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Miami Nice

August 1, 2016November 8, 2016Posted in Food Tourism, Girl's Weekends, Hotel, Tourism, Travel, U.S.TravelTagged Beach, Cocktails, Florida, Food, Girl's Weekend, Mexican Food, Miami, Miami Nightlife, Miami Restaurants, Sightseeing, South Beach, Tacos, Tourism, Tourist, Travel, USA, WineLeave a comment

A few months back my colleague, and good friend, Cassie and I chatted during a boozy lunch at a local pub about her husband’s recent ‘guys’ weekend’ in Vegas. As we talked about how much fun he’d had with his friends, the wheels starting turning and the next thing we knew we were in full planning mode for a girls’ weekend of our own…in Miami.

Luckily for us, we had zero trouble convincing our friends Cory and Emma to join us…it helped that Air Canada was having an amazing seat sale…less than $400 for our return flights to Miami. Once everyone was onboard and the flights were booked, planning for this trip began in earnest.

Where would we eat? What would we see? What would we do? Were there any hot spots we wanted to check out? We had 3 months to plan all of this out…phew!

Flight Delays and Free Alcohol

We arrived at the airport 3 hours before our flight and found out when we checked in that the flight would be delayed by at least 4 hours…so we had 7 hours at the airport to look forward to. What does one do to kill 7 hours at the airport? Duh, head to the Air Canada Lounge of course! I don’t know about you, but I think 5-6 hours of free cocktails before a flight is ALWAYS a great idea. Don’t get me wrong, we did eat some of the ‘shitty snacks’ – not my description, but surprisingly appropriate – that they had on hand, as I would never encourage drinking on an empty stomach.

Is it just me, or does free booze taste better? We drank port, pinot grigio, Riesling, scotch, ceasars, rye, gin, vodka, baileys, you name it, and if it was on the shelf, we drank it and it was glorious!

Fast forward 5 ½ hours later to this group of…ahem…’ladies’ boarding our flight to Miami…all sporting a comfortable buzz and our stomachs filled with chocolate chip cookies. We were on our way…finally!

The flight itself was fast and uneventful. We stepped off the plane, collected our luggage and hopped into a cab to make our way to the hotel.

Though our flight was uneventful, our 20 minute cab ride to the hotel however? Not so much. Our collective buzz had worn off and what was left of it quickly disappeared after a sobering road rage incident between an overly aggressive driver and our cabbie. We were driving along the highway when some A-1 douchebag rode right up our asses flashing his headlights in order to get our driver to switch lanes. Our cabbie didn’t move over right away, so the guy kept flashing his headlights as he got closer and closer to the back of our car. Finally, the cab driver pulled into the other lane only to have the dickhead in the car behind pass us, pull right in front of us and then slam on his brakes. Welcome to Miami folks! Well that was fucking terrifying…calm the fuck down people!

We made it to the hotel – safely – and checked-in, only none of our credit cards worked, with the exception of the Aussie’s…thank God we brought Emma along! Once that was sorted, we made our way up to our room.

We’d booked a double room with 2 queen beds at The Hyatt Centric South Beach…I know, pretty risky to do with 4 women sharing a room and one bathroom, but we live on the edge like that. Anyway, our room was quite nice and surprisingly spacious with an ocean view…sweet!

20160711_133328 — Room with a View…what a sight to wake up to!

Given that our flight had been delayed and it was quite late, we were happy to chat for a bit, check out the room, change into our pjs and hit the hay. Which is exactly what we did.

The next morning, I’d like to say that we got up bright and early, but who am I kidding. We rolled out of bed around 8am and began the long and arduous process of having 4 women – sharing one bathroom – get ready to go grab breakfast. We’re all pretty easygoing so it wasn’t a stressful process. We took turns showering and getting dressed then made our way out onto the street.

Yeah, can I just say that it was pretty fucking hot…the heat hit us like a wall. Undeterred, we walked a short distance to a breakfast spot that Cassie had been to previously, The Social Club. Bonus, if we checked in on yelp – free mimosas! So check in we did and the mimosas were delicious! Breakfast overall was pretty fantastic. We had the usual eggs benny (some of us) while others (Cory) were a little more adventurous ordering something with a bit more Latin influence. Whatever it was, it looked delicious and I wanted it!

20160709_110840 — Social Club’s Eggs Benny

After breakfast, we made our way to the local Walgreens to pick up a cooler and some alcoholic bevies for our day at the beach. We walked the hundred metres or so, planted our asses in our umbrella chairs and committed ourselves to a full day of beach bumming.

Day 1 – sorted!

After a sun soaked day of drinking cold beer on a hot beach, we dragged ourselves back to the hotel to shower, change and make our way to dinner. We had made reservations at Yardbird and boy were we looking forward to it. The reviews for this place are through the roof with praise for some of the tastiest Southern comfort food you will ever have the pleasure of putting in your mouth.

We ordered the fried green tomatoes, mac & cheese, chicken and waffles, BBQ ribs and washed it all down with a bottle of white wine and infused bourbon flights. Let me just say this…we all agreed the fried chicken was the best any of us have ever had…like EVER! Mixed reviews on the bourbon flight offerings, however, the salted maple bourbon was a clear favourite. Everything we ate there was delicious…incredibly delicious. We also had an amazing server, he gave us tips on where to go for drinks and dancing later and he did not steer us wrong.

After dinner, we made our way to The Bodega, an obscure looking taco stand, on the recommendation of our server. You see, this place is an actual taco stand with a secret. If you walk through the porta potty door to the far right of the taco truck (don’t let urinals and graffiti wall deter you) you will discover one of the best nightclubs in SoBe. The drinks were relatively inexpensive, with an eclectic crowd, but the jewel in the crown here is their kick ass DJ. He played songs from the 80s to current and his mixes were wicked. He had us dancing the entire time we were there. Just when one mix was over and you thought ‘wow, that was the best song ever’…he’d follow it up with an even more amazing mix. The place was a bit empty when we got there, but filled up quickly and by the time we left, it was packed to the gills with a line up snaking down the street and for good reason.

Day 2 – The Fun Continues

We played it pretty low key on the second day, grabbing breakfast at a place up the street called Sunny’s. The service wasn’t the best, but the food was pretty delicious. I had the ‘Come Kale Away With Me’ breakfast bowl consisting of pureed frozen bananas, kale, almond milk, topped with sliced kiwi, puffed quinoa, chia seeds and flaked coconut. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be as delicious as it was, but it sorta blew my mind. Once again, our yelp check-in garnered us a free mimosa. It’s important to note that wi-fi is not available here unless you’re a registered guest of the hotel or you ask the hotel reception to provide you with the wifi password…apparently it changes everyday and the hotel does not share that information with the restaurant staff at Sunny’s.

After our leisurely breakfast, we split up…with some choosing a pool day and others deciding to go shopping for bathing suits. The bathing suit I packed was literally disintegrating – I’d had it for over 15 years and it had seen better days…the straps were actually leaching some sort of gunk akin to motor oil or the grease from a bicycle chain…disgusting. Anyway, we stopped in a SHAN on Collins and looked around there, tried on a few things, but didn’t find anything. We then decided to venture into Runway Swimwear, also on Collins…what a fucking mistake that was. The woman who helped us was super nice at first but turned into a miserable, eye-rolling troll the second I told her that I needed to think about whether or not I wanted to spend $300 on a bikini. Once I told her that, she forbade me from trying on anymore bathing suits. When Emma told her that she wasn’t going to buy anything either, the woman snatched the swimsuits from her hands and said ‘Really? You’re not buying anything?’…incredulous she went off in a huff, rolling her eyes and uttering something, which I’m pretty sure was meant to offend. Anyway, we left, who needs that shit, and found a place up the street – Surf Style – where the bikinis were 1/3 the price and service was way better. We both ended up buying really cute bikinis.

Turdpocalypse

WARNING: I’ll be talking shit for a moment…literally.

Once we were back at the hotel, we went up to our room to change into our new bikinis and meet up with Cory and Cassie at the hotel pool. We noticed that the room had been cleaned as the beds had been made and we had fresh towels…yay! Another thing we noticed was that whoever had cleaned the room had also used the toilet since it was most definitely not clean and the offending party had left us a lovely gift of a dirty toilet filled with yellow water and disintegrating toilet paper.

Now, I really had to go to the bathroom at this point and told Emma I would meet up with the rest of them at the pool in a few minutes. Fast forward to me laying a huge, stinking, double coiler in our toilet only to discover, to my abject horror, that the damn toilet would not flush! WTF did I eat? Why was this happening? OMG…OMG…OMFG! I tried everything and couldn’t get it to work! I debated leaving it there and praying for some sort of miracle where that brown monster in the bowl would magically disappear through some sort of spontaneous flushing phenomenon, but I knew that the toilet miracle I was hoping for was highly unlikely. So, I did the one thing I never wanted to do…I called the front desk and asked them to send help.

Help arrived shortly thereafter in the form of a really nice plumber. Words alone cannot express how embarrassed and humiliated I was when I explained to him what had happened. To make matters worse, the stench emanating from that cursed bathroom was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. I felt such pity for this poor man whose job it was to fix this particular problem. I wanted to leave the room, but felt such a tremendous sense of guilt…like this man was going into battle against a literal shit storm and I couldn’t leave…I had to see it through. Fuck! Why did I eat so much? What’s wrong with me?

I tried to remain upbeat and maintain a sense of humour about the whole situation…but the smell was so bad. After about 20 minutes of fiddling with the toilet, he managed to fix it, and when that toilet finally flushed, the gushing sound of the water as it washed that ginormous shit down the drain was like music to my ears.

As he left and I thanked him profusely, I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘thank God I am never going to have to see this man again’…only to end up in the elevator with him not 10 minutes later. Jesus Christ! Really?!! I was still so embarrassed by the whole situation that I fumbled with the elevator keys and ended up prolonging my humiliation even further. Finally, thank God, the elevator doors opened up on the 3rd floor and I practically ran out of the elevator. Why?! Why!!!

As I sheepishly joined my friends poolside, the horror of what I’d just lived through was fresh in my mind…I needed a drink…pronto! I told my friends what happened and I could tell that they were really supportive, even if they were laughing their asses off, tears streaming down their faces…FML!

A couple of hours later, it was dinner time and we had reservations at one of the best ceviche restaurants in Miami…so exciting.

We arrived at OLA and were seated immediately. The ambiance of this restaurant was a complete 180 from Yardbird the night before. From the moment our server handed us our menus we knew we were in for an amazing experience. We ordered strategically from the tasting menu in order to ensure that we would have an opportunity to try EVERYTHING. The anticipation for this meal was epic. The tasting menu offered 4 different ceviches. Fire & Ice – a cobia marinated in sour orange, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeno over a pear granita, Salmon Ceviche – spicy mandarin juice, cucumbers, shallots, chives, cilantro, topped with crispy capers, Hamachi Nikkei – yuzu, thai basil, togarashi, cilantro, sweet soy glaze, crushed seaweed, and sesame seeds and then finally, Corvina Cevich – lime juice, cilantro, red onion, limo peppers and Peruvian crispy corn. Each ceviche was as exotic and succulent as the next, and the food looked incredibly sexy…can you even say that about food? Anyway, the food was sexy. The mind blowing ceviche course was followed by a beef tartare taco, grilled shrimp, and corn and then short rib empanadas. Final course was entrees and they did not disappoint either – Red snapper filet, Roast Cuban pork, Lomo Saltado, and Sugar Cane Tuna. The entire meal was absolute bliss. Each of us had our favourites, and surprisingly none of us agreed on the same dishes.

