Category: Europe

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Amsterdam, Netherlands

It’s easy to say that I’ve had a pretty good year of traveling in 2015 and my final trip of the year started off with a weekend in Amsterdam and then a week in Tuscany/Florence.  Amsterdam has always been on my bucket list and this city offers far more than its deviant reputation of the Red Light District and legal marijuana.  It boasts several amazing museums, canals and bridges that arguably trump those in Venice, and a great nightlife.  And it is all very doable in a 3-4 day weekend.

Our trip didn’t start off too well however.  I won’t get too much into the details so I’ll truncate it a bit.  First off, don’t fly United Airlines internationally.   Just don’t.   Secondly, if you’re going to use AirBnB be aware of a few things.  1) Their help numbers didn’t work when I tried to reach them in an emergency.  2) If you book an apartment through AirBnB, be sure that the apartment you’re choosing has been thoroughly reviewed positively.   It should have at least 15 reviewers give it a thumbs up.  We rolled the dice on a place and let’s just say our first morning of Amsterdam constituted of an unguided walking tour of the city with our luggage.  (In the end, we got into the apartment we rented, but it was completely unprepared, dirty, and smelly and the apologetic owner claimed that she had cancelled her AirBnB account the week prior…)

After that unfortunate morning, we put aside our frustration because we were set to explore.  The first thing you’ll notice in the city is how big of a biking culture it is.  I’ve never seen so many people on bikes in my life.  Be sure to be careful on the sidewalk, because unlike in the US, the bike lanes are part of the sidewalk and not the street, so if you stroll into one, you will most likely get in the way of the cyclists.

Getting around the city center is easy by walking and almost all of the locals speak impeccable English.  With words like “flüggåәnkб€čhiœßølįên” (for you EuroTrip fans) you’d think getting around Amsterdam would be more challenging, but the Dutch are all very fluent in English (at least the ones we met) and it came close to feeling like we weren’t even in Europe at various points because of how comfortable we felt.

 

One other thing we were told is this, and you should know it going into your trip.  GET ALL TICKETS IN ADVANCE.  It’ll save you a ton of time waiting in line for the museums.  They offer package deals as well that include various combinations of canal rides and museums that I would highly recommend you take advantage of to save some money.  Also, apparently the locals don’t go out on the weekends because they don’t like dealing with tourists, so their “going out” nights are Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Here are a few of the things we did on the first day:

Heineken Experience

This is worth checking out, especially if you’re a beer drinker who’s done a few brewery tours in the U.S.  This is like a U.S. brewery tour on steroids.  No need to get an audio guide because the whole thing is in English.  The tour itself begins with a pretty standard history of Heineken, the beer making process, and then a tasting.  Then it gets a little wild.  First you go on a “Star Tours” like ride where you’re in a room that moves and sprays mist and stuff at you while a movie plays showing the beer making process as if you were in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”.  Then you walk through an Epcot Center like multimedia chamber with all sorts of random games, light things, music, etc.  The end of the tour consists of a lounge area that looks like a nightclub where you can get two fresh, cold Heinekens as part of your ticket fee.  Be sure to check out the tables with the electronic table tops.  You’ll notice that wherever you set your beer, an electronic “coaster” pops up underneath it.

NJOY Cocktail Bar
Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 93
1017 PX Amsterdam, Netherlands

Be sure to grab a drink at NJOY.  We actually just chose this place randomly to get a quick drink before exploring for the evening and it paid off.  First off, the drinks were amazing.  Expensive, but amazing.  If you’re lucky enough to get the bartender we had, order an Envy (it’ll be a flaming cognac drink) or a “Rum Old Fashioned” which isn’t on the menu but a libation that our guy put together himself.  Secondly, the bar looked like it was owned by Prince.  Everything was in purple.  For the people in DC, imagine if Little Miss Whiskey’s on H Street was actually a classy place — that’s NJOY.  What really set the place apart though was the staff.  The staff were friendly and sociable enough, but what put them over the top was that they went out of their way to put together a full two page list of things we needed to see, do, where to eat, drink, etc.  And we utilized this list to a great degree throughout the trip and never came across anything on it that wasn’t a very good experience including where we went to dinner afterwards…

Castell BAR-becue Restaurant
Lijnbaansgracht 252-253-254
1017 RK Amsterdam, Netherlands

Which brings me to Castell.  In general, Danish food isn’t anything to write home about.  In fact, they love American hamburgers in Amsterdam so much, there was practically a burger joint on every block.  But this place Castell could arguably be the best meal of the trip (it was definitely my buddy’s favorite, though I reserve my favorite for a Tuscan place I’ll blog about later on).  The place was packed when we got in, so make a reservation.  We just happened to be lucky enough to grab two open seats at the bar.  Castell has a dive bar vibe, but at the same time hip, trendy and classy.  The bar area ended up being pretty awesome because it had really, really comfortable bar chairs, and the counter was cushioned on the end to put your elbows on comfortably.  The steaks, oh my god the steaks.  Perfectly done.  Can’t say anything else about it, just perfect.  Now admittedly, we were drunk when we ate here, but I’m fairly confident the food is amazing there no matter what condition you’re in.

