Paradise Found: Lagos, Portugal

Is it bad I'm in Italy but still dreaming about this beach? The Algarve of Southern Portugal has put a serious spell on me. If you are looking for some serious R &R, book your ticket now.

The beaches are absolutely stunning. Small coves tucked in between the cliffs looking out on to huge rock formations along the coast. They can only fit about 50 people max on each one so it has a very secluded feel to it all (above is the beach we camped on for literally two days straight).


Even the hike out to the beach is breathtaking. A mile or 2 trail along the cliffs that eventually ends at Lagos' famous grottos. If you don't like hiking, no worries, there's another long stretch of sand for you that doesn't require any hiking...but no cliffs.

Our second day, we took the Bom Dia Boat Tour. It's a 2 hour tour on a sailboat that anchors out by the grottos and then takes you through them on a smaller boat, so cool! Highly recommend it. Plus, the staff is friendly and they serve beers and mojitos on the boat.


We found an amazing place to stay called the 100% Cozy Guesthouse...I know, the name is kind of funny. But its a house run by a Parisian family that lives in the basement during the summer and they are seriously the nicest people ever. Once checked in, the owner took us upstairs to show us the room. She explained on the way that we had the smallest room but that they try to compensate for it with a terrace. Ok, one- we walked in to the room and it was seriously nicer than anything we've stayed in yet. Two- the terrace? an entire roof filled with deck chairs. Matt took full advantage of their kitchen and made me an amazing meal of mussels in a white wine sauce and pasta. So good!

After an amazing couple of days lounging in Lagos, we headed up to Lisbon for 3 days. Great city (I got a very San Francisco kind of feel from it) but honestly after all the places we've been, it was kind of boring after the first day. If you're ever planning a visit to Portugal, I would definitely stop in for a day or two, but then head straight to south.

Well, hope you all are planning your trip to Portugal now. Matt and I are in Florence and loving it. Heading back to Rome for a day more of sightseeing tomorrow and then off to GREECE!

Take care everyone!

MIA

Sorry for the absence lately tagalongs. Bad internet/wifi availability in Italy. I promise to get a Portugal post up for you all by mid week. Stay tuned...

Spain!

Last week we spent three days in Barcelona and two in Sevilla. Same country but such different places! Barcelona was nice because all the cities we had been in previously were freezing so we appreciated the beach time (laying arm to arm with the rest of the city).

We made the hike up to Park Guell our second night. The park is free and is by far the coolest thing I saw in Barcelona. I love Guadi´s work and the park has some great views of the city too.

Casa Batllo was also right around the corner from our hostel. Didn´t take the tour, but just seeing it from the outside was cool enough.

All in all Barcelona is a great city, but our trip to Sevilla was so much more culturally stimulating. Sevilla is such a pretty city and I was absolutely blown away by the Alcazar. It served as the city´s cistern back in the day, but it´s this beautiful building filled with never ending tiled walls, gold ceilings, and sun patios with fountains...so much detail put in to every aspect of the place. The gardens have literally hundreds of orange trees and such tall palm trees. The whole place is just jaw dropping. I tried uploading a video that I took but it compressed it and turned to crap, so I guess you´ll just have to make the visit to see it with your own eyes, sorry!

The iphone pics just don´t do the place justice, here are some I found on TripAdvisor.


We also made it to a Flamenco show one of the nights in Sevilla. Such a cool experience. The dancer was literally in her 50´s or 60´s and danced her ass off.

Even the food in Sevilla had a more authentic feel. The restaurants weren´t all fancy and done up like the ones in Barcelona, just simple cafes on the side of the road serving traditional, simple dishes. This is our dinner one night- Spanish white anchovies with olive oil and lemon along with grilled squid with some kind of pesto sauce. (I know anchovies sound gross, but once you have them fresh like this, you´ll never see them the same again)


That´s about it for Spain. We´re in Portugal now so expect a good post soon...southern Portugal is awesome!! Flying to Rome tomorrow!!! Take care everyone!

Dear God, It´s me, Sarah.

Please find a way for Matt and I to run away to Paris. I know everyone said French people are mean, but I don´t know a lick of French and found them to be the most accomodating and charming people we´ve met so far (even staying with Parisians now in Portugal, could not love them more). I know, people even warned me the city was dirty, but I thought it had a beautiful charm along with the grime.

Fresh, HOT, baguettes and the best cheese in the world....what more could a girl ask for? Except for it to all be fat free, I guess.

Versailles-the most beautiful place ever! (You MUST rent bikes while touring the gardens, so fun)

L´Arc de Triomphe, AWESOME.

Basically God, I will bargain with you here, whatever you want, just find me my spot in Paris.

Thank you.

Sarah

P.S.- if anyone is making the visit soon, you must stay at the Hotel Bonsejour Montmartre. The area is more authentic than the city centre and you have great access through the Metro to the rest of the city. Book in advance and request one of their rooms with a terrace...only 65 euro a night.

The Hills are Alive....with Rain.

Unfortunately, we arrived in the beautiful city of Salzburg to nothing but 2 days of pouring rain. The town is tucked away in the mountains of Austria, so as you can imagine, much of the activities we had planned involved the outdoors. We spent two days in our hotel drinking away until finally on our last day we had nothing but blue skys. We took a trip up to the Hohensalzburg, which gave you amazing views of the mountains and city.



Then we headed in town to eat lunch. We found an amazing restaurant on the river called the Winter.Garten City. The food was sooo good! I had a sesame bagel with tuna sashimi and a mango puree. And the interior of the place was insanely decorated. Check out the pics.


Then we headed over to Schloss Mirabell and walked through the gardens there. All in all we had ONE really good day in Salzburg...wish we had more, c´est la vie.