Spain Road Trip - Portugal Part 2

Day 51

We woke to blue skies today. Little did we know that it wouldn’t last! The apartment was proving to be quite dodgy, not a sponge to wash dishes, let alone a kettle to make coffee! I guess this is Portuguese self-catered apartment. Bring it all yourself!

We had our breakfast in room before heading in to town. We found out that the local swimming pool has free wifi! Our hotel charges a ridiculous price to use their computers, they don’t have wifi here. So we sat in a cafe outside the local pool for a couple of hours, enjoying a few drinks and catching up on emails. A very relaxing afternoon! We went back to our apartment and Nat spent a few hours catching up on the blog while Cam sat by the pool for a while!

Cam cooked up a lovely snapper on our ‘throw away’ BBQ. A bit of a hitch, cause the BBQ only lasted 10 mins, enough time to cook half the fish! Poor Cam had to cook the rest in the frypan! The fish tasted lovely, just not the way the chef would have been happy with. We then watched a DVD before crawling in to bed.

Day 52 – Sunday 18 May 2008

We woke to another windy day. Today being a special day, because it marks 7 years since we met! Wow!! Time flies! We had our breakfast before heading to the local pool to use their internet. Nat called home and we caught up on some more emails. We went to Lagos, checked out the marina, but got scared off by the many tourists down there. We aren’t used to being in such busy tourist towns, we have been so lucky to spend most of our holiday being the only tourists and hanging out with the locals! We found a nice cafe/restaurant right near the beach. Sat in the outdoor patio area and enjoyed the views of the beach and a nice burger with a local glass of wine. A nice relaxing lunch.

We then drove out to ‘Cape Sao Vicente’ the most southwestern point of mainland Europe. The point is known to ancient mariners as the "End of the World," where it was believed the sun sank into the ocean every night. It was a pretty impressive sight, standing on the 60 metre high cliffs looking out to the Atlantic Ocean. The lighthouse doesn’t look that special, but it has a 95km range, the most powerful in Europe!

We stopped off for an icecream enroute to the next beach. We laid on the beach for a while, but the weather got the better of us when the sun was completely hidden by thick grey clouds. Boooo! We drove in to the village near where we are staying, we were so surprised to find it so densely populated with not only resorts, but so many restaurants! We had no idea our little village could be so big! It has an awesome beach with huge cliffs, it looked quite nice in the moonlight, can’t wait to go down there and lie on the beach! We had dinner in a seafood restaurant that was packed with tourists. Oh well, if its packed the food can’t be too bad. The prices were very reasonable too. We indulged in a prawn flambé for entre and we both had fish for mains. Nat’s sea bass was so tasty, Cam’s mixed grill got mixed reviews! Finished off with dessert and coffee with a complimentary aperitif. We left feeling very satisfied!

Day 53 – Monday 19 May 2008

Oh come on, another windy cloudy day, this just isn’t fair! We woke late today, had breakfast and headed back to our favourite local swimming pool carpark! Cam called his parents and spoke for quite a while. We had a quick coffee before finally getting on the road mid afternoon! Bugger! Nat drove today! We went to Albufeira and Nat got really freaked out driving through the narrow little roads. Cam had to take over. We finally found a beach, São Rafael’, after driving for ages trying to find some signs! The water didn’t look very nice, but once we were on the beach, it was quite protected from the wind. We had our picnic on the beach and lazed for the afternoon. Nat beat Cam at beach tennis and Cam had a swim that lasted no more than 10 seconds! He reckons its too cold! Bah! After a nice afternoon lazing on the beach we headed back to our room and we cooked up a tasty stirfry for dinner and watched a DVD. So nice to be able to cook in our place. Tonight would be our last night in Portugal as we move on to the last leg of our journey, Andlucia, Spain. Stay tuned for the next leg.

