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2024 Vacation
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2024 Vacation

Traveling to Portugal, Spain and France Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 25, 2024
    2024 Vacation
    1

    Finnisterre

    September 26, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    We took bus tour to Finnisterre a d Muxia. Once on the bus, we realized that it was the first time in over 40 days that we rode in a vehicle. It was all walking...weird.

    Saw some nice sights and got yo see the "end of the world " as the Romans called it.

    It was a great day to end the Santiago portion of our trip. Ran into a couple from Brazil that we met on the first night on the camino. We had only seen them one other time, surreal.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    111

    Porto

    September 27, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Porto was great! Easy to walk and friendly people. We used the hop on hop off bus system and saw parts of the city that were away from downtown. We also did a nighttime bus ride to see the city at night.

    I've caught another bug of some sort, so we spentbour last day in the loft just relaxing and resting up. It was a rainy day anyway, so it worked out well.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    11

    Porto, Portugal

    September 27, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We took a bus from Santiago to Porto today, about a 4-hour ride. Checked in to our little studio, then walked around downtown Porto.

    Met our Brazilian friend Stefania and her fiance Fabio for dinner and had a nice time.

    So far, it's been great here in Porto.    Read more

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    Sintra

    October 2, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Tooknthevtrain from Pirto to Sintra, just outside of Lisbon . The weather was cloudy and drizzling. We checked in to our lodging and then went out exploring the town.

    We toured a mansion and its grounds. The coolest feature was the Initiation Well, where Templars were initiated. I guess other pagan activities took place as well. At the bottom of the Well were various tunnels that exited at different spots on the property.

    We walked through the mansion as well. We planned to visit the other palace in town but the weather wasn't cooperating so we chose to train back to Lisbon for the next part of our trip.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    1

    Lisbon

    October 4, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We arrived in Lisbon by taking a train,then the metro to our hotel. Met Andre at check-in. He was awesome with great advice about seeing the city due to a short stay , only two days. We walked around the downtown area, visiting the places he recommended. Lisbon is no joke with plenty of hills to climb. We choose not to ride the trolley cars up or down the hills.

    The Time Out Market was pretty cool. It had food vendors selling everything from hot dogs to seafood and plenty of beer. Wine and cocktails. We had hot dogs since we've ended up craving them.

    In the afternoon, we hit a happy our place for drinks. Ended up sitting by a couple from Bellingham, WA. Drank and visited with them for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel. Stopped for dinner at a Ramen shop that was decorated fun and had acrobot bringing food to your table.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Lisbon day 2

    October 4, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Spent the day sightseeing around Lisbon. Visted the Tower of Belem, the monument to the discoveries, another food market, a church, and the castle.

    We ubered, trammed, and walked our way through the city today. Tomorrow, we catch an early flight to Seville, back into spain!Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Seville

    October 5, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Traveled to Seville via plane. Up at 230 am to catch a 630 am flight. It's made the day a long one.
    We are renting a car to take day trips and then drive to Valencia in a few days.

    So far, Seville hasn't disappointed. Visited the ruins of Italica (a filming spot for the Game of Thrones) and did a hop on bus tour to the palace and other sights.Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    11

    Day trip - 1 Cadiz

    October 6, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Today, we took a day trip to Cadiz, about 1.5 hours out of Seville. It was foggy early, but the clouds gave way to the sun. Cadiz is a coastal city, and with the sun out, people hit the beach. Being Sunday, there were lots of families out and about.
    The cathedral was cool looking, we didn't go in, but it definitely has the moorish architecture.

    There were lots of cotton fields and olive orchards on the way to Cadiz. The villages seem to be more white washed colors in. This area than the other areas we've seen.

    Tonight, we had drinks in the oldest bar in Seville and watched some sort of celebration in the street. There was a marching band and some guys carrying some sort of woman statue. We haven't figured out who she is yet.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Day trip -2

    October 7, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today's trip took us to Cordoba. It's east of Seville and has moorish styling like Seville. We had a little car tire issue that took some time to correct, so we lost some sightseeing time today. Cordoba is about 1.5 hours from Seville.

    However, we did make it to the Alacazar, and it didn't disappoint. The place was huge and full of artifacts from centuries long ago.

    On the way back to Seville, we stopped in a small town for lunch. I think we might have been the only outsiders in town that day. We got some funny looks.

    We eventually made it back to Seville. We got ready for the evening, dinner, and a flamingo show.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Day trip 4

    October 8, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today, we drove to Sentenil on our way to Ronda. Sentenil is a cool little town with parts built either into the side of the rock wall or on top of it. We wandered through the white washed buildings. Had lunch and then headed to Ronda.

    In Ronda, we walked through a nice park that overlooked the valley. Found a hotel bar with views of the bullying while drinking a cocktail. Then, we walked around the city center with all the other tourists. The bridge across the gorge is a main attraction.

    We first saw Ronda on the amazing race, so we wanted to come here. We planned on staying just one night, then head back to Seville for one night. We changed plans and are staying two nights in Ronda before driving to Valencia.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Ronda, Cartagena

    October 10, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We had a great last day in Ronda. We felt the need to move a little so we walked about 4 miles around the city. We followed the trail to the bottom of the bridge, then just wandered. Ended up entering the city walls from a different location and found the moorish quarter wete there were some Arab bath ruins.