Next up: I’ll get into what Amsterdam is notorious for — The Red Light District.

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Parisian Cafes/Tearooms/Bakeries

Sorry I’ve been MIA for the past few weeks; been doing a lot of traveling for work since my trip to Europe and this is the first time in a while that I’ve gotten a chance to sit back and catch my breath a little.  So, continuing on with Paris.

I love croissants, they’re in my top five favorite foods.  And because I associated them so much with Paris, I imagined when we arrived that there would be bakeries left and right (a la Starbucks on every corner of NYC style).  Sadly, I was mistaken.  Although there were a few bakeries here and there, it wasn’t the look in every direction and see one type of situation.  It may be due to the fact that we were in a tourist area, but it was still a little disappointing nonetheless.

Regardless, that’s not to put down the places we did find.  I will always take quality over quantity and the few bakeries we did go to were really standout.   The first one I’ll mention is Paul.  Paul is Parisian chain, not as “chainy” as Au Bon Pain or Le Pain Quotidian, but you’ll find a few scattered throughout Europe and there are even a couple now in Washington, D.C. and Florida.   Paul is a solid place to grab a quick croissant, pastry, or coffee with little to no fuss.  The baked goods are far better than anything you’ll get at a ABP or LPQ, and having been to the Paris Paul and the D.C. Paul, I can say for a fact that the D.C. Paul has done a very good job of mimicking its founders.

For a more involved experience, there are two cafes (or tearooms) in Paris that are excellent.  They are Laduree and Angelina.  We’ll start with Laduree.  We didn’t do table service there because we were on our way to the Eiffel Tower, but we grabbed a bunch of pastries to go.  This place wins the award for the best croissant I’ve ever had – hands down.  I sampled a butter, chocolate and apple croissant, and the apple croissant was out of this world.  The other two were extremely good as well, perfectly flaky with those big, crispy flakes, not the messy little ones.  We also tried a few of their delicious macaroons and fruit tarts.  But the apple croissant was the perfect blend of croissant butteriness and chunky-sweet apple.  There are a few Laduree locations in Paris, one in Versaille, and one at the airport.

Our favorite cafe however was Angelina.  We loved it so much we actually went there twice, once for breakfast and once for lunch.  Keep in mind that the line to get in can get long around brunch time, so plan accordingly.   The brunch lasts until 11:30 and the service is slow, but helpful/friendly once they do get around to you.  The cafe is pricey, so be prepared to dish out the Euros for the experience.  If you don’t want to sit, there’s a bakery in the front lobby where you get buy items to go (much like at Laduree).  The snack/lunch menu consists of salads, cheeses, sandwiches, and quiches and the breakfast menu consists of a variety of different egg, fruit, pastry combinations.  And of course you can order any of the decadent sweet pastries (including their famous Mont Blanc) at anytime you want.

The two highlights of Angelina are the Croque Madame and the Angelina Hot Chocolate.  I never had a Croque Madame or Monsieur before I going to Angelina, but I had a few in Paris afterwards and Angelina’s was still the best.   Sure, it’s a glorified grilled cheese, but the French know how to turn a simple dish into deluxe cuisine.  The one other item on the menu you HAVE to try is the Angelina Hot Chocolate.  This was by far, the richest, creamiest, thickest hot chocolate I have ever tasted.  It was like drinking sweet chocolate cream.  You should also know that if you drink an entire pot of this stuff, you will be more than full, so be prepared.

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The Eiffel Tower Experience

The Eiffel Tower is open every single day of the year

  • from 9 a.m. to midnight from 17 June to 28 August,
  • from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the rest of the year,
  • At Easter weekend and during the Spring holidays : extended opening hours to midnight.

Obviously when one goes to Paris for the first time, a visit to the Eiffel Tower is a must-do activity.  You can’t not go and see it.  It’d be like going to New York City for the first time and not going to the Empire State Building.  Of course because it was holiday week when we were there, pretty much everyone in the world was thinking the same thing.  The base of the Eiffel Tower was packed with hundreds of people and the lines were long, like Disney World’s Space Mountain long.