Today would be our last day in Portugal. It was a lazy day, looking around our local area. After a slow start packing and stuff, we went to the local beach to see out the day. Here is a couple of pics from our local beach:

It was a lovely way to finish our time in Portugal. We have mixed feelings about this country. There is lovely parts, away from the tourists and lovely beaches. And then around the bend it will be a massive resort town, full of english tourists and english food in the shops! The food is a bit mixed with some Spanish influences but after Spain it was not quite what we expected. So to finish our trip we stopped at a bar near the beach to watch the sunset and relax!This is what nearly two months travel will do to you!

Well the last stop was Andulcia, Spain to see out our holiday. Check it out!

Cam & Nat

Spain Road Trip - Portugal Part 1

Day 44 10/05

Happy Birthday Dad & Lauren! We sadly left Cangas. It was such a shame we couldn’t stay longer, but we had pre-booked accommodation in our next city Porto, in Portugal! We went through Vigo trying to find Media Markt! We were trying to find it in order to buy a headset to call Nat’s Dad on skype for his birthday. It wasn’t to be, Cam got caught in the city and eventually made our way back out of the crazy streets! We headed along the coast and crossed the border in to Portugal.

We changed time zone, so gained an hour. The countryside was quite different and the roads weren’t as good as Spain. We arrived to our hotel in Porto. A pretty dodgy hotel, but the old guy on reception was really helpful. Free wifi in the restaurant area downstairs! Ironically, there was a computer store right next door to our hotel, and we made it just before closing time. Cam lashed out and bought a 6.50 euro headset! We called Nat’s Dad, but didn’t realise the time difference was much later! It was after midnight! Sorry Dad! Had a good chat to him for his birthday and headed out to dinner. Went to a local restaurant and struggled with the language barrier! Food wasn’t that great, but they really put on a buffet, serving the meat platter with rice, chips & salad! (not forgetting the fried banana with it?) Went to bed soon after.

Day 45 11/05

Happy Mother’s Day Mum’s! Nat called her Mum and had a really good chat with her. Only the second call since we’ve been away. It’s been so hard to call from Spain. Unfortunately Cam’s Mum wasn’t home which was a real shame. We spent the day looking around Porto. A really cool place. Quite a hilly city but! We walked around the city enjoying the sites. Headed over the big bridge, designed by Mr Eiffel who did the Eiffel tower, its a massive bridge over the river, quite high up. We then had lunch and headed to Port tasting! Sandeman was founded by a Scotsman in 1790! Really nice guy led us on a tour, we were the only ones on the tour! The port was really nice and of course we bought ourselves a bottle! We went to a local bar up the road and had another glass of local port.

Walked back over the bridge and went to the most amazing church, ‘GOLDEN CHURCH’. It was absolutely beautiful inside. The outside is quite ugly, but inside all the panelling and the frescos are covered in gold. There was no photos allowed, which was great. It was so serene and peaceful in the church with some lovely music playing. From here we went to the bar strip along the river and enjoyed a beer.

On the steep walk back to our hotel we found this awesome pizzeria. It was full of locals! The pizza was beautiful. Such a cheap dinner yet so delicious! What a score! The walk was quite tough, but we made it back to our hotel and crawled in to bed!

Day 46 12/05

We left Porto at a good time and arrived early afternoon in Figuera da Foz. Along the way our GPs software had decided that gravel roads to non-existent roads. This was a good road apparently? After several kilometres negating the gravel roads to other non-existent road we were back on route. An hour later we were at the coast! Checked in with a very friendly English couple who are running the hostel, (The Paintshop Hostel). This is probably one of the best hostels we have ever stayed in.

After checking in and getting the orientation around this great hostel, of into town. We went to the info centre, got a map and checked out the town. Had a good lunch, ordered a burger, which turned out to be a burger patty, lettuce tomato and cheese, without the bun! A good laugh, but it was very tasty. We sat in the park for a good hour or so to soak up some rays. Nat read her book and Cam had a snooze. We headed to the local hypermarket and stocked up. This photo is a random fountain in the park that you can run through. There is touch-sensitive pads that turn the fountain on and off. Kept us and the local kids amused for hours!

