Our Portuguese Road Trip Part 1

Hiring a car in the south of Portugal in the city of Faro we were questioning our sanity. Our plan to drive from the south of Portugal to the north had seemed like such a great plan in theory, but we quickly realised that driving through a foreign country and only one of us able to drive would be a huge test on our relationship and patience levels.

To our relief the short drive from the airport to our hostel in Faro went smoothly and the hostel was gorgeous, we happily called day one a success. The next day we were off to Lagos and this was where the tension kicked in. Lagos is a small town and consists of a number of very narrow, one way, cobblestoned streets and the fact that we were just driving around searching for a place to stay didn't help. Eventually after angering a few locals and each other we found somewhere to call home for the night so we parked the car, checked in and headed straight to one of the beautiful beaches in Lagos to relax and have a dip. The rest of the day was spent lying in the sun before we headed back to the hostel for drinks and to make new friends. The next morning we had arranged to go sea kayaking around the caves that jot the coastline. Can not recommend this enough! It was so surreal kayaking in and out of all the caves each one more incredible then the next. The way the light shines in through the caves makes the water look a freakish colour of blue. We also stopped by a couple of beaches hidden in amongst the rocks and caves on which we were the only people - an extreme rarity since we started travelling as we had visited so many tourist covered beaches.

Sea kayaking in Lagos

Traditional Portuguese tarts/a significant part of our daily meals

Jayden pretty stoked about the amazing view

We jumped back in the car and started to make our way along the coast headed for a town called Sagres which is the most southwestern town in Europe. We stopped as often as we could to admire the endless stretches of white sand beaches set along jaw dropping cliff faces. When we reached Sagres we made our way to our first camp site of the trip (we still had our tent from the music festival), but looking around as we set up our little two man tent we felt strangely out of place amongst the serious campers with tents larger than our bedroom and every camping gadget/accessory under the sun. Our tent envy soon subsided when some campers next to us were still setting up there campsite hours after we had finished ours and we happily decided to call ourselves minimalist campers. The sun was still up so we made our way to the actual southwestern TIP of Europe and the view was breathtaking. Just to stand there and think this is where some of the most important explorers of the western world stood and thought, "well this is clearly the end of the world but we are going to voyage out in hope of finding something anyway" (this is obviously not a direct quote FYI) was pretty mind blowing.

Standing on the edge of south west Europe!

Our beautiful little red street racer 

The next morning to keep with our water sport theme from the day before we decided to spend the day surfing and where best to do that then of the most southwestern beach of Europe. Fortunately we were able to get a hold of some full body wetsuits as the water was icily cold but we still had one of the funnest days of the trip and the hugest realisation of how much our fitness levels had deteriorated.

Getting ready to go surfing!

Later that afternoon we decided to get the longest stretch of our journey over and done with so we made the drive to Lisbon arriving to the campsite in the late evening. The next 2 days we spent exploring the city of Lisbon. We ate and wandered around the old town and then ate some more. In Lisbon we had one of the best meals of our entire trip! Jay had a steak with the most divinde blue cheese sauce and Hayley had squid that quite literally melted in your mouth on a bed of incredible sweet potato mash. Not only was the meal divine but it was reasonably priced and it was in a beautiful restaurant that faced the main square on the river of Lisbon (will add a link when we can find it).

On the way to our next destination we stopped in a little town called Sintra that was renowned and highly recommended for the castles and palaces built within the town. Having tried so avidly to avoid anything that shouts tourist trap! - we were hesitant but as soon as we arrived in this quaint little town we knew we had made a good decision. The streets are lined with tiny Portuguese bakeries, cute coffee shops and a tonne of stores selling Portuguese wines and liquors. To avoid the crowds we decided to bypass the bakeries (much to Jayden's disappointment) and made our way up to the castles to try and get in early. Our first stop was "Castelo dos Mouras" and it was unbelievable. To get to castle  we walked through stunning green forestry finding the occasional slice of castle ruin nestled into the shrubbery and then as soon as the forest clears a huge medieval looking castle wall comes out of no where. We were able to climb the stairs to the top of the castle wall wandering through the old towers that lined the way. We couldn't help ourselves as we pretended to be "princess and prince" as we made our way along the wall, lame yes but if you were there you would have too!

