Eat My Meaty Thing!

The day started off pretty relaxed, we hung around the room for the morning.. there doesn't seem to be all that much open for the mornings here and then we headed off to check out a few little places.. 

 ..one being the port museum, which by the name of it you would think it would be all about port and possibly even show how they make port right? Well wrong! The best part about it was the seats, that we used to take a little break before heading over the bridge to the other side for lunch.. where we were to eat Francesinha.. which was pretty fucking good. meaty, cheesy, bready, beery goodness! 

After lunch we headed off to do a little more port tasting.. boozeheads we are! But while in Porto.. one must drink port.. right?

Em and I then parted from Georg and Mike and headed up, what turned out to be another freaken steep cobblestoned hill! But at the top we had a pretty awesome view of Porto..

And then we got to go over the bridge, that wobbled a little as we walked on it, and as trains went over it.. I felt safer on the Eiffel Tower. But.. there was a pretty stellar view over Porto from the bridge too..

We made our way through the streets, came across a little market, had a little nosy about.. which is where we came across this little guy pecking away at the flowers that were for sale.. 

We made it home all safe and sound and had a relaxing evening in the room, drinking tea from wine glasses, eating dinner, playing asshole and just general chinwagging. It was a pretty reasonable night. Also one of the employees here.. actually dropped off some fresh towels for us.. which I didn't think would actually happen. He did it all in secret, coz you aren't allowed to have the towels changed before 3 days of use. However it wasn't until just after he left that I realised that I could have just washed and dried our towels in the washerdryer combo that we have in the apartment. Doh! *facepalm*

Next stop.. Lisbon!

A Porty Affair!

Upon waking the first thing that hit me was.. the freaken stink! Porto smells weird. Really weird, but at least it wasn't the stink of pee. We headed off in the search of adventures.. walking the streets was pretty awesome with all the different shapes and sizes of the houses, shops etc.. all in different stages of collapse too, some places were completely rooted and then right next door it would be totally new. Weirdness but really cool too in a strange sort of way. It was actually something I really liked about Porto.

 

We checked out a couple of stores, which is where I picked up a new companion! I have named him EuroDuck! And he is awesome! Yes I now have a duck cane! That's right bitchez! Be jealous! I got some pretty interesting looks as I walked around with him.. EuroDuck shall make future appearances.. watch out for him! 

We also checked out a couple of churches, the catacombs and then we headed over the river to get stuck into lunch and some port tasting! Getting to the lunch spot turned out to be quite the uphill battle! It was like the hill that never ended.. I thought I was going to die when I got to the top.. I'm not entirely sure that I felt that lunch was worth the hike up either. It was nice food but it wasn't anything special and it seemed weird that they were all proper like for people.. tourists walking in all hot and bothered and dressed usually in sandals and shorts. After lunch, Emma had her heart broken when ordering dessert.. as the waiter came back and said that they weren't doing it now.. actually they said that for Georg too.. and all they really had left was boringstuff and who wants boring stuff? noone! which is why they still had some left I guess. Dessert was not had and then we headed off to taste a little port before heading back down the hill to the next port and chocolate tasting! The first place we went to, we tried 2.. one whitey and one reddy.. we then purchased the whitey. Then we darted off to find the chocolate and port tasting..

We opted to go with a 5 glass share effect.. I of course took one for the team and drunk most of the port to finish it off.. can't waste tasty port after all! Worship the port! And I must say, Emma has really gotten into the whole port drinking.. should I be worried?

Feeling a little merry and in good spirits we pissed off to go and do a river cruise, which seemed more like a bridge spotting cruise. Nothing special but it was a nice group activity with bellies full of port. Afterwards, home was calling so off we toddled.. and then just as we were about to arrive at home, Mike mentions how we finally don't actually smell the Porto scent. The next question is.. will we miss it when we leave? I dig Porto, but I can honestly say that I can't see myself coming back.

A Long Drive..

