Serena and Josh's Travels

A 272-day adventure by Serena & Josh Read more

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Trip start
September 27, 2022
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Day 1
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
☀️ 29 °C
Altitude: 27 m
Spain Plaza de la Constitución 36.721303, -4.42163736°43’17” N 4°25’18” W
First day
September 27, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
First stop on our travels, and we arrive after 11pm into a 12 bed hostel and try to unpack without disturbing anyone. We both have the 'oh s**t!' feeling the next day of what have we got ourselves into, and what do we do now that we are actually on the trip that we spent months planning for?! Thankfully we settle in quickly and start thinking what we want to do over the next few days.Read more
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Day 4
Friday, September 30, 2022
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 27 m
Spain Plaza de la Constitución 36.721303, -4.42163736°43’17” N 4°25’18” W
Malaga
September 30, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Highlights:
- Evening walking tour of Malaga
- Hike up to the castle, and walk around the alcazar
- Drinks on the rooftop bar at the hostel
- Walk at Camino del Rey

Lowlights:
- Had a minor panic when Josh couldn't transfer his rail pass onto his new phone (luckily customer support sorted this quickly!)

Food and drink:
- Spanish omelette
- Tinto de Verano - red wine, lemonade and fruit - similar to Sangria
- Fartons (a sweet bread covered in icing sugar or glazed)
- Tapas including the best olives we've ever had, albondigas (meatballs), russian salad, tuna, anchovies, croquetas and Andalusian pork stewRead more
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Day 7
Monday, October 3, 2022
⛅ 30 °C
Altitude: 19 m
Spain Plaza Nueva 37.38863, -5.9953437°23’19” N 5°59’43” W
Sevilla
October 3, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Highlights:
- Visit to Cordoba - wander around and visit to the alcazar and Mercado Victoria
- Sevilla Vs Atletico Madrid football - the crowd and stadium were amazing even if the game was not!
- Morning walking tour
- Cyclotour around Plaza de Espana
- Flamenco show Casa del Flamenco
- The Mushrooms (Setas) of Seville just before midnight

Food and drinks:
- Tapas at Taberna del Arenal (highlights were the sirloin carbonara and orange wine)
- Brownie cheesecake (there seemed to be cheesecake shops everywhere!)
- Tapas at Bar Alfalfa (highlights were Carrillada iberica, Pollo a la alfalfa and Bacaloa a la romano)
- Tapas at Sal Gorda (highlights were Ropa Vieja, 'Bulls' tail and the coconut curry)Read more
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Day 10
Thursday, October 6, 2022
☀️ 32 °C
Altitude: 662 m
Spain Puerta del Sol 40.416705, -3.70358240°25’0” N 3°42’13” W
Madrid
October 6, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Highlights:
- Prado museum (free evening entry)
- Sofia Reina museum (free evening entry)
- The palace (you guessed it... Free evening entry)
- Walking tour
- Real Madrid Champions League match
- Row boat on the lake at Retiro Park
- Toledo for the afternoon
- Manchego cheese and local wine tasting

Food and drinks:
- World's tallest lemon meringue pie at Los Porfiados
- Churros and Porras (like fat churros!) with hot chocolate at San Gines (multiple trips, too good!)Read more
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Day 13
Sunday, October 9, 2022
⛅ 30 °C
Altitude: 28 m
Spain Plaça de l'Ajuntament 39.469707, -0.37633539°28’11” N 0°22’35” W
Valencia
October 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Highlights:
- Lots of chill time in the park
- Bike tour
- Views of the city from El Micalet church tower
- Museum of Science
- Valencia Community Day parade and fireworks

Lowlights:
- Not having enough time to go to more museums and the aquarium (which was out of our backpacker budget range!)

