Eurotrip 2010: Two feet and a heartbeat? Ok, we’re walking! (4)

Hola friends,

I am sitting on a bus just leaving Faro in the Portuguese Algarve and heading to Seville, Spain. Melody and I had no idea we would be in Portugal as long as we’ve been, but we couldn’t find a reason to leave, and had so many reasons to stay…so we did.

(Me, Saar and Mel, enjoying Sagres a tasty Portuguese beer)

Our first two nights were spent in Lisboa at the Old Town Hostel. This hostel was the best yet, very nice and so hospitable and friendly, you must stay there if you come to Lisboa and do tell Jaoa I say hello…sigh. Our first day was spent drinking Sangria, wandering the narrow stoned streets and ascending great heights to see some amazing views of the city. I didn’t really know much about Lisboa before coming here, but it is a city very much like San Francisco with a huge red bridge, very steep streets and lots of stairs….not very biker friendly. The first night we went to the party district of Bairro Alto. We tried some authentic Portugese drinks called Caipirinha, then later Ginjinha and Amendoa Amarga (almond flavour with LOTS of lemon). The next day the hostel chef, Tiago, offered to show Melody, David (the kiwi) and Saar (the Irish) and I around and take us to the Thieves Market, he also cooked us an authentic Portugese dinner of Bacalao that night, which was super tasty. The flea market was huge and it was full of people selling old, new and used stuff/junk, we spent hours there and I was able to add to my button collection!

After talking to Jaoa and learning that a trip to Lisboa wasn’t complete without a trip north to Sintra, Melody and I decided to part from the boys and do some hiking and see some castles, before heading down to the Algarve. Hiking is all well and good, but we both had all of our bags and the train station in Sintra had no lockers. Not only are we super attractive, but we are also super buff so we decided to tough out the 50lbs of baggage and do the hike with all our gear. We considered it conditioning, and plus we liked it when we passed a group of people on the trail huffing and puffing and we were strolling merrily along with the equivalent of a small child strapped to our backs. We felt very accomplished after our hike and treated ourselves to a Sagres and Pasteis de Nata before catching our bus to Guincho, where we would camp for the night.

(Much needed break and photo op)

(One of the Mountain Castles)

(Sintra)

The bus was the wildest I have ever been on, not only were we driving on narrow roads in a huge city bus, but we were also on the side of mountains going about 80 km….but the ocean view was beautiful, and I trusted that the bus driver would get us to where we were going safely. When we got to Malveira, he pointed us in the right direction of Guincho beach camping and left us to continue the 5km journey on foot. We were ready, because the last leg of the journey always gives us a bit of an adrenaline rush because we know the end is in sight. Turns out we didn’t even have to walk because a nice couple drove by, stopped and then stuck their thumb out the window, a kind of reverse hitch hiking. Mel and I looked at each other looked at the truck and then ran towards it. Turns out they were an America and Welsh couple living in Portugal; travelers just like us. They didn’t kidnap and murder us, or sell us into the sex trade, so my faith in humanity is still strong!

(Guincho beach at night)

Guincho is a mostly untouched area, with a beautiful sandy beach and lovely green fauna. After camping that night near the beach, we headed to the beach for our first day in our swim suits! It was hot, with a nice breeze and a good amount of surfers to watch. But we of course couldn’t stay because as travelers you can’t stay in one place for too long, and we wanted to head into the Algarve. With travelling you mustn’t stay in one place too long, but you also must be flexible in your plans, and as it were, we weren’t able to make it to Lagos that day so much to my delight we had to spend one more night in Lisboa at the Old Town Hostel. And even better we met back up with the Savage and Deadly (Irish slang) Saar, who was travelling back through Lisboa as well. Now the three of us have been travelling together ever since.

After saying farewell to Joao and all the other friendly and awesome staff at the hostel we left to go south to the town of Sagres (the most south west point in Europe, but not where the beer is made). We got a hot tip about a beach we could camp on near there and so made our way to Sagres, and had a nice 2km walk to the beach we’d be camping on. We spent an epic night alone on a beach in the middle of nowhere, under the stars, listening to the waves, only a tad worried that the tide was going to come up ( but it didn’t…note to self, learn more about tides). At night when the tide was out we could walk into crevices that are usually water covered. Of course as we respect the environment and take only pictures and leave only footprints, we packed up real well and didn’t leave a trace and were able to spend the whole day on the beach with the other day beachers.

(On the way to our private beach)

(Sunset in Sagres)

(Waking up on our own private beach!)

