Europe 2025

Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and France - an 8 week expedition Read more

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Trip start
August 31, 2025
Europe 2025
Morocco, Spain and Portugal
August 5, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 0 °C
At the airport waiting to board the plane to begin our fantastic trip. Looking forward to all the different experiences awaiting us.
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Europe 2025
Western Europe 2025
September 1, 2025 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Greetings all and welcome to the second trip for 2025. This time we are heading to Western Europe and a bit of Africa visiting Morocco, Spain, Portugal and France with a bonus small detour into Belgium.

After a 13 hour flight we have landed in Dubai where it is 6am and 35 degrees! We are flying Emirates on a monster A380. Now we are waiting to board the next A380 to go to Casablanca.

More updates to follow!Read more
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Europe 2025
Hello Morocco!
September 1, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We arrived in Casablanca about lunchtime bang on schedule (thanks Emirates) at about 12.30. The flight from Dubai was very smooth. We had to make a slight deviation to avoid some middle eastern trouble spots and flew pretty much due west to Casablanca.

Initial impressions are that there is a lot of building going on, it is very flat, there are a lot of cars, and it is very chaotic. Thankfully it is on the coast and a sea breeze was keeping it cool at about 22 degrees. Our driver dropped us at the hotel no problem and after dumping our stuff we went for a walk.

We seem to be in an up market part of town with a number of big brands (Adidas. Gant, New Balance) being close by. The ubiquitous chains are here (Starbucks, Maccas, KFC, Burger King) as expected. We walked up to Casablanca Cathedral - which is no longer a church but a cultural centre - and did a bit of a loop back to the hotel. Have to say crossing the road is very scary. Pedestrian crossings are largely ignored, and even if you do cross at the lights you need to be careful.

Anyway we survived and made it back to the hotel. After a couple of Casablanca Beers and a light dinner we crashed. The last 24 hours were spent either on a plane or sitting in airports waiting for one.

Tomorrow we scope out the neighbourhood some more.Read more
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Europe 2025
Here’s looking at you kid!
September 2, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
After a sleep that will go down in history and a good breakfast we went for a walk up towards the coast. Like I said the sea keeps Casablanca cool so walking around is very pleasant. The walk up was about 20 mins or so.

The waters edge has been done up with walkways, cycle ways, and parks. To the left was the El-Hank lighthouse and to the right was the Hassan II mosque. The mosque was built in the 1990s and is huge, it is the 14th largest mosque in the world. Its location is very impressive as well built partly into the ocean. We will be back here tomorrow with the tour so more photos to come.

We took some photos and walked around a bit more looking at the sights. Most buildings in this part of town are about 7 or 8 stories high with narrow driveways leading to the car parks in the basements. You really need to be careful walking around as the footpaths are pretty rough.

There are a lot of stray cats around, none are as tubby as a certain ginger one we all know. People leave food out so they survive OK.

We had a bit of a siesta before heading out to find lunch. Morocco was a French colony before gaining independence in the 1950s so the French influence is everywhere including their pastries!!

We found a good pastry shop and bought a baguette plus some extras for lunch all for about $14. We then walked up to a park around the corner where we ate lunch and chilled out for a bit.

We met our tour group in the bar in the afternoon, needless to say we are at the younger end of the spectrum. Our tour starts tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it.

It was a quiet dinner as we are all still tired from the flight.Read more
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Europe 2025
Casablanca and Marrakech
September 3, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
As the name implies most of the buildings in Casablanca are white (casa = house, blanc = white) - or at least they were white once! Today our tour took us to some of the older and not so old parts of the biggest city in Morocco.

We started at the Hassan II Mosque which we visited the outside of yesterday. This is the only mosque non-Muslims are allowed to enter and it is as impressive inside as it is outside. During Ramadan over 100,000 people can pray at the same time - about 25,000 inside and the rest outside on the forecourt. The other impressive feature is they can open the roof to allow the sun and fresh air to fill the building.

Check out the photos but this is one amazing building. Our guide, Soufiane, explained what happens and who does what and when, all really interesting. He then took us downstairs to the ablutions room where water fountains provide water for people to wash before praying. All on a massive scale.

After the mosque we went to the Habous Quarter where clothing, books, souvenirs and loads more were for sale. It seems Morocco had a large Jewish population and their evidence is all around the city.

This was followed by a visit to the Central Market where they sell fish, seafood, meat, veggies, flowers, and lots more.

Like I said before the traffic is just astounding but I think I am starting to work it out. Big intersections are part traffic lights and part roundabout. So when the lights turn green cars wanting to turn left (they drive on the right side here) all pile up on the left waiting for oncoming traffic to clear before they all charge across. No orderly lining up in the left lane just a big swarm.

After the markets and lunch we hit the road to our next destination - Marrakech. About a 3 hour drive. The highway is a toll road and was very good. No where near the amount of traffic on the autostrade in Italy.

