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Portugal & Spain

September - October 2020
A 14-day adventure by Norah Read more
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  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 1

    Motocross

    September 30, 2020 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We arrived Wednesday evening in Faro airport en drove with the car 1.5h to the Belgian school called Wim Motors Academy of father Wim and his sun Clint. The school is known for it’s world famous teaching in enduro and rally moto riding.Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 5

    Arcos de La Frontera

    October 4, 2020 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    I drove 4 hours from Wim Motors Academy towards Spain, Arcos de la Frontera to meet with Mathieu, who was competing in the Andalucia Moto Rally race. We stated in this cute hotel called “Hostal Malaga” with such a friendly people. This village is a nice coincidence to stay, as some websites state this as the 4th most beautiful village of Andalucia. Curious to discover more !

    In de the evening, we had dinner in the little town of Arcos de la Frontere in a place called “Taberna Jovenes Flamencos”. The tapas was amazing, beautiful location in such tiny streets ! We even had some difficulty driving through with the small jeep car. We had 3 1/2 tapas: aubergine with goat cheese, iberico ham and ham & chicken croquettes. The plates were also super delicious: cannelloni with local traditional grey cheese (read: yes the cheese was really grey) and oxtail for myself. The white wine was very fruity and delicious. In the end only a check of €55 wauw ! Yummie !!

    We also heared very good reviews of the restaurant “Gastrobar El Retablo”. So we went there the second evening. Wauw delicious food and also good Muscato wines ! Truly recommend the tapas with pulled pork. Mmmm.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 7

    Ronda - Puenta Nuevo

    October 6, 2020 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Ronda is in South Andalusia, about 2h away from Gibraltar the most Southern point of Spain. According to some websites, Ronda is thé most beautiful village of Andalucia. About 34.000 inhabitants live there, so it’s mostly knows for its touristical spots, such as the Puenta Nuevo, Plaza de Toros and the Moorish bridge.

    Puenta Nuevo means “new bridge” in English. It’s a scary view with a depth of more than 120m. They started building the bridge in 1735, but 5 years later the bridge crashed along with unfortunate 50 workers. The bridge was finally finished 50 years later in 1793.

    A cruel fact: the bridge contains multiple areas where they used to torture prisoners during the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) and throw them into the deep.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 7

    Granada

    October 6, 2020 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    After Ronda, I continued the drive to Granada more Western in Andalusia. It was another 2-2,5h drive in a beautiful setting of olive trees and agricultural fields. The highway looks new, so you can drive safely and easily.

    Upon arrival in Granada, traffic starts to appear (5pm). I drove to the city center in the parking Ganivet, as my hotel was just 100m further. It’s a bit more expensive, but you’re straight in the city center with a 24h guarded parking.

    My hotel was called Arte Vida Suites & Spa, which was about €44 per night. It was decent, because you get a spacious room, living room, bathroom and kitchen. The sauna was only available when informing the reception, which was a bit unfortunate because I arrived when the reception was already closed. So I went the next day at 12am, after my 9am visit to Alhambra.

    Here in Granada (Spain in general), restaurants only open at 8pm. So I had an ice cream and some shopping in the evening. Later around 8.30pm I had a delicious poké bowl in Wild Food, the vegan restaurant of the hotel Marquis Hotels Issabel’s. It was so good and the setting was so pleasant, that I returned back the next day for a breakfast at 8am. I had a yoghurt with fruits and a bagel. Mmmm.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 8

    Granada - Alhambra (Unesco)

    October 7, 2020 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Off we went to Alhambra for a visit from 9 to 12am. I bought the tickets only 1 day in advance, which is rare because of Covid-19. Normally it’s fully booked months in advance, because it’s UNESCO world heritage and therefore has limited visitors per day. It was €30 for a ticket only with audio guide (GranaVisio - website via alhambraonline.com). Worked perfectly !

    The site consists of 4 areas: (1) Generalife, (2) Palace Carlos V, (3) The Alcazaba, and (4) It took me 2h to visit all of them (9.30-11.30). It means Red Palace in Arabic during the time of the Moorish in the Middel Ages (15th C). here is a fix time slot to visit the central building    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 8

    Sevilla

    October 7, 2020 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    After a 2.5h drive from Granada, I arrived in Sevilla around 5pm. I stayed in the hotel Exe Sevilla Palmera (****) for about €44 + €15 parking. The breakfast is luckily included. Time for a quick power nap and video call to Mathieu (he finished his first day of the Andalusia rally) and then we’re off to the city !

    The city center is about 1.7km away, so easy to do by foot. I walked through the Maria Luise Park, arrived at the waterside (Canal de Alfonso XIII) and finally reached the center. What a beautiful city !! Surrounded by parks, water and ancient churches. I’m in love with he vibrant city !!