The hostel was quiet and had a big fridge, so we bought enough food for the next couple of days. We caught up on our emails. Cam cooked up a nice stir fry. Nat was off to bed, allowing the boys have a beer. We then got on the beer with Jacques, hostel manager. 2:30 off to bed! Now that's what I call getting friendly!

Day 47 13/05

Day in Figueara de Foz. This beach is the widest in Europe at over 100 metres wide at the widest point. Lovely clean sand and so much room to stretch out.

We went to the market just before midday and picked up some fresh seafood. A tip you need to get to them markets early or there is nothing there!

We headed down to the surfing beach and Cam had a surfing lesson! Nat was official photographer. When we headed to the beach, it was really overcast and was threatening rain. After about 15 mins it had all blown over and the sun came out. Not prepared for the sun, Nat got really sunburned on her legs. Cam had a good go at surfing, not bad for his first time! The instructor was very helpful and funny. Stretches and warming up and stuff I am sure helped. Before leaving we couldn't resist taking some piccies of how it is meant to be done. I love this picture!

We stopped off at LIDL for a few more supplies for dinner. Cam cooked up Squid on the BBQ, served with grilled zucchini. Tasty! He then got drinking with the hostel owners and cooked the main dish, a lovely fish spaghetti. So good! By the time we ate though, it was about 11.30! Off to bed after several more drinks.

Day 48 14/05

We got up and after breakfast, we reluctantly leave this hostel. It really felt like home for us. Jacque and Kate are so friendly and welcoming, it was such a pleasure to stay with them. The hostel is so well kitted out, it has a massive open kitchen with everything you need, a BBQ outside, a bar out the back, a pool table and loads of DVDs to watch. We were able to feel relaxed and cook when we wanted. It was a really great couple of days. Such a shame we couldn’t stay longer. Thanks guys!

The weather was quite lousy and rained as we were leaving. The drive to Sintra took much longer than expected, mostly due to the bad weather and the dodgy GPS. We checked in to our hostel (4-Squared Hostel), if you would call it that! Its only got 4 rooms that are above the cafe/restaurant. The room is pretty basic, with not even a hook on the wall! From one of the best hostels in Figuera to this really dodgy hostel in Sintra!

We walked to the village, but not long after we got caught in the pouring rain, very wet, we went to a local wine bar and enjoyed some wonderful local wine and cheese! The local guy in the bar was really cool too and we had a good chat with him. We looked at the menu in a few of the restaurants and the prices were really expensive. Being broke backpackers, we decided it was out of our league and settled for Pizza Hut on MasterCard!! The locals in pizza hut were really nice and the pizza wasn’t too bad either! We ate back in our room before going to sleep.

Day 49 15/05

We woke after a really bad sleep, the bed was awful, it was so thin, it felt like sleeping on slats all night! We were up early, about 7am, to spend our day looking around Lisbon. We got the train about 8.30, a real shock! Unfortunately the weather gods were not with us and it was raining on and off all day.

We checked out the big square, 'Plaza do Comercio'. It had dozens of 'Smart Cars' painted in various colours and styles. Check out the photo! Cam was offered hash and pot from various dodgy looking fellas! A bit cheeky that we were right next to the parliament building too!

We then walked through the ‘Arco da Victoria’ the long way to ‘Se Cathedral’. A beautiful cathedral which has cloisters out the back, in the middle of the cloisters Archaeologists had identified Roman Ruins from First Century BC. A walk around the area allows you a view from many different angles! We then walked up the hill to Castelo De Sao Jorge. Its Lisbon's iconic castle which dates back to the 6th century!

We were lucky to walk around and check out the spectacular views of the city. But unfortunately once we were on top and walking around the walls, the rain really set in. It poured and poured! We had lunch in a local restaurant, a really nice seafood soup and vegetable soup, we shared both and Nat had squid and Cam had a local chicken stew.

