain, Barcelona and the Basque region.

Welcome to Madrid - the gate to the city . . . at least in the days of horses and wagons :)

Welcome to Madrid – the gate to the city . . . at least in the days of horses and wagons :)

Enter at your own risk . . .

Enter at your own risk . . .

Big cities can be intimidating and it is easily to get overwhelmed with the crowds, a long list of museums that you “have to see”, and too many tourist attractions. To overcome this we think it is best to orient yourself in the city your first day with a city tour. In Madrid we signed up for a bike tour with Bravo Bikes. Arlen was hesitant to bike through a major city, with sidewalks full of pedestrians and crazy drivers, but to his surprise Madrid has plenty of bike lanes and with a 10am start on a rainy day, most of the city was still sleeping. We had fun chasing our guide through the city, covering most all of the famous buildings, parks, different neighborhoods, and learning interesting stories and history along the way. This helped us decide what places were worth a second visit and what only needed one pass through.

Our map of the Madrid!

Our map of Madrid!

Checking out the sites!

 

Thanks to our guide Kaspar for the action shot, he must have a steady hand!

Thanks to our guide Kaspar for the action shot, he must have a steady hand!

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We were happy to discover that the city had a few great parks! Casa de Campo is huge, it’s about 5 times the size of Central Park in NYC and has running trails in all directions. Retiro is right in the heart of everything, full of history, royal monuments, and is beautifully maintained. These parks were great places to run and catch up on exercise after many fun nights with friends in Portugal!

Retiro park

Retiro park

All that exercise has to be balanced with some great food, and Madrid is the spot. Tapas bars are everywhere, the jamon is fresh and abundant, and the Vermut is a nice sweet pre-meal drink. For those of you unaware, Tapas have been in the Spanish culture for hundreds of years. The story goes that an ancient king once complained about flies getting into his wine, only to have his servant “cover”  the glass with a slice of jamon (tapar in Spanish means to cover). A guest of the king then asked for his own “tapa” and a tradition was born. Specific to our experience, what we enjoyed most was the anticipation that comes with trying new restaurants and choosing the sexiest sounding tapas with unknown Spanish names.  This was a great change of pace from the long slow dinners in Argentina, or the dine and dash in the US, and allowed us try new foods and see the city at the same time.  A special thank you to our friend from Seattle, Jamie (who lived in Madrid for 2 years) for recommending us to some of her favorite restaurants in Madrid!

The streets of Madrid on a Saturday night

The streets of Madrid on a Saturday night

The Museo de Jamon (yes there is actually a museum of ham!)

The Museo de Jamon (yes there is actually a museum of ham!)

Making friends on the tapas tour

Making friends on the tapas tour

Put me in coach!

Put me in coach!

Real Madrid futbol stadium. We didn't get to see a game here, but the stadium tour was very impressive!

Real Madrid futbol stadium. We didn’t get to see a game here, but the stadium tour was very impressive!

Karen even met all the players!!!!

Karen even met all the players!!!!

 

 

 

 

Portugal and FRIENDS!

We have visitors! After touring the North of Portugal we were excited to welcome Karen’s sister, Lisa, and eventually our friends Bryan, Rachel, and Charley! Lisa is attending Physical Therapy graduate school in Maine and decided to join us for her “Last Spring Break Ever”! But we weren’t going to let her get away from studying that easy; since she was traveling with us for 8 days we invited her to be a guest blogger! You’ll see a few excerpts from her throughout this post.

Lisa arrives in Lisbon! For those who know Karen, you know she loves animals, especially sea life, but what you may not know is that so does Lisa! What better first stop then the Lisbon Oceanarium, which is known as the second biggest aquarium in the world! The design is spectacular. You can visit each of the four oceans of the world and see the marine life from all angles, the surface, middle, and ground floor. The inner tank of the exhibit is huge and  is like taking a glimpse into the ocean; there are sharks, otters, stingrays, schools of fish, and bottom feeders all existing together.

