Sep 10 2019
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Sights, Travel

A look into the past

The next day we went on an all day tour to Auschwitz (concentration camp during the Holocaust) and the Salt Mines. It was a really long day, but well worth the experience. We took a Sprinter van with about 15 other people for the tour. I specified Sprinter because we actually have a van that we’re building out as a camper! A post on that sometime 🙂 Our tour guide was great and was so knowledgable. He went into great detail about everything.

Our first stop was at the concentration camp. It was a heavy experience. I didn’t take too many pictures because I wanted to just listen and take it in. We walked around the barracks of where people crammed into. They turned these barracks into a museum with displays of personal items like shoes, clothing, suitcases, etc to photographs and stories. There was one room where I saw something extremely disturbing. If you want to know, feel free to ask me I’ll respond personally to you. I feel slightly uncomfortable stating that here. We also toured the second camp, Birkenau, that was built to ease congestion at the first camp. I know. Pretty sad.

Good thing we ended on a happy note at the Wieliczka Salt Mines! It was about an hour drive away. We were one of the last groups to enter the Salt Mines before closing. They had one main elevator so it took awhile to get everyone down beneath the ground. I must say it was a spectacular sight so see so much salt everywhere! No, I didn’t lick the walls to try, although it is tempting. There were statues, sculptures, and even a chandelier out of salt (man made of course).

It was a really long day but well worth it to see everything to see in a short amount of time. I’d recommend this tour for sure!

PROS:
Got to see two of the main attractions in one day
Small tour group ~15 people
Very affordable

CONS:
Long day – about 12 hours
Long time in the car, bring snacks!

Overall, I’d recommend to do this tour especially if you are crunched on time. It’s very informative and the sights are starkly different. I’m glad you end with the salt mines to leave it on a positive note.

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May 02 2019
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Lisbon continued

We took it easy our second day in Lisbon because it was supposed to rain. We started the day with some coffee from Copenhagen Coffee Lab just a few blocks away. They were so busy they had to stop taking orders! We were in no hurry and caffeined up for the day. By the way – our whole coffee experience throughout Europe wasn’t particularly the best. It was actually kind of hard to find good coffee! Our next stop was for some food at The Mill, which also had a bit of a wait but it was worth it! Their fresh squeezed orange juice was delicious. Got the avocado toast with bacon and two sunny side up eggs. Johnny got butter toast with chorizo/ mushroom/ tomato combo and an egg.

After brunch, we walked around the city some more. Walked up and down hills, checked out some parks. This one had a cool tree support structure. The city is also known for all the orange tiled roofs everywhere.

Of course it was time for a snack after all of the walking. We stopped in for some decadent chocolate cake at Landeau Chocolate, which was rumored to have the best chocolate cake in the world?! Welp it was pretty darn good.

We took in more sights and our fair share of cable cars on our way back to the Airbnb.

And painted tiles… (second pic of our key for our Airbnb which had the cutest little backyard. It had a lemon tree!)

We got some wine nearby ($4 bucks!) to chill in the afternoon. Then Ang and I hit up a wine bar for some sangria and cheese for a little snack. We may look fancy.. but it was actually super cheap. I think it was less than $15 for all of this.

Wandered around a little more then we were off to our last meal in Lisbon. We dined at Petiscaria Ideal and ate some classic Portuguese food. Reservations were required when we came and we didn’t have one.. so I had made one online after talking to them haha.

Pear, goat cheese, honey, endive, pecan salad (probably the highlight of the meal)
Sweet potato chips with mayo/lime aioli
Tenderloin and mushroom sandwich
Polenta with tomatoes and clams

I also have to share this… I love Haribo and had such a great time trying all the different kinds in Europe.

PROS:
Less crowded – although I feel like it’s an up and coming destination
Slightly cheaper than other places
Beautiful art with all of the tiles
Very nice people
Lots of transportation
Laidback

CONS:
Hills (if you do a lot of walking)

I really enjoyed Portugal! It has a lot to offer and I can’t get enough of those egg tarts.

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Mar 29 2019
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The San Francisco of Europe

Next stop on the trip was Lisbon, the capital of Portugal and a different type of coastal city than Porto. I noticed the striking similarities quite quickly between San Francisco and Lisbon…
-Hilly
-Street cars
-Rust colored suspension bridge (Lisbon = Ponte 25 de Abril bridge)

We got in late the first night in Lisbon and decided to get some sleep because we were actually going on a day trip to Sintra. Sintra sits on the coast of Portugal and is about an hour away from Lisbon and known for its castles and palaces. We woke up at the break of dawn to get on the train out to Sintra because we knew it was going to be crowded. Missed the 8am so we got on the 9am. We really only planned to the the Pena Palace so we opted for an Uber versus taking the bus that takes you in a loop around all of the palaces. We also opted for the garden ticket, which lets you roam around outside the palace and all around but does not permit you to go inside the palace. We were fine with that because we spent plenty of time outside! Plus the line to get inside wrapped around.

After wandering around for a couple hours, we ubered back to the main area of Sintra, grabbed some quick lunch and made our way back to Lisbon. We walked around the central area and even happened to find this random pink street.