Food and drinks:
- Paella, paella and more paella!
- Agua de Valencia (very delicious, very strong cocktail using freshly squeezed orange juice)
- Orange juice
- Horchata and fartonsRead more
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Day 14
Monday, October 10, 2022
☁️ 29 °C
Altitude: 76 m
Spain Placa de Hospital 41.979301, 2.81994441°58’45” N 2°49’12” E
Girona
October 10, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Highlights:
- Walking along the city walls
- Seeing the bridges and coloured houses

Food and drinks:
- Ice cream - lemon, dark chocolate, mango and 'malaga'
- Xuixo - a pastry filled with flavoured cream, we bought a selection!Read more
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Day 17
Thursday, October 13, 2022
☁️ 29 °C
Altitude: 179 m
France Lyon 02 45.757814, 4.83201145°45’28” N 4°49’55” E
Lyon
October 13, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Highlights:
- Seeing wild flamingos out of the window of the train on the way to Lyon
- Food market in the main square - lots of free samples!
- Food tour (and all the food in general)
- Basilica Notre Dame
- Tete D'Or park
- Free zoo where we saw red pandas

Food and drinks:
- Food market and bought some pastries, brioche and sweets
- Had lunch of typical Lyon food at Le Laurencin, including Pike quenelle, onion soup, Lyonnaise salad, and saucisson
- Food tour of Lyon including cheese, wine, dried meat (Jesus and rosette), silk worker's brain (which is actually a cheese dip!), egg and wine soup, chocolate and stout, and praline tart
- Meal at Le Poleon D'Or, again with salad Lyonnaise, as well as chicken supreme and pannacotta - yum!Read more
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Day 19
Saturday, October 15, 2022
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 491 m
Switzerland Lausanne 46.521827, 6.63270346°31’19” N 6°37’58” E
Lausanne
October 15, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Highlights:
- The Cathedral and the views of the city from outside
- Walking along the lake
- The ice hockey match
- Had a bath!
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Day 20
Sunday, October 16, 2022
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 1,619 m
Switzerland Zermatt Station 46.024573, 7.74812946°1’28” N 7°44’53” E
Zermatt
October 16, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Highlights:
- The Airbnb with the views of the Matterhorn from our bedroom!
- The Five Lakes walk - relatively easy walk with amazing views and great weather
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Day 23
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
🌧 24 °C
Altitude: 1,814 m
Switzerland Punt Ota 46.489993, 9.90429746°29’24” N 9°54’15” E
Pontresina
October 19, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
Highlights:
- The Glacier Express from Zermatt to Pontresina with gorgeous scenery
- Gondola up to Diavolezza and hike to Mont Pers
- Walk along Lago Bianco to Alp grum Station
- Wander around Poschiavo
- Easy walk to Monteratsch glacier and around the waterfalls
- Short walk into Val Roseg

Food and drinks:
- Breakfast and dinner were included at the Youth Hostel so we had food cooked for us for the first time in Switzerland!Read more
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Day 26
Saturday, October 22, 2022
⛅ 28 °C
Altitude: 268 m
Switzerland Marktplatz 47.558108, 7.58782647°33’29” N 7°35’16” E
Basel
October 22, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Highlights:
- Interlaken ferry trip and Giessbach falls walk
- Evening walk around Basel
- A morning wandering around Bern and climbing up a hill to see views of the old town and river
- Making a child's tea of spaghetti in tomato sauce with chopped up hot dog sprinkled with Swiss cheese - delicious!
- Ate a dough man holding a chocolate baton which is a Christmas treat apparently, very good!

Lowlights:
- Basel v Zurich football - terrible match!Read more
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Day 28
Monday, October 24, 2022
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 282 m
France Cervon 47.242213, 3.76856447°14’32” N 3°46’7” E
Colmar
October 24, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Highlights:
- Following the Colmar walking trail with plaques about the town and seeing the different buildings
- Having some chill time

Lowlights:
- The food market being closed when we planned to pick up ingredients for dinner

Food and drinks:
- Went for lunch at Fleur de Sel - had tarte flambeé (similar to a thin pizza with cream, cheese, onion and ham) and tarteflette (cheesy bacony potato pot)
- Pain d'epices - yummy and like gingerbread cake
- Mirabelle tartRead more
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Day 30
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
⛅ 30 °C
Altitude: 46 m
France Paris 07 Ancien - Quartier Arcis 48.856697, 2.35146148°51’24” N 2°21’5” E
Paris
October 26, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Highlights:
- Hop on hop off boat down the Seine
- Seeing the Louvre (from outside!)
- Seeing the Eiffel tower from below and from Montparnasse tower at night including the light show
- PSG football match for Josh, rom-com in bed at the hotel for Serena - perfect!
- Luxembourg gardens
- Notre Dame (from the outside for obvious reasons)