Here’s a tip for any monument or museum visits in Paris (including the Eiffel Tower): Get tickets in advance online.  You’ll save yourself a ton of time and from a ton of hassle.   The first thing we had to figure out was which of the winding lines to stand in (and also try to find the end of each one).  It was like navigating through serpents of people.  Once we got into a line, we asked the people around us if we were in the right line.  If they spoke English – which was like a one in three chance – most of the time they shrugged and were clearly just as lost as we were.  At the same time other people were asking us the same question in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese – you name it.  And each time, we gave the same answer we were given – we just shrugged and said we didn’t know for sure.  It was kind of a hilarious scene – all these different races coming together in confusion despite the language barrier, and all sort of politely making the best of the scenario standing in mysterious lines that led to who knows where.

My sister was our recon soldier and when she came back to the line she let us know we had waited half an hour in the wrong one (figures right?).  Turns out there were four total lines – two go to the elevator that takes you to the 2nd floor (not the top) and two that let you walk to the 2nd floor.  So once we made our way over to the new line, we waited about an hour and a half.  If you’re going to visit the Eiffel Tower during the cold season – dress warmly.  It was very cold, and very windy.  Also, make sure to bring some reading material, Ipod, and a snack (croissant was my snack of choice) because you’ll probably want to do something to make the time standing out there go by a little faster.  

Once we got to the front, there was a sign that said, “Due to congestion we will not sell lift tickets to the top, only to the second floor.”  A few curses were tossed around by everyone in line, but at that point because we made it to the front we figured we may as well go up to at least the midsection of the Eiffel Tower.  The price for the lift ride to the 2nd floor is 8 Euros, the price for the ride to the top is 13 Euros (the price to walk to the 2nd floor is 4 Euros – you can’t walk all the way to the top).

The midsection of the Eiffel Tower is actually quite large and includes a cafe, bathrooms, gift shop, and the lift to the very shi-shi Le Jules Verne restaurant (we tried to get reservations, but the place gets booked months in advance).  We learned that we would be able to buy tickets to the top from the 2nd floor (for the additional 5 Euros) once the top cleared out a bit.  So we waited on the 2nd floor for another hour or so with some hot chocolate and snacks we bought at the cafe.  We waited in another line for about half an hour to get the tickets to the top and then an additional half hour for the elevator to the top.

Now if you’re queasy about heights, I should warn you.  The ride in the glass elevator to the top is a little unsettling.  I’m not that bothered by heights (see previous post about Skydiving), but even this ride is unnerving.  You can view some videos of the ride up and down on the Here and There Facebook page.  Once you get through the ride and to the top, the view is magnificent.   The 2nd floor view is good, but the extra height at the top really makes the birds-eye view of Paris spectacular.  There’s an outside patio that you can walk around on and a champagne bar for the romantic couples (or just tourists who are celebrating actually finally making it to the top).  But it is quite windy, and you should be prepared for the fact that if you’re unlucky, the visibility can be bad depending on weather conditions (we met some poor guy who had been up there the previous day and said he couldn’t see a thing).

Finally, if you’re able to get to the Eiffel Tower at night make sure to check it out at the top of the hour.  For six minutes the tower shimmers in magnificent fashion.  We didn’t know this until we took a night time bus tour that happened to go by the tower during this time (hence the not so great pictures of it from the bus below), so don’t miss a chance to see it.

So in summary, make sure to allot plenty of time in your day when you see the Eiffel Tower, especially if you don’t get tickets in advance (there really was like no line for people who had bought tickets in advance.  It’s amazing how many people around the world didn’t think to do that beforehand).  But it is worth the wait to say that you’ve been to the top of one of the most recognizable monuments in the world.

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Franklin & Marshall in Europe

During a dinner in Paris, we noticed a kid ride by on his skateboard wearing a Franklin & Marshall College sweatshirt and baseball cap.  He definitely stood out as super American in the Parisian streets and was doing what all the guidebooks told men not to do – dress like that.  A few hours later I noticed another kid with a Franklin & Marshall shirt.  My thought was “Wow, Franklin & Marshall’s got a pretty good study abroad contingent here.”

Then throughout the trip I saw multiple F&M students and then in London saw even more of them.  I literally was thinking “Man, for a small school they are just taking over Europe!” the entire time.  It wasn’t until I walked through London’s Nordstrom-style department store Selfridges that I noticed next to Calvin Klein, Polo, and all the high end clothing lines a Franklin & Marshall section.