Marrakech is a lot smaller than Casablanca and a lot older. The buildings are all a maximum of 3 or 4 stories high and are terracotta coloured - the colour is mandated by the government. It has an old section that is behind the walls and a new section outside the walls.

It was pretty late in the day by the time we arrived so not a lot of time to look around. Dinner was in the old part of town in the main market area. It was packed with lots going on. There was a snake charmer but I am not sure the snake was real, it didn’t move much! Anyway an interesting place to look around.Read more
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Europe 2025
Marrakech
September 4, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We were up and about early heading into the old part of town. The way people show wealth and prosperity when you live in a desert is by having flash gardens with lots of water and there is a great garden in Marrakech.

Next to the garden is the old mosque which was damaged in an earthquake in September 2023 so it is currently being repaired.

After the walk through the gardens and looking at the mosque we headed over to the Saadian Tombs. These are late 16th century tombs that were hidden behind walls and only rediscovered in 1917. There are a number of sultans and their family members buried here. This area was also damaged in 2023 so restoration work is ongoing.

We then headed back into the kasbah in the old part of town to visit the Bahia Palace. This was built in the 1800s and is one of the few palaces open to visitors - and there were a lot of us! Just a note we have seen more westerners in Marrakech than in Casablanca!

We walked around the various rooms and courtyards of the palace, all very impressive and very intricately decorated. The open areas were cool zones for greeting guests as well as other rooms for offices and private quarters. See attached photos.

After the morning’s activities it was time for lunch - but we had to cook our own! We went to a cooking school and cooked lemon chicken in a Moroccan tangier with a salad. Not terribly hard and it tasted sensational!

In the afternoon we chilled out for a bit as it was well over 35 degrees. Tomorrow we have a big day driving to our next destination of Fez so we scored some munchies from the local supermarket and then hit the hotel pool to cool down.Read more
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Europe 2025
Marrakech to Fez
September 5, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 36 °C
Today wasn’t the most exciting day. We had to travel from Marrakech in the south of Morocco to the former capital Fez which is in the north. It was about a 6 hour drive plus stops every couple of hours so we didn’t arrive until quite late in the day meaning I don’t have many photos to attach.

Fez might be a bit higher but it sure was hot. It is meant to hit 40 degrees tomorrow which is not going to be pleasant.

Interestingly the building colours changed again. We started with white in Casablanca, terracotta in Marrakech, and now a creamy white colour in Fez.

On the drive up Soufiane was talking about the government and how it is trying to lift the living standards of all Moroccans. It is a monarchy and the King does have some powers but mostly it is the parliament that runs the country.

Education is a big priority so all Government schools and universities are free. Kids have to attend school until they are 16 at least. Agriculture is a big part of the economy but while the north is fertile and gets good rain the south has been in drought for a few years so there are programs to support small farmers and help them with access to water.

Renewable energy is a big focus with hydro, solar, and wind all being supported. If you want to add solar panels to your house or business the government will reimburse you the cost.

Social housing is available as people move to cities or as cities spread out to what was farming land. They are setting the country up to be a technology hub with universities and tech-hubs supporting entrepreneurs wanting to launch businesses.

Road and rail networks are being expanded with Africa’s first high speed train being in Morocco. The freeways we traveled on today were as good as any freeways in Australia.

Car industries are being encouraged to move to Morocco as it offers cheap labour very close to Europe. Dacia is part of Renault and has factories in Tangier as well as Casablanca.

So it seems the government is making all the right moves to support the country as it develops into the future.Read more
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Europe 2025
Old town Fez
September 6, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Today was a definite highlight. Apart from the fact it was nudging 40 degrees we saw some really interesting stuff.

First up we went to the Palace. As with most palaces in Morocco you can’t get inside but the gates are huge and very ornate. This was followed by a walk through the old Jewish section of Fez. The Jews came to Morocco when they were chased out of Spain and a lot left after WW2 and moved to Israel.

After the palace and the Jewish area we went up to a lookout to get a view across the city. Very impressive.

There is a lot of mosaic tiles around Morocco and we went to one of the places where the tiles as well as dishes and other kitchen stuff is made. Great but not a lot cheaper than buying in Sydney.

We then headed to the Medina. Amazing. Of course it is all hundreds of years old and it really felt like it. The passageways were narrow with some places you had to turn sideways. The Medina is part shopping mall and part residential area. Usually there was a shop below and the house above. Lucky we had a guide because there were so many twists and turns it would be very easy to get lost.

The Medina is sort of carved up into sections with vegies in one area, meat in another, material and fabric in its own area, men’s clothes, women’s clothes, etc etc etc.