Food and drinks:
- Macarons
- Almond croissant and Chocolate and Raspberry croissant
- Lunch at L'Agrume - Trio of starters including lobster soup, each had beef with carrots and mash, then shared strawberries cream and pastry for dessertRead more
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Day 38
Thursday, November 3, 2022
⛅ 24 °C
Altitude: 2,234 m
Mexico UNAM FAD Academia de San Carlos 19.43263, -99.13317919°25’57” N 99°7’59” W
Mexico city
November 3, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Highlights:
- Walking tour of the historical town despite the heat
- Chapultepec castle
- Walking through Condesa and Roma neighborhoods
- Day of the Dead community procession
- Teotihuacan day trip
- Day of the Dead celebrations in the centre in the evening
- Botanical gardens
- Archaeological museum - really interesting and absolutely massive - we only covered less than half in 2 hours
- The friendliness of Mexicans - so many people stopped to help us without us asking with things like directions and translation

Lowlights:
- The jetlag lasted a few days - longer than we thought it would!
- An incredibly stressful and busy journey on public transport from our hotel to the bus station

Food and drink:
- Tacos! Fish tacos from La Pescadita were particularly good
- Cakes from Pasteleria Ideal - was insanely busy and you got a tray and tongs and went round picking stuff you wanted which then got wrapped up and you paid. We had no idea what everything was so just copied what other people got - everything delicious except the sweetcorn cake which was a bit too unusual!
- Churros and hot chocolate at El Moro - day of the dead themed (aka black sugar!)
- Tasted the different traditional alcohols - pulque (a fermented, thick drink - not bad!), tequila (tasted better than our university days) and mezcal (not our favourite - too smoky!)
- Pan de Muerto - a sweet bun eaten around day of the dead timeRead more
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Day 39
Friday, November 4, 2022
⛅ 23 °C
Altitude: 2,159 m
Mexico El Carmen 19.04372, -98.19814919°2’37” N 98°11’53” W
Puebla
November 4, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Highlights:
- Stayed at a lovely hostel called Casa Pepe
- Beautiful colourful streets, with lights in the evening
- A walk around the centre, in the cathedral, candy street, frog street (full of antiques shops), Capilla de Rosario (a church full of gold) and the Bibliotheca
- Views from the terrace of Museo Amaro
- Each bought a traditional top from the parian market

Food and drink:
- Had a great breakfast of egg enchiladas covered in mole sauce for Serena and bean sauce for Josh
- Tortilla soup
- Sweets from candy street - some sweet potato sweets, something fudge like and some Santa Clara cookiesRead more
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Day 42
Monday, November 7, 2022
⛅ 23 °C
Altitude: 1,642 m
Mexico Sierra Madre de Oaxaca 17, -96.517°0’0” N 96°30’0” W
Oaxaca
November 7, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Highlights:
- See food and drink section!
- Josh joined the wrong food tour when Serena was ill - supposed to be a cooking class and was instead a street food tour which suited him more!
- Josh met people from his food tour for drinks on a rooftop terrace
- Joined in on some dancing in the square and some ladies helped us with the moves!

Lowlights:
- Serena being ill, likely altitude sickness, and missing the cooking class

Food and drink:
- Tlayudas (a bit like a pizza cooked over charcoal filled with beans, meat and stringy cheese)
- Josh's accidental street food tour:
- grasshoppers
- stewed pork
- hot chocolate
- mezcal
- intestine
- tamales
- ant and squash blossom quesadillas
- memelas
- The tour also included the following food and drink which Serena ate the next day with Josh as the tour guide!
- pozontle (a ceremonial corn and cacao cold drink)
- green juice
- tuna (the cactus flower not the fish!) and passion fruit sorbet
- 4 types of mole with tortilla
- Dinner at La Terraza del Copal (Serena pork coloradito mole, Josh chicken black mole)
- Drinks at a rooftop bar (mezcalita and mezcal mojito - even in a cocktail we're still not keen on mezcal!)Read more
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Day 45
Thursday, November 10, 2022
⛅ 28 °C
Altitude: 23 m
Mexico Chun Copo 21.066119, -89.30428321°3’58” N 89°18’15” W
Merida
November 10, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Highlights:
- First highlight was finding out we could get a free bus from the airport instead of an expensive taxi - result!
- Drinks with people from the hostel at La Fundacion Mezcal
- Nice hostel - pool and hammocks were really nice to chill at, and a free breakfast
- Free cooking class at the hostel making empanadas
- Free live music show at the cultural centre