By now we were hungry again and made our way to Time Out Market, which is a large food hall. A pretty fancy food hall too! It had lots to choose from. We opted for some squid ink pasta with seaweed salad, pork belly with green puree (forgot what it actually was), and fries with spicy mayo (not pictured).

Our adventure continues! After full bellies, we made our way on the train to the Belem area and walked along the water. It’s located on the west side of Lisbon, along the water. It’s iconic for the tower of Belem, built as a fort to protect the city. We also saw a huge monument that commemorates maritime explorers – notice all the beautiful tiling on the ground.

No stop is complete in Belem without a visit to Pasteis de Belem! More egg tarts. Yum.

After that, we headed back to our Airbnb. We did lots and were completely pooped for the first night in Lisbon.

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Mar 08 2019
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Ola!

I was excited for this next part of the trip because I had never been to Portugal before. Ang and I were split between seeing Porto or Lisbon because they’re both quite so different. We decided to just do it and see both. We first stopped in Porto, a smaller laid back city that’s by the water and known for their port wine and bridges. We got in the morning, checked in at our Airbnb and started off the day with some food. Breakfast sandwiches and a drink were only about 6 bucks! Portugal is a super affordable country compared to its neighbors so we were glad for this break. We decided to also do a tour of Portuguese egg tarts.

One of the attractions we stopped at was this beautiful bookstore called Lello & Irmao that is rumored to have inspired J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter. As you can imagine, the place was packed. There was also a huge line to get in.

Portugal is known for their beautiful tiles and artwork. The Sao Bento Railway Station was gorgeous!

The next day, we got some brunch nearby at Zenith. It was packed and we had to wait a bit but I can see why.. Love me some shashuka! Johnny got the avocado toast with a fried poached egg and a side of bacon.

We took a stroll towards the water and across the Ponte Luis bridge to do some wine tasting. We walked across the bridge on the bottom and on the way back, we went on the top! We went to this family owned winery called Augusto’s. Port wine is a dessert wine and was incredibly sweet and strong, especially the tawny that we had sampled. Great tour to learn about the aging process and they were very knowledgeable! Walked around and got to see some really cool views of Porto.

Last stop in Porto included dinner before our flight out to Lisbon. We asked some locals where to get grub and they directed us to this bar called Taxca. They had hunks of cured meats hanging from the ceiling. My meal with Johnny came out to only 10 euros! (Sparkling wine, pork sammy, salami & cheese sammy, and squid salad).

PROS:
Small city where you can get around everywhere by foot
Friendly people
Cheap food
Gorgeous scenery by the water
Laidback

CONS:
Didn’t know the language at all
Only stayed for one full day, but I feel like we got the gist of it all

Really quaint city/town that’s chill enough but still bustling with people. I’d definitely recommend coming here, even if it’s just for a day! I think it was really worth it.

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Feb 28 2019
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A Quick Layover

We decided to make a quick stop to Madrid, Spain’s capital for one night. I’ve never been and was interested to see how different it is from Barcelona. Since it was just a night, we decided to stay at a hostel that was centrally located. I’ve never stayed in one in Europe so it was definitely an experience. We were spoiled and had a bathroom in our room. We eventually got a roommate and she was not sketchy at all. Phew!

Airbnb had a cute roof

Madrid is quite walkable so we ventured out and about. Our first stop was to La Mallorquina in Puerto del Sol, a famous bakery in Madrid. We got these 2 croissant like pastries – one that was filled with chocolate and the other was almond.

We wandered around and checked out Plaza Major. It had beautiful archways. Buildings here definitely felt a little more regal and business like. I’d say even less touristy than Barcelona.

Before we walked to the palace, we got some tapas at the food market. Compared to Barcelona’s food market, this is definitely more modern and indoors. It was quite fancy! Again, too much food to choose from haha.

As you can see, lots of good stuff to choose from! It was a little pricy, but tasty. After all the food, we walked it off some more and wandered down to the royal palace and garden.

Ok! This next stop was a definite highlight. Ang had found about these almond cookies that were supposed to be pretty good. They are located at this monastery and made by cloistered nuns. Once inside, there’s a sign to show you where to go. So pretty much there’s this window and you put your money on the lazy susan. They spin it and then cookies magically appear.

Secret cookie success! If you didn’t think I had enough sugar consumed this day.. it continues! This last place had been on my list. It’s Chocolateria san Gines for churros and chocolate. It’s 24/7 so there was no time crunch. There’s also a line to regulate seating, which I thought was really organized and not chaotic.

It’s definitely not the sugary churros at Costco. They’re a bit more bland and oily, but once you dip it into the chocolate. Yummmm. Okay after all that, we went back to the hostel to rest and chill before some real non sugary food. For dinner, we went to a small restaurant known for yummy tapas. Sangria looked prettier than it tasted. Salad was pretty good. The pork tenderloin was the best part – tender and delicious. We also went out on a limb to try the octopus. It was decent!

PROS:
Churros
Large regal buildings
Walkable
Less touristy
Secret cookies were so cool!

CONS:
Not enough time to check out museums

We got about 24 hours here and it was nice to walk around and check out the main area. We’ll have to come back for more! I know I say that about every city but it’s true.

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