    The iconic bridge was built in 1735 and the "new bridge" was built in 1740 because the first one didn't last.

    We left Ronda and drove to Cartagena on the coast. We passed through mountains, plains and desert. There were lots of olive groves, miles and miles of them. They turned into stone fruit groves and eventually orange groves. The mountains were rugged and beautiful.

    Cartagena is nice, no wheres as crowded as the last cities we've been in. However, at 6 pm people come out of the woodwork and hit the bars and restaurants. Saw more roman ruins...those damn Roman's were everywhere!

    Today, we head to Valencia and will spend about 4 days there. Road trip along the coast.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    1

    Valencia

    October 11, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We left Cartagena to head to Valencia. We tried to follow the coast route as much as possible. It took us through some cool little towns and along scenic landscapes. One neat town was Benidorm. It had a nice beach where we stopped and put our feet in the ocean and walked along the beach for a bit.

    Back on the road, we passed through orange groves ( hence Valencia oranges) and then into rice fields. Around the rice fields, it was really hazey. Once we got closer, we realized that it was smoke from them burning the rice fields. Rice is a big deal in this area since paella was first made in Valencia.
    We had a little issue when returning the rental car, I got in the wrong lane and ended up in with the taxis, had to back up for about 50 yards before another taxi showed up to get out of that line. There is always something...

    We made it to our airbnb and met with David to check in. We're in the Cabanyal area close to the beach. This area battled the city government to stop them from putting in a road and high-rise developments in order to maintain the old buildings and homes. They won, and now it's become a trendy, cool neighborhood.

    Yesterday, we walked to the Science and Arts complex to visit the aquarium. It's the largest in Europe from what we understand. In the afternoon, we hit the beach to relax.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    1

    Barcelona

    October 15, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Traveled to Barcelona via train. Arrived , checked in to the hotel, and then took off on a walk to the market for a snack.we are looking forward to seeing more of the city over the next couple of days.Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Barcelona and Montserrat

    October 16, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We traveled to a mountain area called Montserrat today. It has a monastery, with about 70 monks live today. The trip there was interesting since we took the subway system and then a little train to get up the mountain.

    We saw the black Madonna in the cathedral and learned more her in the museums they have there as well. They also have a boy's choir that people pay to see. We heard them from outside the cathedral.

    After Montserrat, we made our way to the port to see the America's Cup event going on here. There were lots of fancy yachts in the harbor. We didn't see any races but had drinks in the fan area to people watch.

    Ended up in a restaurant that Teresa found for dinner, then made our way back to the hotel.

    It was a good day.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    11

    Barcelona and Gaudi

    October 18, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Well, the last two days have been filled with getting as much seen in Barcelona as we can. Yesterday, we walked about 10 miles total, and today was about 7 miles, all just sightseeing. This doesn't include subway travel to and from.

    We visited the Sagrada Familia cathedral designed by Gaudi yesterday, and the pictures don't do it justice, and words are hard to describe it. It was amazing. After seeing this, we walked to another Gaudi building, Casa Batllo. In fact, we walked there twice, so Teresa could see it at night.

    Todswe went to Park Guell, another thing designed by Gaudi. It was pretty cool as well. After the park, we rode the metro to the beach. We were able yo see a beach area of Barcelona and even saw two boats competing in the America's cup. Didn't understand what the heck was happening, but we saw it.

    The afternoon was spent doing laundry and packing for Paris tomorrow. Had our last meal in Spain at a place that made great pasta. Onto Paris tomorrow as we wind down our vacation. We're both looking forward to getting back home next week.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    11

    Paris

    October 19, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We're in Paris...on the backside of our vacation now. Experienced the traffic on the way from the airport but finally got to the hotel. We dropped our bags and headed out to see what was in our neighborhood and get some lunch.

    After lunch, we relaxed for a bit, then went to the catacombs. It's a little freaky to be that close to a million peoples bones. It was a great little tour to start our days in Paris.

    Over the last two days, we've been on the go seeing the sights of Paris. Yesterday, we rode the hop on hop off bus to get a view of the whole city. Once we made a full round on the bus, we hopped off at the Arc d Triumph. Walked on the Champs d and then walked over to the Eiffle Tower. After dinner, we walked toward the Louve to view the Eiffel Tower
    Then we walked to the Louve's pyramid to see it at night. A great night in Paris.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation
    1
    111

    Paris - Day 3

    October 22, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Yesterday we spent most of the day at the Louve. I'm not the biggest museum fan, so I wasn't sure how I'd do....

    I'm happy to say it was a very cool experience. We were able to see several of the famous works of art in person (along with thousands of other people). The Louve is housed in a building that at one time was a palace. The place is huge. There are 4 wings, and each wing has 3 floors.

    We saw art and artifacts from 800 BC through the 1800s. The Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo were the most popular works. We saw some Rembrandts and other paintings from the 1600. 1700 and 1800 hundreds. One room had gigantic paintings that were pretty cool.
    We walked about 10 miles yesterday overall. Had dinner at a place that claimed to be one of the oldest bistro's in Paris, established in 1845. The food was great.    Read more

  • 2024 Vacation

    Home

    October 23, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We made it to Portland! It was great to see our kids and our dog, Josey. Tomorrow, we'll watch Elliot's soccer game and then drive home on Friday.

    Trip end
    October 23, 2024
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