Day 23: The Amazing Alhambra!

Tickets to the Alhambra are quite hard to come by- my tour books say that the line for tickets sometimes resemble Disney World! We didn't reserve ahead of time and we didn't want to pay a ton of extra money for a guided tour so Mom woke up super early this morning and went to line-up outside the Alhambra before it even opened! (Luckily our hotel is just down the street from it!) She managed to get us tickets for this afternoon (they only let in a certain amount of people at a certain time), so this morning we did a bit of walking around the Old Town. We stopped at a cafe for lunch and ordered some pizza- and man, I didn't think I would ever say this but it had so much cheese I think it was TOO much! I didn't think that was even possible! It was still delicious but I'm glad we decided to share just one! Although I was pretty full from lunch I managed to save some room for gelato. We saw this place yesterday and we were so impressed bu their presentation we just had to go back! Not only were their displays gorgeous but the gelato was delicious too (I had "Mars" bar flavour!)


We headed back to the Alhambra for the 2pm entrance, and after a little bit of waiting, we finally got to see the amazing palaces that people line up for hours to see! The intricate detail in the ceilings and archways and flooring was just unbelievable! And the fact that it is still standing after hundreds of years is pretty darn impressive! Oh and of course, my favourite, we also got some beautiful panoramic views of the city!


Love, Dianna

Day 22: Food Makes Everything Better!

Our train didn't leave until noon today so we took a quick walk around the town before we had to head off to the station. Everything was going smoothly until we got into Granada. When we arrived we decided that since we were already at the train station we should pick up our tickets for Valencia. Unfortunately, as we soon discovered, the only train on Wednesday leaves at 10pm and gets into Valencia at 5am! We brainstormed a few other options of what we could do instead...but nothing really seemed to work! So it will be a little inconvenient, but what can ya do!

Now we had the task of getting to our hotel. There were about 15 people waiting for a cab (with no cab around) so we decided to take the bus. We soon realized though, that the hotel had given very bad directions on their website. The bus number, the connection and the bus stop location were ALL wrong, so after attempting that for about 30min, we ended up just taking a cab! Our hotel is a little far away from the city centre but its right beside the Alhambra (the main tourist attraction here in Granada that we are checking out tomorrow!)

We relaxed at our hotel for a bit and then we took the bus into town for dinner where things FINALLY started going our way! We ate our hearts out- 3 courses for 13.50€ and the food was amazing! Definitely our favourite meal so far this trip! After dinner we "waddled" around for a bit, but soon headed home to bed.


Love, Dianna

Day 21: Bull Fights & Flamenco in Seville!

We wasted no time this morning and headed out bright and early into town- seems like we were the only ones though! Not much was open before 10am...and it was Sunday which didn't help at all! We stopped off at a little cafe for breakfast- Mom got a little distracted by all the sweets and baked goods- but we managed to have a sensible breakfast and then we were on our way once again. We saw a few churches and cool buildings although not too many because we were having a little trouble with our directions! All throughout my trip I have not gotten lost ONCE, but today was a different story! I'm not sure if Mom was messing with my mojo or Seville is just really confusing, but we were going around in circles for a while! We stopped off at another cafe for lunch with a very slow waiter and a very big language barrier. This is the first city I've been to where it seems like no one speaks English! But after a few hand signals Mom and I managed to order a sandwich- only one though because we wanted lots of room for dessert- and man, did we go all out! You don't get stuff like that at home!


We bought tickets for the bull fight (apparantly Seville is the best place in Spain to watch one!), so we headed there for 6:00. Some people had been telling me that the bull gets killed after the fight so we had some sort of idea of what we were in for- but it was still much more bloody than we thought it would be! While everyone was cheering for the matador, Mom and I were cheering for the bull! haha To sum it all up: it was a lot less action and a lot more violent than I expected! It was interesting to see (I was amazed to see how many locals just LOVE it!), but I think one time was enough for me. Well, actually I can't even say once because we left before it was done!