Fez is famous for its leather and we visited a very old, very famous tannery located in the Medina. Yes the smell on a 40 degree day just added to the atmosphere! They give you a sprig of mint to hold under your nose and take you up a few floors to look out over the tannery.

They explained the tanning process of washing the hides, then soaking in pigeon poo, then washing and scrubbing, soaking in vinegar, then dying and drying. People bring in and sell bags of pigeon poo and this is the source of the smell. Poo is used because it contains ammonia which softens the leather.

They tan hides from camels, cattle, sheep, and goats with camel hide being the lightest and strongest.

There were some high pressure selling trying to get you to buy something but we resisted. Prices were not that much cheaper than in Australia.

We then wandered around a bit more, had lunch in a restaurant in the Medina (well away from the tannery) before heading back to the hotel to cool down.

Dinner was a quiet one followed by a couple of beers. Interestingly a pro-Palestine protest marched past our hotel at about 10pm. Tomorrow we are off to Chefchaouen, the blue city.Read more
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Fez to Chefchaouen via a Roman ruin
September 7, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
We were on the move out of Fez early heading towards another of Morocco’s Imperial Cities - Meknes. This was the capital back in the 1600s and now is sixth largest city in Morocco.

It is famous for a large gate that was designed by a Christian slave who converted to Islam. Morocco didn’t have African slaves but did have European ones. There is also a Mausoleum where the ancestors of the current king are buried. The Mausoleum is called the Mausoleum of Sheikh al-Kamel and is very ornate with lots of tiles.

The gate is called the Bab Mansur al-‘Alj and was designed by Mansour al-‘Alj who also designed a number of other buildings in the city.

This region is very agricultural with olives and citrus being the main crops. There were people everywhere selling oranges or watermelons on the side of the road. The soil is a lot better than down south around Marrakech and they get a lot more rain. That said there are a few unusual aspects - there are no fences between paddocks, and there is always a shepherd close by the numerous groups of goats or sheep we came across.

After looking around we then headed for the Roman ruins at Volubilis. This was a Roman outpost on the south western edge of the Roman Empire. It was established around the third century BC and occupied for a few hundred years after that. It was severely damaged by an earthquake in the 18th century. Around the end of the 19th century it was formally identified and excavations began soon after.

While not as big or perfectly preserved as Pompeii it was still very impressive and a lot less crowded. The guide took us around and showed us some of the key buildings. The Romans were very good a getting water to their settlements and had a system of aqueducts to take water from the mountains into the city.

The French had excavated and rebuilt some of the key buildings but most of it is just a ruin.

After Volubilis we headed to our final destination for the day, the blue city of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains.

This is a very social-media friendly town with lots of its buildings painted blue. We arrived quite late so we dumped the bags and headed out to find somewhere for dinner. The main square was full of people hassling you to go to one restaurant or another but we followed Google and found a small restaurant away from the main square with a rooftop terrace and views across the town. To cap it off the food was pretty good as we watched the sun set.

Tomorrow we explore a bit more.Read more
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The Blue City - Chefchaouen
September 8, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
No one is really sure why a lot of the buildings in Chefchaouen are painted blue - some say to keep away mosquitoes, some say it was Jewish and Muslim refugees chased out of Spain symbolising freedom, others say it was done to attract tourists - whatever the reason it is quite a stunning town.

We spent today walking around the Medina in the old part of town. It was no where near as big as the one in Fez but still big enough to get lost in and offered a huge range of stuff for sale. We took a heap of photos before taking a break about lunchtime to sit in the air conditioning at the hotel.

After a short break a small group of us walked up to the mosque on top of a hill overlooking the town. A tough slog on a warm day (low thirty degrees) but the views from the top were worth it!

Up on the hills you could see shacks (which is probably a generous description) where people lived and looked after their herd of goats. Not an easy climb up from the village, the mountains are very steep.

The walk down was a lot easier and crossed the city’s traditional water source which was a stream running down from the hills. Today people hang out and splash about in the cool water. We had a very refreshing freshly squeezed orange juice at the bottom.

Chefchaouen was a walled city originally and you can still see sections of the walls and a number of old gates. Overlooking the main square in town is the small fort or Kasbah built in the 1400s to defend against the frequent attacks from Europeans.

Dinner was a tagine of chicken and veggies for Tracey and minced beef with veggies for me. Really good, very filling and we both ate plus had a couple of soft drinks for less than $15 Aussie! The food here is very cheap but alcohol is about what you would pay at home.

Tonight is our last night in Morocco as tomorrow we head to the city of Tangier at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea to cross over to continue our holiday in Spain.Read more
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Goodbye to Morocco
September 9, 2025 in Morocco ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Finally some cooler weather. After days of being in the 30 degrees this morning was significantly cooler. Low cloud covered the tops of the peaks around Chefchaouen and there was a cool breeze blowing.

