Final day

Yes Traveler's, our trip has come to an end. Tomorrow we hop on a plane back to the United States. It's been wonderful having you along, I hope you all had fun and enjoyed your treats. For my last entry I have made a Top Ten Tip List for traveling in Europe.

10 - Learning how to wash clothes in a tiny sink might be useful.

9 - Bring a raincoat or umbrella.

8 - Good walking shoes are a must, most streets are cobblestone. (throw in a
few bandaids, just in case)

7 - A few American pain pills might come in handy.

6 - Always carry kleenex, many bathrooms do not have any TP.

5 - Carry hand sanitizer, most bathrooms are without soap also.

4 - Go to taxi stands for taxi's as some are not honest.

3 - Read all the reviews you can find on your hotel before booking. Pictures
are deceiving.

2 - Bring earplugs if you're taking the night train.

And the number one tip for traveling in Europe is

1 - if you get on a train and it appears deserted, GET OFF!!! (ask me or Sally for the story on this one)


By
Nancy

Portugal

Bom dia

We arrived in Portugal on Sunday morning (took the night train). Our hotel here is in a great location. The old building has been remodeled in a funky pop art design, each floor a different theme. We have a pink room with an Andy Warhol quote on our bathroom wall along with hot pink toilet paper. The city if full of pedestrian squares. In these two pictures see if you can find the MacDonalds in the first and the Hard Rock in the second. You can't get away from it anywhere. Hint...the M is between the tree and the bus. Hint..the Hard Rock is in the right corner at the top of the square.

We did a walk from our guide book and ended up in the middle of a catholic services in one of the local churches. The next spot on our guide book took us to the "oldest beer hall" in Lisbon.

Monday we took this amazing tour to Sintra, Portugal. We went to a place up a mountain on a tour bus, and yes there were mostly two lane roads with drop offs. Half the fun was getting there. We went to a palace called Pena.


This magical mountain top palace sits high above Sintra. Built in the 19th century by German born Prince Ferdinand, cousin of Bavarian's "Mad" King Ludwig of Neuschwanstein Castle. Anyway, the castle was vacated in the early 1900's and much of it is the same today, including the furnishings. It even has a padded velvet bidet.

Next we went to a village called Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in Europe and again, only double lane drop off the mountain roads. If you want to pay for it you can even get a diploma as "proof of being here".

Then we went to a village called Cascais and Estoril that used to be fishing villages and are now mostly for the rich, but said to have great seafood.


When we got back to Lisbon, we decided to take you all to dinner at a popular local restaurant. It was highly recommended by our hotel and our guide book. It was called 'Restaurante Solar dos Presuntos'. Pick your pleasure...

Hint....click the play button.




You will not believe what we ate. Here it is, black rice that is made black by squid ink and has stuffed scallop, prawns,mushrooms and mussels. We have rated it the best meal we have had in Europe. The place was packed, mostly with locals, and very Portuguese.

Adeus

Nancy

Miles 10,471
Countries 10

Rangers Jeep Sarfari!!!!

Yes, we're going "off road" in the mountains!!! Spaniard Miguel, picked us up at the time share and took us, along with six others (all from the UK) up the mountain.




We joined up with two other jeeps full of travelers and UP we went to "discover the real andalucia" which are full of countryside white washed villages and spectacular scenery.




First stop, a Spanish breakfast of brandy and coffee, here's yours.....

Next, a lesson about the olives. They pick them all by hand. Some things I didn't know were that olive trees live for hundreds of years. They are evergreen and get their nutrition, including water, from the air. The color of the olive depends on how long they are left on the tree.

Next little village road was blocked by this herd of goats.



We had another refreshment in this village, the drink is local, muscatel mixed with local white wine with the most delicious olives....help yourself.



greet the locals and we'll be on our way.





We are now at an almond grove picking them from the tree, just hit them between two rocks and enjoy. They are delicious.