We left early not only because we were disgusted, but also because we wanted to get some dinner before we went to the flamenco show we had tickets for. I knew this flamenco show was gong to be different than the one I saw in Madrid. That was moreof a "real" show in a little bar with locals- this one tonight was definitely put on for the tourists! But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing- the dancing was still amazing and the costumes were beautiful!


Tomorrow we are off to Granada...sorry about the delay in blog posts. Since we're staying in hotels now its a lot harder to get access to the internet! But I will try and keep up as best I can (and add pictures when I can)!

Love, Dianna

Day 20: Leavin´Lagos...

How do you know if you're going to have a wild night in Lagos? Well, most likely it will begin with dinner at Casa Rosa's where for €8.95 you can get the "Power Hour": one meal and all you can drink for one hour. Yes, that's exactly how my night began, and it didn't end there! We hopped around to a few bars, had a few more drinks and stumbled home around 4am. Luckily I could sleep in today- woke up around 10am, had a big homestyle breaky of bacon and eggs, and then headed to the station for my 1:45 bus. I was a little sad to leave Lagos...I wish I could have stayed there longer! But to make it a little easier on me: 1) I was meeting my mom in Seville! and 2) it was raining when I left so I couldn't enjoy the beach anyways!

I got into Seville around 8:00 and somehow managed to walk to the hotel. How I found it in the dark down all these winding streets in beyond me! I was only in the hotel for about 20 minutes when Mom arrived from the airport. I am so happy to have her here! We are going to have a blast! Mom has been travelling for over 24 hours straight, so a quiet night tonight...but a big day ahead of us tomorrow!

Love, Dianna

Day 19: In Paradise! (aka Lagos)

I have discovered something along my journey. No matter where you are from and no matter who you are - if you stay in a hostel, chances are you will be making yourself pasta for dinner. It is the universal hostel food I think! I can see why- its cheap and easy! I admit, I've made myself quite a bit of pasta as well! But I have an excuse- being a single traveller and only staying in a city for one or two nights means not a lot of options! I'm not going to buy a whole head of lettuce or bunch of broccoli for just me! Hopefully I will be having a little more variety when I meet up with my mom tomorrow!



Well this morning I had your typical hostel breakfast- cereal and toast- and then it was off for a relaxing day at the beach. There are two main beaches in Lagos, but also a few smaller areas of beach access that you can only reach by a steep set of stairs. They are like little coves with the rocks all around- kind of like little pieces of heaven! haha It was so beautiful and relaxing!











I headed back to the hostel for lunch and then in the afternoon it was back to the beach! (Its something I will never get sick of!) Tonight I am heading out with some people from my hostel...not sure exactly what is planned, but hopefully it won't be as crazy as Lisbon! But don't worry, my bus ride isn't until 1:45pm so I have plenty of time to sleep in! I know I probably shouldn't be going out so soon after that crazy pub crawl in Lisbon...but there's pretty much 2 reasons to come to Lagos: for the beach and to party! And since I've already gone to the beach, that means theres only one thing left for me to do! ;)

Love, Dianna

Day 18: Lisbon to Lagos!

Word of wisdom: DON'T go on a pub crawl in Lisbon the night before you have to catch a train to Lagos in the morning. You may think that 10:20am isn't that early, but when you get home at 5:30am...well, let's just say that getting to the train station was a bit of a challenge. To make it even more difficult? My alarm didn't go off! Either I slept through it or I didn't set it properly (both could be likely considering what I had to drink last night!) But whatever the reason was, I woke up with 40 minutes to spare before my train left. That meant no shower, no eggs and toast for breakfast, and an 8€ cab ride to get to the train station across town. Oh well, how many times do I get to party in Lisbon?! And it was totally worth it- the pub crawl was tons of fun! We went to 3 different places, all which were about the size of a shoebox! They would be the COAT CHECK room in a bar in Toronto! haha But it definitely added to the atmosphere!

