Day 15 - beach daaaay :)

We actually got some of the best sleep we've had in a while in the tent... Was surprisingly much more comfortable (and quieter) than the hostel in Madrid. After we woke up and had some cheap delicious breakfast we headed straight to the beach. At the beach we tanned, swam, played some games, and laughed at our new friend who we named Armani. He's so cool. 

   Armani 

Day 14 - travel to Ibiza

Falling a little behind on the posts, just because its so hard to find wifi on this magical little island. On this day we left Madrid and caught an 11:20am flight to Ibiza, arrived by 12:30pm. We took a bus from the airport to ES CANAR, where my an old coworker of mine currently lives. He kindly let us stay in his tent, while he slept on his friends couch. The campsite was very clean and had very good facilities. The beach we went to was beautiful, the water was much warmer than in Lisbon so we finally got to splash around in the ocean comfortably. 

Day 13 - Toledo

Today we took advantage of our last day in Madrid to go check out the old medieval town of Toledo, Spain's old capital. The bus took about 1 hour to get there, and when it did was well worth it. The city has a lot of history behind it so it many cool buildings like museums, churches, and synagogues. We started off at the Santa cruuuuuz museum, which included many old roman catholic artifacts from the 18th century such as paintings, knives, plates, and chests. All this art was from the actual old city of Telodo. After the museum we got come ice cream and then headed towards a huge beautiful cathedral. We only got to see some of it because you had to pay more to see the rest, but it was just stunning. We headed home soon after that because it was so hot and we were very tired and I had a shoe problem. Before bed we treated ourselves to a meal at the worlds longer running restaurant, the one we talked about earlier, Casa Botin. We shared a potion I their most famous dish - the roast suckling baby pig :) mmmm it was so delicious. What a great way to end our last night in Madrid. 

Day 12 - Rein Sofia n other stuff

Today was a day full of exploring Madrid. We started off our morning with a long walk through the downtown area, stopping in a few local stores and a flea market. We spent a lot of time observing the city's beautiful architecture and statues. Later in the afternoon we headed to a botanical garden which had a lovely array of exotic plants and flowers. Soon after, we went to our first tapas restaurant and ordered authentic Spanish tapas-- garlic shrimp on toast, bacon and melted cheese on toast and a veal Brie dish. Our evening ended at another popular Madrid museum, the Reina Sofia which displayed modern/contemporary art that was beyond anything we expected. With its diverse exhibits, we were able to soak in different forms of modern art from

The early 1040s to present day. A long but eventful day to say the least. Ciao! 

Day 11 - walking tour and muse prado

Our first full day in Madrid is one that will never be forgotten. We started our morning with a walking tour hosted by Jesus, a fascinating local who took us to several of Madrid's historical sights and famous places. We were lucky enough to visit the worlds oldest restaurant located in the heart of the city, Casa Botin who are famous for their roasted baby suckling pig and lamb. We plan on eating there tomorrow! After the tour we did a little sightseeing on our own and then headed back to the hostel for a quick siesta (nap) before heading back out to visit one of Madrid's most well known museums, Museo Prado. We were astonished by the beautiful renaissance and Victorian art as well as the exhibit which featured a look into the history of Madrid's royal families. Our evening ended off with an unforgettable dining experience. We found this little gem of a restaurant on the way back from the museum and were welcomed with open arms by the owner who served us seafood/chicken paella and a fruity sangria. The food was delicious and the atmosphere of the restaurant was a perfect fit. Couldn't have asked for a better day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Day 10 - travel to Madrid

Today we literally ran I catch our 6am bus from Lagos to Seville, haha. Lesson learned that we probably shouldn't go out the night b4 a 6am bus but when you only have so little time in one place it's hard. Anyway, we made it! Took about 5 and a half hours to get to Seville and then we caught another 6.5 hour bus to Madrid. Finally arrived around 9pm. For the most part our travels have been pretty smooth, we just always have so much trouble purchasing the metro tickets from the machines .. But we always end up figuring it out after a good amount of struggle. Our hostel here is located right in the centre of the city and is huge! Has so many floors! Looks pretty cool. 

Thats a cool painting in the lobby of our hostel - didn't take very many pictures today. 

Day 9 - Playa da Ana

Sorry about the depressing post yesterday. It was a long day and we had some issues with our hotel and it was cold ugh. But all is good again! Today was much warmer and we went to the most beautiful beach. Playa da Ana I think that's what it's called. Our new friend Martin from London drove us there ... You really need a car to get around  here in Lagos. Anyway, the beach was amazing as you can probably tell from the pictures. Tomorrow we are taking a 6am bus from here to Seville and then another bus to Madrid. Oh laaaawdy! 

Day 8 - Lagos

Very bad wifi here. Lagos is beautiful but pretty cold and windy right now. Went to the beach Today and hit up a few bars. Our hotel sucks, womp. 