Sexy

It’s pretty amazing to me that we could even manage to walk out of this restaurant after eating everything that we did, but we had plans for later that night and nothing was going to get in the way of that.

Cassie had made reservations for us on a party boat which was leaving from Biscayne Bay at 9pm. We arrived at Biscayne Bay with about 30 minutes to spare before the boat left port.

20160710_210109 — Scenes from Biscayne Bay

With all that time on our hands, what else was there to do but drink. We ordered a bucket of coronas and got started. After downing our beers, we walked over the line up of folks waiting to board the boat…let me just say, what a fucking shit show. One guy in the line was so drunk already that he had managed to puke all over himself and pass out in the line. His friend kept waking him up to make sure he wouldn’t miss the party. What a mess. Cory was now in full panic mode…this crowd was putting her way, and I mean WAY, out of her comfort zone. We boarded the boat and after checking out the crowd, we knew that his was not our scene…like AT ALL. However don’t they say that life begins at the edge of your comfort zone? So, we threw caution to the wind and decided to suck it up and join the party. Personally, I knew this was going to be a disaster when every single song the DJ played started with that bloody airhorn sound…not to mention that the age range on the boat was anyone between the ages of 2 and 102. YIKES!

So…as we huddled together, careful to not make eye contact with anyone on the boat we didn’t know, the boat left port and we were off. We had found refuge from the madness at the back of the boat on the lower level, right next to the heads…where Cory overheard one of our fellow passengers tell another how beautiful the washrooms were. About 5 minutes after we left port, the captain made an announcement on the loud speaker that we would be returning to port immediately because the speakers weren’t working. Hallelujah!

20160710_212020 — Waiting to leave the shore…

Boat cruise over…thankfully…now what? Our waiter the night before had mentioned something about Nikki Beach, so that’s where we headed…

We arrived at Nikki Beach and after negotiating with the hostess at the door, our cover charge was waived and we made our way in. We were immediately struck by two things, the sheer size of the place, and the beautiful setting. We settled into a set of sofas on the sand and ordered a round of champagne. After toasting our good fortune of narrowly escaping death on the party boat, we sipped our champagnes and soaked it all in.

It’s moments like this when I remind myself to take it all in and to make an effort to fully ‘be’ in that moment. Looking up at the night sky through the palm trees above and feeling the ocean breeze on my skin while sharing stories with my friends – these are the moments I live for. These are the moments we should all live for.

“Who wants to go for swim? The beach is right over there through the shrubs.” Cory had been itching to get into the water ever since we’d arrived here. I was having none of it, having witnessed a very large ‘fish’ swim along a crowded beach the day before. People were screaming and running from the water like a scene out of Jaws. “I’m good ladies…besides, someone needs to stay on shore to report your shark attack to the authorities, and of course, call your families and let them know of your untimely demise.” Our entire interaction felt like the opening credits to some cheesy horror movie. Four women on vacation in a strange city, venture off to a deserted beach after a night of drinking…cut to the next morning – coroners van parked in the sand, with four body bags being loaded into the back…

Yes, my imagination does get the best of me at times…I digress.

After downing the last of the champers we walked across the path, through the shrubs and onto the beach. What an incredible sight! Yes, it was pitch black at first, but once all the lights on our camera phones were turned off the moonlight was all we needed to navigate. The beach was pretty much abandoned, with a couple of young men hanging out near one of the hotel huts. We slowly made our way across the beach toward the water. The waves were much higher at night and, as we got closer to the water, the only sound you could hear was the crashing of the waves onto the shore. After debating whether or not to go into the water, Cory, Cassie and Emma slowly and carefully waded in while I stood onshore, my feet firmly planted in the cool beach sand, looking up at the night sky. In the distance I could still here the music from the club, and see the city lights past the line of shrubs and palm tree and all of this gave me a great sense of comfort as I stood on this desolate beach. After about 10 minutes of frolicking in the waves, my friends returned and we made our way back towards the drone of the club and the city lights. I was tempted to walk the boardwalk back to our hotel, but my friends thought it might be dangerous as the boardwalk is not always well lit in some parts and it was well past midnight at this point. Deciding to play it safe, we took a taxi back to the hotel. Yawn!

Last Day

On our final day in Miami and we once again decided to kill a few hours by the pool before grabbing lunch and heading to the airport. Morning was uneventful, but lunch, lunch was spectacular. After poring over countless reviews that morning while sunbathing (South Beach has a lot of amazing restaurants and there are so many Mexican food joints in SoBe it will make your head spin) we chose Naked Taco.

Upon arriving at the restaurant we were immediately struck by the funky and fresh décor. Their upholstered leather booths, painted tattooed lady bar backdrop, mustache and glass skull light fixtures are all so very, very cool. I loved how quirky and eclectic this place was. Now, as for the food, well…the food is delicious, fresh, and plentiful! We ordered a delicious array of tacos; the crispy baja fish, gordo pastor (pork belly), General Tso cauliflower, and Key West shrimp, and they were all spectacular, the one exception was the pork belly taco…it was way too fatty, but the bits that weren’t fatty were pretty fucking tasty! Emma ordered, hands down the best dish by far, the mariscos blanco enchilada…a culinary orgasm of lobster, shrimp and crab covered in Chihuahua cheese sauce…Jesus Christ!

We also ordered a fresh tomato and avocado salad, the quesa fundido (OMG SO DELICIOUS) as well as 2 pitchers of margaritas (Hey Lady and Cherry Popper) to wash it all down with.

Two things:
1) The food here is not your typical inexpensive Mexican fare, our lunch was expensive. I can’t remember the last time lunch cost me $100, but it was well worth it.
2) The margarita pitchers – we asked how many margaritas you would typically get from 1 pitcher and we were told 5 or 6. Given that there were four of us, we ordered 2 pitchers, thinking we’d get 3 margaritas each over a 2 hour lunch – WRONG! The pitchers are MASSIVE, we would have easily done well with 1 pitcher, but we ordered 2, so 2 pitchers we drank!

After stuffing ourselves (once again) you would think we wouldn’t have room for dessert. Did I mention that they have churros on the menu? Churros! Delicious, deep fried, sugar coated, piping fucking hot churros! Yeah, we ate those too…why? Because you have not truly lived my friends until you’re waiting in line at airport security desperately searching for a trash can to puke into.

Portugal the land of hills, history, trams, wine, food and PORT! Who could ask for more?

October 6, 2015Posted in Alfama, Backpacking, Budget Travel, European Holidays, European Travel, Fado, Food Tourism, Lisbon, Port, Porto, Portugal, Sangria, Tourism, Travel, Travel for singles, UncategorizedTagged Alfama, Backpaking, Budget Travel, custard tarts, European Holidays, European Travel, Fado, Food, Food Tourism, Gingha, Port, Porto, Portugal, Trams, Walking ToursLeave a comment

Lisbon

After much anticipation and an 8 hour bus ride from Seville, we arrived in the beautiful city of Lisbon. The bus trip itself was uneventful, however should you ever decide to make this trek by bus, be aware that there are no toilets on the bus. To be fair, the bus was cheap, about $40, so you gets what you pay for. Needless to say, we ate and drank sparingly for fear of having to use facilities that were non-existent. Luckily, our driver scheduled a few much needed bathroom breaks along the way. The scenery along the drive was quite beautiful consisting of terraced hills, sheep, and some of the most exotic looking trees I’ve seen.

The bus dropped us off at the Oriente metro station in Lisbon, another beautiful structure designed by Santiago Calatrava. From there it was an easy and quick trip to our accommodations in Lisbon. Our GORGEOUS apartment was located in the central Intendente neighbourhood. We had booked the place through airbnb and it was STUNNING! Andrew, Emma’s boyfriend, was joining us in Lisbon and for the rest of our trip so we needed a comfortable and spacious place and this apartment delivered. We had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen, and living/dining room. The place was beautifully decorated with no detail missed. I loved this place and I knew immediately that it would be difficult to leave at the end of our stay.

That evening, after Andrew arrived after almost 24 hours of traveling, we caught up over some wine while planning our activities for the following day.

Next morning, our first order of business was booking a walking tour of the city. We chose the Sandeman New Europe tour which was meant to be 3 hours. This tour, which did not include the famed Alfama neighbourhood, started in the Barrio Alto neighbourhood and wound its way through many of the cities cobblestone streets as our tour guide shared stories of the city’s heroes, history, food and monuments. Our guide was wonderful at telling stories and we certainly learned a lot, however the tour ran quite late at almost 4 hours! By the end of it we were exhausted and starving. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed the tour, but it could have easily been shortened and would have still been quite useful and informative. We could not help but feel as though our guide really enjoyed listening to the sound of his own voice and his seemingly endless remarks about needing tips to cover his rent along and his requests for us to book additional paid tours during our break instead of online following the tour (he gets a commission for the tours you book that day) got a bit old. All that being said, the tour was quite good.

Following the tour, we were thirsty and what better way to quench your thirst then to enjoy some sangria on a patio. We found a nice little resto on a side street and settled in for our first official sangria pitcher in Portugal.

Dinner was actually not too bad, considering we ended up at a small, family run, restaurant where they served both Portuguese and Indian fare. A little weird, but we were so hungry we didn’t care. We ordered lamb and fish dishes which were surprisingly delicious given that this place was a bit of a hole in the wall, the desserts however, were the stars of the show. We had creme brule, a flan and, a traditional Portuguese cake that consisted of layers of cookies interspersed with a coffee flavoured cream that was so tasty I’m still thinking about it. After polishing off our desserts, our server offered us a complimentary ‘whiskey’. I should point out that this ‘whiskey’ was home made and clear in colour. Honestly, it smelled like pure alcohol and tasted like gasoline. I barely chocked it down. Andrew loved it and actually complimented the server on it. His reward? He was happily given a second shot of this Portuguese fire water to gulp down. Why anyone would voluntarily submit themselves to that kind of punishment is beyond me. That stuff was disgusting.

The next morning we signed up for a tour of Alfama which started at 3pm later that day. We spent the morning walking through Lisbon taking in the sights then made our way to the meeting spot for our 3 pm tour. The tour was short and sweet and our guide, who was clearly new at this, was engaging and informative. We walked through Alfama’s winding streets while being regaled with stories of life in Alfama, it’s traditions and people. We were even treated to a shot of homemade Gingha (a delicious cherry flavoured liqueur) served from the window of a lovely lady’s home as we walked by on our tour. I couldn’t help but notice that several enterprising locals were selling shots of Gingha from their windows and stoops to the very thirsty tourists exploring their neighbourhood.

If you visit Lisbon you must treat yourselves to a Fado performance. Fado is a traditional form of music the origins of which can be traced to the 1820s and it’s cultural importance is as significant to Portugal as Flamenco is to Spain. There are no words that can accurately describe Fado music, suffice it to say that it is both beautiful and mournful. We were lucky enough to enjoy an evening of Fado while enjoying a delicious traditional Portuguese meal in the historical Alfama neighbourhood later that evening following our tour.

