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.

Praha!

I have to admit, Prague is the first place we have visited where I really felt far away from the US. Untouched by any war in the past six hundred years, the architecture in the city is unlike anything you would see back home. There is so much detail in everything from the doorways, the staircases, even the streets! Everything you see is absolutely beautiful.

The owner of the room we rented ended up being a great Prague ambassador for us. I had called to ask for directions to the house from the train station the day before, when I asked how much a taxi would be, he replied "I will pick you up, no charge". So when we arrived on Monday, there was big Mikael holding a sign with my name on it.

The room was in a beautiful building on Nerudova, which to me was the prettiest street in Prague. We had a large room with rooftop views of the city....fireworks even went off randomly one night, it was awesome!

Once Mikael had checked us in, he gave us the Prague 101. "Don't go to the currency exchanges on the street because they hike up the exchange rates, go to a bank. Never get into a taxi off the street, they overcharge. If you need a cab, I will call you a good company". And then he gave us the usual speech about pickpockets, etc. Then he gave us his phone number and told us to call him if we needed anything throughout the night. In a foreign country it's good to have a go to guy like Mikael, so if you are ever headed to Prague, I highly recommend his place. Check out the website, www.roomsinprague.com. Plus, rooms are only 45 euro a night!

The location couldn't have been more perfect. Up the street from us was Prague Castle, and down the street was the Charles Bridge. I can't quite say I'm a lover of Czeck cuisine either (Goulash?), but we found a great restaurant a block away called Cafe Neruda. For Prague, the restaurant was very modern and stylish (most just look like pubs) and had a really pretty patio. We had an amazing dinner and a couple beers each for $25.

As for sightseeing, we did Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, and walking around the city centre (saw a bunch of churches, can't remember all the names). Then on our last day, I dragged Matt up a moutain to a lookout tower. You had to pay something like 3 or 4 euros to go up the tower, but it was a nice hike and a good break from the city. Here's the view from the top...

We have already been to Austria and are in Paris now, so I will try to get a post on Salzburg up tomorrow (sorry, too busy enjoying the trip!) . Hope all is well back home!

Smiling Faces in Holland

I know most people are attracted to Amsterdam for their "coffee shops", but honestly this is one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen. The Dutch are such friendly people too, riding along on their bikes all day without a care in the world. If we asked anyone a question, they were so nice in going out of their way to help us. From the tram driver who announced our stop over the PA, to our bartender who wrote us out a list of things to do, these are some of the friendliest people in the world. If you're ever in the city, see Stefan's list of things to do below, so cute!

They have great food in Amsterdam too. One morning I had french bread toasted with goat cheese, thyme and honey...I will definitely try this recipe when I get home, it was so good and looked extremely easy to make. We also bought our own meat and cheeses at a grocery one night and had a picnic in the hotel room. Such a good idea if you're trying to save money while traveling. Everything was gourmet and even with a bottle of wine it ended up being under $20 total.

The cafe right next to our hotel, Onder de Ooievaar, was a cute, inexpensive cafe with a great beer selection. A great place to sit out by the canal and people watch...needless to say we spent most of our time there. Also, make sure to try Zatte if you ever see it any where. It's a local brewery in Amsterdam and is 8% alcohol and only 3.5 euro, so tasty!

For accomodation, we stayed in the Hotel Prinsenhof, which is right on a beautiful canal street. It was not expensive at all and the room was huge, I highly recommend it to anyone going there soon.

Such a relaxing couple of days, now off to Prague!