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2017 Travel Adventures

June - November 2017
A 144-day adventure by Stacey Read more
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  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 52

    Port tasting in Porto

    August 7, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After breakfast we walked to our new hotel in Porto. We had coffee and a Nata (Portuguese Tart) before checking out the massive lines for the tower and bookshop. We ate lunch in a laneway before heading across the river to the Port caves. We sampled some Rose Port before doing a tour and tasting at Offley Port. After we walked back along the river and saw the dancers to 'Shape of You' again. Back at the hotel we assembled our bikes before heading out for dinner and eating a Francesinha sandwich which looked just like it tasted, meaty and cheesy!Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 53

    Camino bike ride - Day 1 Povoa De Varzim

    August 8, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Our breakfast of Prosecco and freshly made omelettes was a perfect way to start the Camino bike ride. The total ride is 240km, a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostelo. We headed to the main Cathedral in Porto for our first stamp, then we enjoyed coffee and a Nata.
    We caught the train out to Matosinhos to avoid the traffic and commenced our ride. The wind was very strong 35-40km/h, which made it quite challenging combined with my bad head cold. We ate lunch at a cafe with big glass panels on the beach. We continued riding along the foreshore and found a beach that was quite sheltered. The water was icy cold so Dane had a swim before we continued on. We stopped for a drink to have a break from the wind before arriving at Povoa de Varzim. Today's ride was about 28km. It felt tough with the wind and my head cold. For dinner we had vegetable soup and I had a Portuguese tile with fish. Very delicious!!    Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 54

    Camino bike ride - Day 2

    August 9, 2017 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We ate breakfast before heading out to battle the wind again. We stopped for espresso at a sheltered cafe on the beach. We rode along boardwalks, cobblestones and foreshore promenades before stopping for lunch at a beach bar at Esposende. The wind blowing over the sand was so strong it hurt. My bike chain came off going over some steep rocks but we somehow managed to get it back on. We continued on through little towns, up steep hills and all the way to Viana do Castelo. We had beer and a swim at the pool to cool down, well earned after riding about 45km. We had dinner at a restaurant in town, shellfish soup and salmon with cabbage. There was a market so we got fruit liquor in a chocolate cup on our way home!Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 55

    Camino bike ride - Day 3 - the tough day

    August 10, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We had a beautiful view over the river at breakfast. The day started off with no wind so it felt promising. They had been upgrading the promenade and it looked like they were spending big dollars. We stopped at a beach cafe for espresso before the route headed inland. It was very bumpy, gravel and cobbles. The signage wasn't great so we go a bit lost and ended up riding on the beach where a boardwalk section was broken. We stopped for lunch in Caminha, delicious swordfish burgers. We then caught the ferry across to Spain and rode along to a sheltered beach. We were excited to jump in till we discovered the water was freezing cold. Dane swam but I only managed it to my waist. Back on the bikes we traveled along boardwalks, more cobblestones, through towns, along gravel, grass stretches, road bike paths and up mountainsides with rocks that certainly weren't built for bikes. It felt never ending and very tough. Chocolate helped me get through! At some points it was so steep that we were battling to pass a walker who was almost beating us. We arrived in Baiona at 8:30pm and could barely walk up the stairs. We enjoyed beers and went out for Paella for dinner. The town was bustling with tapas bars but we were too tired to battle the crowds. We had ice cream and headed to bed very weary!Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 56

    Camino bike ride - Day 4

    August 11, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We were up early enough to see a stunning sunrise in Baiona. We walked around the castle walls which had incredible scenery. Breakfast was at a cafe with freshly squeezed orange juice. We cycled around the bay stopping for coffee. We then rode mainly on roads up through Vigo, a big city with hills. We stopped in Redondela for lunch. We rode a little further before stopping for beers and a swim in a river. The water was warmer and there was lots of families spending the afternoon at the beach. We cycled up more hills and made our way to Pontevedre. Today was an easier ride of about 53km. We checked in, had some beers in the hotel and walked into the old town. Dinner was salmon and goats cheese salad with seafood paella.Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 57