Lowlights:
- Having to quit the walking tour a few minutes in as it was way too hot!

Food and drink:
- Homemade lemonade and a cacao and coconut frappe - first cafe stop of the trip!
- Chaya (mexican spinach) juices, either by itself or with like or pineapple - new favourite soft drink!
- Traditional Yucatan food at La Chaya Maya - Mucbil Pollo for Serena (a type of tamale) and tacos with various Yucatan food for Josh
- Lunch at Museo de Gastronomie Yucatan - sopa de Lima, Yucatan taco tastings and cochinita pibil
- Tried lots of ice cream flavours - kiwi, mandarin, strawberry with lime, dark chocolate, guanabana and mameyRead more
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Day 47
Saturday, November 12, 2022
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 27 m
Mexico Kanxoc 20.614279, -88.09251820°36’51” N 88°5’33” W
Valladolid
November 12, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Highlights:
- Chichen Itza, despite it being touristy!
- Salsa lessons and tequila at the hostel
- Light show on the convent building
- Chocolate museum - they had a cabinet for hot chocolate jugs like my beloved Hotel Chocolat velvetiser!
- Hiring bikes to go to the cenotes - first was Oxman with a rope swing which we had to ourselves for a while, second was Saamal with a platform to jump off

Lowlights:
- Early mornings to beat the crowds at Chichen Itza and the cenotes!

Food and drink:
- Marquesitas - like a rolled waffle ice cream cone filled with things like Nutella, caramel, fruit and cheese (cheese and chocolate is the classic option and was surprisingly tasty!)
- Lunch at Yakunaj Cocina Mexicana which was the fanciest meal so far! I had fish and Josh had a burrito
- Lunch at Luna Pach where we had egg quesadillas and horchata - yum!Read more
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Day 50
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 11 m
Mexico Punta Payil 20.169627, -87.4497920°10’11” N 87°26’59” W
Tulum
November 15, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Highlights:
- Rented bikes from the hostel and cycled to the beach (Playa Paraiso) and chilled and swam in the sea
- Went to Tulum ruins for the last hour and a half it was open. Beautiful views of the sea with the ruins, and saw lizards, iguanas and a couple of coatis!
- Going to Coba and cycling through the ruins there - cool to go through the jungle and we saw a small snake and some monkeys!
- Cycling to another cenote at Coba - this was a dark cave with a 5m and 10m diving board. Josh did the 10m, Serena only managed the 5m one but still scary!

Lowlights:
- Having to get a taxi back from Coba as the bus didn't turn up - but we clubbed together with others waiting so it wasn't too bad!

Food and drinks:
- Burgers from Bella Ciao (our first not very traditional meal in Mexico!) - tasted amazing and the mojito and homemade lemonade were great too
- Burritos at Burrito Amor - Serena had pork and pineapple in a coconut tortilla and Josh had chicken. We went back for breakfast burritos the next day because they were so good!Read more
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Day 53
Friday, November 18, 2022
⛅ 28 °C
Altitude: 25 m
Mexico Centro 18.678256, -88.39225618°40’42” N 88°23’32” W
Bacalar
November 18, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Highlights:
- Really nice place we stayed at, owner very friendly!
- A day swimming in the lake from a private area that only cost £5 for both of us for the whole day - lovely water, sitting area, and swings
- Boat trip was really fun, had some beers and tequilas and made swimming stops at various points of the lagoon such as bird island, los rapidos, pirate channel, and saw cenotes from the boat
- Had fruit snacks in the water and had a go at paddle boarding