We took the bus to Belem, which is the home of an amazing monastery, not to mention the most famous custard tarts from Pasteis de Belem. We headed there first, it was packed with people buying ‘Pasteis de Belem’, we bought two each, and they were absolutely delicious! We went back for another two each! They were soooooooo good!! We then walked to the Monastery. ‘Mosteiro dos Jeronimos’ took over 40 years to complete! It is truly spectacular. We spent quite some time marvelling at its beauty inside.

Still walking in the rain, we headed over to the sailors monument for a couple of photos and back through the gardens which had a spectacular fountain. We then took the world famous trams back into the city and stumbled around town looking for the famous beer district! We didn’t find it, but picked up a couple of souvenirs and then we were on the train home to Sintra.

Cam checked out the pub downstairs underneath the hostel and posted the Morocco blog part two.

Day 50 16/05

Up early to see the ‘Palacio Nacional da Pena’ in Sintra. Amazing place! When we arrived, the park hadn’t opened as yet. So unusual for us! We were on the first train up to the palace. Walked around the outside first, which was our mistake, because when we went to go look inside, we got caught in with loads of arrogant American tour groups.

Anyway, the Palace has so many different architectural styles and many different shapes, it’s a pretty stunning place. We walked down through the gardens, taking a few photos.

Back on the road, next stop Evora, inland. We stopped off at these very old arranged rocks like Stonehenge, ‘Cromeleque dos Almendres’. They are on a rural property which is privately owned. Its a beautiful drive on a dirt track, surrounded by fields of wildflowers and stunning trees. It was very peaceful. So Cam had to break out in a 'Tip toe through the tulips"

From here we drove into town, getting quite lost trying to find the chapel of bones! On the way through the old town we saw the Templo Roman, which was once a Roman Temple, but only has the columns still standing. It was quite interesting! Cam struggled his way through the old town, through some ridiculously narrow cobble stoned roads. We got a map from a hotel and found some tourists with a guidebook who pointed us in the right direction to the chapel!

Little did we know, we were only a couple of minutes walk from it! The chapel is on the side of church San Francisco, we were looked for the signs for ‘Capela dos Ossos’, the chapel of bones.

Its a small chapel made from bones from the local people. They dug up their cemetery and used the bones to decorate the interior of the chapel. Very freaky! Inscripted in the marble above the entrance door is ‘we want your bones blah blah". You can get more information here WIKIPEDIA. We had a quick beer and icecream and then a hoon drive down to the Algarve. It really is a pretty town and wished we had longer to appreciate the place, but the next coast was calling us!

It was a lovely drive through winding smooth roads in rolling hills. This little Golf doing us proud! We made it in good time, some interesting and quite varied scenery. We picked up supplies at the supermarket, then checked in to our apartment in the Algarve. A bit average but plenty of room with 2 double beds and a pool! Off to bed.

Portugal week 1 finito! You may of noticed that we have put some more links in here for you to check out the places we went and the correct history and stuff.

The next bit is our time in the Algarve, southern Portugal.

Enjoy!

Cam & Nat

Spain Road Trip - Asturias to Galicia

Another entry aren't you lucky! I have managed to change the page width so I can fit in more into the same page, hopefully making it a little easier to read. If you can suggest anything to make it easier to read, let us know!

This region is one of our faves in the whole of Spain! Check it out...

Day 39 (Monday May 5 08)

We drove in to town. stopping off for some supplies at the local supermarket and stocking up on local produce. We headed to the next fishing town, Ribadesella. On route we got told to pull over by the Police. We got caught up in the big bike race and moments after pulling over, hundreds of bikes passed us at lightning speed, followed by their massive road crew. Check out the photos!! Talk about a perfect place for a photo! Right up front of the action! After this short lived excitement we were back on the road

We drove to Ribadesella and walked around the marina. We had a picnic lunch at the mouth of the marina. The weather was pretty grey and London looking. We would be left wondering how beautiful this town would be in the sunshine. It has gorgeous mountains as a backdrop and a lovely marina with lots of different coloured houses surrounding it. It was a very restful and peaceful way to kill a couple of hours. Seeing the boats coming in with their daily catch is becoming quite a regular occurrence. It was siesta so the town was dead quiet, but suited us just fine!