    Camino bike ride - Day 5

    August 12, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Final day of the ride with 64km to go to Santiago de Compostela. We had breakfast before heading off. We cycled through the old town, along gravel paths, up hills and asphalt sections. There were more pilgrims out walking than other days. We cycled through vineyards and found a modern coffee stop along the path. We continued riding to Padron for lunch in a park. The afternoon was more hills, winding through little towns, woodland sections and asphalt smooth roads. We stopped for a beer 4km from town. We cycled the final uphill section into Santiago and found our way to the Cathedral. We made it!! There were many other pilgrims arriving, looking tired but very satisfied. The lines were too long to make it into the church so we checked into our hotel. We watched an orchestra playing and found a restaurant for dinner with octopus and squid. Very yummy Galician style food!Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 58

    Santiago de Compostela

    August 13, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We had a sleep in this morning and woke up with sore muscles. After breakfast and a skype with Mum and Dad we walked into town and saw the massive queues for the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. We queued at the pilgrim office for over 2 hours to get our certificate. We then returned to the cathedral where there was now much shorter queues, we gave the statue a hug and saw the location of the supposed remains of St James. We stopped for tapas and a wine to celebrate. We went out to a few more pixtos bars, had Galician octopus for dinner and more drinks at a bar watching Real Madrid versus FC Barcelona. It was quite an exciting match and people were racing in from the street to see what all the excitement was about!Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 59

    A Coruna and Zara

    August 14, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We had breakfast, checked out and headed to the train station to go to A Coruna. After a short train trip we arrived, checked into our hostel, ate tapas and enjoyed a lazy time on the beach. I even went swimming as the water wasn't too cold. We went shopping at the first ever Zara store and I brought a cute black dress. We then walked around the foreshore and saw the Tower of Hercules and many sculptures including a mini Stonehenge and some interesting seats integrated with the landscape. We walked to the famous tapas street and found a beer place. We tried their pigs ear with strawberry hoisin and mashed potato which was quite nice. We then had Galician style octopus and more tapas before heading to the beach to watch the big fireworks display to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, alongside 10,000 other people. There were fireworks which shot into the water then exploded again, which looked fabulous but, probably not great for the fishes!Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 60

    A Coruna and Madrid

    August 15, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Dane went for a run and I walked around to the Tower of Hercules. We had breakfast while there was misty rain. As it was a public holiday nearly everything was shut. We checked out, had coffee and walked around the foreshore to the famous mosaic octopus. It was quite impressive the way it wrapped around the balustrade. We walked back into town for more Galician octopus tapas which tasted good. It's boiled octopus with olive oil, salt and paprika. We also had pork cheek, a mini hamburger and guacamole. We caught a cab to the airport to fly to Madrid. Once landed we caught a train to our hostel. We drank beer on the roof top and really felt the 35 degree temperature! We found a Mexican place for dinner and then ventured to find the street party where there was local bands playing in a square. We danced under the lights to a very popular band before checking out the food delicacies and tasting some chocolate churros.Read more

  • Stacey Robinson2017 Travel Adventures
    Day 61

    Madrid - Day 2

    August 16, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We had breakfast at the hostel and joined the walking tour to look around the city. We ate a delicious meal deal lunch with sangria before heading to the Prado Museum. Dane was quite excited to see paintings by Dutch Artists that he had studied.
    We then walked to see the green wall by Partrick Blanc at Caixa Forum. I'd learnt about it at uni and thought it was stunning. There was water dripping down its sides cooling the space. It was a hot 34 degrees day so it was nice to have some shade. The colours and mix of planting and different textures was very pleasing to the eye. We headed over to the train station which had been remodeled and has a beautiful indoor garden. We enjoyed a drink then walked over to the big Jardines del Buen Retiro park. There were lots of people exercising, rollerblading, rowing in boats and having picnics. It was picture perfect and the temperature was warm, what you'd want for a European summer. We had dinner at a popular tapas restaurant, eating tempura salmon with melted cheese. We met up with Dane's friend from Cambridge and had drinks outside.    Read more

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