From this incredible castle wall we made our way all the way up to "Palacio de Pena" and if we didn't know any better we would have mistaken it for being the set to a Disney film. This palace was almost certainly designed for if not by a woman. It is the castle every girl had or wanted growing up - painted in pastels and pinks with rose bushes bursting out of every possible spot. In case we didn't feel enough of a royal couple walking along the wall, walking through the stunning rooms inside this palace and our imaginations go wild did the trick.

Next we stopped off in a place called Coimbra which according to the guide book was a hip and cool university town filled with young people and cool bars and clubs. Upon arrival we were confused as to where the "bars" were so we went back to our handy guide book only to discover that Jayden had got Coimbra confused with another town and so we spent a night in the middle of no where with nothing to do. And since that day Jayden has stuck to just being a pretty face ... on the bright side we got corny leather bands with each others names engraved!

Paris & Amsterdam

Having both been to Paris before and loving it we were over the moon to have the chance to return to this incredible city, and to make this stop even better we were going to explore this city with some of Hayley's best friends, Bruna, Danielle and Italo were travelling around Europe from Brasil and Ashlea, Jordan and Kristine who were doing a month trip from Australia. As we had been before we took on the Paris tour guide role and went to all our favourites and must see sites. Of course we stopped at every patisserie and bakery we could manage as well. We visited Sacre Ceur, Notre Dame and of course the Eiffel Tower where we photographed ourselves doing every tourist pose we could think of and had a picnic of ham and cheese baguettes on the grass in front of it. We wandered all over Paris passing the bridge covered in locks of lovers and couldn't help ourselves when we followed suit and bought locks, wrote our names on them, locked them to the bridge and threw away the key - touristy yes but such a sweet thing to do none the less. We made our way past the Lourve and as we attempted to make our way up Champs Elysee we discovered it was in fact the final day for Le Tour De France so we spontaneously got in the spirit and cheered as if we had planned it all along. As the race finished and crowds began to clear we strolled up the street towards the Arc De Triomphe and found ourselves a nice spot on top of it to watch the sun set and the Eiffel Tower light up. Ahhh how beautiful Paris is and even more so when spent with such beautiful people.

On top of the Eiffel Tower 

With Bru in front of Sacre Ceur

Tourist picture 1 out of 800

On top of the Arc De Triomphe

Onto Amsterdam it was where our time was spent wandering the streets and all the beautiful canals this city has built throughout it. Cafes in Amsterdam (not the coffee shop kind) are all so quaint and perfect to spend sunny afternoons sipping coffee and watching all the characters of Amsterdam stroll by. We picnicked on delicious dutch cheese by the river and took a stroll through the flower markets. Amsterdam also has no shortage of incredible vintage shops and markets where we trawled through piles and piles of clothes searching for some bargains to squeeze into our packs. When we finally met up with Ashlea, Jordan and Kristine (Bru, Italo and Dani had unfortunately headed home) we stopped at a highly recommended pancake parlour and spoiled ourselves with poffertjes and pancakes drowning in cream and chocolate. We then had a quick photo opportunity out the front of Anne Franks house (the line was too long to even fathom trying to get in) we hopped on the tram and took our turn in clambering all over the "I AMsterdam" sign like all good tourists do. In classic Ashlea style we watched her get stuck on one of the letters in a skirt not really designed for climbing, but she made it down in one piece. Of course it wouldn't be a stop in Amsterdam without gawking at the girls in the windows of the "Red Light District" and all the shops selling anything you would classify as inappropriate, and then the coffee shops, well when in Rome ...