The following day was pretty busy as we made our way out to Belem to visit the Torre de Belem, enjoyed a delicious lunch of grilled chicken, explored the park after a nice self-catered picnic – made friends with some ducklings and a few peacocks – ate our weight in Pasteis de Belem‘s WORLD FAMOUS Portuguese custard tarts and finally making our way back to our neighbourhood in time to see the sunset from the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte.

The bustle is non-stop at Pasteis de Belem

Let me tell you, climbing that hill to see the sunset was a killer. However, once we arrived at the top of the hill we were lucky enough to witness one of the most beautiful city sunsets ever. There was something truly magical about this place. We arrived at the top of the hill, sweating, out of breath, cursing every bloody stair we had to climb to make it there, yet somehow all of that didn’t matter. It also didn’t seem to matter to the other thirty or so other people who had also made the ascent. As the sunset over Lisbon, the crowd snapped pictures while toasting each other with wine and beer (which we in our haste forgot to bring. At some point a small band began serenading the crowd with some old standards and as the sunlight faded and the sky began to shift from orange, to pink, and finally red, the jazz trumpet played the sun out of the sky, I couldn’t help but smile. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day.

In total, we were in Lisbon for 6 days and we could have easily stayed longer and not run out of things to do or see. We loved the city, its people and its food and I cannot wait to return some day.

Walking back down the hill after the sunset

Porto

After the busy and frenetic pace of Lisbon, we were happy to arrive in Porto. I couldn’t help but notice almost immediately that Porto seemed to be much more quieter and laid back then Lisbon. We arrived by train after a relatively short trip, about 3 hours. Our apartment, again an airbnb rental, was centrally located, about a 10 minute walk from the Sao Bento train station. Fun Fact: the train station was named after a 16th century Benectine monastery which was at one time located on the site, but was destroyed by fire in the late 18th century. It was rebuilt but fell into a state of disrepair. In the early 1900s King Carlos I decided to expand the Portuguese train system and engaged a famous architect, Jose Marques de Silva to redesign the defunct monastery for it to be used as the main train station in Porto

Currently, the train station acts as a main hub for Porto’s suburban train lines. The architecture is stunning, however, the real star attraction of the station are the two azulejo painted tile panels by Jorge Colaco – who was considered to be the most important azulejo painter at the time. The two panels depict landscapes and historical events and are located in the main vestibule of the station.

We arrived at our apartment which was located in a circa 1960’s three story walk-up. Let me tell you that walking into that apartment was like taking a step back in time. The apartment, which used to be owned by an architect, had been magnificently restored to its original design, complete with wood paneled walls, post modern lighting and the most amazing divider wall come bookcase I have ever seen. However, the decor itself paled in comparison to the current owner’s extensive collection of jazz and fado CDs! I was over the moon at discovering these magnificent musical gems and the best part? The owner also left us a delicious bottle of Porto for us to sip on while we enjoyed her sensational jazz collection.

Enjoying some of Porto's finest at the historical Majestic Cafe. — Enjoying some of Porto’s finest at the historical Majestic Cafe.

The following morning we set off to explore the city. Sadly Porto’s only walking tour was not being offered during the days we would be in the city, so we did a bit of research online and made a list of some attractions to seek out while walking around Lisbon. One of the first places we checked out was Porto’s historical Majestic Cafe. There was a bitof a line up but we didn’t mind, since we knew that something delicious was waiting for us inside. We each ordered a dessert and port pairing from their recommended pairings menu, and no surprise, the pairings were perfect.

Luckily for us, we just happened to arrive in Porto while a number of great outdoor events and festivals were taking place, including the one day Em D’Bandada music festival. This music festival is unlike most music festivals in that the bands perform in some very interesting locations such as a streetcar, or in a grocery store, or marching down the sidewalk. Em D’Bandada begins early morning and continues well into the pre-dawn hours. We were fortunate enough to see some great performances as we walked through the city that day. Unfortunately, I got sick that evening but Emma and Andrew were able to check out some of the performances, including a street party featuring a DJ spinning from inside the basket of a cherry picker 5 meters above the street until 4am.

On our first morning walk through the city, we happened upon an outdoor market selling everything from homemade cookies, compotes and macaroons…just to name a few. I, of course, took full advantage and picked up a small bag of cookies along with a delicious port, apricot and raspberry jam. All were made by small local producers who were all very enthusiastic about their products and rightfully so. All that traveling had made me quite hungry.

Porto is also home to a very large outdoor book fair as well as a festival that pays homage to Porto’s official dish, the Francesinha. This dish can best be described as a franken-sandwich stuffed with cured ham, sausage, and beef wrapped in melted cheese then drowned in a beer and tomato sauce. It’s sometimes topped with an egg and served with french fries. It’s not an attractive looking dish, but I was assured by both Emma and Andrew that it was delicious. I wasn’t feeling well, and upon seeing this monstrosity of a sandwich, I was grateful for not being able to stomach food, because there was no way I was putting any of it in my mouth, as I assure you it looked disgusting.

The famous Francesinha...at 2500 calories each, this thing packs a punch — The famous Francesinha…at 2500 calories each, this thing packs a punch

The forecast for the next few days was not very promising with nothing but torrential downpours in the forecast. We decided that the best way to beat the weather was to visit one of the many port lodges across the Douro and hole up there for an afternoon of porto tasting. I mean, what choice did we have?

We attended a really nice tasting at the Taylor’s port lodge. Our tasting included a guided tour and three glasses of port. The tour and tasted lasted about an hour and a half in total and we paired our ports with a very nice artisanal cheese and some handcrafted chocolate truffles. It was pure bliss and by far the best way to combat the dismal weather outside.

Taylor’s port tasting…best way to escape the rain.

Later that evening, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Grade A, a family run restaurant near the waterfront. The food was simply prepared and absolutely delicious. We were offered a delicious and delicate octopus salad and a plate of lightly battered and deep fried sardines drizzled in oil as appetizers which we devoured almost immediately. I then ordered the prawns in lemon butter and paprika served with lemon wedges, while Emma ordered the pan seared lamb and Andrew had the oven roasted kid. Dessert was a dream, we each ordered something different and shared, as you do! I had a slice of key lime pie – divine! Andrew ordered another version of the layered mocha cream cake he’d had in Lisbon and Emma ordered an oven roasted apple with cinnamon – YUM!

We managed to sign up for the Taste Porto Food tour, which quite frankly I cannot recommend enough. The tour lasted about 3 1/2 hours and was pretty amazing. Our guide Andre, was very knowledgeable and he offered us an experience that took us off the beaten path. The beauty of this tour is that Andre and his team will not take you to the typical touristy food places, his food tour gives you the opportunity to taste the Porto that the locals enjoy. He works closely with local vendors and suppliers to curate a truly authentic Porto food experience. During this tour we visited 6 stops including the Mercado Bolhao, Flor dos Congregados (the oldest restaurant in Porto, a third generation family run resto that has been operating for 152 years – and counting), an incredible bakery famous for its eclairs, another bakery specializing in an incredibly flaky pastry stuffed with both savoury and sweet fillings, an historic coffee house and a taberno specializing in curating the best wines, cheeses and sausages from small local producers. This tour was an absolute highlight and Andre was an absolute wealth of information on the food scene in Porto offering us suggestions on where to eat and which wine bars to visit. Just incredible. One of the best things about this particular tour were the other foodies who also signed up. We met some pretty amazing people including including a journalist from the U.K. who was living in Poland with his wife (we met up with them later that day for pint at a local craft beer pub) another couple from Australia who were living in London, another couple from just outside Toronto who were last minute additions to the tour, and a fantastic woman named Nanna, from Reykjavik, who also happened to be a well known cook book author.

I discovered so much while visiting this amazing city and I’m not just talking about the food and the port. We visited many wonderful spots including the Livraria Lello, an incredible library dating back to 1869 which served as J.K. Rowling’s inspiration for Hogwarts while writing Harry Potter.

On another day, we wandered into the incredible HATS & C.A.T.S. where I had the pleasure of trying on some of the most beautiful hats I’ve laid eyes upon. These hats were not just hats, they were pure artistry.

Finally, on our last day in Porto we took the historic Tram 1 to Passeio Alegre and walked along the sea wall to watch the waves crashed against the light house as the sun set on the horizon, a scene so wondrously beautiful it made my heart sing. I just couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be there to witness something so amazing.

Malaga and Sevilla – exotic, beautiful and rich beyond compare

September 15, 2015March 2, 2016Posted in Backpacking, Budget Travel, European Holidays, European Travel, Food Tourism, Malaga, Paella, Sangria, Seville, Spain, Sunsets, Tapas, Tourism, Travel, Travel for singles, Walking ToursTagged Alcazaba, Budget Travel, Eastern Europe Travel, European Holidays, Flamenco, Food, Food Tourism, Gibralfaro, Malaga, Real Alcazar, Seville, Tourism, Travel, Walking ToursLeave a comment

Malaga has long been one of my absolute favourite destinations, if not for its beautiful old city centre than most definitely for its rich history and breathtaking views from atop the Gibralfaro.

Rose garden in Malaga, beautiful spot along the waterfront

We arrived in Malaga mid afternoon after a scenic train ride through the country side. Upon arrival we checked into our room – booked through airbnb – located in the heart of the old city centre. The room was located in an airy third floor walk up with tall ceilings, an adorable kitchen and spacious living room with large windowed doors opening up to two balconies overlooking the cobblestone streets below. Our room was adorably decorated in whitewashed finish with a large cupboard for our clothes and the most comfortable beds ever – and lets not forget, real, actual pillows…like actual foam pillows. If I’d had room in my backpack, they may have accidentally made their way into my luggage. Mornings were an absolute delight at this place, we enjoyed our breakfasts in the company of other guests and sharing travel stories with them…loved this place.

Freshly caught and deep fried whitebaits with sangria

After checking in we made our way to Confederation Square located in the heart of Malaga, one of my favourite spots to people watch. We promptly sat down at a table on one of the restaurant terraces overlooking the square and ordered a pitcher of sangria and plate of battered and fried whitebaits…absolutely scrumptious! We lingered there for most of the afternoon musing about our adventure so far and what we should explore while staying in Malaga.

We had initially planned a day trip to Morocco from Malaga, but soon discovered that we wouldn’t have enough time to do so. Luckily for us, this would give us time to explore the Alcazaba and the Castillo de Gibralfaro instead. The Alcazaba is a former palace-fortress dating back to 1057 and was occupied by the Muslim governors during their time in Spain. Easily walkable and bargain as you can visit both sites for less than 3 euros – if you are willing to wait until later in the afternoon to make the climb to the Castillo de Gibralfaro as entrance is free after 2pm. We decided to explore both the following day.

One of many beautiful gardens for you to enjoy as you stroll through Malaga

That evening, we decided to check out the tapas scene in Malaga and made our way to El Tapy, a local tapas bar which was highly rated on Yelp because of it’s varied menu and cheap eats. What. A. Shit. Show. The place was crowded and our server ushered us to a tiny table in the back room, crammed up against another table. It was so crammed that the guy at the next table kept hitting me in the back with his elbow every time he took a drink from his wine glass and he and his friend had just ordered another full bottle of wine! We ordered two beers which were brought to us fairly quickly, they were ice cold and accompanied by, quite possibly, the most gag inducing plate of paella I’ve ever had the misfortune of putting in my mouth. I’m afraid it was time to call time on El Tapy. We downed our beers and spent the next 20 minutes trying to flag down our server in order to get our bill. Emma literally, no joke, had to tackle another server in order to finally get our bill. We made haste out of there and off to a quaint little tapas placed we had walked by earlier in the evening, Vineria Cervantes.

