Portugal - A New Country to Our List

Left Sevilla on the early side to have time to explore the coastline on our way to Portugal. According to google, the trip would take us about two hours; however, our gps (Nancy) felt differently. She had a rigorous driving regime set, getting us there in only one hour! We constantly cursed her and kept making fun of her for wanting us to travel about 200kph. But she got the last laugh... As later learned, Portugal is one hour behind Spain (and the rest of Europe).

Since then we had four hours to kill before meeting our next host at the apartment, we ventured down a dirt road, which opened up to a beautiful cove on the sea. We found a perfect lunch spot where we shared turkey sandwiches with avocado, tangerines, yogurt and half a bottle of Chapoutier.


We also spotted another panther roaming the cove.


Where is he?

After a few hours of soaking in the sun, we headed towards Portimão and met our host (again through AirBnB) who showed us the apartment. It's a very modern, spacious one bedroom with all the amenities we needed... Including a grill for Martin!

After settling, we went grocery shopping getting the essentials for the ultimate grilling session (plus a 5kg bag of charcoal). The rest of the evening was spent tending to the fire (ok just Martin... While Kate watched) and enjoying an awesome dinner!


Martin also claimed that the fire wasn't hot enough, so he resolved that by adding plenty more charcoal. Shortly after, not only could he not put his hands near the flames, the everything was quickly done... And charred... No kidding... It was delicious.





Just a quick sneak peak at our Christmas decorating...


More to come!

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Rotunda da Marina,Portimão,Portugal

Look Out for the Panther

Went for a run in the morning to get a feel for other parts of the city, especially the river front. Back at the apartment, we showered, ate breakfast and set out to explore yet another Spanish city.

We first walked to Puerta de Jerez and just sat in the sun writing yesterday's blog. It was about 65 degrees with very intense sun, perfect for soaking in rays. Then we made our way to Parque Maria Luisa. It is a beautiful park with exotic vegetation, lots of palm trees, and a collection of smaller tropical gardens with water features. We even found a panther! Can you spot him?


Then we visited Plaza de España - a huge plaza with amazing tile work very where you look... The walls, bridges, stairs, etc. It is definitely one of our favorite plazas in Spain.











After loitering for awhile, we cut through the park and into a neighborhood where we found a supermarket and purchased some lunch essentials. We went back to the park, found a sunny bench and enjoyed our lunch there. In the middle of our lunch, another jungle predator (aka a little puppy) tried to snatch our food by jumping on the bench. Luckily we were able to fight him off. He was super cute though.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets, people watching and enjoying the sun.

Later in the evening, we set out to find the best tapas in Sevilla taking the suggestions of Juan and Jake (Martin's friend); however, we quickly learned that most kitchens don't open until 8:30pm. So we ended up jumping from one place to another having small cold tapas. Very good nonetheless.

To top off our night, we found a carnival and the kids in us just came out!





Just as a general note for those who haven't been to Sevilla... It is pretty amazing to see the number of orange trees that dot the city. They are everywhere you turn! We were tempted to try them but not brave enough since you can buy a huge bag of perfectly ripened clementines for €1.50.

Location:Calle Conteros,Seville,Spain

Flamenco Ole!

Grabbing two cups of coffee, we took a nice early morning walk through the Arab neighborhood to see the streets before the crowds arrived and to take in the brisk morning air. When we arrived at the look out, there was barely anyone there, and we had a beautiful view of the Alhambra once again.

Back at the hostel, we made some sandwiches for the road, packed up the car and said our goodbyes to Granada.

Headed west to Sevilla, a three hour drive. Arrived and parked at the Plaza de Toros and met our host for the next two nights. Juan is a local who rents two of his rooms out to travelers passing through. We found it (along with a few other locations) through a website called AirBnB.com. The building is exactly what you would think of when you imagine Sevillan architecture - beautiful interior courtyard, amazing tile work and central fountain. Juan was very welcoming and gave his recommendations for tapas places noting them all on a map of Sevilla for us. Best of all, the apartment is on a quiet street just one block from the main cathedral.


We took the rest of the evening to explore downtown Sevilla. We admired the Christmas markets where they sell every imaginable figurine for the Nativity scene. We took this opportunity to get in the Christmas spirit and purchase a huge Christmas tree for our car dashboard. It's a whole two inches tall! And a necessity at €1. Pictures to come.