Apparently, some Italian kids a few years ago started a clothing line using a used Franklin & Marshall College t-shirt they found in a second hand store in London.  The “American College Style” look is apparently hip and you can buy a Franklin & Marshall t-shirt for 50 Euros (that translates to about $64).   Why those kids just don’t buy a Franklin & Marshall shirt from the school website for half the cost is beyond me.  The funny part is according to the site, the actual college didn’t know this was going on for a few years and were just as confused as to why there were so many F&M kids in Europe.  They eventually licensed their name to the clothing company.

So if you’re curious as to why there are so many Franklin & Marshall youths in Europe – they’re probably not from Lancaster, PA.

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Virgin Atlantic and Heathrow Airport

On a recent trip to London/Paris, I was as excited not just to the see the sights, but to give Virgin Atlantic a try for the flight over.  I had heard a ton of great things about their airline and I was curious to see for myself.

I’ll say this right up front – I was underwhelmed.  I totally dug the throwback, 60’s Pam Am look.  Instead of the bright blue uniforms of that airline and era, replace them with the bright red ones of Virgin.  The service was very good; the flight attendants on the flight over and back were very friendly and accommodating.

Everything else about the flight was “eh” though.  On the flight to London, the most glaring issue was the size of the seat I was in.  The planes are split up into three sections – Upper class, Premium Economy, and Economy.  We were in Economy and what I didn’t realize that is even in Economy, if you don’t pay the extra $50 for a “purple seat”, you pretty much have no leg room.  I’m 5’9″, 155 lbs and literally, with the arms of the seat were practically pressed up against my thighs, my legs could spread apart at most 8 inches.  It was the most cramped I’ve ever felt on any airline.

The movie selection was actually very good on the flight over (on the flight back however…I’ll get to that later on), and it’s a good thing because you will NOT get a wink of sleep.  The mood lighting they advertise?  Only in first class.  And like any long flight, the babies were over the place.  Don’t get me wrong, I get that you can’t just leave your child behind while you travel and this is no fault of the airline, but there were toddlers all over the aisles and climbing on chairs.  It was ridiculous – the plane isn’t a playpen.

And one final thing to know – you can’t drink unlimited amounts on Virgin Atlantic.  They announce at the beginning of the flight that they will end drink service at the amount of consumption, not behavior.  As the flight attendant amusingly said “No point closing the barn door after the cows are out running lose”.  Now this isn’t a huge deal for me, I don’t need to get wasted on my flight over.  But it was just an observation I felt should be shared since I know several people who like the option of tossing back a few drinks on a long flight.

Now all of that was on the flight to Europe.  On the flight back, we luckily were upgraded to Premium Economy for free because the previous day’s flight was cancelled and they were trying to bump those folks onto our flight.  I was almost embarrassed sitting in Premium Economy looking up at the poor folks looking down on me as they walked back to Economy during boarding, but it was admittedly a nice feeling to see all the crying babies going past.  I told the woman next to me that we had been upgraded for free and she said, “Oh man, you’re lucky not to be back there.  This airline shoves people all together like cattle.  This is the only airline that I pay extra to make sure I’m not back there.”

Obviously, the comfort level increased exponentially with wide leather seats, a ton of leg room, champagne when you board, hot towels, and after dinner cognacs or Bailey’s as well as a mid-flight Haagen Dazs ice cream break.  And this was just Premium Economy.  I couldn’t even see what the Upper Class folks probably received. The shocking part of the flight back though was how bad the entertainment system was, possibly because we were on an older plane.  Unlike the flight over, this flight didn’t have an On-Demand style entertainment system.  Each movie was run at random times on different channels from a VHS, so you had to know exactly when the movie started, which there was no way of knowing.  On top of that, the colors were way off (everyone on my screen looked yellow) and the audio kept cutting off.  So I ended up watching and hearing only parts of Warrior and MoneyBall.

So all in all, the airline wasn’t horrible – it just didn’t live up to the hype.  They say on their website that they’ve won the Reader’s Choice award for Best International Airline four years in a row, but I can only imagine those casting the vote didn’t fly in Economy or fly on one of Virgin’s older planes.  I’d give my vote to Air France over Virgin any day.

And one quick tip when your flight lands at Heathrow Airport in London.  Chances are your flight will get in early in the morning.  Keep this in mind – if you have a layover in that airport, allow PLENTY of time.  Expect delays because pretty much ALL transatlantic flights coming from the east and west land at that time.  We had to wait on the runway for a gate to open up after landing, customs took a good 45 minutes to get through, and then the terminals are FAR apart.  You’re walking down hallway after hallway, through what is a essentially a huge shopping mall, and getting on the London Underground subway to get to adjacent terminals.  So the time from landing to getting to a new gate in a different terminal could take as long as an hour and a half to two hours.