    Only downside: they only eat at 8.30pm in the evening, so I had to buy a small sandwich and mozzarella sticks from Burger King to cover my hunger since lunch time. Finally I had dinner in Petit Comité with delicious tapas. I ate so much I couldn’t finish the last dish with octopus. But so good !    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 8

    Sevilla - Royal Palace (Unesco)

    October 7, 2020 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    It’s also called “Alcázar Real de Sevilla” or “Reales Alcázares de Sevilla”. It comes from the Arabic “al-qasr” that palace means. It’s part of the UNESCO world heritage list, but unfortunately I didn’t visit the inside because of my limited time in the city. The outside was already impressive enough to get glimpse of the history and beauty.

    The complex of palaces is in the Mudéjar style, which is a architectural style with many influences from Moorish and Christian culture. It is probably the oldest palace still in use in Europe; when King Felipe V visits Seville, this UNESCO-listed palace is still his residence.

    In the year 913, Abd-ar-Rahman III gave the order for the construction of a castle on this site where a Roman “castle” once stood. The castle was further expanded into a palace by King Al-Moetamid (the last king of the Abbadid dynasty) in the 11th century. In the 14th century, the Spanish recaptured the palace from the Moors, after which King Alfons X of Castile expanded the palace. In 1364, King Peter I of Castile ('The Cruel') ordered the construction of a new palace, the Alcázar, after which his successors continued to build the palace.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 9

    Lissabon - Torre de Belém (Unesco)

    October 8, 2020 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    This Belém Tower is officially called the Tower of Saint Vincent (Portuguese: Torre de São Vicente). It’s also UNESCO world heritage. The tower dates from the 16th-century as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. It was built during the Portuguese Renaissance and is an example of the Portuguese Manueline style (but it also incorporates hints of other architectural styles).

    The structure was built from lioz limestone and is composed of a bastion and a 30-metre four-storey tower.

    You enter thr city and the area Belém via the famous and impressive bridge “Ponte 25 de Abril”. It’s sometimes called it the Tagus River Bridge because this was the first bridge of Lissabon crossing the Tagus River for the big traffic. It refers to the Carnation Revolution (“Anjerrevolutie”) on 25th of April 1974, removing its ancient name Salazar Bridge, prime minister António de Oliveira Salazar for the ruling president Américo Thomaz.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 9

    Lissabon

    October 8, 2020 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Time to visit the center of Lissabon. I parked the car in a nearby parking (Praça dos Restauradores) and walked about 2km towards the city center. In the end I paid about €10 for parking my car 4hours, so quite expensive.

    First stop was a delicious brunch bar “Augustino Lisboa” for a latte coffee and avocado toast. I walked along steep hills and tiny streets, somewhat scary parts with drug-dealing people. So I decided to stay more along the main roads with tram rails, you never know as a tourist in a new big city. I was also looking like a tourist with way to many cloths: I was carrying a warm jacket and woolen pull in case I would be too cold. That’s because Granada was cold in the evening (“only” 19 degrees) and I thought Lissabon would be similar as it’s closeby waterfront and the ocean. However it was super warm with 29 degrees during the day and 23 in the evening.

    Next stop was the Praça do Comércio. A beautiful big square with restaurants closeby the waterfront (the famous river called “Taag”) with a tiny beach (cais das colunas). In 1755 the square was destroyed by a big earthquake, but now it looks like new again. There’s a statue if Jozef I of Portugal in the middle, . The square is symbol of the Carnation Revolution (« Anjerrevolutie » or « The 25 of April »), making and end to the 40y during military war against the Estado Novo (The Second Republic, the conservative and traditional Catholicism regime) and resulting in the democratic Portugal we have today.

    I ended my walk in the rooftop bar “Madame Petisca” for a Muscatel wine. What a view ! The prices are clearly more expensive than Granada, where I paid only half of the price (2.5€) for a glass of wine.    Read more

  • TravelerPortugal & Spain
    Day 9

    Lissabon (2)

    October 8, 2020 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Walking through the center, you pass along the tram rails and the famous tram 28. Coming from Ghent, Belgium I must say it was still impressive. How can a tram drive so elegantly through tiny streets with steep hills like it has been doing for ages. The houses were colourful, just like the tram. Beautiful city !

    I tried the typical pastry called “Pastel de Belém” (or “pastry from creme”). It is usually served with a little powdered sugar and cinnamon on top. For us Belgians, it tastes a bit like a typical “cremekoek” with vanille creme and puff pastry (“bladerdeeg”). Very good but expensive. €1.20 for 1 tiny piece.. Commercial Lissabon !

    In the evening it was time to check in my hotel just 20min away from the airport (40min from the center). It was called “TRYP Lisboa Montijo Parque Hotel”. The area Montijo was just across the famous impressive bridge Ponte Vasco Da Gama.

    Finally it was time to pick up my friend Camille from the Lissabon airport around midnight. We had a good sleep and we’re ready the next day for Portugal !    Read more

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