Southern France Part One

We arrived in France on Monday, May 28th and immediately  picked up our rental car in Nice and headed to our Provence Airbnb. We decided to drive through Monaco on the way, which was very crowded but I'm glad we at least got a glimpse! For lunch we stopped for pizza and made our way through the mountains to Puimoisson. This was by far one of my favorite places we stayed, each morning we were served a delicious breakfast and the mountain view from our room was amazing. Our first night we ventured out to the neighboring town of Moustiers-Sainte- Marie for dinner at La Cascade and had amazing pasta with view of the cliffs. 

On our first full day in Provence we headed to Aix-en-Provence after our delicious breakfast. We didn't love Aix-en-Provence because it was so much larger and crowded than we were expecting. After looking around a bit we decided to move on to L'Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue. This was more our speed and we loved wandering around through the shops and walking along the stream in the middle of town. We got to-go quiche for lunch and then headed on to the next town, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. First up Dale and I stopped for gelato, I tried the lavender which was amazing! We followed the river up the mountain to see where it starts at the base of the mountain and did some more exploring in the town before heading to Gordes! 

If you are in the area Gordes is a must see! There are so many towns in the area its difficult to decide which ones to visit, but don't miss Gordes. We took a ton of photos before walking into the town in search of a place to get a glass of wine. Dale humored me on our way home and let me take a bunch of photos in a poppy field before we stopped in Riez for dinner. I'm so happy we decided to rent a car and drive through this part of France, it was the perfect country escape having spent so much time in cities at the beginning of our trip! Be on the lookout for a recap of our last full day in Provence next before heading back to Nice. 

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Barcelona Part Two

May 27th was our last day in Barcelona, and my favorite! That morning we got up early and headed to La Sagrada Familia. Visiting the church was by far the best part of Barcelona. We choose to take the elevator up the Nativity tower and while the views of the city were great the church itself was really the stunning part. The guided tour was really great to help us understand all the details behind the architecture and it ended on the Passion side of the church. We would both  love to go back when the construction is completed! 

Our tour took up most of the morning and afterward we headed to a nearby Italian restaurant near the church for lunch. We decided to make it a long relaxing lunch before our last Gaudi stop of the trip, Casa Milà, La Pedrera. The rooftop views were my favorite part. Dale and I were ready for a nap after our day so we headed back to the Airbnb before our Segway tour! Neither of us had ever ridden one before and while it was a bit scary at first once we got used to it we loved it! It was a great way to see the parts of the city we hadn't seen yet. Our last dinner in Barcelona was at Alsur Cafe and we ended the night with a glass of sangria! Next up — France!

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Barcelona Part One

On Friday we headed off to the airport really early, but the hills in Lisbon are no joke and we didn't know exactly how we wanted to make the journey to the airport. We ended up taking an Uber from our Airbnb and made it with lots of time to spare. After arriving in Barcelona we headed straight to our new Airbnb to drop off our bags. We were starving after our morning traveling so we visited the La Boqueria Market to find something to eat. There were an overwhelming amount of options, but we ended up trying an empanada, a sandwich, fresh fruit and some chocolates for dessert. We were also overwhelmed by the crowds walking down La Rambla so Dale and I hopped in a taxi to the Montjuic Castle!

After wandering around the castle we walked down the hill in search of the Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens which for some reason we weren't able to find... definitely somewhere to come back to based off the photos I've seen! For dinner we decided to go to Bar Jai-Ca, somewhere our Airbnb host recommended. Our amazing tapas included patatas braves (Dale's favorite), Greek salad, fried calamari, and meet & cheese. Our early flight got the best of us and after dinner we were off to bed so we could enjoy our first full day in Barcelona the next day!

Day two started out with a visit to Park Güell. It took a long uphill walk to get there from the Metro but the views were worth it! After exploring the park Dale and I walked through the Gracia neighborhood before lunch at La Menuda. Our next stop was visiting Casa Batlló, one of my favorite Gaudi visits during our trip. The colorful tiles were probably my favorite part, but all the details were spectacular. Before heading to our Airbnb we stopped in Zara and did some shopping. We had dinner at a small restaurant and ordered  the seafood paella before watching  the Champions League Final at a nearby bar. Our next spur of the moment decision was booking a segway tour and then heading for a drink at Ocaña. Gelato was our real final stop before heading to bed. We had a great eveniing in the Gothic Quarter! 