We had a big drive ahead of us today.. 8ish hours in fact. San Sebastian to Porto. Long drives are never a fun task.. luckily Emma and I got to have a taste of being in the front this time.. Emma driving and me taking in the scenery from the passengers seat. Such a better view up the front too.. I really discovered just how much I miss out on by sitting in the back. Hopefully Emma and I get a few more turns in the hot seats!

At the end, it got a little tense when we couldn't quite find the place but we did get there in the end and that is all that matters. We got settled in for the night by going to the grocery store to pick up some food and I spent the night catching up on my washing.. fun times! But I'm stoked that the place came with a washer and dryer.. even if it is one that takes forever! A penny saved!

The apartment is nice-ish.. a little charmless but its clean and tidy so that is all that matters. The neighbourhood is a little mixed.. having really old run down places right next to brand new places.. like the place we are in now.. doesn't even make it onto maps yet.

Tomorrow the real Porto adventures begin...

Pintxos!

The first place we went to was the one where we had lunch the previous day. We ordered a drink and grabbed a few little munchies.. this is what we ate..

I think the nicest thing was the potato thingo that Em ordered. The sauce was spicy.. but not so spicy that you want to die.. just enough that you wanna lick the plate. Of course we refrained. We are semi civilised afterall.

The next place was a little bit of a walk away, and they had some little bit ‘different’ foods.. one being a ham, almond and shortbread espresso.. which was mighty interesting, the first sip, kinda made you step back and check yourself but once you got over the initial shock of it, it really wasn’t all that bad.. the worst part of that dish was actually the crusted deepfried ham bites.. they were far too oily and totally ruined it.

All in all a good night out.. out of the three places we went to, my fave would have to be the first place, that I mentioned on the previous entry. They had nice beer and nice food. Well impressed with the pintxos experience overall.

Walking To Jesus!

Em and I were up bright and early for a quick wee hike up to see Jesus. A very technology embracing Jesus at that. It was weird to see antennas coming out of Jesus.

On the way to Jesus, we stopped to watch the waves crashing, 

and take a few photos.. you know how it goes when you are on holiday.. photos are a must, you will never see those moments again.. or well you might if you come back, but I don’t see that in my travel future. Anyways, here’s Em and I striking a pose!

Once we finally got back on our way we came the start of the uphill battle to Jesus, the start were of course freaken steps.. hardcore steps! More freaken steps! I can’t escape the steps and stairs.. of all unevenness or narrowness or steeeeeeep! I mean come on.. look at these.. 

We overcame that quickly and then the next thing we knew we were at a very steep bunch of hills.. up.. up.. up.. but we could at least stop for moments and take in the views as they were passing us by, along with the locals.. one lady even told us of a shortcut.. she and her friend had stopped by to feed the stray cats and birds.. yes in the same spot and she had 2 really cute dogs.. one came up to me but I didn’t get a pat.. that is one thing that I really loved about San Sebastian, and even Bordeaux actually.. the dogs were all so happy and running free and all getting along.. I didn’t see any dog fights at all.

Finally we made it to Jesus! 

And within minutes of being there, I saw the cutest thing, a dog was sitting up on a wall thing and its owner was taking her jumper off and as she was pulling it over her head, the dog jumped down, ran over to the water tap which was running, took a few chomps on the water.. you know as dogs do with running taps and then quickly ran around and jumped back up on the wall thing in front of its owner again as if nothing had happened. I was gutted I didn’t record it. So cute.

Here’s the view we saw from Jesus.. 

We made our way back down and headed to the beach, it wasn’t as nice of a day as it was yesterday but it was still nice to be at the beach and watch the surfers going for it.. then we headed back to the room for a bite to eat and a lounge around while the shops went into siesta mode. Em and I then headed out for another look around.. again down at the beach and then we decided we should maybe check out the shopping area.. we don’t really go on holiday to shop.. unless its America, then it’s completely acceptable to shop til you drop, coz you have an extra suitcase to carry all your new stuffs in.. which we tend to do when going there. Clever we are! Plus Em has her wallet set for Barcelona. Ok so where was I, ah yes.. we checked out a few shops.. nothing really interesting.. mainly all the same shops you get anywhere so as you can imagine that got boring really fast for me.. so we called into a pintxos bar, after stopping by an ice cream shop for a little scoop to share.. and had a drink and nibble before heading back to meet up with Georg & Mike, so that we could hit up some more pintxos bars. 