After walking around for awhile, we sat down at a tapas bar and had the typical meal - croquetas, tortilla Española, gazapacho, jamon iberico and two glasses of Rioja.



At around 9:30pm, it was recommended by Juan to visit a flamenco show speak-easy... It was on a quiet residential street with an unmarked door. Once you find it, you make your way through an empty room with just a man playing piano, then it opens up to a covered courtyard with a big bar and plenty of communal tables. The flamenco show started at 10pm with a trio, a man playing Spanish guitar, a male singer and a female dancer. By this time, the place was packed with locals and tourists alike. It was a fun and memorable experience. The show lasted an hour, and we left shortly thereafter.



- Martin & Kate

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Location:Calle Conteros,Seville,Spain

Tales of La Alhambra

On Saturday morning, we woke up early again as we had reservations to visit La Alhambra. We opted to walk up the hill instead of take the bus, which proved the right choice since it led us through beautifully maintained forests, and almost no one was around. Reached the Alhambra at 8:45am. We explored the numerous palaces, buildings and fortress walls for hours. (The Alhambra is a palace, first built by an Arabian sultan in 1234. In 1492, it changed hands to the Catholic kings who built an additional palace to the complex in the name of Carlos V.) The old Arabic architecture was fascinating and evoked a magical feeling.














After spending a few hours there, we walked back to the hotel for lunch in the room and a siesta.

In the afternoon, we set out again to explore more of the Arab neighborhood. We found another lively street similar to the one from the day before.


This time we decided to experience one of the Moroccan tea rooms. The place was jammed. Everything surrounding us was intricately decorated with vivid primary colors and Arabic patterns. We sat on tiny stools and sipped Moroccan tea... For those who haven't tried it, it's delicious! And perfectly sweetened.


Went back to the hotel kill time until the tapas bars gained some more life.

Around 8:30pm, we ventured out in search of the perfect tapas bar. We looked at many and decided on one around 9:30pm. There we enjoyed jamon iberico, manchego, olives, croquetta, gazpacho, one of their nightly meat specials and two glasses of Rioja.

Soon after we left, we spotted a tiny kitten in a plaza looking for dinner. As animal lovers, we couldn't let her go hungry for the night. So we went to an alimentacion and bought her a small croissant. We fed it to her piece by piece for about twenty minutes, and each time, she would take it back to her home in the bushes, eat it and come back for more... Always getting a little bit braver and closer.

Feeling good that we filled her tummy, we went back to the Arab neighborhood for more tea and dessert. We stayed there until about midnight and then went back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Granada, Spain

Road to La Alhambra

The rooster went off early yesterday morning because we wanted to get a jump start on our drive to Granada. We had tea, yogurts and bread in the apartment then, with our backpacks, we took the metro to Atocha where we parked the car. Luckily when we arrived, our car was in perfect condition and ready for the drive, minus the fact that we forgot the gps at the apartment. We pieced together streets and arrived back in short order, packed the car and hit the road.

We drove the five hours due South for Granada. The landscape was unbelievable! The arid hills were covered in olive trees for as far as our eyes could see.








Arrived in Granada just before three and checked into our hostel... Which is more like a hotel than a hostel, nice surprise.

After dropping our luggage, we decided to explore the Arabic neighborhood. It's just up the street, but it feels like another world. The street is packed with two things: tiny shops selling leather bags, traditional clothing and music and Moroccan tea rooms. We wound our way upwards through narrow alleys to catch a glimpse of the Alhambra on the neighboring hill. All the buildings in this area are completely whitewashed. It's absolutely picturesque!

Made it to the top and got an amazing view of the Alhambra, mountains, valleys and all of Granada.





We sat in a church square for awhile listening to group play Flamenco music. After taking in the view, we walked back down along the river as the sun was setting.


On our way, we stumbled upon the Granada Historical Archive building that had some beautiful gardens.


Back in town, we explored some of the recommendations given to us by our concierge. Martin was insistent that Kate try churros con chocolate. Even though they would good, they weren't the best... According to Martin.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Calle del Conde de las Infantas,Granada,Spain

A Not So Traditional Thanksgiving

After our busy day, we decided to take it easy. We spent some time in our favorite café again. Then we did some grocery shopping for our Thanksgiving meal. We had lunch at the apartment and shortly after ventured out to explore another part of the city.