Disgusting El Tapy paella, to be avoided at all costs

It was brilliant! We were seated at a small table outside (perfect for people watching) and given a menu. Now the challenges was in choosing something since every plate that passed by our table looked mouth watering and every dish described on the menu sounded delicious. We finally decided on the battered prawns with treacle and a coriander mayonnaise and the Argentine steak with tomatoes and roasted potatoes, paired with a Rioja tinto – Biga ‘crianza’. Their wine list was quite impressive, with many wines available by the glass, so choosing a wine was a bit of an effort, but our server was extremely knowledgeable and quite helpful in helping us choose the right wine.

Vineria Cervantes’ Prawns with treacle and cilantro aoli, not to be missed.

The prawns were incredibly tasty with the sweetness of the treacle playing off nicely against the tang of the coriander mayo. The steak was cooked to perfection and though the tomatoes and roast potatoes were nice, the star of the dish was the spicy chimichurri sauce served alongside, it was heaven. The entire meal brought a tear to my eye, it was so freakin’ good, with the Rioja capping off an absolutely wonderful meal in Malaga.

It’s worth a mention that we ordered the half plates and we did not leave hungry.

Our first step the following day was the Picasso Museum, a permanent Picasso exhibit on display in the artist’s childhood home. Picasso lived in Malaga as a child, left to pursue his art and returned to Malaga only once at the age of 19. The family home was restored and now houses approximately 250 of his oeuvres, generously donated by his family trust. The price is 7 euros and includes the audioguide, which was very informative and offered a great deal of insight into his personal life, his creative process and his progression as an artist. Touring the museum takes about an hour to 90 minutes and not only includes his paintings, but also features a few of his sculptures and a large collection of his pottery which was donated to the museum by his widow. The pottery was quite interesting, but the room in which it is housed was the showstopper, as they feature beautiful murals and gilded ceilings. Absolutely stunning. Of note, the museum also features some pretty interesting temporary exhibits from time to time. Last time I was there, the Dennis Hopper photography exhibit was on offer, and this time they were featuring Louise Bourgeois’ I’ve Been to Hell and Back .

The museum also houses an archaeological dig in the basement, discovered while the home was being restored, displaying remains from the Roman wall which at one time surrounded the city. Though the display itself is quite small, it’s well worth a visit.

Our next stop was the Alcazaba, a palace cum fortress constructed in the early 11th century to house the Muslim emperors who ruled the region at that time. If you plan on visiting this place, be sure to set aside at least a couple of hours and make the hike up the hillside to the Castillo de Gibralfaro as well for some stunning views of the city. Both are amazing examples of Moorish architecture and an absolute must. We also took advantage of the small cafe on site and took a much deserved sangria break under the shade of the trees and overlooking the city below. Delightful!

After a full day of sightseeing, what better way to cap of the day then drinks on the roof of the Marriott hotel followed by dinner at one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Our hosts had recommended the rooftop at the Marriott and it did not disappoint. We were treated to 360 degree sweeping views of the city below while we sipped our sangrias and watched dusk turn into night.

Views from atop the AC Marriott in Malaga, simply breathtaking

Later, we made our way to El Chinitas, one of the oldest restaurants in Malaga. The restaurant specializes in seafood and has an extensive wine list. Prices are what you would expect to pay in the touristy part of the city, but the food was good and we were treated to a delicious meal on the terrace. We shared a mixed tapas appetizer plate featuring fish, meat, beans and sausages and each had a fish plate. I ordered the sole meuniere and Emma ordered their deep fried seafood platter. I wish I could say the food was amazing, but sadly it was not. My fish was average at best and the appetizer selection was less than stellar, though Emma appeared to enjoy her seafood plate.

Fried fish platter, a must try in Malaga

Following dinner, we walked through its cobblestone streets, exploring the many bars and terraces where locals and tourists alike commiserate over sangria and the music from the clubs spills out into the streets. The perfect end to our last day in this beautiful place.

Seville

This beautiful 2000 year old city was definitely one of the many highlights of this trip. Once considered to be a major fishing and much desired trade hub, Sevilla was conquered by both the Cartagenas and the Romans, colonized and named by Julius Caesar, then Muslim occupied for more than 500 years. As expected this rich and storied past has influenced its architecture, traditions, food, culture and its people.

We arrived in Seville by train in the early afternoon and quickly made our way to Pension Vergara, a former convent now converted into a two story pension, and our home for the next few days. The pension was located on the most famous neighbourhoods of Seville – though we didn’t know it at the time. More on that later.

After checking in to our room, we unloaded our bags and made quick work of finding a nearby restaurant for a bite to eat and a glass of wine, of course. Let me say that this did not prove to be very difficult as the winding cobblestone streets outside our pension were lined with restaurants, tabernas, terraces and bodegas. We had hit pay dirt!

Our first food stop on this leg of the trip was Cerverceria Giraldi, A small restaurant with a stunning sidewalk view of the cathedral. We ordered small tapas plates of Iberico ham, grilled lamb chops, grilled mushrooms, and manchego cheese along with a crisp bottle of perfectly chilled vinho verde.

We lingered over our tapas and wine planning out our last few days in Spain while watching tourists and locals alike going about their business in the shadow of the cathedral and later that evening we walked through the city snapping pictures and taking in the beauty of this wonderful place. Sevilla at night is absolutely stunning. I must have taken over a thousand pictures while visiting this city alone. Just incredible. After a few hours of taking in the magnificence of this place at night, and witnessing quite possibly, one of the most beautiful city sunsets I’ve ever seen, we headed back to our pension for a solid night’s rest. There was a lot to see here and we didn’t want to miss a second of it!

The following morning we headed to the meeting spot for the free walking tour. Our guide Lupee was born in Seville and has a degree in Art History, so she was the perfect person to lead our tour through this historic city. Our tour focused on the the many monuments of Seville, as well as the area near the cathedral, the India Archives and the Real Alcazar. The tour lasted about 3 hours with stops at the oldest bullfighting ring in Sevilla, the Gold Tower, the Royal Tobacco Factory, now converted into a public university, the grounds of the Ibero-American Exposition World’s Fair which took place in Seville in 1929, and the Plaza de Espana . While we saw many things on this tour, my favourite stop was by far, the Plaza de Espanya, also built as part of the Ibero-American Export to highlight Spain’s industry and technology exhibits. Currently it houses Seville’s City Hall along with various government departments. Fun Fact: the building was also used in the filming of Lawrence of Arabia.

While on our walking tour, our guide mentioned a Flamenco evening event which was also offered by the same tour company. We signed up on the spot and we certainly did not regret it. For 28 euros, we were treated to a brief, one-hour history lesson on Flamenco in Sevilla from the rooftop of the Hotel Dona Maria in Old Sevilla. The views and wine alone were worth the price of the tour. As the sun set over the cathedral and we sipped our wine, Lupee provided us with a detailed overview of the various branches of the art, its costumes, and its folklore. Once the sun had set the history lesson was complete and it was time to make our way to the famed Casa de la Guitarra for the Flamenco show. The venue was quite small, with a maximum seating of probably 50 people. The lines of the small room are lined with the largest collection of Spanish Flamenco guitars in the world. The privately owned collection is said to be one of the most important in Spain with guitars dating back to the 16th century.

Now, it is said that the art of Flamenco should be enjoyed in a small, intimate space where you can see the sweat on the dancer’s brow and feel the music of the guitar and the vibrato of the singer’s voice and the stomping of the performers’ feet. The venue delivered on all fronts. We were seated very close to the front, second row, and thoroughly enjoyed the performance. It was an absolute treat and the highlight of our time in Seville. As our tour guide said it best “you don’t go the opera for steak”, so why would you sign up for a flamenco dinner show in a large theatre. She was right. This is the only way to enjoy the art of Flamenco. I cannot recommend this show enough.

The food in Seville is beyond compare, we enjoyed many delicious meals in this city and we even found a favourite hangout, the Bodega Santa Cruz. We had heard a lot about the Santa Cruz neighbourhood and how it was an absolutely must while in Seville. On our final day in Seville, we decided to look up some restaurants in that neighbourhood and make our way there for dinner. Well, we didn’t have to go very far, as it turned out that after 4 days of talking about how we must visit this neighbourhood, the restaurant we were planning to go to was literally outside the front door of our pensione. We had been in the bloody neighbourhood for our entire trip and didn’t even realize it! You would think that the bodega we visited every night, the Bodega Santa Cruz, would have tipped us off? Idiots! Highly embarrassing! Needless to say we loved Santa Cruz, it’s winding cobblestone streets, historic sights and delicious food!

Metropol Parasol, The Second Room and their ridiculously potent dry martinis.

We stopped into the Second Room after visiting the Metropol Parasol, a wooden structure designed by noted German architect Jurgen Mayer-Hermann. The admission for entrance is 3 euros and it includes a free cocktail at one of 3 restaurants located at the base of the structure. We, of course, took full advantage of this incredible freebie and enjoyed a chilled glass of vinho verde under the Parasol.

This glass of vinho verde was followed by an order of deep fried calamari and onions with hot chili peppers and a bottle of wine – they were offering a promotion on wine after all – who can say no to that? Well, certainly not Emma and I. So, we ate the calamari and polished off the bottle of wine. As we made our way back to our hotel, we happened to notice a sign outside the Second Room, a popular cocktail bar, promoting their dry martini. It was ridiculously priced at 14 euros, but how could we say no to the only decent martini we’d seen on a menu in over a month. We sat down and ordered the martini, as you do – ‘Very dry with 3 olives, please and thank you!’ It was delicious! It was so delicious in fact, that we ordered a second martini…with 5 olives this time! Let me just say in our defence, that we had already consumed a half bottle of wine each and a martini, so we clearly were not thinking straight. Fast forward to the next afternoon when we woke up in our beds at the pension, fully clothed – I was still wearing my sandals – with absolutely no recollection of when or how we got there. After checking our bags to make sure we still had our wallets and cash, we checked our cameras to see if we had taken any photos following our martini throw down. The last photo on my phone was a picture of the 5 olive martini, it was time stamped 6:57PM. It was now past noon! Yikes! Thus, I would recommend that you do try the martini, but for the love of all that is holy, don’t be an idiot. Don’t drink a bottle of wine before hand and no matter what you do…do not, under any circumstances, order a second one!

The Second Room's DEADLY DRY MARTINI - stop at one if you know what's good for you! — The Second Room’s DEADLY DRY MARTINI – stop at one if you know what’s good for you!

On our last full day in Seville and we couldn’t possibly leave the city without visiting the famous Real Alcazar. To be completely honest, it’s the one thing I absolutely had to visit, especially knowing that episodes of Game of Thrones have been filmed there. The grounds and palace defy description and the photos alone do not do it justice. Suffice it to say that it was well worth the price of admission and the 2 hours we spent there were not nearly enough. The surrounding gardens are equally beautiful and one could spend 2 hours alone enjoying the quiet sanctuary they offer.