 

See Pintxos entry...

On the walk home, Em and I stayed behind to watch the sunset. It was so beautiful.. I love sunsets and sunrises for that matter, I personally think you can never get enough of them, I take every opportunity I can to see them in the different parts of the world. I really like to take in the smaller things in life. Em and I had a pretty good evening waiting for the sun to go down, and watching the people around us.. some were even fishing. The waves were crashing up, and Em was a little paranoid she was gonna get a little seawater wet.. no biggy I say! It’s part of the fun right? 

Hangman At The Beach!

We arrived in San Sebastian and the weather was simply beautiful and it didn’t smell like piss! Finally some good sun for me to get my real goggle face happening.. and so it did, as I quickly discovered when we returned back to the room. Without fail, I get some kind of crazy sunburn while on holiday.

We dropped our bags off at the place we were staying and then headed out for a bite to eat.. at a place recommended by the very happy receptionist lady, she was super nice and super super smiley and helpful.. I believe Georg even got a little groped by her.. now how's that for a well-rounded service! Real bang for your buck!

Anyways, back to the meal.. the place we went to had pretty decent food, I found it a tad salty personally but for 12.5 euros you can't really complain about it at all.. a starter, a meat main, a beer and an espresso to finish the meal off.. Emma got a cheesecake instead. Again, some real bang for your buck! No groping though.. sadly.

With full bellies and feeling cheery, we headed off to check out the neighbourhood and back to the room to get checked in properly before heading off to really check this place out. It was such a beautiful day, that it was no wonder we ended up at the beach.. with sand, people.. some even topless! say waaaat! and very happy dogs. We walked along the beach, with our feet in the water before finding a place to settle to just watch and play a little hangman.. beach hangman is the shit! 

We even came across this dude doing a little sand art.. very cool! 

We hung at the beach for a while and then headed back to the room for a bite to eat, we were meant to go out for pintxos but we were still all a little full from lunch so a little nibble and then a night for me catching up on posting my blogs.. it took longer than expected.. so you bitchez! better be grateful!

W.T.F.Man?!

Our last morning in Paris, consisted of eating breakfast and catching the craziest taxi ride ever! OMG! The driver was nuts! In a good way.. the drivers over here are pretty freaky and they just drive all over the place. He was going 111 in an 80km/h zone at one point.. but it seems everyone drives much faster than the speed limit.. which makes me wonder why they bother having a speed limit.. we got to the airport in one piece and in good time too.. which isn’t that surprising with his speeds lol

Upon arriving at the airport, that is where things started to go less smoothly and we ended up waiting outside for our car for over 30mins only to discover that they had actually given our car to another customer.. freaken morons! Seriously wtf! W.T.F!

Eventually they found us a replacement car and we were on our way.. about an hourish later than we had expected. The car is pretty decent and it will do the trick nicely.

And so the road trip part of the journey has begun.. bring on the sitting up sleeping with the mouth open wide.. you know the sleeping in a car look I'm sure.. just bring it on! The weather was pretty good travel weather, in my opinion. The drive seemed to go by reasonably well.. without any hitches, apart from the expense of the tolls.. they sure know how to rip you a new one here lol

We arrived in Bordeaux, checked in and Em and I took off to see what little we had time for, it’s just kind of a pit stop I guess, and being a Sunday we didn’t expect much.. but the town was pretty busy and there seemed to be some kind of concert happening and people playing in a water area, which is where I came across this pup.. 

