Reset search
Europe '25
  • Meg Nyland
  • Meg Nyland

Europe '25

A 57-day adventure by Meg Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
Newest first
  • Trip start
    September 2, 2025
    Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Arrival

    September 2, 2025 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Arrived mid-day, took the Dublin Express bus into the city, then walked to our home exchange. Unpacked and rested, then walked to grocery store. Then found a pub for dinner, early to bed

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Walking tour

    September 3, 2025 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Per usual, we hit up a free walking tour this morning. Very interesting, and helped us get oriented. Jet lag is real, though, so after lunch, we headed back to our house for a rest. For dinner we went up to the Rathmines neighborhood for another pub.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Tastings

    September 4, 2025 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Started our morning at the Guinness storehouse for a tour and tastings. Fun place. Afterwards we found lunch (at a pub), then wandered into the National Museum, an interesting collection of cultural artifacts (silver, clothes, etc), as well as an area focused on soldiers and war (we skipped that). It was decent for the price of free.

    We then went to the Jameson tour and tasting experience - very well executed cinematic type of tasting.

    After all the walking around we were pooped, so bussed back home for a siesta.

    We stayed close to home for dinner, and ate at a French pizza place.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Museums

    September 5, 2025 in Ireland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This morning we headed downtown and went to the emigration museum (epic). It was interesting and well put together, but pricey for what we got out of it.

    Then lunch, after which we took the tram over to the Gaol. Unfortunately the only tours they had left were late in the afternoon, so we bailed on that.

    Instead we wandered through a park and into the modern art museum. Also free.

    After an afternoon rest, we finally spent an evening downtown bar hopping around Temple bar area, listening to live music. Temple bar was fun, reminiscent of Nashville or bourbon street, and not really our jam. But a few blocks away we found a place called Darkey Kelly, and some great musicians were playing. Very fun.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Exploring Castro

    September 7, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Lazy morning, then strolled the waterfront promenade into the heart of town. It was a jam packed Sunday morning, people everywhere enjoying this cute place.

    Our timing was off, so the castle and church were closed. We found a restaurant facing the water and had a lovely long leisurely lunch. Then a nap.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Wandering

    Sep 8–10, 2025 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    We made it to the church and fortress today. The church was a very cool sandstone gothic example, including a giant clam holy water font. The fortress/castle was underwhelming.

    We then continued to walk west, to the next part of town and further beaches. This is a great walking town.

    Started to sprinkle, and we found a bar for lunch and tapas.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    To Bilbao

    September 10, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Bus to bilboa, met with our charming Airbnb host. A few minutes later Paul and Kara showed up.

    After unpacking and getting settled, we wandered in our neighborhood, then along the river to old town area. Ate great tapas on the plaza, then went back our apartment to chill.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Exploring Bilbao

    September 11, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We walked along the river to eventually catch the metro. That took us down the river to the famous vizcaya bridge, a unique structure called a transporter bridge, where cars and people are moved across the river on a hanging platform.

    We then wandered around the other side of the river, stopped for a beverage and snack, then found another metro station to take us back downtown.

    Fun adventure finding a specific product Kara wanted in a huge department store, then lunch in a historic restaurant.

    We then meandered through the old town, thought about going into the church (but it was €10!), looked at the old market, then walked to the funicular to take us up the hill for the view.

    A few hours of relaxing at home, then we caught bus 72 right outside our door to go down to the plaza to tapas crawl.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Museum day

    September 12, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Morning at the Guggenheim! What a special museum. We again liked the Serra exhibit of huge metal plates. Special exhibits of female artists, our favorite Barbara Kruger.

    After our brains were full, we found drinks and snacks at a mediocre bar. Then P, K, and I headed home to chill, while Bill went to the fine art museum (under renovation) and the maritime museum.

    Since we had so much food at home, we ended up having charcuterie and cheese while watching Jumanji    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Travel day

    September 13, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Departed our Airbnb at 11, tram to bus station. Noon bus got us to San Sebastian at 1:30. We chilled at a bar waiting for our host to let us store our bags.

    Then we walked to a great restaurant that Bill and I had been to last time, a Bib Gormand place. P&K got a prix fix tasting menu, while Bill and I got an assortment of tapas.