Yesterday, we chose Parque el Retiro and the neighborhood surrounding it. Our first stop was la Puerta de Alcalá, a beautiful archway over one of the most important intersections in Madrid. This is also at the corner of the park. We made our way, just winding through the paths and came to Monumento a Alfonso XIII, which is on a big pond where people can rent rowboats.





Then we continued our walk and stumbled upon a "Crystal Palace", an old greenhouse that is now part of the Reina Sofia museum.








We also stopped at its sister building in the park that made a beautiful tile work exterior.


Inside, there was an exhibit showcasing René Daniëls work. We think it was from the Post Modern Era, but it wasn't really our style.


After, we walked through the park and found an incredibly well-kept and gorgeous rose garden.


When we reached the end of the park, we decided to walk the exterior streets to see the neighborhoods surrounding it. One of the areas was particularly chic, and we waved hello to the hotel Scott and Bill stayed when they visited Martin.

Found our way back to the apartment with just our good senses of direction. We discussed our Thanksgiving menu. Started dinner around 7pm. Our form of Thanksgiving dinner wasn't necessarily traditional, but it was plentiful. We prepared sliced turkey rolls with manchego and jam, another version of turkey rolls with mustard and avocado, sautéed rosemary/garlic potatoes, a beet salad and two Valhrona truffle chocolates (we have been carrying since Tournon).





It was delicious and a good alternative to Thanksgiving in Madrid, although it made us miss all of you even more.

- Martin & Kate

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Location:Madrid, Spain

Nonstop in Madrid

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We had a very productive day yesterday. First, we visited La Cocina Di Mí Vecina for our morning coffee. Then we set off on our museum day, first stopping at La Caixa Forum, which has some incredible architecture inside and out.


There we saw a great free exhibit of Delacroix's work.


Next we broke up our museums by going to Atocha train station. Inside it houses an exotic garden and even turtles. Pretty cool.


We continued on to the Reina Sofia museum where we saw multiple exhibits with paintings by Dalí, Picasso, Miro... Just to name a few. And of course some more modern artists.





Leave it to Martin to break the no photo rule in yet another country... All for his devotion to the blog.


A picture of Picasso's Guernica! The museum had numerous of his sketches leading up to this painting; it was fascinating to see the evolution. We also saw a number of Spanish Civil War photos and propaganda which further explained Picasso's Guernica.

After seeing so many paintings, we were tried and hungry, so we set out to find some food. We decided to go to Mercado San Miguel, which we was a gourmet market, but we didn't know exactly what it was. But we loved it! It was an old market that they turned into a foodie's dream. Maybe 30 different stands offering an endless range of tapas, pastries, cheeses, juices, wines and more. Visitors purchase tapas at the stands and either ate them at the bars they have or communal tables in the center (if you could find a seat). Tapas were between €1-€3. It was hard to make a decision as to which tapas to try because they all looked so good! We wandered through the market, buying them as they jumped out at us. We had: smoked salmon and dill on toast, soy empanada, avocado cream with tobiko caviar on toast, tortilla Española with manchego, cracker with goat cheese, membrillo and walnuts, tomato/mozzarella skewer with a pesto dressing, Miloja Danesa (an almond tart) and a little piece of chocolate.





(Trust us... It's better than it looks in the picture!)

With full stomachs, we walked around the Plaza Mayor where they were setting up Christmas markets. Then we walked around Sol and headed back home.

Later that evening, we went to a café to get out of the apartment, act like locals and have a glass of wine. We ate dinner at the apartment and played cards until around 10pm when we set out to bar hop. We stopped at the same lounge where before we got free empanadas with our drinks, but no luck this time! Next, we went to one of Martin's favorite places when he was here, Viva Madrid. Although it changed from a bar to a restaurant, it was fun because the inside was covered in beautiful Spanish tile work. We walked through Sol, and it was cool to see it all lit up.


Lastly, we hit up another of Martin's favorites, La Via Lactea, a retro style bar where we shot some pool.


- Martin & Kate

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Location:Calle Corredera Alta de San Pablo,Madrid,Spain