There seemed to be quite a few dogs around.. and very playful ones at that. It is quite an interesting town, parts look like a ghost town while other parts.. well just don’t. It is a shame we wont be seeing more.. there is always time in another lifetime perhaps.

Paris Extravaganza!

Em and I got off to an early start and headed off to the Louvre, where we checked out the Mona Lisa among many other things.. but little miss Mona Lisa was the main attraction. We ended up spending quite a few hours in there looking around and of course there were more stairs! Everywhere I go there are bloody stairs.. either lots and lots of them or crazy stairs! I can’t escape the stairs lol

Next stop! Jim Morrison's grave! (among others) This was a little hard to find once we were in the cemetery, it was all tucked away but we found it, after walking on lots of cobble stone and up and down… more freaken stairs! It made me a little sad to see it if I am honest, I dunno exactly why, but I just didn’t feel it was ‘right’.. I am glad that I had gone there tho, very glad. Very glad in general that I went to the cemetery. There was such extravagance in there, actually there is extravagance all over Paris, its just one big extravaganza!  I really could have spent hours and hours and even more hours in there looking around at all the different graves.. I loved looking at them all and in their different stages of decay. New and old side by side, the newest grave we saw was from last year.

All the walking worked up an appetite so we started to make our way to the crepe place that Emma had had her eye on, we started off on the journey and then somewhere along the way, using the cartographer app for the iPhone, the point we were aiming for became another point and so we completely missed the crepe place so we had to back track about 10-15mins walking.. and of course once we arrived it was jam packed, we were told to come back in 25mins, and so we did and then we still had to wait another 20ish mins to be seated.. but once we were seated it was well worth the wait.. 

I had the yummiest galette to start with, accompanied by a buckwheat beer, which was pretty darn good too and then to finish things off we had a crepe.. by the we finished eating we were both SO full and it was time to make our way back to get some jeans on to go out for dinner with a real deal frenchie gal!

Oh funny toilet story! While waiting for the crepe place, I was busting to go loo.. so I went to go and use one of those automatic toilets that they have around the place, I pushed the button and walked in, and then pushed the button to close the door.. then I tried to open the door and it moved a little so I freaked out a little.. so I pushed the button to get out.. and asked Emma what it says when I am in there.. she said occupied.. so I went back in and pressed the button to close the door but nothing bloody happened and so I walked out again.. and THEN the door closed. So there I was, busting to use the loo with the door closed and saying occupied which meant that it would not open again unless someone from the inside opened it, which they wouldn’t coz that someone should have been me! Or 20mins passes and the bloody thing automatically opens.. so poop, no potty break for me.

Ok back to business.. All four of us headed off to meet Mike’s cousin for dinner, we arrive at the train station and start waiting.. waiting… waiting.. we were keeping a close eye out for this woman we all had never actually met before.. Emma spotted her first and there was a bit of a debate about if it was her or not.. but then she started speaking to people so it looked like she wasn’t waiting for anyone.. but then! The people were gone and she was looking more intently at the crowds coming up from the underground.. and texting on her phone.. there was much debate again and no one seemed willing to go up.. so I had enough and just walked up and asked if she was waiting for Mike and the relief on her face was awesome lol Soon enough all the intros were done and we were on our way to a little drinking spot to have a little chat and a drink before dinner.. Emma drunk wine! I was worried she was gonna get all dancey and huggy! That however, did not happen.

She then took us to this cute little place that made some good food, seeing as Em and I had had our lunch so late we didn’t have a main but we did have a starter and dessert, which were pretty darn good, I had a crème brûlée and it was delish! Mike’s cousin was a pretty awesome lady and I am very glad that I got to meet her. The French accent really does sound better when they speak English, which reminds me, when we were in Starbucks, we heard the lady behind the counter say mug and it was the coolest word I have heard so far.. so if you are ever around a frenchie, ask them to say mug.. I loved it! You just might!

