portugal Archives - Wander Wonder Wonton

Lagos

August 31, 2016

We had all great intentions to get up early and make the most of the day… I woke up at 10.30. It was the best sleep is had in a LONG time. I hadn’t even had a coughing fit during the night! We went in search of a kayak tour, so glad we did! A big boat took us and our kayaks out of the marina to where the island begin. A short course in ocean kayaking around boats and waves and we were in.

Gem and I were in a double, me in the front. What an incredible experience. We went around all the beaches and inside secret grottos and caves. The rocks or islands are huge and magnificent, all different colours. The earthquake in the 70’s changed their shapes a bit and there’s different animals you can look out for that they resemble now.
The water is clear, a warm 26 degrees and exceptionally salty. Much saltier than other years they informed us. The salt makes patterns as it dries on my tanned skin and makes my eyebrows look like they belong to Santa Claus. Let’s not even start on what it does to your hair. It does cleanse your skin though, sanitise your wounds and clear out your sinuses though! My skin feels very soft after a swim.

The crew were hilarious, we had a great time with them. One in particular was very cheeky, you’ll see in a selfie in our life jackets, he’s actually peeking out from in between us! He also threw me overboard twice during the swimming.

After kayaking we got some gelato and walked around the different beaches. It’s a steep incline and then, massive sets of stairs (my legs don’t even seem to be looking any shapelier yet which is beyond me) down to the beach. We relaxed at a couple and I took some pics for my friend who has an underwear company, BiaBoro – check them out, that doubles as bikini bottoms.
We walked back down the hills, having seriously packed our afternoon and evening after a less productive morning, to find a spot for dinner Gem had read about. A fave with locals, we ordered the clams with garlic bread (oh my life, we soaked up every last drop of that butter and garlic sauce) to start then their version of the seafood rice. We did not guess how big or wonderful the meal would be. We shouldn’t have eaten all that bread after all!
Evening ensued more walking around the shops and markets before retiring home to bed around midnight. Off to Seville for two nights tomorrow!
Only less than a week left. Sad face.

Lisbon to Lagos

August 31, 2016

I did my first ever free walking tour in the morning in Lisbon. Gemma had raved about them but I was still feeling pretty shite and worried I couldn’t keep up. Sweating bullets before we even left!
Wild Walkers I believe the company is called, they work off tips at the end of the tour and the guy was great. Full of information about the city and insights into the minds of the Portuguese.

That lasted about 2.5 hours, we were starving by the time we were done. The guy had told us about menu’s of the day at the restaurants, they were much cheaper and fresh each day. Luckily what we wanted to eat was on the menu of the day at the restaurant we stopped at! For just 13€ we had a starter, main, dessert and drink.

We took a cab (no crazy driver this time unfortunately) to the bus station and just missed our 4pm bus so had to wait another hour. We thought we got in at 8 but it wasn’t until about 10pm we got into Lagos. We then had to walk for 15mins (which I wasn’t happy about) with all our luggage, across the pebbly paths which were full of people to get to our hostel. My hands were aching and I was hangry.

The hostel… Hmmm, I felt like I had walked into a high school stoner flat. My bad, I’d booked the hostel (Hutch Hostel, please find a better one when you stay) and luckily we had a private room and didn’t intend on being around much. In the end it wasn’t that bad but I was really put off at first.

Straight out the door for dinner we stopped at Gilberto’s restaurant and had some really average dinner. Seafood rice (meant to be a Portuguese specialty) was very liquidy, thank goodness we had already filled up on starters. Poor service too, don’t go there.

We checked out the markets and shops in the main plaza (everything is open late in Europe) then back to our hostel ready for sleep.

Barcelona to Lisbon

August 29, 2016

Gem and I went in search of a fresh breakfast (my waistline is seriously expanding) after seeing a market on Las Ramblas a few days before.
I got a beautiful little tray of berries. Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries and a fresh green juice.

We wandered the streets and I bought some new pjs and a taco & tequila top.

We flew to Lisbon and checked into our hostel. Ha! I forgot the taxi driver. So we get this taxi driver from the airport to the hostel and he’s speaking rapidly in Portuguese to which I’m just replying to what I think he’s saying. Holy shite he drove fast! True crazy European driver. Flat foot and zig zagging around all the cars, beeping when they weren’t going fast enough for him and nearly causing multiple accidents. You’ve never heard so much beeping! Kept turning around and giving us little smiles and shrugging when I giggled at his actions as if to say ‘these other people driving terribly huh?!’ Hilarious.

Now I’m not a fan of hostels, but this one was fantastic. Very cool fit-out and atmosphere. It’s in a railway station but you’d never know it. It’s lush and green and the dorms were lovely and clean. Right in the heart of Lisbon. I was very impressed.

We attempted to get Tram 28 which takes you around all the city that the tourists want to see. Unfortunately, so did all the other tourists that day. Hangry, I left Gem in line and went in search of food. Came back with custard tarts (local special) and a choc croissant. Gave up on the line and paid a tuk tuk (you’d be half mistaken for thinking you were in Thailand) to take us to old town.

Old town was bustling and beautiful. The Lisbon streets are gorgeous. All tiny pavers on the ground and mosaic apartments. As always, with sheets and washing hanging out the windows. We wandered around exploring, marvelling at the architecture and graffiti. We later learned the graffiti was a big part of Lisbon, with many areas provided by the government to be creative on.

Unfortunately we ended up in the main tourist area for dinner. We sat in the middle of the street and people watched as we waited for our meals. We both had the grilled cod. What they didn’t mention was how the Portuguese prepare their cod. They rub it in salt and cure it then leave it to sit in salt water before grilling it. So it’s pretty salty. I wasn’t entirely impressed.

Thankfully our roommates didn’t get in till about 5am as I had a terrible night coughing up a storm. I wound up having tea in the common area from 3-4am trying to curb it.

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