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Restaurante Olivier and Portugal conclusion

As our Portugal trek sadly came to a close, we decided to have one last blow out dinner.  We took the train from Lagos back to Lisbon (3 or so hours) and had one night left to celebrate the time we had spent in the beautiful country.  We chose Restaurante Olivier, and this place was arguably the best restaurant we went to on the entire trip (which is saying a lot considering No Patio and San Bento were also great).

Located just up that main road along the water, and south of the Bairro Alto, Olivier is a classy, French bistro meets Victorian lounge.  As we were seated in our large, cushy white booth we could hear an odd, yet amusing array of classic rock songs in the form of lounge music (you haven’t heard Nirvana until you hear it in the sound of a clarinet).  The service was excellent, with the owner of the establishment coming by our table to introduce herself.

Although expensive, you have to try the appetizer platter.  Only one of us ordered it and we all shared the plates, but it was some of the most amazing food.  The appetizer plate comes with THE BEST Foie Gras that I’ve ever tasted (and I don’t even like pate).  The duck liver melted in your mouth and was strong, but not overwhelming never leaving any nasty after taste like some others do.  The crab dip with guacamole was also a fantastic addition, making us all wonder how none of us had thought about trying to make it before.  The beef tartar w/ arugula was the right combination of meaty and light, while the sweet apple-cinnamon, walnut, goat cheese, filo dough pastry was an odd combination but worked and was my buddy’s favorite.  The fifth part of the appetizer was a salmon nigiri sushi which was just good – compared to the other four plates that is.

For the main course I had the tenderloin with Olivier sauce, which our waitress said was to die for.  The meat itself was excellent – not as good as San Bento’s steak – but most definitely up there in quality.  What made the dish really amazing however was the Olivier sauce that they drizzled onto it.  I have no idea what was in it and the waitress wouldn’t give up the recipe ingredients, but if you go there I would highly recommend it.    My one friend also got the tenderloin, but our third buddy ordered the scallops which, honest to god, melted in your mouth.

We opted out of the desert, but if you do want to do desert it’d be best to go with the three course meal option.  It’s a better deal as the place will cost you a pretty penny.  Grade: A-

Our week and a half long trip to Portugal was amazing.  Great food, friendly people, and we got to see a lot in that time.  Beaches, bars, museums, castles, port wine cellars – it was a busy trek.  I most likely won’t go back any time soon because as wonderful as Portugal is, it’s a one and done type of place to me – kinda like the Grand Canyon.  Once you’ve seen it and experienced the great things Portugal has to offer, you can check it off your list.  But I would highly recommend checking Portugal out and a week and a half is a pretty good amount of time to see the country, though two weeks is probably the best.

Recap

Where I ate:

Restaurante Olivier
Rua do Alecrim, 23
1200-014 Lisboa

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Lagos, Portugal – Bars and Beaches

Lagos is a fantastic place to unwind for a few days, especially after a week of hiking around Lisbon and Porto.  Although there are a few historic sights (such as the town museum and the first slave market), the beaches and bars are pretty much the main reason to go to Lagos.  No need to worry about language issues, everyone there speaks English because it’s such a huge U.K. tourist spot.  In fact, most of the owners of the bars and restaurants are English-born.  Here’s a summary of the places we went to:

– The types of beaches around Lagos range from expansive and sandy to rocky and secluded.  First thing I’ll note about the beaches is that they are free, and they are also topless, so if you have kids that you don’t want to get exposed to that – probably best not to even bother with Lagos.  That isn’t to say that they aren’t family friendly – there were several families at all the beaches in Lagos.

If you’re looking for the family friendly (less topless women), large beach head to Praia do Portode Mos.  It’s at the far end of town, so it’s a little bit of a hike, but once you get there the sand is the finest and whitest and the beach stretches for probably around a mile.  While there are a few restaurants along the beach for you to eat at, they’re not very good.  The service is slow because they’re always packed and understaffed and the food is the equivalent to cheap diner food.  This beach is also the windiest because there’s nothing blocking the breeze coming in from the Mediterranean.

For two more secluded beaches check out Praia Dona Ana and Praia do Camillo.  Dona Ana has practically no wind because its in it’s own little alcove.  The same goes for Praia do Camillo, however this beach’s sand is a little bit rockier.  Both are at the bottom of pretty steep cliffs, especially the Praia do Camillo as you’ll have to hike up 90 steps when you’re done for the day.  But in my opinion these are the two nicest beaches.  They’re smaller than Praia do Portode Mos, but they’re far more beautiful with the cliffs hugging the blue water.