Barcelona – Sangria, Tapas, and Pinxtos with a little history thrown in for good measure.

September 6, 2015September 6, 2015Posted in Backpacking, Barcelona, Budget Travel, Bunol, European Holidays, European Travel, Food Tourism, Hostel, La Tomatina, Paella, Pinxtos, Sangria, Spain, Tourism, Travel, Travel for singles, Valencia, Walking ToursTagged Barcelona, Budget Travel, Bunol, Calatrava, Food, Gothic Barrio, La Tomatina, Pinxtos, Sangria, Sightseeing, Spain, Spanish Food, Spanish Market, Tapas, Tourist, Travel, Valencia, Walking Tours, WineLeave a comment

Though tourists now flock to this marvelous city in droves, it’s currently ranked 11th on the list of most visited cities in the world (according to Forbes), this was not always the case. It is also currently the 5th most visited city in Europe (according to Conde Nast Readers’ Choice Award for 2014). The city was not really viewed as a destination until after it hosted the Olympics in 1992. Prior to the ’92 Olympics Barcelona was very different from what it is now. For one thing, there were no beaches in Barcelona, however, once they secured the games, they began working in earnest to transform their city from a mostly industrial backwater into the sun, sand and sangria destination it is today. The city spent over $11 billion dollars to not only construct the many sporting venues, stadiums, and accommodations for the athletes, but to add much needed infrastructure and green spaces and beaches. They demolished the industrial waterfront, added a modern marina and imported enough sand from Egypt to create a 2 mile long beach (they continue to import sand from Egypt every year in order to maintain the beaches). Interestingly enough, the sand was not the only thing they imported. We discovered on our tour of the city that even their palm trees were imported, since palm trees are not native to the area, and that the bulk of their palm trees were imported from as far away as Miami.

You can bet that I was stoked to be in this fabulous place and despite feeling like death warmed over, I couldn’t wait to get out and explore.

We arrived at our hostel, Holidaysbcn Hostel around 11am. Since I had been ill the entire morning, all I wanted to do was get some sleep and recover as soon as possible. After a very long nap, I was feeling well enough to venture out and grab a small meal of paella and sangria. Before leaving our hostel, we had checked out nearby restaurants on Yelp and though there weren’t really any near us, we did notice that Yelp was hosting an event that evening and that all were invited. We made our way to the event, and it just so happened that we arrived in Barcelona during their Dias De Gracias street festival and the Yelp event we attended was in conjunction with the festival.

Scenes from Dias de Gracias 2015 – Barcelona

This festival is something else. As we meandered through the small streets of the neighbourhood we couldn’t help but marvel at the impressive decorations and installations throughout. Each installation was based on a specific theme and the themes were as varied as they were vibrant; The 4 Seasons, Moulin Rouge, Japanese Garden and Amusement Park to name a few. We saw belly dancers, musical performances and a whole lot more. There were countless food stands selling mouthwatering dishes. As we sat down by one of the fountains sipping our 1€ draft beers eating porchetta sandwiches we could hardly believe our luck at happening upon this wonderful festival. Our first night in Barcelona and we were in food and drink heaven. After drinking our fill of beer and gorging on food we made our way through the crowds and back to our hostel for the night.

The next morning, we were up bright and early’ish – okay we rolled out of bed at 10am – we’re on vacation, don’t judge us! We made our way to the Gothic Quarter for the free walking tour. There are several companies offering walking tours, including Sandeman, however, we chose the tour offered by Travel Bar because they were rated number one on TripAdvisor. Our guide, Chrissy, a transplant from Athens who visited Barcelona 4 years ago who fell in love with the city and never looked back, would walk us through the Gothic quarter for the next 2 1/2 hours. We learned quite a bit about Barcelona’s history, legends and lore. Once the tour was over she even sat with us for a drink and gave us some pointers on additional things to see and do during our stay.

A few pics from the Barrio Gothic, Barcelona

One of the tours she mentioned was the Paella cooking experience, an evening tour lead by a trained chef who would guide us through the famous Boqueria Merkat St. Josef where we would purchase all things required for a traditional Spanish meal of pinxtos, paella and sangria. Did someone say Sangria? I’m in!!

Fernando, our chef kicked off the tour by taking us to the Merkat St. Josef to select some of the ingredients (fresh seafood) required for our cooking class later that evening. The tour of the market was brief, but informative as he provided us with tips on selecting the best seafood for making paella.We then made our way to the cooking school where we would be making that evening’s dinner. Once we arrived at the school, we were greeted by the staff and immediately fed plates of iberico ham and cheeses and all of the ingredients needed to assemble some tasty pinxtos, which Fernando instructed us on. Did I mention the Sangria? So much Sangria and it was delicious.

Pinxtos, Paella and Sangria cooking experience

Touring the Boqueria St. Josef in advance of our cooking experience

After eating some pinxtos and drinking Sangria we were then brought to the kitchen area and walked through the process of cleaning the various seafoods, prepping the vegetables and cooking the paella…more Sangria was served, while we were all taught how to make Sangria…hell ya!

Once the paella was ready, we all received a very healthy serving – enough for seconds if you wanted it, along with more pinxtos and, of course, Sangria.

Following dinner, the staff collected our plates and served us more…Sangria!

Overall, a great night. We learned to cook a traditional Spanish meal complete with pinxtos, ate some delicious food all while sipping Sangria and making new friends.

Also, I should mention the price, it was 28 euros and well worth it. We’ve spent double that on meals with one pitcher of sangria! Cannot recommend this activity enough, Fernando and his team were amazing!

The next day, we joined another free walking tour, this one focusing on photography. To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. Our guide Andre spoke to us about the history of photography and taught us some of the basics of photo composition, lighting, and searching for the story in your photos. He showed us some easy ways to raise our picture taking to another level, beyond the usual ‘snapshot’ if you will. The tour lasted a little over 2 hours and it was excellent.

Practicing using my new photography skills during the photography tour in Barcelona…I think I’m getting better 🙂

The thing I loved most about Barcelona, and there were many, trust me, was pinxtos. I am obsessed with food so walking into a pinxtos and tapas bar was absolute heaven for me. The endless options, the interesting flavour combinations and all the bite sized portions you can shake a stick at had me grinning from ear to ear every single time we were out and about. A couple of my personal favourites spots to grab pinxtos and tapas were Orio and Lia d’en Vicius. They were lovely spots, with delicious offerings at reasonable prices.

Orio’s pinxtos selection, hundreds of delicious bite sized delights.

Lia d’en Vicius’ sangria and pinxtos offerings…one of our favourite meals in Barcelona.

Barcelona has so many wonderful things going for it, the nightlife, the wines, the food, the beautiful public spaces, Gaudi’s influences everywhere, its beaches, its cobblestone streets and most of all its people – all of which make me want to come back and explore many times over. I will be back, you can count on it!

We begrudgingly crawled out of bed on our final morning in Barcelona and made our way to the train station. Next stop, Valencia.

While in Valencia, we stayed at an airbnb property. The apartment itself was spacious and well appointed. We had our own rooms, a large bathroom with a normal sized shower and a modern kitchen. Yay!

You’d think we’d died and gone to heaven, however a couple of hours into our stay and the apartment started to smell like something had literally died in there! Ground zero for the smell seemed to be an old, rather imposing cabinet in the dining room. The smell can best be described as roach bomb meets garbage truck. So, though our surroundings were beautiful and appeared luxurious, the noxious smell rendered us blind to all of it. The smell became all consuming robbing us of our appetites and even our sleep. We tried everything to get rid of the stench from room deodorizers to bowls of vinegar. NOTHING WORKED.

When Emma contacted the owner to let her know about the order the owner’s response was ‘it smells bad, but it’s not offensive.’ Um…Dude, we think this cabinet is literally killing us, that’s how bad the smell is! Emma dared open one of the drawers to this thing and released an odour so foul it could have only come from the 7th circle of hell. This malodorous buffet was in fact a portal to satan’s realm. I imagined that this is what demon farts must smell like. That stench will haunt my dreams.

Needless to say, we spent as little time there as possible. Returning only to sleep in the evenings.

The city itself is beautiful, with many lush parks and green spaces. Also very walkable.

We didn’t bother with the free walking tour in Valencia, since the free walking tour is only offered on certain days of the week, none of which coincided with our visit.

We knew we wanted to check out the Central Market and Oceanografic – the Santiago Calatrava designed Aquarium.

Valencia’s Central Market is absolutely beautiful!

The central market did not disappoint, I actually preferred it to Barcelona’s Bocario St. Josef. The building that houses the Central Market is massive while its high ceilings and stained glass panes give it an airy feel. There were many people visiting the market, but it never felt crowded because of the way the place is laid out. We tried many cheese and jamon samples that day my friend.

One of the unexpected surprises of Valencia was its many colourful murals. The street art in this city is spectacular, vibrant and highly imaginative. We wandered through many tiny streets discovering some stunning works along the way.

A sampling of some of the amazing and imaginative street art in Valencia

Oceanografic is a must when in Seville. Not just because it’s a fantastic aquarium and extremely well designed, but because it’s part of the larger Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias complex, designed by Santiago Calatrava. This place is stunning. We marvelled at the buildings for a good hour before even setting foot in any of them. The views, the angles, the creativity – all breathtaking. This place was designed by an artist and a dreamer.

Absolutely stunning architecture by Santiago Calatrava

After two days of kicking around Valencia it was up bright and early for the bus ride to Bunol for La Tomatina! What is La Tomatina? Well, it’s only the world’s largest food fight! For 70 years people have been making the yearly pilgrimage to this tiny town in the hills of Spain to throw over 140 tons of tomatoes at anyone crazy enough to take part!

Now, in case you’re wondering, yes there are actual rules to a tomato fight. You have to squash the tomato before launching it at someone so that the blows ‘don’t hurt as much’. You are allowed to throw tomatoes at anyone who is looking at you, not looking at you, standing, sitting, lying down or just within throwing distance. The fight starts as soon as someone retrieves a large ham from the top of a greased pole in the town square at which time the cannon is fired announcing the start of the fight. Once the cannon has been fired the tomatoes begin flying in earnest. The fight ends when the second cannon sounds an hour later.

There were 20,000 of us crammed into this tiny street stomping and throwing tomatoes, ankle deep in tomato guts. The streets running red with a soupy, smelly tomato mess. There was no escape. It was amazing and so much fun! We emerged an hour later exhausted from the fight, bits of tomato in places we’d never imagined. Our hair and clothes caked in this layer of pulp and seeds. It took no less than 4 street showers (basically hosed down by the locals who line the sidewalks) and 2 litres each of sangria before we felt half way human again.

11894408_10152970531661993_1942470171248202815_o — Emma and I at La Tomatina! Photo credit Emma Peachey

Once we got back to our apartment in Valencia we showered again, this time finally able to wash the rest of that stinky red pulp off. The clothes we wore however, were not salvageable. It was two days later and I was still finding tomato bits in my ear!

While La Tomatina had provided us an unforgettable life experience, it also gave us something else completely unexpected – a rash! We woke up the next morning covered in hives, apparently from the acid of the tomatoes – a slight allergic reaction and completely normal apparently. Nothing a little Claritin couldn’t fix.