We were on the move to the city of Tangier on the coast near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It was about a two hour bus drive through some stunning scenery. This part of Morocco is very mountainous compared to the southern area which is flat and dry.

We went past a couple of large dams and wind farms before rolling into Tangier. We headed straight to the port to board the ferry that will take us to Terifa in Spain, about a 1 hour cruise.

Some final thoughts on Morocco:

- I was very surprised at how progressive it is and what the government is doing to drive the country forward.
- The scenery and history is amazing
- Walking through the various Medinas felt like you were walking through history
- The people are very friendly and welcoming of tourists

Things I didn’t like:

- The traffic. Especially in the big cities. Country areas it is actually very good with a high profile police presence mainly targeting speeding. In the cities it is chaos!
- The rubbish. The sides of the road and anywhere people walk is strewn with plastic bags/bottles/and any other type of rubbish imaginable. A real shame.

Next stop: Spain!

We caught the big car ferry across the mouth of the Mediterranean. It took about an hour and was very smooth. We cleared the Eurozone customs and hit the road. We have a new tour guide Victoria who is from Buenos Aries but now lives in Barcelona.

We hugged the coast for a while and went past Gibraltar but didn’t stop. Our destination for the night is the city of Granada. We arrived quite late but initial impressions are that this is a very nice city. We are right in the middle of town with loads of shops around and we are high in the Sierra Nevada mountains so it is a lot cooler than Morocco.

After some dinner took a quick walk before crashing.Read more
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The Alhambra
September 10, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
The biggest tourist attraction in Grenada is the Alhambra. This is a beautiful Islamic style palace and fort built on top of a hill overlooking Granada.

A quick history: Muslims arrived in the area in the year 711. The then Sultan started to build the Alhambra in the 13 & 14 centuries. By 1492 Queen Isabella had pretty much united all of Spain under one monarch and with one religion - except for the area the sultan ruled around Grenada.

The Spanish laid siege to the fort and after about a year the sultan saw there was no hope and surrendered. He initially was moved to a small property on the other side of the Sierra Nevada mountains where he stayed for about a year before moving to Fez. This explains the similarities between some of the buildings we saw in Fez and the Alhambra.

The Alhambra has been modified over the centuries with Charles V building a palace within its walls and Napoleon’s troops destroying some parts of the old Medina but it is still stunning and a much loved landmark. The photos tell you more.

After a tour of the palace we had about a 15 min walk down the hill to the centre of town. After a siesta we walked around looking at shops and people-watching. Really like Grenada, it is very clean and easy to walk around.

We had a group tapas dinner in a local restaurant.Read more
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Hola Ronda!
September 11, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We were on the move again today heading to Seville. On the way we stopped at a small tourist town called Ronda. There were loads of tourists around and there were a couple of big draw cards in the town, being the amazing view from its cliff top location, the first bull fighting ring built in 1784, and the Puente Nuevo bridge across the Guadalevin River.

Ronda is cut in half by a very deep gorge and in the early 1700s they built a bridge across it which collapsed a few years later. The current one was built in 1793 and has a dark history. During the Spanish Civil War 1936 to 39 political prisoners were tortured or thrown off the bridge to their deaths. It is an impressive bridge and a huge tourist attraction.

We scored some lunch and walked around town for a bit.

After Ronda we were on the road again to Seville. The landscape has really changed from the mountainous region of Grenada to the flat plains around Seville. It was also a lot hotter in Seville in the high 30 degrees.

It was pretty late in the day so we had a dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow we explore Seville some more.Read more
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Old town Seville
September 12, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Seville used to be one of the biggest ports in Spain - even though it is about 90kms from the coast! Seville is on the river Guadalquivir and was a key port for the movement of agricultural products. It is the fifth largest city in Spain.

We went for a drive around town to see some of the main sights. In 1929 Seville staged an exhibition where Spanish and American countries showed off their offerings. Unfortunately the timing was not good as the Great Depression started about the same time. Many of the buildings the various countries built are still standing and in use - the Mexican building is now a maternity hospital so many locals say they were born in Mexico!

The biggest of these buildings is the Plaza de Espana where all the Spanish regions had their own display area or booth so they could push their wares and win business. This place is huge and has lots of ceramic tiles, balustrades and more. See photos.

Afterwards we went to the old town of Seville. As mentioned previously Queen Isabella united the peninsula as one country under one religion. Non-Catholics had to either leave, convert, or die. Many left to places like Morocco, others converted, and many kept a facade of converting. The Spanish Inquisition in 1480 tried to make sure people did convert: rules like everyone had to leave the doors to their houses open on Saturdays so officials could come in and check you were working. Of course people worked out ways around this Jews and Muslims paid people to come into their house to cook pork so the smell would convince others they had converted and other ways to keep up the appearance.

We walked through the old Jewish area called Santa Cruz which is now of course a high-end neighbourhood. The streets are very narrow and winding.