– If you’re looking for a little adventure, head out to Ponte de Piedad which is just a half mile past Praia do Camillo.  There you get to go out on the farthest tip of Lagos and get a great panoramic view of the coast.  If you climb down the cliff, you can take a 30 minute Grotto Boat Ride which costs 10 Euros.  The wait is a little long as each boat only holds 4-5 people, but it’s a great way to cool off and see some pretty spectacular grottoes.

– The bar scene is hopping in Lagos, and on weekend nights the crowd can get pretty rowdy.  There’s a bar scene for everyone with cheap drinks and various forms of entertainment.  The Three Monkeys bar is what you’d expect on any college campus – lots of booze, loud music, 20-somethings doing funnels on the bar, and other things of that nature.  Stevie Ray’s Jazz Room has an older crowd, with live music, and a more refined group of drinkers.  The live band playing there that night played a good mix of crowd pleasers from Lynard Skynard to Bon Jovi.  Stones is your typical English pub, with darts in the back, beers in the front, and a lot of Sex Pistols playing.  Zanzibar falls under the category of your New York dive bar and next door Shaker Bar has a bit of that Jamaican-stoner edge (with some damn good tropical cocktails).   DC’s is where you’ll find your hipsters playing Foosball.  All these bars are within a couple of blocks of each other in the Old Town section of Lagos.

– There are several restaurants in Old Town Lagos, but the very best one we went to was Restaurante No Patio.  Now don’t take this literally in English like we did – there is a beautiful patio out back were you can eat (No Patio means “on the patio” in Portuguese.  Yes, I felt like a complete dumbass when I asked and the waitress gave me that answer that she’s probably given hundreds of times).  Not only was the atmosphere of the restaurant great, the food lived up to the hype we had heard.  A must try for the appetizer portion is the Salmon with mango and strawberry, on top of lettuce.  The other app that is good, but not as good as the salmon, is the Prawns with garlic.  The duck I had was perfectly cooked and covered in almonds and peaches.  My friends ordered the lamb roast and pork with potatoes and they both give their two thumbs way up for those dishes. Don’t bother with the desert though – they were just okay (we tried the chocolate cake and fried bananas) and by the time you get to them you’re already so full and won’t need to add the calories.  The price of the meal is a little expensive, so make it your special dinner when you’re out in Lagos.  And make reservations!  Grade: A-

Recap

What I saw:

Beaches: Praia Dona Ana, Praia do Camillo, Praia do Portode Mos

Grotto boat ride from the Ponte de Piedad

The bars we went to in Old Town:
Three Monkey’s
Stevie Ray’s Jazz Room
Stone’s
DC’s
Shaker Bar
Zanzibar

Where I ate:

Restaurante No Patio
Rua Lancarote de Freitas 46
8600-605 Lagos

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Lagos, Portugal – Costa D’Oiro Ambiance Village

After Porto, we proceeded down to the southern coast to the Algarve region of Portugal.  The Algarve is made up of several cities along the Mediterranean, and the town we chose to spend our last few days was called Lagos (considered by many to be the most beautiful of them all).

To get to Lagos we had to take a 5 hour train ride down to Tunes, and then transfer to a local train (which runs hourly) to get to the beach town.  The local train that takes you there actually is on the line that runs through all the towns in the Algarve region and takes about another hour to get from Tunes to Lagos.  There are more direct trains to Lagos from Lisbon, but not from Porto Porto.  When we got to Lagos, we realized quickly that there were not a slew of taxis waiting for passengers at the train station, so note: Have the hotel’s number that you’re staying at ready to go.  Give them a call and have them get a taxi over to the train station to pick you up.

Lagos is definitely a beach town and during the peak season (which is when we were there) the town is packed with European tourists.  Although all the guide books warned us of this, and although it was busy, at no time did the crowds ever feel claustrophobic or oppressive.  While the main part of the town was packed with bars, the outer part consisted of several beautiful beaches, all with their own unique properties.  I’ll go over the beaches in the next post, but for now I have to talk about the place we stayed at.

Costa D’Oiro Ambiance Village is a great little resort with a good location.  It’s walking distance from both the beaches and the bar scene, but it’s far enough from the main center that you’ll be able to get a good night sleep and not have to listen to the partying crowds.  If you’re looking for that scene, don’t stay at Costa D’Oiro.  Find a hostel near the main square.  Costa D’Oiro is much more relaxed and more suited to the families rather than the backpacking college kid.