Food and drink:
- Ate lots of tacos as we were nearing the end of the Mexico part of our trip!
- More marquesitas
- An amazing vegan chocolate milkshake at Mango y Chile
- Pozale (type of soup)
- Coconut empanadas
- A burrito and burrito bowl at Mi Burrito food truckRead more
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Day 54
Saturday, November 19, 2022
⛅ 22 °C
Altitude: 23 m
Mexico Leona Vicario 18.514586, -88.30055318°30’53” N 88°18’2” W
Chetumal
November 19, 2022 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Only stayed in Chetumal to be able to get the ferry to Belize easily the next day - there is not much there! We met some nice people (Lucy, Hannah, Gabrielle and Will) who were also going to Belize, and had some really good fish tacos! Sad that our time in Mexico has come to an end, but excited about heading to a new country.Read more
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Day 60
Friday, November 25, 2022
⛅ 28 °C
Altitude: 9 m
Belize Caye Caulker Airport 17.73952, -88.03365117°44’22” N 88°2’1” W
Caye Caulker
November 25, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Highlights:
- Lovely guest house accommodation
- Swimming in the Split and jumping off the diving board
- Hanging out with a group of friends all week
- Kayaks at sunset
- Boat party
- Snorkelling tour where we saw turtles, nurse sharks, sting rays, eagle rays and a variety of fish
- Cocktails at Sip n Dip in the sea
- Riding bikes around the island
- Chilling at Iguana Reef Beach for the day
- Drinks at the sports bar

Lowlights:
- Some rainy weather which kept us inside

Food and drinks:
- Lobster!
- Stewed beef and stewed chicken with rice and beans
- Barbecued chicken and fish (red snapper and barracuda)
- Rum punch!
- Fry jacks - fried dough filled with breakfast items - perfect for a hangover!
- Homemade key lime pie
- Coconut and Carribbean curriesRead more
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Day 62
Sunday, November 27, 2022
⛅ 30 °C
Altitude: 104 m
Belize San Ignacio 17.152759, -89.07617217°9’10” N 89°4’34” W
San Ignacio
November 27, 2022 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Highlights:
- ATM caves tour - expensive but one of the best tours we've done. We swam in the cave and went through gaps, clambered over rocks and saw stalactites, stalagmites, formations, bats, Mayan artefacts including pottery, bones and skeletons and learnt all about the different rituals
- Cahul ruins
- Green Iguana Sanctuary visit where we saw different aged iguanas and also saw a toucan in the trees

Lowlights:
- Our shuttle being 2 hours late to pick us up
- Serena falling down the last step of a Mayan ruin and hurting her elbow!Read more
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Day 66
Thursday, December 1, 2022
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 122 m
Guatemala Isla de Flores 16.928559, -89.89152516°55’43” N 89°53’29” W
Flores
December 1, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Highlights:
- Tikal half day trip - best ruins so far, and some wildlife too
- Drinks at Los Amigos, including beer pong and giant jenga
- Staying at Zapote Tree Inn across the lake from Flores
- Watching sunset and sunrise
- Seeing the beginnings of Mayan excavations
- Birdwatching in the jungle, and following the sounds of howler monkeys (no sightings though!)

Food and drinks:
- Waffles, fried chicken and milkshakes from Maple y Tocina
- Late night quesadillas
- Banana bread from Cool Beans cafe
- Tamale and fish from the lake at ZapoteRead more
Fab place for breakfast. [Davina]
12/18/22Reply
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Day 69
Sunday, December 4, 2022
🌧 23 °C
Altitude: 312 m
Guatemala Semuc Champey 15.53376, -89.95811115°32’2” N 89°57’29” W
Semuc Champey
December 4, 2022 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
Highlights:
- Semuc Champey mirador and swimming in the pools
- Volleyball in the pool at the hostel
- Tubing down the river
- Caves in the dark holding a candle (although felt a bit ropey and tricky climbing the ladders in the cave so also a slight lowlight!)

Lowlights:
- Very long, windy, bumpy journeys!Read more
You were brave in that cave, wouldn't want to do that! [Davina]
12/18/22Reply
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