Category: Europe

A Few Days In Lisbon

We landed in beautiful Lisbon, Portugal after our standard 14 hour flight from Calgary to pretty much anywhere.  As usual British Airways provided a great experience, a great airline.

Landing in Lisbon

Grabbed a cab at the Lisbon Portela Airport and headed to our B&B, Zuza B&B.  We booked this B&B back in March of 2012 and were very lucky to get a booking.  The place is a very highly rated place on Trip Advisor and well worth it.  The views off our balcony were spectacular, by day..

Lisbon by Day

or by night..

Lisbon by night

As usual on our arrival, we were pretty much exhausted.  We asked Luis (a terrific host) to point us in the direction of a close by restaurant where we could have some good food and settle in.  It wasn’t far.  We could see it off the balcony as a matter of fact.

The Buenos Aires Restaurant

The place is called Buenos Aires and it had some crazy salads.

And, as always, some liquid refreshments…

Just a quick post to prove we did get there.  Lots more to come over the next few weeks as we continue in Lisbon, set off to Sintra, then away to Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Barcelona, Malaga and many other places.  Until next post, CHEERS.

 

Venice Italy Through My Favourite Travel Blog’s Eyes

English: The Rialto Bridge over Venice's Grand...
English: The Rialto Bridge over Venice’s Grand Canal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dean and Laynni say hi from Venice.  A new post from my favourite travel blogger.  Check it out.

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinojay2/29/1349037154/tpod.html

 

Good Morning From Barcelona

Just a quick update for you all. Arrived in Barcelona yesterday evening after a week of little Internet access. Spent a beautiful week in Seville then cruised to Madeira islands then to the Canary Islands. I can hardly wait to get home and put fingers to keyboard. This is a photo of the bull ring in Malaga, Spain.

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Good Morning From Toledo

Flew into Madrid from Lisbon and took a train to Toledo. I think the world’s longest escalator is here. Relaxing day then on to Seville.

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Good Morning From Lisbon

Enjoying the view over a morning coffee. This is taken from the terrace of our b&b, Zuzabed. Luis is the owner and runs an excellent place. Highly recommended.

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Dubrovnik, Croatia Through My Favourite Travel Blog’s Eyes

Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dean and Laynni say hi from Croatia.  A new post from an excellent blogger.  Check it out.

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinojay2/29/1348498863/tpod.html

A Post From One Of My Favourite Travel Blogs

Bruges
Bruges (Photo credit: Med PhotoBlog)

Dean is a good friend from our Saskatchewan days.  His parents are very close friends of ours.  He has a somewhat similar sense of travel and adventure that we do and he also writes a very entertaining blog about his travels.  He was recently in Brugge and wrote a great post.  I enjoyed it a lot as we have been there as well.  Do yourself a favour, grab a coffee (or glass of wine) and read about their adventure exploring the movie settings of In Brugge.  Good flick, highly recommend it. Then keep exploring his other posts.

As an aside, it amazes me at how many ways you can see Brugge spelled.

On Bruges

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Places We Have Been – Brugges, Belgium  (joebeans2002.wordpress.com)

Antoni Gaudi’s Barcelona

Houses in Park Güell designed by Antoni Gaudi,...
Houses in Park Güell designed by Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona, Spain Français : Maisons à l’entrée du Parc Güell, réalisées par Antoni Gaudi, Barcelone, Espagne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the countdown clock hits 4 months to Lisbon, I am starting to get really pumped for this trip.  Lori has put together one heck of an itinerary for us.  Having said that, I ran across this article in Fotopedia and it has added to my excitement.  Barcelona appears to be a beautiful place.

Fotopedia Magazine — Antoni Gaudi’s Barcelona.

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Wandering to Ravello, Italy

Ravello, Italy, what a truly wonderful, long-lasting memory.  To get there from Sorrento (where we were staying) took two ferries and a bus up a mountain through some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen.  The trip there and back is worthy of 2 more posts, including the drive back to Sorrento from Amalfi  on the famous Amalfi Coast highway.  For now we concentrate on Ravello.  The drive up the mountain to the town is absolutely beautiful.  The vistas of the Mediterranean are amazing, the view of the town from below, picture postcard perfect.  The views along the road are amazing as well.  We were only able to spend a few hours here as schedules would not allow us more time.  This was unfortunate as it was definitely worth an overnight stay.  Absolutely breathtaking at every turn.

Looking up at the town.

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This is a look at the views along the road.

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Looking to the Mediterranean Sea

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The following are some shots looking out at the countryside from the town.

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A few shots from the town.

The obligatory ruins

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A pretty nice place to have a bite

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The town centre

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The famous ceramics of the region are made here (some anyway)
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Wandering Wednesday – Avebury and Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK

QOTD

What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it’s all about?

 Avebury and Stonehenge

I am on an English kick, reliving a road trip we took in 2008.  If you are keeping score, I am also on an alpha kick as I trek down the bucket list trail.  Avebury is a UNESCO World Heritage site, not far from Stonehenge.  The main difference between the two is accessibility, and the requirement at Stonehenge to wade through protestors and pseudo Druids, then pay 20 pounds  to walk in a tightly restricted circle around the monument.  In order to get there from Portsmouth, we had to drive right by Stonehenge, so I guess I should post some photos of this icon.  We stopped, BUT, you could pretty much call it a drive by.  The pictures! (note the use of the exclamation point)

This is a picture of the fore-mentioned protestors and Druids.

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We think that the Druids changed some anti-protestors into these.  They seemed to want something and were used to humans.

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We crossed over the motorway (how English of me) and took a few shots, which saved us 20 quid.

You’d think they would put up a picture barrier of some sort.  It is almost like we were there.  You can see the people in the background bemoaning the fact it cost them 4 beer to get in there.  Yes, beer is pretty expensive in the UK.

Our work is done here, so off to Avebury.  This is different but the same.  There are giant stones scattered about in a seemingly random pattern, the big difference, you can walk among them and truly appreciate the size of the project undertaken by these people.  One also learns to appreciate that sheep poop is pretty much just as sticky on your shoes as most any kind of poop.

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This next shot will give you an appreciation on how big these stones are.  Also, note the wild animals.

On a serious note, both are worthy to see, and close enough together to make it a must for both.  I did find Stonehenge interesting, although the crowds and protests and price were turn offs.  Avebury was far more natural, but not as structured.  Wandering through a farmer’s field and dancing around sheep poop was different was more than offset by the proximity of the stones, but it was free and there was a nice restaurant with very cold beer, a major plus for me.

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