    We then wandered a bit while waiting to get access to our Airbnb.

    Evening was checking out old town and tapas.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Exploring the waterfront and a regatta

    September 14, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We set out to walk the long promenade around la concha beach, where we found ourselves deep in the throngs of a festival regatta. Honoring this area's history of whaling, the ~13 person boats raced out of the bay to the ocean, turned and raced back in. Yellow team from Orio won!

    We kept strolling the promenade, stopping for some pretty good burgers at a terrace restaurant.

    After a bit more walking, we took an old wooden funicular up to the top of the hill to explore the old amusement park. Unfortunately it was siesta time, so most of the rides (including the anticipated log ride) were closed. We did stumble into what we thought was a little scenic railway, that turned out to be a quirky and fun rollercoaster.

    We retraced our steps back home, then rested a bit from our 6+ mile day.

    P&K stayed in and watched the Seahawks game, Bill and I strolled around the neighborhood to find a light dinner    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Chill day

    September 15, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Kara's back was hurting, so they laid low and stayed close to home.

    Bill and I walked the loop around the peninsula, then dipped our feet in the water with a short walk on the beach. Then hit a few tapas places for lunch.

    For dinner the four of us went to a nearby restaurant that was excellent (Kbzon Houndi) where we shared a tomato salad, foie gras, duck breast, blood sausage raviolis, and grilled beef.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Day trip to france

    September 16, 2025 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We decided to day-trip to France, to the charming town of St Jean de Luz. When Bill and I were here a few years ago, getting between here and there felt pretty easy.

    Today the first train was diverted to a bus for half the journey, then a bit of a wait to catch the tram across the border, then the train to SJDL was several hours away, so we took a local city bus. Not too bad, but seemed like a lot to get there.

    Once there we wandered through the weekly farmers market, then some window shopping. Time for lunch, but we had a hard time settling due to bad reviews, high prices, and bad service. Oh well.

    We plotted our route home, but bought the wrong train tickets so couldn't get on the 4:30. So we found a bar to waste some time before the 5:43. Back to wait for the tram/light rail to a new neighborhood, then a different city bus back to SS.

    All in all we didn't get home until 8pm, and we were all tuckered. We stayed in and enjoyed our backlog of charcuterie and cheeses.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Churches, museums, and lunch

    September 17, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Bill, Kara and I went to the museum, then Bill went on a walking tour. Kara and I went to two churches and a small church museum, then had a fancy tasting menu lunch by the marina, it was delish! But so much food we needed a nap.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Travel day and Pamplona

    September 18, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Bill got our rental car and picked us up near the apartment. After an hour drive we were in Pamplona, where we walked around to check out the cute old town area. Had a menu del dia (too much food), then back to the car for the remaining two hour drive to zaragoza.

    Bill dropped us off, then took the car back to return it. We settled into our Airbnb, then went for a quick grocery shop.

    We went out at golden hour and took some photos of the church pilar, the stone bridge, and an impromptu band playing.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Zaragoza

    Sep 19–21, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We started today with a great walking tour and learned quite a bit about the history of the town. Lunch on the plaza (biggest plaza in Europe). We then went into the cathedral that had a multitude of architectural styles all very ornate.

    P&K then headed home. Bill and I were interested in maybe another museum, so we sat at a cafe to do a little research. Only to discover everything closes at 2 for siesta time. So Bill and I headed home for our own siesta.

    Dinner time had us checking out el tubo area for tapas crawl.

    Second day we went to the palace, an old moorish palace that is also still used as government offices. It also had a Goya exhibit (nice, as the Goya museum in town was closed for renovations)

    Stormy evening so we ate at a cafe close to home, and watched some serious lightning displays.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    To Porto

    September 21, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Travel day! Uber to train station, train to Madrid. Then commuter rail and metro to get us to the airport. Lounge!! Flight was delayed by almost an hour, then quick flight to porto. We could've taken two more metros to get to our Airbnb, but we decided to Uber :-)

    After unpacking, walked around, super packed with people every!!! Drinks, then dinner, then groceries. Then home. Travel days are tiring.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Exploring Porto

    Sep 22–26, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Four days of exploring Porto

    Day one: walking tour (humourous but not very wide ranging), found lunch, siesta.