So as you can imagine I wasn't feling so hot today. Two bumpy train rides later I made it to Lagos - but finding my hostel was a different story. When you only have directions that say "you'll pass a fish market, taxi stand and post officce, then you'll see a small square with a funny statue in it, but don't go too far because then you'll get to a big square with another statue..." it is understandable that I got a little lost! (By the way, I never even saw the fish market, taxi stand OR post office, and the funny statue was WAY on the other side of the square so I couldn't even see it from the street!) Now combine that with the fact that I still wasn't feeling so hot after last night's festivities and you will see why I was a not-so-happy camper when I finally made it to my hostel.

Usually I would head out right away and check out the city but I was exhausted. So I took a nap for a few hours, then got cleaned up and went out for dinner. I went to a traditional Portuguese restaurant and had a delicious meal - bread, salad, piri-piri chicken and dessert for only 12€! Definitely early to bed tonight- beach time tomorrow! Woo hoo!!!

Love, Dianna

Day 17: More to Explore in Lisbon!

I don't have very many complaints about any of the hostels I've stayed at so far, but this one in Lisbon is definitely one of the BEST! Its clean, well-run, they have a lady cooking eggs and toast for you in the morning, AND they have different events planned every night for all the guests! Yesterday was "wine night" where we got to sample a bunch of different Portuguese wine- white, red, port, and even GREEN wine! I had never heard of it before but it was quite good! Tonight they are hosting a pub crawl so I think for my last night in Lisbon I might just have to go all out and join them! I figure I won't be going to many pub crawls when my mom is in town, so I should get it out of my system now! (although Barb has been known to have one glass of wine and go a little crazy so you never know! haha)

Today was another hot day in Lisbon and another full day of sightseeing! I first headed up to the Alfama area of town- I had heard about a free walking tour at 11am, but I went and no one showed up! (Perhaps it was only running in the summer?) So instead I just toured myself around the area, went back to the hostel for a quick pit stop, and ten I was off to the Belem area. I saw tons of interesting stuff, plus I made a very important stop at "Pasteis de Belem". They are known across Portugal as having the best pasteis de nata (custard tarts). I think the lady kind of looked at me funny when I only ordered one, and now I know why- they were delicious! I wish I could send some home for you all to try! Or I could just eat a few more in you honour...ha ha!

Love, Dianna

Day 16: Lovin' the Lisbon Heat!

Fall? Autumn? I have nooo idea what you're talking about! Its pure summer weather here in Lisbon and I couldn't be happier! I think it was just under 30 degrees today- love it! I took the train from Porto this morning and got to my hostel with no problems. I'm staying in the Baixa area, apparantly on one of the best known shopping streets (warm weather, shopping...jealous yet? haha). I took a quick walk around this afternoon to check out the neighbourhood. One really interesting thing I saw was the Elevador de Santa Justa.




Doesn't it look strange?! It's an elevator built in 1902 that connects Baixa to another (higher up) area of town - the Bairro Alto. I heard you got some great views at the top (you know me and great views!) but the line up was quite long so I actually waited until after dinner to go back and check it out. And of course, it did not disappoint!



I thought I would be doing a lot of reading on my trip...but I haven't! I guess I'm too busy sightseeing! But I just finished my first book and I want to tell you about it becuase it was great! It's called "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. You may have heard about it becuase it was a New York Times Bestseller and they are currently making a movie based on it starring Julia Roberts. It's about a woman's journey to Italy, India and Indonesia to do just what the title says- eat, pray and love! Although some parts were a little too preachy for me (she goes into a lot of detail about yoga and God and so on), it was a really great story and it had a lot of stuff I could totally relate to! Here is one quote that I really enjoyed:

"Perhaps my life has not actually been so chaotic after all. It is merely this world that is chaotic, bringing changes to us all that nobody could have anticipated."

Love, Dianna

PS. Here are a few more pics from today...the first one was taken from my bedroom window!

Day 15: Pretty Porto!

This morning, along with a few of the people I met at the hostel last night, we went for a walk around town. Porto is right on the Duoro River and also very hilly (what's with all these towns and their uneven ground?!), so we got plenty of exercise and great views.

The city is also known for its Port wine. And since it was 12 noon on a Monday, what did we do? We walked around to a bunch of wineries to get some free samples! You didn't have to go on a tour or buy anything- it was great!