By the time we got home, I was once again shattered.. it seems to be a common theme for my time in Paris.. but at least I got to see and enjoy so much. It really is a beautiful city, however I think I might be a little too afraid to ever live here lol The thing I love the most about Europe in general, their buildings have so much character rather than having the tall new soulless buildings that you can get. As much as I hate walking on cobblestones, I love the look of it in the cities. Everywhere you walk in Paris is just extravagant.. even in the areas that smell of total piss.. it’s a little crazy.

In Paris, we found about 10ish space invaders, I think it was a pretty good effort.. now I want to track down more.. in more places!

Next stop Bordeaux!

Bike About Paris!

Up for breakfast, supplied by the hotel.. baguettes, jams and a hot drink.. simple, tasty and quite moreish. With our bellies full we then toddled off for a long bike tour around Paris, the bikes were not desirable and well they really hurt your butt. Also I nearly fell off, coz I adjusted my seat and made it slighty too high so it was difficult to touch the ground when going slow.. and combining that with a huge curb is not a fun time. That’s not to mention that I didn’t make it up the very first hill coz I had the seat slightly too low that I couldn’t really get all my umpf behind it to get it up.. and an American dude nearly crashed into me.. which if he wasn’t bloody ‘tailgating’ me wouldn’t have happened.  That's my story and im sticking to it!

All in all the bike tour was ok, a little long winded and we seemed to get stuck with the slow pokes and crazies.. there was one Asian couple who were just mad.. I’m not sure the woman had ever actually ridden a bike before. We saw lots, learnt a little, I didn’t get to clown around much.. sad.

However, we did get taken to Jim Morrison’s old apartment, which was pretty cool for a JM/The Doors fan like myself. I think I was about the only one on the tour who really cared about that little bit on the tour.. maybe Emma did for my sake too but yeah.. in a way I guess you could say that of the whole bike tour that was more the highlight for me. OH and we found more of the space invaders.. which was pretty cool too.

After the bike tour, we all headed off to what turned out to be a pretty dodge place to eat. I had the worst meal I possibly could have eaten. Prolly the worst place to try snails and ribbit legs for the first time. I’m still a little bummed that I didn’t get to eat snails at the place called Snails, which had a big golden snail above the main entrance. Maybe another Paris trip is in order?

I did have a complete snailfail, as Georg so nicely put it.. trying to get the little suckers out of their houses.. but I got there in the end and that is the main thing... right?

After lunch, Em and I headed off to look at Jardin Des Tuileries and then a shopping strip for rich bitches.. where Em got told off for taking a photo in the smallest Disney store ever! Tsk tsk! The funniest bit about walking along that strip was seeing all these richo bitcho places and maccas! 

Moving on from the strip, we headed to check out the Arc de Triomphe 

..before making our way to the Eiffel Tower, where we did a little more people watching while enjoying an ice cream. The Eiffel tower souvenir sellers were in full force there.. I swear like very few minutes a dude would come up and try and sell me one.. or seven! It was especially funny when one dude would come up and then just a few minutes later try again. 

Time ticked on by and soon enough we met up with the Aussies and then it was time to head up.. up.. UP! I think they can make it a little less chaotic personally but I guess when you deal with that many tourists its just hard to deal with anything at all. On the way up, we missed 2.. not one but two! Elevators.. we eventually made it, I started to get a little jelly legs as we were going right up to the top.. but I overcame that quite quickly as I took in the stunning views. It was pretty stellar looking at the craftsmanship of the building itself and the views that you get.. I was pretty much in heaven. We went up as it was daylight and stayed to watch the sunset before making our way back down.. via the stairs. It was a pretty fun walk down.. and again I loved how you could see everything construction wise. It really is a pretty remarkable structure. I could have stayed up there all night. I felt quite safe, even tho I don’t like heights.

Once we were down, we got to see the tower with all its lights on and it was freaken awesome. A pretty awesome experience all around and I totally get why it is a must upon going to Paris. You really have to go up and just take in the awesomeness of it.