Seville has the palace complex called the Alcázar of Seville. This is a royal palace originally built by the Muslims but then converted. It was badly damaged in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and has been rebuilt. Once again the photos show similarities to other Muslim buildings around Spain and Morocco.

In the evening we went to a Flamingo dance show. Very impressive.

Tomorrow we move to the next country - Portugal.Read more
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Ola Portugal!
September 13, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
We had a bit of driving to do today so we were up and rolling early. We said goodbye to Seville and hit the freeway west. First stop was the ancient town of Evora.

Initially this was a Roman outpost from the first century. They built the obligatory temple, walls and aqueduct parts of which are still visible today. The Romans stayed for a couple of centuries but attacks by the barbarians led to the city’s decline before it started to become a strategic point half way between Lisbon and the border with Spain. Combined with its sweeping views it grew into an important centre in the 13th and 14th centuries. A new town wall was built in the 14th century and the main square with its key buildings was completed in the 16th century.

Around the 16th century the King built a palace in Evora and the town reached its peak of importance.

The King of Spain required the King of Portugal to rid the country of Jews and Muslims before he would allow the Portuguese King’s son to marry his daughter. The Portuguese King wasn’t as dedicated to this endeavour as the Spanish were but the marriage still went ahead. Interestingly the borders of Portugal haven’t changed since the 13th century. I get the impression over the centuries Spain and Portugal have got along OK most of the time.

Evora is now a tourist town as much of its 16th century walls and buildings are still in place. One of Portugal’s biggest exports is cork, and they make a lot more from cork than the obvious bottle stoppers and floor tiles. Evora had shops selling cork hats, bags, shoes, and even bikinis and a wedding dress!

We walked up to the remains of the Roman Temple from the first century, saw where the 16th century aqueduct fed water into the town, then down to St Francis Church. Next to this church was the Chapel of the Bones. Yes it was a room completely lined with bones from about 5000 individuals. The monks built it so locals would reflect on the transience of life. Photos are attached, it was a bit off.

We then moved on to Lisbon. Quite late in the day so we didn’t get to do much just walked up to the local park for a view over the city and the river. This seems like a really great place to live, the temperature was significantly cooler than it has been in recent days.

Tomorrow we start to learn more about Lisbon and go to a traditional Fado restaurant.Read more
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Lisbon - the halfway point
September 14, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We have been going now for two weeks so this is the half way point of our four week tour of Morocco, Spain, and Portugal. On the bright side we still have another 6 weeks to go on our holiday though!

Today was spent looking around Lisbon. Our local guide took us to the area called Belém which is on the western side of Lisbon and on the river Tagus. Belém actually means Bethlehem in Portuguese and is the site of a 16th century former monastery dedicated to St Jerome.

This place is huge! It hasn’t been a monastery since 1833 when it was taken over by the State so now it is still a functioning church and tourist attraction.

Being right on the river it was often the last place sailors could attend mass and confession before sailing away. It was also quite a dangerous place as anyone sailing past looking for a fight would come across the monastery.

Brief history lesson. The golden age of discovery was in the 15th and 16th centuries when sailors were pushing back the boundaries of the known world. Slowly sailing down the west coast and up the east coast of Africa, in 1488 Vasco de Gama reach Goa in India, by 1543 they had reached Japan (the Japanese word for thank you is aragato the Portuguese word is abrogato). They also sailed across the Atlantic to Brazil in 1500.

The oldest treaty between nations that is still in place is the Anglo-Portuguese treaty signed in 1373. Britain and Portugal frequently worked together as Britain had the military muscle (ie the most powerful navy) and Portugal had the know-how to navigate so together they could really dominate. Portugal had loads of African colonies (including Mozambique and Angola), South American colonies like Brazil, as well as colonies in India (Goa), and Asia (Timor and Macau) the last colony Macau was handed back to China in 1999.

We couldn’t go into the church as it was Sunday and mass was happening but we could get into the cloisters. The stonework and carving was stunning with a focus on religious and maritime icons.

One of the really big things the monastery is famous for is this is where the Portuguese tart was invented. One story was that the monks used egg whiles to starch their habits so they had to find a use for the egg yolks hence inventing the tart. Anyway these things are everywhere. Even our hotel breakfast buffet had a big plate of tarts available and they are in pastry shops all over town. The original cafe where they were first sold is called Pasteris de Belém which opened in 1837, and yes they were excellent!

We then headed across the rail line to the Monument of the Discoveries. This was built in the 1950s to commemorate Portugal’s maritime history. It has statues of various explorers including Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama.

We then headed into the main part of town where our guide gave us a bit of an explanation of where the key things were and we were left with a free afternoon. We had a light lunch in a very old cafe before walking around a doing a bit of shopping.