From here, Nat had a driving lesson. First time she’d driven a car since October 2006! But first time ever to drive on the right hand side of the road! Very scary stuff! We drove through the mountains and stopped for a beer in a town called ‘Cangas de Onis’. It has a really old Roman bridge that is really high over the river. We sat by the river, looking at the bridge and enjoyed a beer and ice cream. Cam took over the driving back through the hairy local roads back to our little place. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. The mountains were surrounded in mist, but were spectacular.

On our return, Cam watched crap Spanish tv, while Nat had an early night.

Day 40 6/05

In the morning we checked out of our lovely hotel and headed back in to Llanes. There are these big cement blocks that have been decorated by a Bilbao artist in lots of funky colours and patterns. Elaborately called ‘Cubes of Memory!’ We enjoyed some sunshine sitting on the sea wall checking out the blocks and the local fishing boats pulling in with their daily catch. A fair drive today, so we headed on route West. Nat drove on the motorway today. Quite scary for her, since the Spanish drive so fast! 120 km/h is slow here.

We stopped in a town called Lugo to break up the drive. We sat in the main square and did what all the locals do. People watch! They sit in the main square, doing nothing but watch other people walking by! Its amazing! They don’t read books or listen to iPods, they just sit and do nothing! I couldn’t imagine that ever happening in London! There is always somewhere to be or someone to call!

After sampling local Galician beer (not a bad drop, shame you can't get it elsewhere), we got back on the road into Galicia. Our rather unhelpful GPS didn’t have the road our hotel was on. We drove around for quite a while trying to locate it! Its pretty much brand new and so is the area, so its no wonder the GPS couldn’t locate it! The hotel is only about 7km from A Coruna. Its very well decorated and clean, but lacks atmosphere. The guy on reception was really helpful though, he provided us with maps of the local cities and information on where to go and park. The first place in a long time that the reception could speak fluent English, let alone give good information! We had a short rest and then decided to head out for dinner.

The local village had very few restaurants and the ones there were rather empty, we didn’t want to risk it, the prices weren’t cheap enough to have a disappointing meal. We decided to go to A Coruna, which was a rather bad idea, since we had no idea where to go and had no map! Hence yes we got lost, there is a massive ramp which joins about 5 motorways together, so it wasn’t hard to get lost. We found our way back, via a service station, well we needed fuel anyway! We got back to our hotel and had dinner there.

It was really late by this stage, so we were very grateful to be served a full dinner at that time of evening. The meal wasn’t too bad, 3 courses and it included a bottle of wine at only 10 euros each! Awesome! We pretty much crawled straight in to bed after!

Day 41

We ate our cereal in our room and headed to the cafe downstairs for a morning coffee. The lady was very friendly and made a lovely cafe cortado (Spanish macchiatto). Our Spanish favourite, an espresso coffee with a dash of milk. We headed to a town called Laxe.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very nice to us, it was quite grey and looked like it was going to rain. We bought a few things at the local supermercado for a picnic later. We then went to another town called Malpica, a very sleepy little town. It had the steepest hill we’ve ever seen! A narrow little road too! Cam went off-road up a gravel track which had stunning views of the rugged coastline. From here we headed to another beach called Praia de Razo, on the Coste de Morte (Coast of Death), which had a lovely long white sandy beach. This part of the coastline has had many shipwrecks over the years hence the name. There is some great surfing here at your own risk!