After a few hours of doing that, we headed back to our hostel to recharge. But I decided to head out again a few hours later to see a little more of the city. The architecture was amazing, of course- I saw some great churches and buildings, but also saw the not-so-nice side...I went down some side streets that weren't so pretty, but it really showed me another side of Portugal! Quite an eye-opener!

I hung out with some of my new "friends" at the hostel tonight- drinking some local wine, chatting, etc. I am off to Lisbon tomorrow morning so I'm going to try and get to bed at a decent hour tonight. Gotta be responsible y'know!

Love, Dianna

Day 14: Porto!

I have mixed feelings about bunk beds. I use to LOVE them (that stemming from many sleepovers at Amy's house when I was younger), and I was always a "top-bunk" kind of girl (I guess I thought it was cool to be so high up!). But my love affair with bunk beds is changing (might I say I'm growing up?!). So far on my trip I've mostly been sleeping on the bottom bunk. This is mainly due to the fact that some of the ladders are so awkward to climb up, or some don't even have ladders at all! But I'm not too fond of the bottom bunk either. When I'm laying in bed and someone is moving around above me, all that creaking and squeaking gets me imagining the bed just breaking and falling on top of me. I know, a little unrealistic, but it could happen!

Although I didn't have to worry about that last night because I was the ONLY person in the hostel! I guess you can't really call it a hostel- pretty much it was just a few rooms and a couple of bathrooms above a bar/internet cafe. It was kind of creepy though! Your mind starts thinking about crazy things...(I have stupid movies like "Hostel" to thank for that!), but fortunately I "survived" the night!

Before I hopped on the train down to Lisbon I stopped off at a little cafe for breakfast. I ordered a chocolate croissant (breakfast of champions, right?!), but it was so huge I could only eat half of it! And that's coming from someone who LOVES sweets!

It was a smooth trip down to Lisbon and in no time I was on my way to Porto. WHen I got into the city I made my way to the subway, which was a bit of an adventure in itself. The ticket machine only takes coins- and just my luck, I spent all my change buying lunch a few hours earlier. So I HAD to buy an ice cream (I had no choice!) and eventually made it onto the metro and to my hostel.

I decided to just relax tonight...I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some food, but other than that, I am saving all my sightseeing for tomorrow! I chatted with some people at the hostel for a while, and now I'm off to bed!

Love, Dianna

Day 13: Sun in Sintra!

**Sorry this post has taken so long! Having to rely on hostel computers doesn't always work out!

When I hopped on the night train to Lisbon I was immediately worried about my decision to NOT get a bed. The train looked like it was from the 1950's! But as it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised! I had a great sleep (even better than at some of the hostels I've stayed at!) so I got to Lisbon well rested and ready to continue on to Sintra.

Although I was wide awake when I got to Sintra, the rest of the town wasn't! The tourist office wan't open yet, and my hostel didn't open til noon! I wanted to start sightseeing but I knew I wouldn't be able to lug around my massive backpack with me (and the only luggage storage place in town didn't open til noon either!), so I just waited it out but reading my book on a park bench.

After I finally dropped my bag off I headed into the historic downtown to check out some of the sights. First up was the Sintra National Palace (kind of the landmark of the town). Next I wanted to see the Moorish Castle, and although I bought a bus pass for the day, I decided not to use it for the castle because according to one of my guide books: "the 3km greenery-flanked hike from the centre of town provides great views." Well they failed to mention a few things with that. 1) Before you even get to the start of the 3km you have to walk about 15 minutes going STRAIGHT UP.

