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Portugal & Switzerland

May – June 2024
  • Sara Friedrich
  • Kevin Hatheway
A 21-day adventure by Sara & Kevin Read more
  • Sara Friedrich
  • Kevin Hatheway

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  • Switzerland Switzerland
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  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Day 1 & 2 - Madeira

    May 12–14, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After a long travel day Saturday, overnight to Sunday, we arrived in Madeira at about 2pm local time. Our AirBnB is a great little bachelor suite with a beautiful view. We picked up some breakfast, lunch & beverage supplies, then visited a nearby public pool. We then found a local restaurant and had a delicious supper of Mussels, Madeira bread, Risotto and the catch of the day, Lobster fish (tastes like lobster and had a great Herby butter sauce to dip in)!

    Day 2 we had transportation planned ahead for the Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo hike. We used Pico Transfers, and were picked up/dropped off right at our door. This is an extremely popular and beautiful hike between two of the highest peaks on the island. It can be sunny in the city, but cloudy in the mountains, and vice versa. Fortunately, we caught a day where the visibility in the mountains was superb. Conditions were completely optimal, with rain coming tomorrow so we had the perfect day. There was some congestion on the trail as you can enter from either end, and it's a very popular sunrise hike. The hike was about 10km, 550m elevation gain. Another supper in the neighborhood tonight (delicious octopus and francesinha) and nightcap before hitting the hay! Looking forward to exploring Funchal tomorrow.

    The photos are a view from the hike, our Airbnb in Sao Martinho, and the local pool (Ponta Gorda)    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Funchal

    May 14, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Constantly in awe of the plants here! The succulents outside of the Airbnb are 3 feet tall - putting our house plants to shame.

    For our second and last full day in Madeira, we spent it exploring the capital of Funchal. We started it with a dip at Doca do Cavacas - natural swimming pools of volcanic origins. Love a public swimming pool with a view!

    We decided to walk into Funchal, stopping for a pastel de nata from Petitfours on the way, which was simply delicious. We learned some history of the island and its inhabitants at Madeira Story Centre before taking the cable car all the way up to Monte. We enjoyed spectacular views over Funchal and the Birds Eye view of the houses built up into the hill side. Once in Monte, we walked around the Tropical Garden, seeing so many more plants! Fun fact; Madeira is actually known as “flower island” and about 16% of the plants here do not grow anywhere else in the world!

    Instead of taking the cable car down, we decided to take a more “memorable” mode of transportation - toboggan. We climbed into what could only be described as a large wicker basket controlled/pushed by 2 drivers on the back, using their boots as brakes to control the direction/speed. Apparently these “sledges” were created in the 19th century to transport wine barrels downhill!

    Photos are from the natural pool, the tropical garden, Funchal and the toboggan/sledge ride.    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Lisbon

    May 15–18, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We arrived in Lisbon with some time to kill before we could check in to our AirBnB. We found some luggage lockers to lighten our load and wandered to the Praça do Comércio. This busy section of Lisbon hosts many shops, restaurants and street performers.

    Once we checked in and freshened up, it was time to head to Palácio de São Bento (which is now the Parliament building) to meet our food tour guide. We started at an olive oil shop where we learned about the differences in flavour and quality of olive oils. There are so many olive varietals and preparation methods, it's a lot like wine! Next was a meat, cheese & preserves tasting with Port. We then stopped at two restaurants for some traditional Portuguese dishes and capped the tour off with rice pudding for dessert.

    Day 2 we left early to catch a train to Sintra. We rode a tuk-tuk up a long, steep & windy road to Pena Palace & the Moorish Castle. The weather was clear and the views were incredible. It was interesting exploring something that dates back to the 8th century! That evening back in Lisbon, we wandered to the nearby historic neighborhood of Alfama where we found a restaurant with Fado for dinner.

    Day 3 we had a full day to explore Lisbon. We visited the ruins of Carmo Convent, Castelo de São Jorge & more of Alfama. We found a great bar with local craft beer and a great vibe for lunch, Crafty Corner. We then took a street car West to LX Factory, an artist district under the bridge.    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Duoro Valley

    May 19, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    The Duoro Valley blew away all expectations. Beautiful hillsides of grape vines, a snaking river through the valley and wineries that have been producing wine for 2 thousand years! It is the smallest of the wine regions in Portugal and is the only place in the world Port wine can be made!