A surf school called Sagres Natura (http://www.sagresnatura.com/) was giving a group of students lessons because the waves here were the perfect size for beginners. The group they had were all male, so the instructor Luis (who reminded me of a Portugese Captain Ron) asked Melody and I to pose in a picture with the group because they wanted more ladies because the picture was for a newspaper article that was going to be written about them. Of course it took a lot of convincing for me to say yes to pose for a picture with them, but we did it, and then Luis offered us a free lesson and time with the surf board when the students took a break! We jumped at the chance, and Mel, Saar and I each had a go with the surfboards for free…so Luis made our epic day even epicer!

(Most South Western pt of Continental Europe)

After the epic day, we continued our whirlwind tour of the Algarve hitting up Lagos, camping in Alvor and hostelling in Faro. Now we are on our way to Seville for one night. Being a whirlwind traveler and hitting up new cities and towns every day is exciting but also can take a toll on you. So After Seville we are taking a much deserved break in Barcelona, then it is off to the French Riviera and then another Heritage moment for me in Italy!

(Promo for Madeira in Faro. Due to the floods that happened in Madeira earlier this year there are many promotional exhibits for Madeira on the mainland)

(Portugal, especially Lisboa is covered in graffiti.Much of it is ugly tags, but there are many wonderful and creative pieces aswell...I liked him)

All in all I have loved Portugal and will be coming back hopefully with my family as well because I still need to go to my roots of Madeira Island in the Azores. Hope all is well where you are.

Love and Kisses,

TaCaGo

EuroTrip 2010: Paris or Bus(t) (2)

I am writing this to you from my dear friend KTO's cute and quaint apartment in Paris. We finally made it, although we were held up on our bus at the UK/France border because they took one guy off the bus to talk to him, and never let him back on...sucks to be that guy.

After recovering from Queen's day Melody and I finished off Amsterdam with an amazing 8 hour and 72km bike ride through the Dutch country side. It was very beautiful and enjoyable and we found the Dutch to be very patient and friendly because as Melody said "The Dutch are really patient because we haven't gotten any honks and we have done many honkable things" (such as riding on the hiway, and stopping and checking the map in not the best spots...) The amazing thing about the Netherlands is that bikes are the most used form of transportation, and they have separate infrastructure specifically for cyclists, it's really amazing and we could definitely take a point or two from the Dutch when designing our public transportation infrastructure. We made our journey from town to town completely using bike paths...it was awesome, and tiring.

(Tulip Field)

(A lone tulip on the side of the hiway)

We were sad to say "Arrivederci" to our new Sicilian friends in Amsterdam, but we may now be visiting them in Siciliy if it all works out! Before leaving the Sicilians we made a point to learn some key phrases for when we head to Italy, such as "Sai parlare Inglese?", but that had to be reworked to "Sai conversare Inglese" as Melody and I, though talented with our tongues had lots of trouble getting the rolling of the tongue that saying "Parlare" requires....we're working on it though.

The bus ride from Amsterdam to London went by pretty quickly and I had my first experience of the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel). For those of you who don’t know, the Chunnel is basically an underwater subway tunnel. It was surreal because I was in a coach bus, inside a giant subway car, being taken through an underwater tunnel from one country to another. I was pretty cool...although the novelty wears off and it was less cool the second time coming back to Paris.

(Me at the back of the bus in the Chunnel)

We arrived in London at 8am on the 5^th and dropped our stuff at the hostel and took the NewEurope Free walking tour! We did the one in Amsterdam and did the on in Paris too! These tours give you an entertaining and affordable experience because the guides work for tips, as well they operate throughout Europe, so Mel and I will def be taking advantage of them throughout the next 2 months. Also in London, Museums are FREE…and since that's my favourite word we were able to see some mummies and the Rosetta stone for Free at the British Museum.

(Rosetta Stone)

We went to Buckingham Palace and saw the changing of the guards, which was probably the most underwhelming thing so far. But mostly we walked around a lot in London and got oriented with the city. It was nice being in a country where everyone spoke English, but I am excited to have to try a little harder to communicate with people. Oh I also got attacked by a hungry/friendly squirrel!

(He wasn't selling drugs he he)

(Squirrel!!! Christmas Vacation anyone?)

Mel and I are doing pretty good with keeping track of our budget, and hitting up grocery stores for food and carrying it with us. For example today we crossed one thing off my to do list because we bought a baguette, some Camembert and some 2.95 wine and sat in front of the magnificence of the Eiffel Tower, we felt very Parisien...and I'm sure so did the hundreds of other tourists doing the same thing!