We braved the Lisbon metro to get back to the hotel - actually very simple and very convenient.

Tonight Trace and I booked to go to a small Portuguese restaurant for dinner and a Fado show. Fado is Portuguese folk music and suffice to say this was a definite highlight of the trip so far.

It was a very small two-room restaurant with an archway between the rooms. The set menu was typical Portuguese home cooked food and the set price included drinks. There were multiple dishes including olives, mushrooms, grilled capsicum, veggie soup, cod & spinach, with slow cooked veal for mains and chocolate cake for dessert. Seriously good and the Portuguese rose wine was also excellent.

The music was supplied by two guitarists, one on a 12-string Portuguese guitar and the other on a typical acoustic guitar. No amplifiers or microphones. There were a few singers both male and female and while we had no idea what they were singing about it was really fantastic. They each sang a set of 4 or 5 songs between courses.

We caught the metro home getting back to the hotel around 1am - very late!Read more
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Slow lane day in Lisbon
September 15, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Sorry dear readers but this was not an exciting day. After such a late night last night we slept late and had a late breakfast. After two weeks of being on the road we had to stop and attend to some life admin tasks - we had two weeks’ worth of washing to complete so we weren’t ready to do anything until about lunchtime.

We took the metro downtown again and had a light lunch. We then did a bit of shopping and wandered around downtown.

We had a pretty good pad Thai at the local Asian street food restaurant before crashing for the night.

Tomorrow we hit the road again. Have really liked Lisbon.Read more
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Coimbra
September 16, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Today we were back on the move. We loaded up early and started the journey north.

First stop was close to the outskirts of Lisbon in a place called Sintra. This is the site of the summer palace of the King and is a beautiful area. It is up quite high and has thick forest growing around the town so it is quite pleasant on a warm day.

The palace was first started in the 15th century but added to over the years so it is a bit of a mix of styles. The town is overlooked by the moorish castle that is high on the hill behind the town. Our guide took us through the palace and then for a quick walk around the old part of town. Sintra is a holiday destination for people from Lisbon but they usually stay in the newer part of town which is a bit away from the palace.

It was a classic palace with some great features. See photos.

Next stop was the old town of Obidos. This is a classic old hill top town dating back to the early Muslim period with the current town and walls being built in 1400s. It was a really interesting place to walk around as the walls are still intact so you can walk around on the ramparts.

They also have a local specialty a cherry liqueur that is traditionally drunk from chocolate cups. I had to have three of them!

After Óbidos we continued north to the town of Coimbra. This town is on the Mondego River and used to be the capital of Portugal in the 12th and 13th centuries. We were a bit late to have a look around so we are getting a tour tomorrow.

Dinner was at an authentic Portuguese seafood restaurant, really good.Read more
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Coimbra to Porto
September 17, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
This morning was a bit cool and foggy in Coimbra. We met our local guide Daniel who had studied art history so was well suited to showing us around today.

Coimbra is a big university town. The first Portuguese language university was established here in the 1300s and it dominates the hill overlooking the town. Originally of course only priests could study at university and women were only allowed in 1910.

Of course the original settlers here were the Romans in the first century. They built the obligatory aqueduct and walls around the city. The Romans were driven out by the barbarians and the city continued to develop next came the muslims and finally the Christians all of which left their mark..

The buildings occupied by the university were built around the 14th and 15th centuries. Originally the university had its own jail attached to lock up any heretics but this became the library. No photos allowed but this was very baroque style.

After looking around the university we walked down towards the main part of Coimbra. We came to a gate in the original Roman era wall and then the main shopping area.

We looked around town for a while and then headed to our next destination Aveiro. This is another university town north of Coimbra. This is also a very flash place to live. It is on the coast so the temperature was very comfortable.

Aveiro’s claim to fame from very early times was salt. Being on the sea with large areas of flat land close to sea level they started harvesting salt back in Roman times. They also harvested sea weed which was used for fertiliser. To help facilitate trade they built a system of canals to allow the salt and sea weed to be collected in boats called Moliceiros. Today tourists can ride the Moliceiros around the canals of the city.

Just near Aveiro and literally right on the coast is the town of Costa Nova. This is a real summer holiday destination and a lot of the houses have stripes. See photo.

We then pushed on to Porto. We had a pretty decent wood fired pizza for dinner at a small restaurant near the hotel.Read more
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Wow Porto!
September 18, 2025 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Porto is a really nice town! It is on the river Douro and is the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon. Not many people live in the main part of town as it is small and very expensive, most live in the surrounding metropolitan area.

The hotel is close to the centre of town and the street it is on is so narrow that when we arrived yesterday we had to unload people and bags from the bus as fast as possible as we blocked the whole street.

Another thing about Porto is the whole city seems to be a big construction site. Our guide said there were elections coming up and this is the reason so much is happening. They are building two new metro lines which seem to be causing most of the issues.