    We booked a wine tour through Get Your Guide. We wanted to find a tour that would be less busy as often large tour buses will bring tourists out to this region. Our day started out with the 1.5 hour drive to the Duoro Valley. As we got close to the region, we began seeing the amazing sloped vineyards. Before visiting our first vineyard we hopped on a small boat and cruised down the Duoro River. It was a great way to see some of the wineries and how expansive the wine region is while enjoying sparkling wine from here! Our first winery was Quinta do Beijo - we tried a few table wines and 2 port wines. Kevin also had a chance to see what the inside of one of the wine barrels looked like! They explained, sentiment builds up in the barrels and someone’s job is to chisel it off so they can continue to be used.

    The second winery we went to was situated high up on the hillside with a beautiful view of the valley. They also had 3 dogs! After tasting a few wines, we had lunch here! I had the most delicious cod with potatoes and eggs and Kevin had braised beef with roasted veg. There were also many delicious tapas shared with the table. The wine did not stop pouring!

    Most of the tour guides were either friends or family of the wineries which made for a family/community feel. We also had a couple friends join us for the tour which made for a very fun day!    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Barcelona

    May 20–23, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Tapas, the beach and sunny skis! Barcelona treated us well. We arrived in the afternoon on Kevin’s 30th birthday - what a great place to celebrate! We checked into Ibis hotel and headed straight for the beach with a couple Spanish beers to hydrate. Our next stop was Black Lab brewery that actually had a draft bday boy IPA; it’s like they knew Kevin was coming! To end our first night in Barcelona, we enjoyed the views from the rooftop pool and shared some paella.

    Day 2, we walked through the Arch de Triumph (their version), wandered through the Picasso Museum, the Gothic Quarters and hit the Sagrada Familia around sunset - with the setting sun hitting the stained glass windows inside beautifully! We were able to go up the Passion Tower at Sagrada and had views of the city below and of the higher aspects of the cathedral you can’t see from the ground! We had the absolute best cheesecake - biscoff flavor to end a great day!

    Day 3, we attempted Park Guell but sadly it was closed for some event. We instead wandered streets near the park and then ended up at Casa Vicens - the first house Gaudi designed. The colours and attention to detail was superb and tied in nicely to seeing the Sagrada the day before. We then made our way to Montjuic Castle - enjoying a beer within the castle walls. Out last dinner in town was tapas - you order different individual tapas at the bar and they charge you based on the foods toothpick color.

    Other details: Other than a few showers, the weather was nice while we were here! We had purchased a Barcelona card during our 3 night stay and found it helpful - it came with both a transportation card (able to use bus, train, tram and vehicular during our stay) and a museum card - which we used for free entry to the Picasso Museum and Montijuic + reduced fee for Casa Vicens. We really enjoyed the Ibis Hotel and would stay here again - great location to the metro; we got a great deal on booking.com and was so close to a great bakery we went to 2 mornings in a row (La Torrada).

    The photos are from the Arch, the brewery, of the rooftop pool at the hotel, Casa Vicens, the best sandwich at the bakery near the hotel    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Geneva

    May 23–25, 2024 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Who would have known it would be so easy to hop over to France on this trip! Took a city bus to the border and just wandered on over.. we knew we made it over by a city sign displaying ‘France’ and their speed limits!

    We arrived in Geneva in the afternoon and decided to wander the waterfront and old town after checking into Meininger Hotel (more or less a hostel). The nice thing about our accommodation being considered a hotel is that we received free city transit passes for the duration of our stay!

    Day 2 in Geneva was our trip over to France. We headed up the aerial car to Mount Salève which offered spectacular views looking down over Geneva and some of the French countryside. We enjoyed some nice cold beers on top before heading back to Geneva and exploring a couple neighborhoods - Carouge and PlainPalais.