The next three days are supposed to be rainy in Paris so we will do Museums and also head to the D-day beaches which should be very humbling.

I'm really enjoying seeing things I have only ever since on T.V. or in books and love that each day is new and different. Miss yall!

Love and Kisses,

TaCaGo

EuroTrip 2010: Dam Straat I’m in Amsterdam (1)

(Just one of Amsterdams many unique buildings)

Hoi! dear friends from the vice filled city of Amsterdam!

After a 7 hour flight, 5 hour layover in London and an hour plane ride to Holland, I have arrived and partied like it’s the Queen’s Birfday!

Since I have been in Amsterdam I have almost been run over by a Dutch cyclist, I have found myself as a main attraction in a random drum parade dance party, I have done my best to reassure some no-English-Italian guys on shrooms that their friend having a bad trip was going to be fine…while they were tripping, I have wandered the stone streets stoned and with a group of Aussies and Italians, I have eaten herring from a vendor (not a fan) and I have danced to euro Hardcore music in a sea of Orange ….let’s just say I am experiencing Amsterdam!….well except for the 50 euro per 15 minute prostitutes.

(Riding the ferris wheel on the first night, the National Monument can be seen on the ground below, very phallic)

If you know anything about Amsterdam it’s probably about the red light district. Our hostel, the Bulldog hotel (www.bulldoghotel.com) is smack in the middle of the red light district, so I have seen many beautiful (and not so beautiful) women scantily clad standing provocatively behind their red lit glass window. It’s shocking to see at first and it kind of weirds me out, but in a sad and curious way…it makes me think about what their life is really like, and what their reasons for doing what they do are.

Enough about that though. The main reason I began in Amsterdam was because I wanted to start my trip with a bang! No, no, not a 15 dollar hooker…a big party! This party is Queen’s day which was on April 30^th. These European people really know how to celebrate the Monarchy! Every street was closed to traffic, public transit and bicyclists (who usually have the right of way). Pedestrians and the many revelers boating on the canals had taken over. But this wasn’t like in Toronto where one street may be closed, or Dundas square, and it’s not like LollaPalooza (the next biggest party I’ve ever been to) in which a giant party is enclosed in a massive park…no no, this was a CITY-WIDE Party! Tourists of all types flocked to Amsterdam, and I was exposed to many different cultures in one day! Everywhere you went in the city was full of people drinking, dancing, smoking, chilling, climbing things, boating and unfortunately, littering and peeing in the streets. Now Amsterdam has had a long history of Men peeing in the canal and all over the streets it’s really gross because every once in a while you can catch a wiff. They even have public urinals set up everywhere for the dudes and many still piss in the canal. Sadly the female outdoor urinals had to be shut down back in the day after they were protested for by a group of feminists who said it was discrimination to make women have to pay per public toilet use rather then allow them to pee in the streets like men. Unfortunately, these female public toilets were shutdown due to junkies using the enclosed space as a place to shoot up. During Queens Day I paid a total of 1.50 euro to use the bathroom two different times….but let me tell you…it was an Emergency and well worth the buck fitty.

(Beautiful day for dancing)

It is really interesting experiencing completely foreign cultures and people in their natural habitat, it makes me think differently about my pre conceived notions of judging a book by its cover (we all do it) because then when you hear their voice it throws your whole schema of things off because you have a new sense of who they are by their culture. I don’t know, that might just be the lemon haze talking. One thing I did find ironic was that even though pot is so accessible in Amsterdam there are still illegal hard drug dealers prowling the streets and funnily enough if you want hard drugs you just go to the black guy on the street standing and whispering "Crack, Mushrooms, Charlie" at you as you walk merrily by. Some things are just universal I guess lol. Believe me when I say, hard drugs are just about the only thing you can get in trouble for by the Politie (police) in Amsterdam.

Currently, Melody and I are blogging and journal writing in the lobby of our hotel, sweet music is playing (did you know the best Dj’s in the world are in Amsterdam? Well, now you do), and we are enjoying the sesspool of European culture parading by, it’s quite lovely and wonderful. Tomorrow we will go to the Van Gogh museum or possibly bike tour through tulip fields, I’ll let you know.

(Yes I have already bought a pair of shoes...practical and stylish, only 20 euro...and they match my fanny pack!)

I wish you all luck and happiness,

Love and Kisses,

TaCaGo