Porto is also very hilly with a steep drop down from the heights to the river. The main claim to fame for Porto is that this is where port wine was created.

Our first stop today was the Stock Exchange Palace. This wasn’t a stock exchange in the typical form rather it was the Chamber of Commerce for Porto. It was built in the 1800s and is now used mainly as a fancy function centre. It is an impressive building with loads of different rooms and a large glass dome over the central space.

The Palace is not far from the river so we walked down to the Riberia area. This is all a Unesco World Heritage Site so it is very well preserved. Originally this was the main trading hub for the city with ships coming in from overseas and smaller boats plying the river bringing wine down from the upper valley and taking other goods back up the river. The other side of the river is called Gaia and is where there are a lot of warehouses to store barrels of wine.

The two side of the river are connected by many bridges with the most impressive being the Luis 1 Bridge. This was designed by a colleague of Gustav Eiffel and was opened in 1886. We walked across the lower span but you can catch a cable car up from Gaia and walk across the top span as well. The lower span carries cars and the top span carries trains.

We went for a port tasting in one of the warehouses on the Gaia side as well as a short river cruise.

We then headed back into town for a light lunch and walked up the hill to the fancy bookshop Livraria Lello. This bookshop opened in 1881 and it well known for its ornate interior and the split staircase in the middle of the shop. Suffice to say it was packed. Anyway we took some photos and escaped!

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner.

Dinner was at a restaurant recommended to me by a work colleague and was it different. The decor was something straight out of the 1970s with heavy wood paneling and retro lights. The food was seriously excellent, steak and veggies washed down with a bottle of Douro valley rose wine BUT the big thing with this restaurant was the view. Portucale restaurant is located on the top floor of a building on top of a hill with views from the Atlantic all the way inland. We were there right on sunset so we could get in a few photos. An excellent meal and a great venue, all for only 116 euro.

Tomorrow we are back into Spain.Read more
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Old town Salamanca
September 19, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Today we were on the move from lovely Porto back into Spain to Salamanca.

One thing I have noticed is how the colour of the stone in the buildings changes. Lisbon was very white limestone, Porto was grey granite, and Salamanca has golden sandstone.

We arrived mid-afternoon and after a bit of a siesta we met our local guide and went for a walk. The story of Salamanca is similar to many others. The Romans arrived around the first century, the town really took off after the Black Death in the 1300s with much of the significant building happening in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. It is amazing how old these places are!

Not far from our hotel is the main square of Salamanca, this is called Plaza Mayor and was built in the 18th century in classic baroque style. This is the focal point of the town and while it was reasonably quiet in the afternoon it really ramped up in the early evening. The plaza is dominated by town hall and while we were there having a beer there were a couple of weddings going on like we saw in Florence and Bologna last year.

We then wandered around as the guide gave us the history of some key buildings. This is another university town with about 55,000 students living here. Many of the old buildings have been repurposed as lecture rooms and for other university purposes.

Many buildings were damaged in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. This is believed to be the largest earthquake to ever hit Europe and estimated to have been about a 9 on the Richter scale.

There are two cathedrals next to each other with the plan being to demolish the old one when the new one was finished. Once the new one was done it was decided to leave both.

There is an original Roman bridge across the river outside the walls of the town. Most of the old walls have been demolished but there is still a small section near the old bridge.

After our walk around town we stopped for a couple of beers in the plaza and watched a couple of brides come and go.

We only have one night in Salamanca, tomorrow we are off to Madrid.Read more
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Salamanca, Avila, Segovia and Madrid
September 20, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Today was busy. We were up early taking some photos around Salamanca when fewer people were about. We were up at the new cathedral when we saw the procession that was in the photos for yesterday’s blog entry. A bit surreal seeing all that in the pre-dawn light.

We then headed to our next stop the medieval fortress town of Avila. This town had similar history to many others on the Iberian peninsula, it was settled by the Romans, declined when the Roman empire declined but then came back after the Black Death in the 14th century.

The walls are mostly intact with 88 round turrets and the walls are over 2.5kms long. They were built over the few hundred years from the 11th to the 14th centuries. They are sandstone and so have a yellow glow when the sun is on them. Most of the old buildings in the town are intact so it was a great place to wander around.

After Avila we headed to the next town of Segovia. The amazing thing in Segovia is the 2000 year old aqueduct which runs through the middle of town. This really is spectacular. See the photos.

There is also a stunning gothic style cathedral built in the 16th century and a fortress called the Alcázar which was started in the 12 century. All these ancient buildings make this a very interesting town.

We wandered around looking at the sights before scoring lunch - churros dipped in chocolate!

We then headed for the largest city in Spain and the capital, Madrid. We arrived quite late so didn’t have time to do much. We went for a bit of a walk around town and keeping in mind it was about 8pm on a Saturday night the city was packed! There was even a protest happening against bull fighting (I think!) down at the Puerto del Sol.