What made this hotel stand out from the rest of the places we stayed in Portugal was the size of our hotel room.  I wouldn’t even call it a room, it was more of a suite with a full kitchen, fully stocked with all the cooking supplies we could have needed, living room with satellite TV, spacious two bedroom with another satellite TV, porch and outside area with a table.   They also offered a full complimentary breakfast in the morning (with all you can drink mimosas), but don’t bother with their restaurant – the food there is so so.

The price was reasonable: 198 Euros ($277) a night for that huge room.

Recap

Where I stayed:

Costa D’Oiro Ambiance Village
Rua Costa D’Oiro, Lote 38
8600 – 544 Lagos
+351 282 770 079

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Porto, Portugal Part II

If you plan accordingly, you can definitely do Porto in a couple of days, and a must-do is to  dedicate at least a few hours to visiting the port wine caves across the river.  You should also take the time to visit a few of the churches as well, each costing only a few euros to enter.  Here’s what we covered on our second day:

– Torre Dos Clerigos is the highest point in Porto and on a nice day, for great picture opportunities, take the 225 steps to the top for a fantastic panoramic view of the city.  Once again, if you’re injured, I would avoid this attraction.  The stairs get very, very narrow as you get to the top, and people coming up and down have to negotiate their way awkwardly by each other.

– Just down the hill from Clerigos is the Igreja de Sao Francisco.  On the outside, the church looks like an austere, boring fortress; don’t let that fool you.  Once inside, the church interior is made up of intricate gold columns and altars.   Don’t miss the catacombs if you’re looking to really freak yourself out.  If you go in the catacombs, it’s doesn’t like like anything totally crazy at first, but find your way to the back and you’ll see a part of the floor that’s clear plastic.  If you look down – look closely and you’ll see that the entire level below is FULL of bones.

– The port wine cellars are the highlight of any trip to Porto.  With over a dozen port wine cellars in the city, you have plenty of places to choose from.  They’re all easily accessible from the river, where their mock 18th-century port wine boats stay docked (for decoration, not actual usage).  Along the river are several maps of where each company is located and there are tourist booths with guides to tell you where to go.

Now I’ll be the first to tell you, you only really need to do a few of the wine cellars because they’re all very similar.  Each guide book will tell you different must-do places, but you’ll get to a certain degree the same thing.  All the port wine caves offer tours and tastings; some are free and some require a small fee (Truth be told though, the more expensive the tour, the better the quality of the tour), and you do need to look ahead for the hours because the times they give tours vary.

The first port wine company we went to was Ramos Pinto, but they were under construction so they weren’t offering tours.  Apparently, Ramos Pinto is the port wine company that many of the native Portuguese drink, so if you’re in Porto give this place a try.  So instead, we walked over to Taylor’s.  Just FYI, Taylor’s is located probably the furthest from the water, and it is a little bit of an uphill to get there.  But they do offer a free tour which offered probably the most bare boned info of all the tours we did that day with a free tasting at the end.  It was also an hour wait before the next English speaking tour when we arrived, so we had to eat lunch in their dining room, which was “okay”.  Their ruby port sangria was very good though.

Our second port wine cellar was Offley, which was 2.50 Euros.  The tour was longer than Taylor’s and the guide spoke far better English, making the tour much more interesting.  It was a little longer too, with a little more information on the history of port in general and not just about the company.

Our final port wine stop was Sandeman, probably the world’s most recognizable port wine brand due in part from their recognizable ads.  This tour and tasting costs 4.50 Euros.  Sandeman’s wine cave is easily the most modern looking, and the tour guides are dressed like their signature Don from the advertisements.  The tour winds through their barrels like all the other port wine caves , except in this cave you can see the bottles that have been aging since the early 1900’s.  Another addition to this tour is that it finishes up with a 10 minute movie showing where the grapes grow and the actual fermenting process in the area of Portugal that’s about an hour away from Porto.  If you want, Sandeman also offers more expensive, individualized tours with more tastings.