Day 7 - travel to Lagos

Today we took a 4.5 hour bus ride from Lisbon to Lagos. Pretty smooth trip. There was a problem with our hostel booking so the owner let us stay in his beautiful private villa for a night. We saw a bit of the beaches quickly and they're so amazing. We went for dinner at this amazing little restaurant near where we are staying called restaurant Atalaia. To eat we had some fresh mussels - caught today! They tasted like the ocean, so good. And with that some homemade bread and better - best meal I've had so far. Tomorrow is beach time! 

Day 6 - Palacio da Pena

Today we took a 40 min train ride to a town west of Lisbon called Sintra. Other than the nasty cold weather we saw some of the most amazing scenery that either one of us has ever seen. Sintra is popular for its abundance of palaces. It costs 10-13 euros to enter the palaces and since we are trying to be as cheap as possible we only went to one. we decided to go to the biggest and baddest one which is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the 7 wonders o Portugal. This national monument constitutes one of the major expressions of 19th century Romanticism in the world. It is located at the top of a big hill and surrounded by a rich forest of greenery including giant trees, thick mosses, and colorful flowers. We got to climb the palace and enjoy the breathtaking views from atop while the fluffy clouds whisped through our hair. we also got to go inside where they had various rooms and artwork on display. Couldn't help but think how cool it would be to live in a castle, on top of the world, and wake up to that view every single day. I hope they didn't take it for granted.

The view of one palace from another 

 

Day 5 - walked 500 miles

Today we walked a billion kilometers. We walked through park Eduardo the 7th .. It gave us a really nice view of the whole city and the water. We planned on going to a museum but it was closed so we went to the mall for a bit and then walked back. On our way back we ran into a botanical garden so we made sure to check that out. After that we took a break at the hostel and then continued our journey to jardinm da Estrela, it was beautiful; lisbons version of high park. We enjoyed a bottle of wine, some pastries, and lots of laughs. After this we continued home and did some great shopping along the way. Before bed we indulged in a dinner soirée at a very high rated restaurant right below  our hostel... IT COST 100€ for a lobster .. They looked so yummy and juicy.. I wish I could afford one. But instead we watched them swim around  while we munched on some local swordfish, salmon, sardines and prawn curry, yummmmm!! 

Day 4 - I'm on a boat!

Today was a lazy day. We've kept so busy the past few days and the exhaustion finally settled in. We slept in and went for a late lunch. We tried some very questionable pastries while we watched some crazy lady walk up and down the street yelling at random people in Portuguese. She yelled at Tanya too haha. To minimize walking we took a boat tour. It drove us up and down the river and we got see a nice view of the city from the water. And right now I just finished watching all the Ace Ventura movies b2b. So good. Oh and we also tried some fresh local oysters .. I don't like oysters at all but thought I'd be a good sport and give it a whirl. It was grosse, lol. 

Say hello to Jesus! Fun fact: they had big plans for this monument. They wanted to make it bigger than the other one. They spent so much money on making the bottom part and then had very little left for the Jesus part. So Jesus turned out really small :(  still cool tho! 

Day 3 - beach day

Today we went to the beach at cais cais... About a 40 min train ride out of Lisbon. Very cute little town right on the water. Took my first dip in the salt water :) it was really REALLY cold. But it was nice to finally relax and tan. 

Day 2 - walking tour

Today our wonderful new friend Gian Riccardo gave us a very detailed walking tour of Lisbon. He's a philosopher and historian so he threw a whole lot of awesome information at us. We saw many beautiful views and lots of great architecture. We got to go inside a few cool churches as well. A lot of parts were still nicely decorated from the party that happened a few days ago in honor of st. Anthony. I'd say my favorite thing so far about Lisbon are all the old houses that are covered in beautiful artististic tiles; I wanna live in one!  We took a million pictures already today it's so hard to choose just a few but here I go. 

JUST LOOK AT THOSE TILES! And all the houses are different, it's awesome!

DAY 1 - hello Lisbon!

Finally arrived in Lisbon earlier today. I was in total awe at how beautiful the city was! It's so hard to pick one picture but above is the first thing we saw when we walked out of the metro. All old characteristic buildings, none the same. We made it to our hostel pretty quickly, (LX corner hostel) and fell in love right away. It's right in the centre of Lisbon and its really nice and spacious and very clean. And the people who work here are so friendly and helpful. For our first night out we went to Bairro Alto, a beautiful little town and we got to try some very delicious Portuguese cuisine, we split a dish of cod fish and sea bass and grilled veggies and potatoes, it was so delicious! Can't wait to eat more food here :) 

Almost there!

Survived our 7 hour flight from Toronto to London. Watched some movies, drank some wine. Endured many crying babies. Heathrow is massive and all the steering wheels are on the wrong side. Oh and they have walkers chips instead of lays. 

Take-off in T-minus 1 day

Decided to start a very simple blog - plan 2 keep it short n sweet. An easy way 4 ppl who care 2 see wut we're up to. Tanya and I, 5 countries, 98 days. Tomorrow night... We fly!