You will notice that I haven’t really mentioned anything about the food in Valencia, other than our trip to the market and sadly that’s because we didn’t really find the food scene in Valencia to be all that amazing. If I’m being completely honest, it was more than a bit disappointing. The meals we had were ‘meh’ and certainly not on par with our other food experiences in Barcelona and meals I’d enjoyed while visiting Madrid on a previous trip.

On our final day in Valencia, we headed to the beach to recuperate from our tomato battle and work on our tans. The beach was outside of the city and quite beautiful. We lay in the sun that afternoon sipping beer and reminiscing on our food fight to end all food fights.

Budapest: Hungary for more!

August 24, 2015August 27, 2015Posted in Budapest, Budget Travel, European Holidays, Hungary, Ruin Pubs, Thermal Baths, Tourism, Travel, Travel for singlesTagged Budapest, Budget Travel, Danube, European Holidays, Food, Hungary, Tourism, TravelLeave a comment

Budapest was incredible.

We arrived late in the day and checked into our hostel (City Westend Hostel). We were given a large private room on the third floor with a large window overlooking the street below. Normally, having a large window overlooking the street below is a huge benefit, however, on one particular night, as we sat by the window watching people trying to seek refuge from a torrential downpour – highly entertaining I must say – our neighbour from across the way began waving at us to get our attention. We thought ‘how nice, the locals are so friendly’. Then he tried to entice us to come over by showing us his extra chairs and bottles of wine. We politely indicated a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to him. Well, he didn’t give up that easily and continue to try and convince us to come over. Again, we declined. We continue to watch the people below as we sipped wine and snacked on the cheeses and sausage we picked up at the local market. When we happened to glance back at the window across the way where our neighbour sat, we couldn’t help but notice that he was staring directly at us – super creepy – AND THAT HE HAD REMOVED HIS CLOTHES. Sadly, that kinda put an end to our people watching as we turned down our lights, drew the curtains and began playing cards, leaving Creepy McCreeperson across the street to play by himself. Thanks for ruining our fun pervert!

Gigantic sink hole caused by the torrential rains.

Watching people try to escape the rain is fun…until some perve ruins it all.

The room itself was clean and the bathroom and showers were located directly across the hall from us. No A/C and it was hot, but it was just a crash pad so who cares.

We were only in Budapest for 4 days and there was a tremendous amount of things to see and an unbelievable amount of foods to try. So, let’s get started shall we.

Upon arrival at the airport we purchased the Budapest Card. For 9,900 forints we were given all access to the metro system – which is extremely reliable. Just keep in mind that the escalators in the metro are ridiculous – and countless museums for 72 hours. The card also included 2 free walking tours (one for the Buda and one for the Pest side) as well as free admission to the St. Lukas Thermal Baths, which in itself was worth the entire cost of the card.

On our first night in the city, we set off in search for, what else, traditional Hungarian food! We had done a bit of research and had a list of traditional Hungarian restaurants that also had the added bonus of being inexpensive. We made our way to Lef Etteram near the basilica. The menus had a long list of options, all traditional and all sounding delicious. We both settled on schnitzel. Emma had the pork and I had the chicken. The plates arrived at our table loaded with a very large schnitzel and some potato salad. I wish I could say that we ate like the ladies we are, but hell no! We wolfed down those plates of food in no time, polishing it all off with a local Hungarian beer – as you do.

The city:

This thousand year old city is comprised of two sides, one being Buda (meaning brother – so named after the brother of Ghenghis Khan) and the other Pest (meaning oven – so named due to the fact that ovens were used to keep the homes warm during the cold winters). The Buda side is comprised of hills, while Pest is a great deal larger and completely flat, which made it easier for it to be settled and as such is more densely populated. Whereas Buda was settled much later due to its hilly terrain. Both cities were separate until their unification in 1873 after which the city became known as Budapest.

Since we were staying on the Pest side, we did the Pest tour first. Now, I realize that the tour was free, but it was a bit of a joke. The places we visited were stunning, and I am certain rich with history, but our guide was absolute shit. I’m not sure if it was a language barrier (the tour was meant to be in English) or just a lack of knowledge, but the descriptions and history provided for the majority of the stops along the walking tour were very short, difficult to understand, and at times made no sense at all. Also, if you happened to have a question for our guide, the answer was usually, ‘I don’t know’.

Not sure what this is, but I know it was important because our tour guide made us look at it.

Again, don’t know what this is, but it was stop on our walking tour of Pest.

Okay, this building I do know…it’s the Budapest Opera House

Important bridge statue symbolic of something relating to moving away from communism and toward independence.

Scenes from the area surrounding the parliament buildings in Budapest

That being said, we toured a large part of the city, including the Parliament buildings along the shore of the Danube, several squares and monuments of historical significance. There’s plenty of opportunity to take some amazing photos. We returned to the parliament buildings and the Danube later that evening to capture the same images at night, as our guide recommended that we do so. I didn’t think it was possible, but it was even more beautiful at night time!!

On our second day in Budapest, we did the walking tour on the Buda side and it was worlds better. At first we were a little worried since she started the tour by saying that this was her first ever guided tour. However, after the first 2 minutes we could easily tell that we were dealing with someone who actually had a passion for what she was doing. This tour would be different, and it was. She was fantastic. She regaled us with stories of Buda and Beethoven’s rumoured mistresses from the region. She read us Hungarian poems and even had one of the men in our tour read aloud the love letter that Beethoven wrote to his rumoured lover. During our break she spoke with us about Hungarian pop culture and other interesting things.

View of the parliament buildings from the Buda side

One of the towers from Buda Castle district

Quite street in Buda…they’re all quiet actually.

At the end of the walking tour we spotted the famed Ruszwurm Cafe made famous by its many wonderful pastries, notably the Ruszwurm Kremes, a delicious vanilla custard cream layers between two cookie crust like pastry layers. Needless to say, we made a beeline for this place the second the tour was over.

Naturally, having now devoured a very large piece of cake, it was time to make our way to the St. Lukas Thermal Baths. Notice how we always follow any eating activities with an activity requiring us to don our bikinis?! Seriously, what is wrong with us! Amirite?!

The thermal baths were incredible and definitely worth a visit when in Hungary. Our visit was included with the purchase of our Budapest card, but I would happily pay to revisit these baths again. The St. Lukas baths have 2 very large swimming pools, of varying degrees, large thermal bath with shoulder massage stations and a whirpool, sauna and ice cold immersion pool. We spent over 2 hours there and could have spent the entire day. I wanted to go back the minute we walked out the door, that’s how awesome it was!

Entrance to one of Budapest's thermal baths - they take this seriously — Entrance to one of Budapest’s thermal baths – they take this seriously

We visited so many places in Budapest but there are two final places that I must recommend if you’re ever there. The first being the Central Market not only because I’m a foodie and love markets, but rather because this place is beautiful. The building itself is massive with 2 levels. Lower level houses the fruit and vegetable vendors along with a number of butcheries, delis, bakeries and speciality food shops whereas the upper level houses the trinket and souvenir shops along with the hot food concessions (or self serve restaurants) where you can buy a very large meal at a ridiculously low cost. Oh, and they also sell beer.

The second place you must visit is the New York Cafe. The cafe was first built in 1894, and it’s Italian Renaissance inspired design is indeed something to behold. Please note that it’s not inexpensive, however, we stopped by for a glass of wine and lingered, snapping a ton of photos in the process. Stepping into this cafe is like traveling back in time.

The food:

We ate so much food in Budapest, way too many dishes to list out here, so I’ll just give you the highlights:

Stuffed cabbage, stuff paprika and potatoes layered with sausage

Kolbacz sausage

The nightlife:

Budapest’s nightlife offers something for every taste, whether it’s an Irish Pub, a Hungarian Tavern, a massive dance club, or one of their famous ruin pubs. There is something for everyone. If, however, you would prefer to be one with nature while you sip on your beer or wine, you can always make your way to one of the cities parks and join the locals. We couldn’t believe the amount of people who gathered in the parks at night to drink. Who knew city parks could be so much fun.

On our last night in Budapest, following our nightly Hungarian wine opening ceremony (ie. pushing the cork downwards into the bottle), and probably after consuming a couple of bottles of wine, Emma suggested we visit a ruin pub. Now, it was already late and our flight was leaving at 6am, which meant being in a taxi on the way to airport by 4am. However, we’d been told, or possibly read somewhere that one could not possibly visit Budapest and NOT VISIT A RUIN PUB. Conveniently enough, there happened to be one located just around the corner from our place. What could possibly go wrong? Or rather, what could go right?

We did our very best to limit our consumption to no more than 2 drinks at the pub and not stay beyond that, and we managed to do just that. The problem however was the two bottles of wine we drank earlier and the fact that we had to be up at 3:30am and ready for our 4am airport pickup. What can I say, we made a mistake!

When the alarm sounded at 3:30 we got up out of bed, still drunk, got dressed and then waited for our car. Luckily we had been smart enough to pack our bags before heading to the pub. Small mercies.

All week long we had been diligent about not drinking the tap water and had only been drinking bottled water. Until that morning, when I, dehydrated and badly in need of water, filled my water bottle from the tap – a decision I would soon regret. What can I say, the haze of alcohol still clouded my brain and impaired my judgment.

The drive to the airport was uneventful and I had the window open gulping at the fresh air.

Can I just add that as we drove through the city at 4am we couldn’t help but notice how fresh and put together every one looked. Whilst we sat in the back of our cab, barely resembling anything near human, these folks looked liked they were just stepping out instead of just now making their way home. What the what?

So, we arrived at the airport and just as we were about to go through security I decided to gulp down the bottle of tap water I had brought with me. Once through security we made our way to our gate and all was good.

I was so looking forward to catching up on some badly needed sleep. Sadly, that was not to be. Before take off even, I started to not feel so good. You know queasy, warm, clammy, sweaty, and the worse one of all nauseous. Before we even taxied to the runway, I was out of my seat barfing in the airplane lavatory. And that my friends is where I spent 70% of the 2 hour flight. There would be no sleep for me, just an airplane toilet and a cold metal sink on which to rest my head between the unending and merciless vomitus contractions of my stomach, praying that death would take me.

‘Let’s go to a ruin pub’ she said. ‘It’ll be fun’ she said.

Turkish Delight in Istanbul

August 23, 2015August 27, 2015Posted in Backpacking, Budget Travel, European Travel, Food Tourism, Istanbul, Single Travel, Travel, TurkeyTagged #bunk Taksim, Basilica Cistern, Bosphorous, Food, Food Tourism, Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Ortakoy, Taksim Square, Turkey, Turkish DelightsLeave a comment

Istanbul, where to start?

First of all, this city is amazing! Hands down one of the most eclectic, vibrant and culturally rich cities I’ve ever visited.

While in Istanbul, we stayed at #bunk Taksim, located about 5 minutes walk from Taksim Square. Taksim Square is located in the heart of the city centre and happens to be the main transportation hub for the city. The metro system in Istanbul is very reliable and its routes cover the entire city. Our location was ideal for this reason since there is so much to see and do in Istanbul.

Getting to know Taksim Square on our first night in Istanbul

Taksim at Night...so much to see and do. — Taksim at Night…so much to see and do.