We sat down near the rocks and had our picnic lunch. It felt just like where Cam and I enjoy taking Chloe to the beach in Quinns Rock back home! The weather was threatening rain, but we had enough time to enjoy our lunch and a quick beer before the rain came! It was a gorgeous place, it was such a shame about the weather. From here we headed to A Coruna.This is pretty much the capital of Galicia and a major centre in the area. The lighthouse was one of the main tourist attractions. It was an old Roman lighthouse, said to be one of the oldest in Europe. When we got to it, we found it was one of the ugliest lighthouses we’ve ever seen! It was square and ugly poo brown!

We left the car and headed on foot in to the old town. It wasn’t the nicest town we’ve been to, but the weather didn’t really help. It was cool and rained later in the day. This picture shows that the front of the patios all have glass covering them. It is famously known as the "Crystal street" because of this.

We had trouble locating the restaurant strip, but once we found it, we weren’t disappointed. We met an Irish lady and her Scottish husband having dinner with their young kids. They were really lovely and it was so nice to have conversation in English! We hadn’t encountered anyone speaking English for about a week! Cam and I lashed out and had an amazing seafood platter with prawns, big fish, little fish langoustines and squid. It was sooooooo good! They aren’t wrong about Galicia being famous for its seafood! After dinner we strolled back to the car and headed home thoroughly satisfied with our seafood dinner!

Day 42

Today we headed further south in Galicia to Cangas. En-route we stopped at the lovely town of Santiago de Compestela. Its the town where the Camigo de Santiago finished. We went to the local market which was full of luscious looking fruits and vegetables. A selection of fish and meat and cheese etc. Really nice!

We bought some supplies and walked around the lovely town. We had tapas in a nice cafe next to the university cheap and fresh. The cathedral was quite spectacular outside but not as amazing as the inside and it was free! In the square there is many backpackers celebrating . Those who have finished the pilgrims trail (St James' way or Camino de Santiago). We walked around a bit admiring this beautiful city, but had to get on the road to Cangas. Lucky we left when we did, cause as soon as we got in the car and shut the door, it absolutely pissed down with rain!

The journey to Cangas was very picturesque. The countryside was so green and luscious. Many fields of grape vines and market gardens. Many local wines for sale on the side of the road, which this region is famous for. (Temporillo). We arrived in Cangas without having booked accommodation. Luckily the lady in the tourist office was very helpful and booked us in to an apartment not far out of town. We were really happy to find out apartment was only about 20 metres to the sea! The apartment itself was a little bit rough around the edges, but it had a proper kitchen with an oven and a good size fridge! Woo hoo! We could cook dinner and keep some food and drinks in the fridge! We headed to the supermarket to stock up on supplies and came back and Cam cooked up a lovely stir fry. So good to have home cooked food!

We had so much washing to do, having been on the road for over 6 weeks and hand washing most of the time our clothes were desperate for a good wash! The washing machine struggled a fair bit, but we eventually got it working! Cam watched a few episodes of Family Guy and Nat had her head in a good book until the eyes were closed.

Day 43

We woke up to a lovely morning. Had a quick coffee and some cereal before heading straight in to town for bread. We had forgotten that the local market is on Fridays. We were pleasantly surprised! This is one of the best markets we’ve ever seen! Such an amazing selection of things. Not just super fresh fruit and veges from local growers, but local seafood, meat, a massive choice of hand bags, shoes, socks, clothes. It really was awesome! We walked around for a fair while taking it all in! We got some lovely food and headed back to our apartment. We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and enjoying our fresh food, with the music cranking and the sun shining on our patio and out on the beach. Cam was enjoying a day off from driving and had more than his fair share of beers/cider/wine/port! What a mix! With a drunken dash into the sea couldn't be better!

We cooked up grilled zucchini and eggplant. Absolutely divine! For main course Cam cooked a really nice t-bone steak that we had purchased at the markets earlier with some steamed broccoli and carrots. So good! Sometimes simple is often the best. After all the sun (and the few drinks), we called it a night not long after the steak!

Today would be our last day in Spain for a couple of weeks as we head south into Portugal for some touring down the coast. Stay tuned for Portugal!

Cam & Nat