    Day two: wandered up to the pedestrian shopping street, and the super cute market, lunch in rue de Flores, followed by a kinda weird filigree shop (bought a pendant), dinner at a bacalaureia place.

    Day three: bus out to the ocean and cute town of Foz. Walked the waterfront, then had lunch and a funny and cheap cafe in the mercado. Bus back to town, we then went on a port tour and a small independent place. Good dinner at Meet & Taste.

    Day four: explored the cathedral, Bill went up the tower for photos. Wandered small windy alleys and found a small courtyard for a light snacky lunch.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Travel day and soccer!

    September 26, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I guess an easy travel day, but had some frustrations. We usually think of train travel as super easy, stations are commonly easy to navigate, no TSA security, etc. So we timed ourselves accordingly.

    Took an Uber to the station, not sure whether Bill set us to the wrong place, or Uber driver was lazy. But we ended up at the huge Porto intermodal station. Loads of signage, but still not clear where our train platform was. And no attendants to talk to. We went all the wrong places, then figured out we had to high-tail it a quarter mile to another set of platforms. We just made it before our planned departure. But the train was late so whew.

    Then the train cars had no numbers, so we got on the wrong car, as did many others, which caused a major traffic jam in the aisles. So we ended up hanging out in the space between cars for ~20 min before finding our seats. Oh well.

    Then we realized the soccer game we bought tix to had been rescheduled to tonight! So we got settled, then headed out. Such a fun night!!! Benfica won 🥰    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Exploring Lisbon

    Sep 27–Oct 2, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Day one: walking tour (mediocre), more exploring, storm blew in, dinner in our hood

    Day two: chill out Sunday, went to a museum, dinner at home

    Day three: museums closed, so we did our own walking tour around Alfama neighborhood

    Day four: day trip out to cascais, walked around the cute town, had a fabulous meet up (PJ and Chris Cline, Tammy and Corey Barr, Stephanie and Garrett Estep). Wish we had more time in this town, and looks like nice beaches and swimming.

    Day five: day trip to Sintra, pena palace    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Algarve

    Oct 2–10, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We took a bus from Lisbon to the town of Portimao on the southern coast of Portugal. Nothing too much to see, except for beautiful beaches, dramatic cliffs, and lovely weather.

    We spent an afternoon laying on the beach and swimming, and a nice nomad meetup.

    Unfortunately I twanged my back, so have laid pretty low most of the week.    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Huelva

    Oct 10–12, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Two nights and one full day to explore this cute little town. Arrived on a Friday night and the area was popping!

    Saturday we explored - the Victorian neighborhood from when the Brits were here and involved in mining; a decent and free museum; the old dock out into the river (part of the mining operations); the mercado; and taking in the Autumn festival, also known as the Horse Fair.Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Cordoba

    Oct 12–19, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Enjoying this town a lot!

    Day one (mon): walking tour
    Day two (Tues): mezquita, lunch, archeology museum
    Day three (wed): art museums!
    Day four (Thurs): travel planning, Jewish museum
    Day five (Fri): medina al.ahzara ruins experience
    Day six (Sat): random walkabout. Saw two weddings (they dress SOOOOO nice), the patios of palace viane, a few open art installations, an Argentinian festival, and a religious procession.
    Day seven: travel day to Malaga

    Interesting food of the region we've tried:
    - bacalao with orange segments
    - robo de Toro
    - fried eggplant with honey (sometimes cheese)
    - grilled lettuce (baby gem or romaine) with fried garlic vinegret
    - salmerejo
    - flamenquin (pork roll)    Read more

  • Meg NylandEurope '25Traveler

    Malaga

    Oct 19–26, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Exploring and relaxing in this charming area of the world

    Day 1: walking tour
    Day 2: nomad meetup, wine/vermut bar
    Day 3: alcazaba and castle way up on the hill.
    Day 4: Picasso museum, museum of Malaga, travel planning
    Day 5: El Palo beach day
    Day 6:    Read more

    Trip end
    October 28, 2025
  • 2026© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Help Center
  • Legal notice