We had some fun off roading through some river beds, some with water, hope you don't mind getting wet, and went further up the mountain on some one lane roads that just dropped off into the mountain. Amazing views that lost something in photos.



Hope you all had a great time....and that fear of heights I had, I'm over it.

Adiós!

Nancy

Miles 9,593
Countries 9


P.S. We will be traveling the last leg of our trip soon, hopefully our next town has internet, just in case it doesn't, my next blog will be from home. Hope you all have enjoyed coming along!!!!








Countries 9

Vive Mijas

Buenos días Travelers!!


Tuesday Sept 22, we finally got off our you know whats, and hopped in the Audi and went a short ways up the mountain to the actual village of Mijas.






Here is how you get around, signs says Mijas Taxi.



Everyone get on!!!



First stop is a small shrine found in 1586. According to legend, the image of the Virgin was hidden during five centuries here and was found by a builder, the father of two shepherd boys who were led to the hiding place by a dove. It is very small.



Back side...




Next we did a little shopping. These olive dishes are gorgeous,and so are these planters, pick yours.







There is also an oval bullring here but we couldn't get inside. The views up here are amazing.




Adiós!

Nancy

Miles 9,643
Countries 9

Up the mountain to Rondo!!

Buenos días Travelers!!






Monday September 21, we got in the Audi and drove up the mountain to a place called Rondo.


This amazing little white hill town is know for it bullfights, so we're taking you all!!!!



Take a seat....





The bull comes out of this door.....



Actually we missed it, they had one the first week end in September. Our guide book says Rondo is the "birthplace of modern bullfighting" and that this was the first great Spanish bullring. Evidently bullfighting was initiated as war traing for knights in the 16th century. Hardly seems modern.

The other major site here is the Gorge and New Bridge (that was built in 1751)but that's new in Europe. Legend has it the architect fell to his death while inspecting it and during Spain's brutal Civil war, hundreds from both sides were thrown off this bridge. You can actually walk down.





This place was not for the faint of heart.




Adiós!

Nancy

Miles 9,593
Countries 9

We Here!! Malaga, Spain

Buenos días

Saturday Sept 19th, we took a fast train to Malaga, Spain. Picked up an Audi and drove to Mijas where Sally's time share is, this is what we did.



Beautiful place.







Adiós!

Nancy

Toledo , Spain

Buenos días Travelers!!

Well we disembarked our ship on Friday Sept 18 in Barcelona. We didn't stay there, no time to dawdle. We took the train to Madrid and then to beautiful Toledo, no not Ohio, SPAIN!!!! Sadly it was raining and late afternoon but we did manage to get a lot in. First we practically slid down from our hotel to the Holy Church Cathedral of Toledo.





The outside, although beautiful as cathedral's go, the inside is amazing. Our guide book said the interior "is so lofty, rich, and vast that it'll have you wandering around like a Pez dispenser stuck open, whispering WOW", and indeed it did, I couldn't stop making the sign of the cross and genuflecting. There was also a wedding going on in one of the side chapels. Security wouldn't let us take inside pictures but I found some on the internet for you to see. This is called the "transparente" and is nothing I've ever seen. It's an actual whole in the ceiling. This cathedral is probably the origin of the phrase "Holy Toledo"....







Some of the wooden carvings on the choir chairs in this cathedral are so detailed and accurate that historians have studied them to learn the evolution of weaponry.




Next we wandered thru some of the maze like streets and got lost several times. This well preserved medieval town that sits atop a circular hill is a MUST SEE if you ever go to Spain. Toledo is just a 30 minute train ride from Madrid.





We found a cute little family run bar with the best tapas yet. Have some, there are delicious, along with some wine. She also makes the best Mojotos.













The next day we went back to Madrid to start our journey to the south of Spain to Malaga and Sally's time share. Some of the train stations in Spain are just a beautiful as the surroundings. This one in Toledo is especialy beautiful.



The one in Madrid has a hugh garden with these guys in it, they were fun to watch while waiting.






Adiós!

Nancy

Miles 9,108
Countries 9