    We cooked the last two nights in the hostel which thankfully had a stove top and oven for shared use.    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Zermatt

    May 25–26, 2024 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    We started our journey into the mountains with an overnight in Zermatt.

    We couldn't check into our hostel until 4 so we locked our bags up and planned a hike. The weather was mixed when we arrived, but we had time to kill so took the funicular up to Sunnegga mid-station anyway. We were surprised by clearing skies and an almost complete view of Matterhorn when we got to the top! Perfect opportunity to grab a beer and wait to see if our view improved; which it did. The hike down gave some more great views of mountains and chalets. We opted in to the hostels meal for the night; schnitzel & roasted veggies then found a local pub for a pint before calling it a night.

    The photos are from our beer view of Matterhorn, the hike down and of the village of Zermatt.    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Oberland Region

    May 26–29, 2024 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    The alps! We decided to use Interlaken as our "base camp" for exploring the region.

    We arrived mid day and decided to rent bikes and ride along Brienzersee - a blue green lake east of Interlaken. We followed along a narrow road and stopped both at Iseltwald for lunch and Giessbachfälle! The hills to the waterfall were no joke but made for a fast journey back once we turned around! A street food festival was in full swing when we arrived back in Interlaken; enjoyed a couple beer and a "sushi hotdog" before heading to the hostel to check in.

    We stayed at Balmer's Hostel, which is repeatedly voted Switzerland's best hostel and is one of the oldest, opened in 1907. It consisted of 3 or 4 interconnected houses converted into shared dorms, private rooms and lots of different social spaces. They even have a club in the basement, although it wasn't open while we were there. We made fast friends with our neighbors Jay & Shiv from Manchester and signed up for the beer pong tournament that night. The hostel had a very fun and friendly atmosphere!

    Day 2 we took the train to Lauterbrunnen - walking along the village streets admiring the many waterfalls! We took a cable car up to a mountain village called Grimmelwald which had spectacular views of the mountains! We walked from here to Mürren and then all the way back down to Lauterbrunnen. Sadly the rain found us for the last hour of our hike as we descended.

    Day 3 - Jungfraujoch & Grindelwald. We took an early train from Interlaken to Grindelwald and hopped on the Eiger Express, we would have great views of the Eiger but the clouds were socked in low. From the Eiger Glacier we had another train which tunneled through the mountains up to Jungfraujoch, "The Top of Europe". At about 3650m (12000 feet) above sea level, we could feel the elevation instantly when we got off the train. We were rewarded with blue bird skies and unlimited views above the clouds! The station at the top was massive, with many tunnels leading to other plateau viewpoints, an ice cave and a terrace atop one of the peaks. They also use this station for scientific research at high elevation. We found the highest patio bar in Europe to enjoy the views, and also picked up some treats at the highest Lindt chocolate shop. We were tired from the early wakeup but we're so glad we took an early train as we had no wait, but there was a massive line when we got back down.

    We stayed in Grindelwald for the rest of the day and took the gondolas up to First Peak. We had more beautiful views along the way of all the farms surrounded by mountains. They have a free cliff walk here which is not for the faint of heart but offered views looked down and many paragliders.

    The photos are from our bike ride, the sushi “hotdog”, the hike from Mürren to lauterbrunnen, JungFrau and finally Grindelwald First    Read more

  • Portugal & Switzerland

    Lucerne

    May 29–30, 2024 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After a quick 2 hour train ride from Interlaken, we arrived in Lucerne. We ran out of luck and the rain finally found us here. We bundled up and visited the Chapel Bridge (which was constructed in 1360!), the Musegg wall, and Rathaus Brauerei - they brew their beer on-site and then the wort flows through an underground conduit through Lucerne’s old town into the fermentation and storage cellar!

    Kevin had a free night stay at Holiday Inn from all of his work travel back home so we cashed that in for our stay here. Was nice to have a large room + a continental breakfast in the morning.

    Due to the rain we decided to stay close to the hotel for dinner and ended up at a local Italian restaurant - Ristorante Fratelli. They had delicious pasta and a curry + mozzarella chicken pizza!    Read more

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