After we finished up with the tower, Em and I headed off to walk home along the Seine.. it turned out we were on the wrong side but that was ok, coz I think it was a little safer walking up where the cars are. Taking in all the lights.. walking in Paris and seeing it at night is pretty stellar too, my feet were already so so so sore but it was well worth them getting more sore to take in that experience. By the time we got home we were so knackered that I just wanted to fall in a heap.. which is pretty much what we did after a shower. So far I am loving Paris and what it has to offer.

We’re In Paris, Bitchez!

The train to Paris was a little chaotic right at the start, there was a man on there who was in desperate need of a hug.. luckily he got off coz he wasn’t meant to be on this train so the ride was slightly ‘smoother’. People stress so much and so easily on holiday.. just chill.. we’re still in Amsterdam! Go to a coffeeshop and have a relaxing brownie before heading off I say.. or the sex museum.. that put me in a good relaxing mood.

Meet The Crazies..

The seats were reasonable.. nothing special but at least I didn’t feel cramped like on the flight. We had plenty of nibbles and cards to keep us occupied.. but yet again I got sick of losing so I stopped playing. Emma can be so mean! After a while I decided. Or well my eyes decided that they wanted to have a snooze and so snooze I did for like the last hour.

We hit Paris with big grins and bushy tails, ok maybe not bushy tails but we were very happy to arrive and have freaken sunshine!! And warmth! It was pure bliss. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the hotel, it is a dinky little place.. 1 room with 2 double beds and a bathroom.. cramped but so central and like I said, dinky.

After checking in and getting organised, we set off to explore the surrounding areas. It was bustling and yet kinda relaxed.. people seem a little more relaxed here than expected. First stop, ice cream! Ice cream is VERY important!

We got to the Luxembourg Gardens, walked around, people watched.. even saw a  couple of kidlets getting told off by a copper..

..along with an angry man playing some time of bowls.. he looked so very cross, that it was very comical and I could have watched him for ages and ages and even more than ages but we had to get back to the aussies,

so we moved on and walked some more and watched some other people, totally loving the sound of the kids playing in park and then decided that a quick stop by the macaron store that Emma had looked up and purchased a few macarons.. where I was very impressed with Emma's attempt at French..

I once again tried them, these were much much MUCH nicer but they still have that taste that I really don’t like.. the trick is to eat them as soon as they are made, we had a few left over and Em ate them for breakfast! Oi! We are in France, these things must be done! And she was saying how they were already starting to dry out.

After we finished up at the gardens, we all headed home and then back out to get a big city view from Sacre Coeur. Now getting there… OMFG! I think we walked up like a million stairs! I thought I was going to die.. 

so far the stairs in Amsterdam and Paris have been killers in their own right.. I hope its not going to be a common theme during the entire trip.. luckily im tough as houses!

When we finally made it to the top, we had to walk through a stinky pee smelling section, which become a common theme during the next few days.. many many stinky areas. The place was pretty packed with tourists and locals.. and it was a pretty amazing view.

We ate a little food, got a little free entertainment.

We moved on and had a look in the church, where I got to witness a couple of dudes getting kicked out for using a cellphone. It was actually a little amusing.. however not as amusing as watching the Eiffel Tower souvenir sellers getting ready to make a run for it, when the cops came.

By the time we got home we were all pretty knackered after a longish day and there we all were on our phones using the free wifi.. who needs conversation these days huh? It was bed time soon enough and in saying that a little difficult to get to sleep with all the noise from a) the people in the room next to us and b) the people on the street.. I must admit I enjoyed listening to the people on the street, its part of the charm of going to such a bustling city. The whole language barrier is a little scary to start with, and I was all afraid with the horror stories you here about the French being rude, when in fact Em and I didn’t come across many of the so called rude ones.. I think Georg & Mike managed to get those and save the nicer ones for us.. which I am grateful for. Altho the rudest guy we had, happened to be in the hotel.. but I guess he was just grumpy having to work night shift.. these things happen and it made for a good giggle.