We scored dinner in the Plaza Mayor (built in the 1600s) and people watched for a while.Read more
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Hanging out in Madrid
September 21, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Today was spent checking out Madrid. We had a walking tour booked to start at 9am but we hit a problem. They had their version of the City to Surf race happening so we ended up stuck on the wrong side of the street as there were so many runners going past. Anyway we sorted that and spent a few hours walking around looking at the buildings and scenery of Madrid.

Madrid has been the capital of Spain since 1561 and once the dictator Franco died in 1975 the city has changed a lot, from grey and dull to now beautiful buildings painted very tastefully. See the photos.

Madrid is home to the royal palace and this place is huge. It was built in 1764 and has 3,418 rooms making it the largest palace in Europe - twice the size of Versailles and four times the size of Buckingham Palace.

We then walked around some of the old sections of town and ended up at Puerta del Sol, where we were yesterday. We then headed to the Prado Museum.

This is a huge building which houses the main Spanish art collection. It was works by a number of the key artists of the 14th and 15th centuries including Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, and loads more.

After checking out the museum we then headed back to the hotel for a late afternoon siesta. Dinner was at a small bar/restaurant just near the hotel. As usual the beer and food were excellent!Read more
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Valencia
September 22, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Today was another day of travelling, we were on the move from Madrid to Valencia with a stop in the medieval town of Cuenca.

Cuenca is a little different to the other towns in that the Romans didn’t settle this area. It was up to the Moors in the 8th century. It is located on top of a spur with two deep gorges on either side making it easy to defend.

The town is known for its hanging houses which seem to hang over the cliffs. I for one would be wary about stepping out on some of those balconies as they are a few hundred years old and don’t look real secure.

There is also a large cathedral that was started on in the 12th century. The main square was also very picturesque.

We walked down across the Bridge of St Paul to the former convent (now a high end hotel) which gave a good view of the hanging houses.

We then had a couple of hours drive to Spain’s 3rd largest city (after Madrid and Barcelona), Valencia. As the name suggests this city is a big producer of agricultural products specifically oranges (and olives).

We had a drink with the the group followed by dinner in an Italian restaurant off the main square. The buildings at night are well lit and there are lots of people out walking. One thing that surprised me was the footpaths seem to be paved with red marble, very nice!Read more
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Valencia: the new and the old
September 23, 2025 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Valencia is a surprising city. In some ways it is the same as other Spanish towns - it was first settled by the Romans, then the Visigoths, then the Muslims, and then the Christians - and it has ruins showing most of the phases. Then it has super modern icons like the opera house, imax theatre, aquarium, and the Agora forum designed by Santiago Calatrava which are all seriously stunning buildings.

Valencia used to have a problem with its river, the Túria, in that the city used to flood regularly. To fix this back in the 1960s they diverted its flow away from the centre of town, now it flows around Valencia. It still causes issues as only last year it flooded again after a year’s worth of rain fell in just 8 hours killing over 200 people.

The old river bed has become a 10km long strip of welcome green space for the city. There are parks, bike trails, sports grounds, and much more. This is where you will find the opera house, IMAX theatre, aquarium, and Agora. See the photos but these are all beautiful buildings.

We then headed up to the old part of town. The old city walls have all been demolished except for two gates which were formerly used as prisons but have now been returned to their former state.

We visited the cathedral and some of the sights around the old town like the Silk Exchange and the central markets - Valencia was a centre for silk and textiles and one stage in its history.

Lunch was a pretty good seafood paella - the paella originated in Valencia so it is a bit of a specialty.

After a short siesta we headed out to see what we could see. First stop was the archaeological museum. Back in the time of Franco they wanted to extend the cathedral so they started digging and of course what happens whenever you dig a hole in a city that is over 2000 years old? You find ancient ruins. This is exactly what happened. They found footings and remains of Roman buildings from around the time of Christ. They also found bones and ceramics so the extension of the cathedral was halted.

Nowadays this is a great museum with walkways built over the ruins.

After checking these out we went for a climb to the top of the bell tower of the main cathedral - the highest point in town. The cathedral itself is really big and built over a 500 year period. Various bits were added and styles changed so it is a mix. Interestingly it has the Chapel of the Holy Grail which the Vatican has recognised as THE Holy Grail. A number of other churches claim to have the Holy Grail but this is the only one the Vatican has approved.

The bell tower is 207 steps to the top up a very tight spiral staircase. We made it up and the views were sensational.

After the bell tower we found the Ceramics Museum which was in a former noble man’s house. Really well done with lots of ceramics displayed as well as much of the house left in its original state.

It had been a busy day so we recovered with a bottle of wine in one of the many squares dotted around Valencia.Read more
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