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Lisbon Part Three

On Wednesday, May 23 we took a day trip to Sintra! It was a short train ride from Lisbon and we arrived pretty early that morning. Our first stop was visiting the National Palace of Sintra. I loved all the beautiful tiles and the decorated ceilings and chandeliers. After walking through we took the 434 bus to the Castelo dos Mouros (the Moorish Castle). The lush nature on the walk to the castle was one of our favorite parts, and walking along the walls gave us some amazing views! You could see Pena Palace from the castle walls which was our last stop in Sintra. After waiting in a long line to enter we walked through the palace and then headed back to Lisbon. If you are visiting Libon Sintra is definetley worth the short trip!

That afternoon we visited the National Tile Museum. The museum has a beautiful collection, but it was pretty out of the way and we had a long walk back to the Alfama district. Once we made it back to a familiar part of the city we stopped for a snack and listened to some live music. To get back to where we were staying we took a tuk tuk ride back to the Baxio Chiado metro stop near our Airbnb and then did some more shopping. After relaxing back at our place for a bit we headed to Estrela Da Bica for an amazing dinner. We had several shared plates: the hummus, shrimp dim sum, a beans and rice dish and falafel. To conclude our day we headed to Pink Street for drinks and then we were off to bed before our last day in Lisbon! Thursday we had booked an Airbnb experience and our guide João picked us up for a day of touring that morning.

Our day with João and our new friend Sa'adwas one of our favorite parts of our entire trip! We started with a drive across the bridge in Lisbon that looks exactly like the Golden Gate Bridge and then headed to our first wine tasting at José Maria da Fonseca (to try the Moscatel Roxo de Setúbal) before our tour at the Bacalhoa Vineyard. The tour included visiting the winery's art collection and then we learned about the process of making the wine. Our guide then took us to a tile factory before the best meal of the trip. We ate lunch at Tasca Do Isaías which was by far the best seafood I have ever had. It was fun to eat some more adventurous food than we would have ordered on our own! The last stop on our tour was visiting the Nature Park of Arrabida which gave us these fantastic views of the coast. João was nice enough to drop us off at the Belem Tower on our way back into the city and we were really sad to say goodbye! Dale and I were both exhausted from our day so we picked up some dinner at a grocery store on the way back to our Airbnb and then headed to bed early so we could catch our flight to Barcelona the next morning!

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Lisbon Part Two

Our second day in Lisbon got off to a late start after we slept in to make up for our full day (and jet lag) the day before. We headed to the Time Out Market for an early lunch (we tried croquettes with rice) and then headed to the Alfama District. The first viewpoint we headed for was the Miradouro de Santa Luzia. Along the way we stopped at the Teatro Romano and the Castelo de S. Jorge. At the castle we walked all through the grounds and up onto the castle walls and towers. We took a quick sangria break at a restaurant near the castle after exploring and then walked on to our second viewpoint of the day, the Miradouro da Graca. 

We were pretty exhausted after reaching the second viewpoint and decided to take the metro back to our Airbnb to relax before dinner. Following the route of the famous No. 28 tram was the perfect way to explore the city, we definitely recommend it! That night we ate at the Palácio Chiado, one of my favorite meals of the trip. The stunning setting in an old palace, compete with a winged lion hanging from the ceiling, made the food that much better. After dinner we headed to Park for drinks. The bar is hidden on top of a parking garage and we were glad our friends and recommended it, otherwise I'm sure we would have missed it. Our second day was full of hills, beautiful views and good food. Later this week I'll share a recap from our last two days in Portugal! 

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Lisbon Part One

We had the best time in Lisbon, and I'm really excited to begin sharing photos from each stop of our trip! We headed to Europe this summer to celebrate Dale's graduation from medical school and we have been planning our itinerary and booking our Airbnb's over the past year. Visiting Lisbon was at the top of my list so we decided to make it our first, and longest stop of the trip!

After arriving (via Dublin), we took the metro to our Airbnb and got ready to start exploring. To beat the jet lag we decided against a nap and stayed awake. We were also starving so our first stop was putting our name in at Taberna Da Rua Das Flores, a restaurant recommended by our host! He had told us it was a popular spot, and we even had to wait arriving later in the afternoon. During our wait  we did some shopping, one of our favorite spots being A Vida Portugesa, When we finally ate Dale had a duck salad and I tried the swordfish, both were amazing and worth the wait! After lunch we headed to the Carmo Convent — we especially enjoyed the museum inside. We were meeting some family friends, Laura and João, for dinner so on our walk back to our Airbnb we stopped by the Santa Justa Lift (the line was too long to go up), and stopped in a few more stores. After meeting our friends we headed to dinner and had a traditional Portuguese meal! I tried the Bacalhau and Dale tried the Secretos de Porco. Laura and João were kind enough to show us around Lisbon after our meal, it was the perfect start to our trip. By this point we were getting tired and headed off to bed! 

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