More sights from Taksim Square, Istanbul

On our first night in Istanbul, we decided to walk around Taksim Square and the adjoining neighbourhood of Beyoglu. We wandered through very crowded streets lined with all manner of bars and restaurants. There are two things about this place that struck us immediately, the first being the amount of people out and the bold, aggressive approach of the men who work at getting you into their bars or restaurants. They will do whatever it takes to get you to stop in front of their establishment, short of grabbing hold of you and physically dragging you in. At first intimidating and then comical. Whatever their methodology it always starts with “Lady, can I ask you a question?” And is usually follows up with, not a question, but more of a statement meant to entice you like “rooftop terrace”, “cheapest beer in Istanbul”, “good prices”, but never an actual question.

Spectacular view from one of Istanbul's many rooftop bars — Spectacular view from one of Istanbul’s many rooftop bars

Taking in the sights of one of Istanbul's rooftop bars — Taking in the sights of one of Istanbul’s rooftop bars

On our first night we stopped by Mado for some rice pudding, Turkish coffee and Turkish Delight, followed by a beer at one of the many bars offering a rooftop terrace (nearly every bar in Beyoglu has one). I have been a fan of rice pudding for as long as I can remember, as my memere Genier used to make it every weekend and it kicked ass. However, this Turkish rice pudding was on a whole other level. It was richer and creamier with less rice and more pudding, finished in the oven with a nice golden crust and topped with a bit of rose water. Simply delectable. Not to be outdone, the Turkish Delights were almost otherworldly, available in a head spinning variety of flavours from pomegranate to pistachio to orange to rose water – complete with dried rose petals. Delicious and beautiful. I wanted to eat all of them! All of this followed by Turkish coffee, bold, flavourful and gritty.

The next morning we were off to Cihangar Khevlahti Evi for a traditional Turkish breakfast. Let me say that these people LOVE their breakfasts. The traditional breakfast we ordered consisted of 4 different types of cheese, eggs with sausage, a variety of breads, olives, salami, pomegranate jam, tahini, fresh honey and honeycomb, and salad. There was enough food for 4 people! We ate it all though! Only problem was that after gorging on this massive breakfast we realized we would be late for our free walking tour Emma had signed us up that morning and we had a 45 minute walk to the start point. It was a bit of a mad rush to get there in 30 degree heat. We arrived at the start point – ON TIME – and began to search for our guide. We weren’t able to locate them so we asked the tourist information people who worked in the park and they told us that this tour doesn’t exist. That it was just a scam. Apparently, they lure you to the square in this very touristy neighbourhood where they offer all manner of tours at a cost, once you arrive you’ll probably decide to buy one of the tour packages being offered. Well, not us my friends! We were pissed, of course, we literally half ran there in the heat to get there on time. So, after sculling down some water we toured the area ourselves.

We snapped photos of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, also known as the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, and started our own ‘self guided’ tour.

Our first stop was the Basilica Cistern, the largest of many cisterns below the city. It was built, by slaves, in the 6th century during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.

Next up, Istanbul’s famous Grand Bazaar. Let me say this, it was most certainly grand. We could have spent the entire day exploring the maze of stalls with vendors selling everything under the sun from antique lamps, dried fruits, exotic spices and woven rugs. It was wondrously overwhelming. We must have been there for a couple of hours and didn’t even visit a tiny fraction of the place.

Scenes from inside the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

After spending the bulk of our day wandering around Sultanahmet exploring the many attractions we slowly made our way back to our hotel, but not before grabbing a bite at a small pide restaurant (of course).

We did stop at a different bar every night, and every single place offered a different experience from rooftop terraces with sweeping views of the city and live entertainment and that night was no different.

For dinner, we stopped at Durumzade, a kebap place which was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. OMG, it was by far the most delicious meal of our trip so far AND it only cost us $7 each! Admittedly, we were questioning our decision to stop here as we made our way there. The street it’s located on can only be described as something out of scene out of ‘Taken’. The street was nothing more than rumble and our table was set up just outside the entrance to the place with old tires and piles of bricks strewn about. Regardless, the food was incredible. Anthony did not steer us wrong.

So delicious...me so happy! — So delicious…me so happy!

On our last day in Istanbul we hopped on the ferry to cross the Bosphorous and visit the Asian side of Istanbul, and by Asian side I mean the part of the city located on the continent of Asia. It as a pretty cool experience taking a short ferry ride and then stepping off in another continent. This Istanbul neighbourhood is referred to as Kadikoy. It has a very different energy compared to the very frenetic and crowded Taksim Square. The streets were much less crowded with cute little shops and sidewalk restaurants. We even found a nice park by the water where we napped for a bit. It was unbelievably quiet and so peaceful.

Crossing the Bosphorus to the Asian side of Istanbul

Adorable lunch spot in Ortakoy…definitely not as crowded as Taksim Square

Harbour at Kadikoy, Asian side of Istanbul

After a few hours in Kadikoy, we boarded the ferry again, this time making our way to Besiktas, a waterfront neighbourhood, this time located on the European side. We quickly discovered that it was very touristy and decided to walk to an area known as Ortakoy. A few people we met had recommended that we check it out. Ortakoy consisted of several small shops and restos, as well as a large outdoor market located along the waterfront. It was just as touristy as Besiktas but I rather enjoyed it because it was lively and eclectic.

After enjoying some food from one of the many food stalls, we made our way back to the hostel to freshen up before spending our final night exploring this amazing city.

Taksim square is a major landmark in Budapest and a central hub for the metro, it also happens to be a great place for people watching. We saw more crazy in that square and its surrounding than anywhere else in the city. On our last morning in particular while enjoying our final breakfast there we witnessed a man being kicked by an old lady then slapped (very lightly) by a random guy – he fled across the square bawling at the top of his lungs, without once looking back. We then spotted what appeared to be an attempted cat poisoning, followed by a fully naked man taking a bath in the fountain. No one batted an eye at any of this. Just your typical day in Taksim Square.

Istanbul is an incredible city, visit it if you have the opportunity, I know I’m grateful I did!

Island Hopping in Greece – As You Do…

August 5, 2015August 27, 2015Posted in Backpacking, Budget Travel, European Travel, Greek Islands, Hostel, Hotel, Island Hopping, Mykonos, Paros, Single Travel, Syros, TravelTagged Beaches, Food, Food Tourism, Greece, Greek Food, Greek Islands, Island Hopping, Mykonos, Paros, Single Travel, Sunsets, SyrosLeave a comment

Emma and I arrived in Greece over a week ago and we’ve been busy! We started in Syros, then off to Mykonos, Paros, and Ios…as we wait for our ferry to Santorini, I thought I’d update you on what we’ve been up to. By the way, EVERY island sells post cards with their name followed by “The Best Island” caption. I thought I would assign categories to each of the islands we visited, in keeping with “The Best Island” theme. You will notice that not a single island received a Best Island for WiFi access…it’s basically shit and in some places mega shit, that’s why it’s taken me so long to get this post up…just sayin’.

Syros – “The Best Island” for lazing around in the sun:

The beach located directly across the street from our hotel

Arrived in Syros, our first stop in Greece, after over 12 hours of flights, waits, ferries and buses and it was so worth it.

Now there is one thing I want to mention as I feel I would be remiss in not bringing this to your attention. Traveling for any amount of time on a ferry or bus in Europe in the middle of summer is NOT glamorous, like at all. Every travel day we leave our hotel freshly showered in clean clothes and our spirits filled with hope that today’s travel experience will be different. It NEVER is. Every travel leg, be it on a plane, a bus, or a ferry it ways ends the same way. Emma and I sweaty and stinking, reduced to puddles and wanting nothing more than a shower and fresh clothes. Some days the trip is short and the shower and bathroom are clean and fresh towels are waiting while other days you end up sitting naked on a stool in a 3×3 foot stall that smells like it hasn’t seen the end of a cleaning brush in decades just praying that your skin doesn’t accidentally brush up against the wall or shower curtain while you attempt to wash the dirt away. Lucky for us, since arriving in Greece we’ve had nothing but clean bathrooms and functioning showers, which makes me fear for what awaits. We’ve been a little too lucky over the last few days. It has me worried.

I’m not sure if it was the combination of the airport bathroom incident, the middle of the night flight, 3am arrival at Athens airport, the 1 hour bus ride to Piraeus port (the man drove like a ‘goddamn animal’, seriously luggage and people were jostled about the bus like balls in a lottery machine), the seemingly innocent glass enclosure on the ferry to Spyros – just a giant easy bake oven for us to slow roast in – but by the time we got to the island my feet were swollen to twice their normal size.

I spent the first night lying on the bed with my legs above my head against the wall to drain the blood from my feet. It was surprisingly comfortable. Who knew that sleeping in an L-shape could be so restful? I awoke the next morning to normal size feet – yay!

Enjoying a beer while watching our first sunset in Syros

First sunset in Syros, Greece. This picture does not do it justice.

The next morning, Emma and I got right down to business, and by business I mean eating breakfast then finding wine and a spot on the beach conveniently located directly across the street from our hotel.

We spent the entire day lying on the sand and taking the occasional dip in the sea. The waters were crystal clear in the morning, however, by mid afternoon we noticed something was off. This idyllic setting was no longer. The first thing Emma pointed out was a dead frog floating in the water, upon closer inspection, we quickly realized that it was no dead frog. It was something much, much worse. To our horror, the thing floating toward us in the water was in fact a discarded tampon. As we quickly tried to create as much distance between us and the NOT A DEAD FROG, we then spotted more trash floating in the water – ice cream cone wrappers, a panty liner, plastic bottles, etc. It was as though someone threw a bag of trash into the water. Our spot on the beach, which had been so beautiful earlier had almost instantaneously been transformed into a scene from some post-apocalyptic movie where the seas are filled with trash. Yuck!

(We were told later that afternoon that someone had cleaned things up. Apparently, a passing boat had carelessly dumped their trash into the water…who does that?! Anyway, there is a group of volunteers in Galissas who take care of the beach and do their best to keep it clean. The mess was cleaned up rather quickly.)

Needless to say, we left the beach and retreated to our hotel across the street. While in Galissas we stayed at Maistrali Hotel, a small family run property. Our room cost us 90€ for 3 nights and it was a great value. Located directly across from the beach, small balcony at the back and breakfast buffet every morning for an additional 5€. The bathroom was good but the beds were really hard, as in one step above sleeping on a concrete slab. We were in room 1 which was right next to the reception desk. It was ok most of the time, however, the owner who often sat at reception behaved like a petulant child most days – shouting at guests and locals, annoyingly ringing the service bell whenever he wanted the staff to bring him something (most likely a drink because he appeared to be soused most of the time). He was also really flirty – offering to have me run away with him to the Maldives – What?! He was so loud that one couple switched rooms in hopes that it would quieter, didn’t work. There really was no escape.

Our quaint little hotel in Galissas. Maistrali is a family owned hotel, with great rooms and a very good price.

Galissas is a really quaint little town. There really isn’t a lot to do there, but that was kind of the point. After the hustle and bustle of Prague, the change of pace was most welcome.

The town is mostly a tourist stop and appears to exist for that reason alone. The shops clearly cater to tourists selling all manner of souvenirs, postcards, beach towels and sunscreen. The restaurants all face the beach so you can take in the full magnificence of the sunsets on this island, and trust me, they are spectacular. The menus feature Greek food with some burgers and chicken nuggets thrown in for the less adventurous eaters.