– If you’re looking for a nice afternoon tea, take a stop by Cafe Majestic (which was right down the street from our hotel).  It can get pretty crowded, but the the service is fast and efficient.  The food is so-so, but they offer all that you could want from a cafe including sandwiches, milkshakes, pastries, and all kinds of teas, coffees, and libations.  But most don’t go just for the food; the atmosphere and architecture has an old-school, late 19th/early 20th century feel that makes it worth a visit. Grade: B

– Real Indiana.  We had a craving for Indian food and Lonely Planet suggested this place, but it really wasn’t that good.  It was a little overpriced, and we were all pretty sure that what we were eating probably couldn’t even be considered Indian food in the U.S. or India.   The one thing they did get right was the naan, which was actually pretty good.  If we had known that though, that’s all we would have ordered.  Unless you have a HUGE craving for Indian, give one of the other restaurants in the city a try.  Grade: C

– La Ricotta Ristorante.  Like the Indian craving, this place you should probably only go to if you’re really, really in the mood for Italian food.  While the food here was better than at Real Indiana, it wasn’t really anything special either.  The menu consisted of the typical pizzas and pastas and they were well prepared and tasty.  But certainly nothing special to write about.  Grade: B-

Recap:

What I saw:

Torre Dos Clerigos
Rua dos Clerigos

Igreja de Sao Francisco
Praca Infante Dom Henrique
Rua de Ferreira Borges, 4050 Porto

Ramos Pinto Port Wine
Avenida Ramos Pinto 400
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Taylor’s Port Wine
Rua do Choupelo 250
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Offley Port Wine
Rua do Choupelo, 54
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Sandeman Port Wine
Largo Miguel Bombarda 3
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Where I ate:

Cafe Majestic
Rua Santa Catarina 112
4000-442 Porto

Real Indiana
R. Particular do Castelo do Queijo, 395 – Lj. 23
4100-429 Porto

La Ricotta
Rua Passos Manuel 18
4000-381 Porto

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Porto, Portugal

After Lisbon, we took the CP train up to Porto, in the northwest section of the country.  The train ride took about 3 hours and was around 30 Euros (Note: Getting your train tickets online in advance is recommended.  You can print out your tickets in advance and you won’t have to be concerned about not having a train ride.  Be sure to sit in your assigned seat though – the conductors do come around to check and will make you move if you’re in the wrong place).  The ride up was comfortable and fast, like most European train services.

When we first arrived in Porto, it was like landing in a fairytale.  Porto is much quieter than Lisbon and has a more romantic feel to it. The city is on the side of a valley going down towards the Rio Douro below.  Porto is definitely the home of port wine, as evidenced by what we could see; on the other bank of the river – the port companies line up like sentries and you can watch the heavy river traffic going back and forth between the banks.

Here are the highlights from the first afternoon:

–The Grande Hotel do Porto was the hotel we stayed at during our time in Porto.  After staying in a bare-bones apartment, it was certainly a flip of the switch to this classy, Victorian style hotel.  With a tea parlor, library, and study on the ground floor, each with old-school furniture, artwork and books, it makes one feel like they just warped back to the mid-1800’s.  Reasonably priced at around 103 Euros ($150) a night for a very solid, clean three bed room, it’s actually a pretty cool place to stay win a good location without burning a hole in your wallet.  The complimentary breakfast in the morning is served in a highly ornamented dining/ballroom and was one of the more extensive free breakfast buffets offerings that I’ve seen.  (Note: This hotel is at the top of the hill and while it’s a very easy 15 minute walk to get down to the main sights, the walk back up the hill to get back to the hotel can be a bit of a challenge after a long day.)

-We grabbed lunch at O Escondidinho Restaurante which was a short walk from our hotel.  The walls of this relatively homey feeling restaurant are covered with the famous azulejos and each table is almost regal in manner with each chair feeling more like a throne than a seat.  The menu offers an extensive menu and I had probably one of the best fish dishes of the trip here (Grilled sea bass).  The apple pie/strudel that I had for desert looked better than it tasted however, having the right flaky crust, but not nearly enough apple filling.  The service was solid, but there was no A/C so it got a little warm in there.  Regardless, all in all it’s a good, solid place to grab a meal.  Grade: B+

-If you are like us, you probably don’t know that much about port wine, which makes going to Vinologia as one of your first stops a must-do.  Located near the river, this rustic, oak barrel looking venue provided us with a great crash course on port wine because the menu offers several different tasting samplers at different prices along with a lesson from the waitress.  With hundreds of different types of port wine to choose from, the lesson helped us understand the differences between each type of port and what to pair it with (the tastings include different types of fruits, nuts, and chocolates that match best with the different types of port we tried).   Collectively, our favorite combo was the white tawny port with apricots.  Aside from the tastings, we ended up being there for a few hours just because we enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere (and admittedly, we all were sort of in love with our waitress).

Recap

Where I stayed:

Grande Hotel do Porto
Rua de Santa Catarina 197
4000-450 Porto

Where I ate:

O Escondidinho Restaurante
Rua Passos Manuel 144
4000-382 Porto

What I saw:

Vinologia
Rua de Sao Joao 46
4050 Porto

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