Happy to be at the Oceanarium

Happy to be at the Oceanarium

Lisa shares a funny story from the aquarium: “First, Karen decided to compare me to a fish in the aquarium… which one? Well, the sun fish of course. Thanks Karen. Arlen then decided it was the ugliest fish in the sea. Thanks Arlen. So here I am, the sun fish…”

The sunfish!

The sunfish!

One of Lisa's favorite pictures from the aquarium.

One of Lisa’s favorite pictures from the aquarium.

Another of Lisa's favorites.

Another of Lisa’s favorites.

Heading South. Lagos in on the Southern coast of Portugal and is a popular European vacation destination because of the beautiful beaches and massive cliffs. In the spirit of the area we started off each morning with a fresh squeezed glass of OJ, thanks to Arlen’s quick reflexes and miles and miles of orange fields. Since it’s not quite summer yet there was no sunbathing or swimming in the ocean,  but the lack of crowds allowed us to soak in the beauty of the area.

"Here is a progression of just how many oranges we got for 2 Euro. The oranges are so flavorful and wonderful, probably the best I’ve ever had!"- Lisa

“Here is a progression of just how many oranges we got for 2 Euro. The oranges are so flavorful and wonderful, probably the best I’ve ever had!”- Lisa

Our days down South were simple but beautiful. We enjoyed morning runs on open sandy beaches, a boat tour of the caves created by the force of the waves hitting the cliffs, walking around and exploring the cliffs falling into the Atlantic ocean, and celebrating St. Patty’s Day at one of the only Irish pubs in town.

Boat ride to see the cliffs and caves of Lagos

Boat ride to see the cliffs and caves of Lagos

Beautiful sunny day in Lagos.

Beautiful sunny day in Lagos.

Happy St Patty's!

Happy St Patty’s!

From Lagos we visited the Southern most point of Portugal, near the town of Sagres. Legend has it, Portuguese sailors would say goodbye to this land as the last they would see on their long sail to America.  Lisa says “standing on the huge beach surrounded by ginormous cliffs makes you feel very small, especially when you are the only ones there”.

Let's go to the beach!

Let’s go to the beach!

Hurry beat the rain clouds!

Hurry beat the rain clouds!

 . . . he loves long walks on the beach. . .

. . . he loves long walks on the beach. . .

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Locals actually fish from here. After taking this picture we saw one reel in a fish although it wasn't as big as you would expect for all that work.

Locals actually fish from here. After taking this picture we saw one reel in a fish although it wasn’t as big as you would expect for all that work.

Up the West Coast. The great part of having a rental car is getting off the main road and visiting small towns that can’t be easily accessed by public transportation. We took advantage of it on our way North by stopping in small beach towns along the way. Lisa describes one stop in particular: “Driving by we spotted a nice patch of untouched sand dune- we had to stop. We definitely had fun jumping around the dune and jumping down the hill- which required running back up. Definitely earned our next meal with this one”.

JUMP!

JUMP!

Waiting for the sunset with some wine, cheese, and chorizo :)

Waiting for the sunset with some wine, cheese, and chorizo :)

More Visitors! Our friends Bryan, Rachel, and their surprise guest Charley, flew from Paris to meet us in Sesimbra, a beach town West of Lisbon. We rented what we thought would be a great beach house, perfect for cooking dinners, having a beer on the porch, and enjoying the sunshine. Unfortunately the house was a bit older and mustier then advertised. Nonetheless it was so fun to reconnect with our friends, enjoy laughs, and watch Bryan play endless games of Candy Crush on his cellphone. :) With Karen not feeling well (first bout of food sickness on the trip) and Arlen staying home with her, the rest of the group went out for a fun night, setting the stage for the rest of the weekend. They tell us legends of endless seafood, many bottles of wine, and hitching a ride home in the back of a van in the massive downpour; truth or lie we’ll never know but it sounded like a great night.

Visit to the castle above Sesimbra

Visit to the castle above Sesimbra

Fun at the castle. Just a glimpse into our weekend

Fun at the castle. Just a glimpse into our weekend

. . . and another

. . . and another

After a great week with Lisa we said our goodbyes. The rest of the group enjoyed a day in downtown Lisbon and danced the night away to an American coverband rolling out 80s rock and Move Like Jagger.

Next up . . España!