2) Then when you actually get to the 3k, its ALSO straight up. Then, to make matters worse, when I get to the entrance I see people are handing in their tickets. Apparantly since I walked up from a different area I missed the ticket booth. So I had to go an extra 10 minutes (also uphill) out of the way to purchase my ticket, then go BACK to the entrance. And once inside I realize they have another ticket booth right there! Grr!! Very maddening, but heck, I got an amazing workout! Since the castle is extremely old (9th century), most of it is just big stone walls in the dirt. At first I was thinking, "Wow, all that work for just this?!" but then I headed up the tower and saw this:

Just give me a beautiful view and it makes it all worth it! Next up was the Pena National Palace. I WISH I could have lived in this house- it was spectacular! No photos allowed inside, but here are a bunch from the outside:

Attached to the Palace is Pena Park which I didn't explore because 1) its HUGE 2) I was still tired from that massive trek to the Moorish Castle that I didn't think I would survive! I guess I will just have to come back to Sintra again one day...

I headed back to the hostel to relax for a bit and then shower and get ready for dinner. You may have noticed in the pics I'm wearing the same outfit as yesterday- sorry, I'm not usually such a dirt bag but I was on the overnight train and then I couldn't get into my hostel until 3, so there's nothing I could do! I swear, I'll wear clean clothes tomorrow!

Speaking of clothes, today was the first day in a while that I've taken off my sweater! The rain did NOT follow me to Portugal and I got to enjoy beautiful weather today. Hopefully it sticks around for the rest of my trip!

Since the hostel didn't have a kitchen I treated myself out to dinner tonight. I went to a restaurant that Lonely Planet recommended called "Tulhas" and it didn't disappoint! Although I did pay more than what I thought I would...So this is what they started me off with: (this doesn't even include what I ordered for dinner!)

The waiter said you just pay for what you eat- but I didn't take into consideration that if you eat one olive, then you're charged for the whole bowl! So it was a little pricier than what I expected, but I guess it all evens out in the end considering I've been eating churizo and baguette sandwiches for the last few days! Oh, and you didn't even see what I ordered for dinner:

It's a Portugese dish called bacalhau (codfish). I'm not sure if they serve it in different ways but mine came with potatoes and cream- kinda like a pot pie without the crust! Oh, and I also got a glass of port wine (on the house!) for dessert. I must say, it made me very excited about going to Porto tomorrow!

Although Sintra is slightly north of Lisbon, it looks like I'll have to head back down to the city to catch a train up to Porto. The train that brought me to Sintra is kind of like a commuter train and the last stop is here! Oh well, the trip was only 45 minutes so I'll be on my way to Porto in no time!

Love, Dianna

PS. How could I forget to tell you about my "shower" experience today?! And I put the word shower in quotation marks because you could hardly call it that. So I hop in the shower, turn on the water and wait for it to warm up. And wait. And wait. Realizing its never going to get hot, I decide to improvise by just washing the important bits (hair, feet, etc)- and even that was almost unbearable! At least the shower was bigger than most I've seen so far....

Day 12: Stunning Segovia and a Suprise Visitor!

Finally, no rain today! But on the downside, it is still freezing! I definitely should have brought another sweater with me...maybe my mom can bring me one when I meet up with her in Seville. Yes, you heard me correctly! Someone has actually taken me up on my invitation to join me in Europe! A week tomorrow my mom will be flying into Seville and travelling around Spain and France with me for almost 2 weeks! I am soooo excited! Maybe my mom will start a trend...ok, who's joining me next?!

This morning I hopped on the train to Segovia. I thought it was only going to take half and hour...turns out it takes 2 hours! But it was totally worth it. They have this massive Roman aqueduct cutting right through the middle of town - it is incredible! They also have a beautiful cathedral and the Alcazar, which is pretty much a castle where royalty used to live. I took a tour of the house, plus climbed up the tower for some beautiful views of the city.

So you may think that this trip is costing me a fortune...but I have been saving a lot of money on food lately! I have made a new discovery that I am absolutely in love with. Baguette, cheese and churizo. It's the most basic thing ever, but it is so delightful and so cheap! A baguette here is only 42 cents!!! (plus they taste way better than the ones you get at home)

In a few hours I'm heading off on the night train to Lisbon. I'm not actually staying in Lisbon once I get there, though. I'm first heading up to Sintra for a night, then Porto for 2 nights, and THEN back down to Lisbon. I know, its hard to keep track! Hopefully the 10 hour train ride won't be too uncomfortable...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Love, Dianna