Portugal and Spain

After the Camino ended, my Dad flew to meet us in Santiago. From there we travelled to Portugal and southern Spain. 

My goal of this blog is to share more pictures than words...we'll see how that goes. 

The first stop was Coimbra, Portugal. There's a large (and quite famous) University there, perched on top of a big hill. We climbed and climbed and never really found the University. The city was just beautiful though, and so full of delicious looking (and tasting) desserts. Good thing we were only there for one day. The Portugese know how to bake!!

We happened to be there on the day of an accordion festival. I have never seen so many accordion bands. (Full of all sorts of people- young and old). Big Don would have loved it. The accordions were fun to listen to for a bit, but our hotel was on the main square, and the noise kept us up half the night. Oh, well. Fun to see. 

Next we drove around three hours down the coast to Sintra. 

On the way we stopped at an adorable little town, Obidos. It was a great stop with an old city wall surrounding the city, beautiful flowering trees, and products typical of the area including cork everything (cork is a very popular material here because of the trees) and lots of Ginja (cherry licour ,typical of the area, served in chocolate shot glasses). We also tried sausage bread, a delicious fruit called Kaki (which I just learned is a type of persimmon), and Dad tried sardines, a "Portugese must."  (Yuck!)

After Obidos we drove near Sintra and stayed in a cute little place in a small village. When I say small- I mean small. Crazy narrow roads...we actually had to park at the church at the top of town and walk down pathes to reach our cottage. Really cool though- reminded me of Greece. 

We spent the our first day relaxing at the beach. (Mom and I were still in recovery mode, and Dad still getting over jetlag). 

The next day I trained into Lisbon while my parents stayed to tour the famous castle in Sintra. I really liked exploring Lisbon. Loved the hills, the water, and the beautiful streets. It reminded me a lot of San Fransisco.  

From Sintra we headed farther south to the Algarve. On the way we stopped at the farthest western point in Europe (what people used to believe Finnistere was). 

After nearly a full day of driving we made it to the Algarve. The next day we spent in Lagos. What incredible beaches and cliffs! 

We ended the day by checking out the surfing at the beach by where we were staying. A lot of surfers!

Unfortunately it poured our second day in the Algarve. So instead of taking in all gorgeous beaches, we took in all the local coffee houses. 

The next day we headed back to Spain. We stopped in one last Portugese village. I love how the sidewalks are crafted in Portugal. It is such an art. 

In Spain we headed to the White Villages. The White Villages, or Pueblos Blancos, are a series of towns and villages in the Andalusian region of Spain. They are characterized by their whitewashed walls and red/brown tiled roofs. The red tiled roofs really add a nice pop to the all white villages. It's quite a site to see. We wondered what would happen if someone wanted to paint their house blue!? :)

 We stayed in a cool, art filled cottage tucked away high up in the mountains, overlooking one of the villages. A really special place. 

We spent one day in the city of Ronda, and the next day exploring two other of the villages, Grazalema and Zahara. 

Above was a cork forest we drove through. As you can see, the bottoms of these trees have recently been harvested. Every 9 years, the cork can be harvested. I wish I knew more about the whole art, as it seemed really cool. 

In Zahara we hiked up to an old castle overlooking the town and reservoir. I wish we had lakes this color at home!

After our beautiful stay in the White Villages we headed to Granada for one night. I'd never been to the city, but I instantly fell in love. The Moorish influence is just incredible and adds a unique element to everything (architecture, cuisine, styles). I felt like I was in an exotic market place the whole time. Between the flamenco dancing, amazing streets full of colorful and unique items, to the delicious tea and food. Really a cool place, and I would love to spend more time in the future. It is also home to the famous Moorish palace, The Alhambra. 

The next day we drove about 10 hours to get to Barcelona, our final destination. We did not arrive untill late (especially when our bus from the airport did not arrive and we had to impromptu train and walk to our apartment). It was a long day, but once we finally made it, it was so FUN to be back in the city I love so much. There is so much life in Barcelona, you can't help but be energized. The whole time we where there I felt like a giddy kid. 

We managed to see some new areas of Barcelona that we hadn't seen before. One great stop was visiting the inside of La Sagrada Familia, Gaudis famous church that's nearly 150 years in the making(and still not finished) . It was really fascinating to tour the inside of the church and have an audio guide explain the nuances. Gaudi was such a genius, and to learn about his processes and the symbolism and references to nature is incredible. Of all the churches I've seen on my trip, this is definitely my favorite. 

I'm really glad we took the tour. A lot of work has happened over the past 5 years, and I think we saw it at a good time. (Really this is just my justification that not seeing it in 2010 was okay :) The goal is to have Sagrada Familia completed by 2026, which would be 100 years after Gaudis death in 1926. They better get a'moving! 

We attempted to go to Parc Guell after Sagrada Famila and have a "day of Gaudi", but sadly, it now costs money to see the park (8 euros)! I think this is ridiculous and I'm happy I got to see it back in the day when it was free. What a shame!

We had 2 great days in Barcelona. Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery. Spent a lot of time in La Boqueria..buying those delicious fruit cups and smoothies :) Ah I just love it there. 

I didn't take many pictures in Barcelona, which is a good thing. I felt like I had all pictures of everything important from before, and I tried to enjoy the city like a local. 

The last night we all enjoyed a delicious dinner together. Celebrating a great trip and my parents anniversary. Cheers to a good trip!