While on Syros, we took a bus from Galissas to Megas Gialos a nearby beach town. Again, super small and quiet, but the beach was beautiful and CLEAN! We had lunch and a beer (of course) while overlooking the beach. The bus ride was about 15 minutes and the fare was 1.90€ each way. Well worth it.

Chef's salad and a beer - just a light lunch given that we're in our bikinis and on the beach — Chef’s salad and a beer – just a light lunch given that we’re in our bikinis and on the beach

Dakos and beer, my light lunch...quite tasty. — Dakos and beer, my light lunch…quite tasty.

We spent every evening either drinking beer or wine and toasting the sunsets. On our last night in Galissas we climbed to the peak of the large hill overlooking the bay. At the top of this hill is a tiny white church and one of the most amazing views of the town below and the sun as it sets behind a nearby island. If you happen to glance to the left of the hill you will notice a tiny beach located in a small cove. The water looked so inviting and we may have considered checking it out the next day were it not for the colony of nude campers who had overtaken that tiny beach.

Cove beach as seen from the top of the hill

Picnicking at the top of the hill - a girl needs to eat after a long hike — Picnicking at the top of the hill – a girl needs to eat after a long hike

Sunset as seen from the top of the hill in Galissas

As we made our way back down the hill toward our hotel we couldn’t help but marvel at how serene the town below was.

Mykonos – “The Best Island” for people watching:

We boarded the ferry to Mykonos late morning and arrived at the port little more than an hour later. As we searched for our hotel transfer van, to no avail, I double checked our reservation confirmation email and discovered that we had arrived a day early! No wonder they weren’t there to pick us up. As soon as we realized the droid, we set about finding accommodations for the night. Emma quickly found us a private room at the Paraga Beach Hostel next to Paradise Beach for only 15€ a night each! Problem solved. If you ever arrive at one of he ports without lodging, do not fear. There are always people there with offers of rooms to let – even in high season. Don’t be afraid to negotiate and you can get some pretty good deals, depending on where you are of course. Mykonos and Santorini shamelessly survive on tourism and there are very few deals to be found.

We arrived at Paraga Beach Hostel and it was awesome, well the pool and restaurant area was. The pool was surrounded by beach loungers and beautiful people. The DJ added to the overall Cafe del mar feel of the place. We were walked by the pool and brought to our room and that is when the fantasy ended and the reality hit us. We would not be sleeping in a room, oh no, we were camping that night my friends. We were sleeping in a tent. No A/C, one light and a screen panel for a window. With military style cots for beds. No wifi either so no distraction from the environment whatsoever. We quickly changed into our bikinis and made our way to the restaurant/pool area and ordered the mixed grill plate for two – we were famished after all. The grill plate was the best idea we’d had all week it was piled high with chicken, sausage, meat balls, pork chops and fries and it was DELICIOUS! After devouring the meat plate, we ordered a couple of beers and settled in poolside. Seriously, there is no better time to show off your bikini body than after you’ve eaten your weight in grilled sausages and french fries. Am I right?

How do you think I keep this bikini body...I just eat this! — How do you think I keep this bikini body…I just eat this!

After two beers worth of sun baking and quick dips in the pool we left the pool and walked over to Paradise Beach next door. The last time I was there was five years ago and a lot has changed. There are more bars and lounge chairs. Every bar is competing for your attention and your dollars. We settled in front of the Guapaloca bar to watch the Brazilian dancers. The host was entertaining and they were giving away free shots…so sure why not! We spent the rest of the day and most of the evening at Paradise Beach sipping beer, various cocktails and a bottle of rose. We ended up dancing the rest of the night away – the DJ was really good – playing everything from rap to hip hop to dance. We sang along and jumped around like idiots. It was awesome!

Overlooking the beach at Paraga Beach Hostel

That night as we made our way back to our tent, we toyed with the idea of sleeping on one of the couches outside the club rather than return to the sweat lodge we were booked in. We went back to our ‘room’ turned on the useless fan and tried to sleep. It was almost impossible to do so. Our cots, despite being elevated about a foot still had us feeling like we were sleeping on the hard ground. How did they manage to do that?! Add to this the fact that the place was a party hostel and there was zero sleep to be had. At one point I swear I heard some guy bust out his ukulele to serenade a group of backpackers in the tent next to us.

After our sleepless night, we hopped aboard the free shuttle to the port to meet the shuttle to the hotel we were booked at for that night. The owner of Maki’s Place greeted us at the shuttle and quickly whisked us away to the hotel which happened to be almost directly across the street from the port. His father, a bit of a curmudgeon, checked us in, all the while letting us know that we got a really good deal in the room (90€ it would normally be 150€) and that one night stays were pretty much the bane of his existence. Ok, we get it – we got a deal. Thanks for letting us know. Once checked in, we made our way to our room and it was adorable! The beds were hard as concrete – again. I began to wonder if concrete slabs as beds were a thing in Greece.

The pool at Maki's Place was unbelievable...so deep touching the bottom was a struggle. — The pool at Maki’s Place was unbelievable…so deep touching the bottom was a struggle.

The beds may have been hard as rocks, but everything else was perfect. The pool was located just outside our room. It was clean and deep and beyond refreshing. After checking in and exploring the hotel, we changed out of our stinking and sweaty clothes and hopped in the sea bus to the old port in Mykonos Town. The sea bus cost 2€ and offered great views of the island as we made our way there.

Sightseeing and photo snapping in Mykonos

Once in Mykonos Town we stopped in a few shops bought some bathing suits we didn’t need, some Havaianas we didn’t need and some food and wine that we definitely did need! We walked through the small winding streets popping in and out of shops and snapping pictures of streetscapes and cats along the way.

I really wanted Emma to see Mykonos from the top of the hill and convinced her to climb the stairs to one of the vantage points above the town. It was so worth it! After having our fill of stairs and picture taking we headed back to our hotel for a swim, cocktails and dinner. Our last night on Mykonos was pretty unadventurous but it ended with dinner and wine on a deck overlooking the water so not bad at all.

Panorama from the top of Mykonos...well worth the climb — Panorama from the top of Mykonos…well worth the climb

The next morning we checked out of our room and the curmudgeon who’d checked us in the day before had transformed into a funny and personable guy, I guess the people checking in that day had paid full price and were staying for multiple nights. Good for him, I ain’t mad at him. 🙂

Paros – “The Best Island” for shopping:

We arrived in Paros by ferry 2 days ago, hot, sweaty, stinky puddles – formerly human, now feral – and in desperate need of a shower and clean clothes. So our usual state, basically. The Stella Hotel where we are staying is the best place we’ve stayed at so far and at 89€ for 2 nights, it’s a bloody steal! We have a balcony overlooking the sea, a bathroom with a full on stand up shower and ACTUAL MATTRESSES ON THE BEDS. They have springs and everything!

Our first day in Paros we explored the town a little, had lunch on the water – we ordered a mixed plate of appetizers and it was perfect. Various Greek dips and octopus salad with beer, of course. After lunch we stopped by the supermarket to pick up some food stuff like meats, cheeses, tomatoes, grapes and some canned stuffed grape leaves, just in case we were peckish later. Oh and we also bought a 1.5L bottle of wine for bargain price of €2.30. C’mon you know you were wondering! 🙂

Beers on the water, first thing we did in Paros - Shocking! — Beers on the water, first thing we did in Paros – Shocking!

Mixed Greek appetizer platter, with hummus, fava, spicy eggplant, spicy cheese, octopus salad

Fried Haloumi, Emma's favourite! — Fried Haloumi, Emma’s favourite!

When we got back to the hotel we napped for a bit then snacked on the stuff we bought earlier as we watched the sun set from our terrace. After polishing off half the salami and tomatoes, along with the entire bottle of wine (to be fair this was over a period of several hours) we showered, dressed and then hit the town. It may be a small place, but they have a great bar scene.

We stopped at Entropy, it was rated as the #1 attraction on the island, according to TripAdvisor.

It was pretty easy to find, thanks to my phone GPS. We walked in and there were all of 7 people in the bar, including the owners and the bartender. The first thing i noticed was the haze of cigarette smoke that filled the air. There were two young guys playing beer pong while the other patrons watched and cheered them on. We checked out the cocktail menu, and ordered a drink. Emma had the Wrong Island Ice Tea and I had the Tangerine Dream. They were both ok. We had high expectations for this place, given its high rating on TripAdvisor and I have to say we were disappointed. The owners were friendly and we chatted with them while we finished our drinks, but had zero desire to stick around – my eyes were watering and I felt like every breath was a direct drag off of someone’s ciggy, so we left as soon as we were done our drinks.

We walked around the neighbourhood and discovered this really cool, tiny bar on one of the rooftops over looking the waterfront. The place was packed with people of all ages and the music was pretty good, a very relaxed vibe. We ordered proscecco and settled in at one of the tiny tables to people watch for a bit.

After our proscecco, we walked along the water back to our hotel.

Of note, there are a lot of great shops in Paros and they’re open until quite late, around midnight. You can find pretty much anything you’re looking for and at a reasonable price.

The next morning, we were up early to grab breakfast, shop and then hop the ferry to Antiparos where we would visit the caves and relax at Soros Beach.

The winds were high that day my friends and the sea angry. The ferry ride felt like a roller coaster ride. The ferry chugged along the water as large waves crashed up against it in all directions, tossing us from side to side. There were several occasions during the ride where the passengers screamed – in delight or fear – probably about 50/50. One poor girl came and sat outside at the back of the ferry next to us, seasick.

View from the ferry as we crossed over to Antiparos

Scene from our ferry crossing to Antiparos

Now the ferry ride normally takes about 10-15 minutes, but it took over 30 minutes that morning. 30 minutes of nausea inducing waves, bobs and rolls. We were very happy to have survived the crossing without puking over the side of the boat.

As soon as we arrived at the port we hopped the bus to the caves and Soros beach (6€ return fare).

The Cave of Antiparos was our first stop.

I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much, but they were pretty amazing. The descent (411 steps) into the bottom of the caves was easy and the view was awesome. The caves are comprised of 3 chambers with a total depth of 100m. The entire cave visit took about an hour and I snapped a ton of pictures.

Inside the cave, absolutely breathtaking

Next we were off to Soros beach. The beach itself is not very large and the place was packed. The beach loungers are available to rent for the day for 30€, so fuck that! We’re laying on the sand! We opted to find a spot on the beach next to a tree – I mean, under a shrub – which offered a nice beach view and some shade. Sounds ideal right? Well, in theory yes, but the ‘free’ shelter was very crowded and though we did manage finding a spot, the view wasn’t so great. Yes, I was in the shade next to the beach but every time I looked up all I could see was some guy’s ‘plumber’s butt’. Manscaping hasn’t really caught on in Greece.

Beach day at Soros Beach, Antiparos, the sand literally glitters. — The 30 euros/day loungers and the shrub we took shelter under.

Despite the view challenges, we did enjoy the beach day. The water was crystal clear and so refreshing. I was sad to leave, but I knew there were many more beach days ahead of us.

The ferry back across was much smoother than our trip over earlier in the day.

Later that night, we had dinner on the water – like literally on the water – the waves were lapping against the table legs while we enjoyed grilled fish and chicken. It was a clear night and the lights of the island dotted the surrounding hillsides while the silhouettes of the boats in the harbour bobbed in the water in front of our table. It was a perfect final night in Paros.