Amsterdam canals

Jay's new shoes

Posing by the "I AMsterdam" sign

Hayley and Ashy in Amsterdam!

Stinking hot Morocco

So we left the rainy, muddy music festival and landed in Marrakech, being greeted by 50 degree heat. We hopped in a cab and were well aware we were being hugely ripped off but we were willing to pay any price to get out of the heat. Our knowledge of Morocco was limited although we knew that it was best to book a place called a "Riad" instead of a hotel and so we did. Driving through the tiny streets of Marrakech that let's be honest, are not that attractive and then pulling up at an unsuspecting looking door we were a little uneasy as to what we had booked. We buzzed the doorbell and as the door opened our jaws dropped. We soon discovered that a riad is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with a courtyard and garden in the centre and to us this riad could have well been a palace. We walked straight out into the courtyard which is surrounded by rooms and then a level above with balconies encircling the entire courtyard. Everything was white (Hayley heaven) with small blue tile detailing and dark timber doors, then to our relief there was a small splash pool too! Even our room was stunning with beautiful furniture and a gorgeous traditional looking bathroom, first impressions of Morocco were good.

Our gorgeous riad in Marrakech

The pool at our riad

Over the next couple of days we braved it out in the heat to take in the sights of this beautiful city. We wandered around the medina (main square) and through souks (markets - Jay kept saying he felt like he was Assassins Creed) bursting with colour and everything you could possibly want to buy from spices to carpets and lamps and jewellery. We dodged our way around crazy locals speeding through the tiny streets on scooters and hoards of donkeys carting things around. We stuffed ourselves silly with tagines and cous cous and then spent most afternoons cooling off by the pool in our beautiful riad. We visited some stunning traditional Moroccan palaces and a beautiful garden oasis called Jardin Majorelle that was once owned by designer Yves Sant Laurent and now has a memorial inside the garden dedicated to him. We managed to fit in a day trip to the high atlas mountains which was a huge contrast to the city. We drove all through the lush green valley in the mountains along a pebble ridden river covered in cafes/restaurants that had set there tables and chairs up quite literally in the river. We even took a short hike up to waterfall filled with locals taking a dip.

Jay with his newfound love - THE TAGINE!

Anyone for a carpet?

The river cafes in the mountains

In the Jardin Majorelle (once owned by YSL)

From Marrakech we caught the train to Fes where we stayed in another riad even grander than the last. In Fes we tried to do the same as we had in Marrakech and wander through the streets on our own but we couldn't stand being harassed and followed by all the faux guides so we got ourselves an official guide and it was definitely money well spent. The medina of Fes has over 12, 000 streets and alleyways so the knowledge we were able to gain from the guide was priceless and we saw things we could have never found ourselves. We visited the oldest university in the world in the heart of the medina and stopped at a tannery where you see exactly how they colour all the leather, and of course we again enjoyed even more tagines.

The oldest university in the world

The tanneries in Fes

Our time in Morocco was incredible and we are so grateful we were able to see this culturally diverse country although if were to return there are 2 things that we would change. 1 - Go in winter (or a cooler season at least), we would have appreciated this country a lot more if we weren't winging about the heat half the time. 2 - Consider doing a tour, unfortunately everyone in Morocco was trying to rip us off. This may be a stereotype but everyone we came across only really cared about taking our money so we would assume that doing a tour ensures you are getting a fair price and would also make you feel a bit safer.

Short stop in Barcelona then BBK music festival

After spending over a week becoming so close with everyone from Topdeck it was sad to say goodbye but I am sure that our paths will cross again in another country sooner or later. So we jumped on the train headed for Barcelona. Unfortunately our time in Barcelona was short, Jay had visited before and listed it as one of his favourite cities and within hours of being there I soon realised why. On every corner you look there is a chic little tapas bar, a cute clothes boutique or an incredible building with architecture just out of this world. We spent majority of our short trip wandering through the maze of streets and alleys stopping at as many tapas bars as we could manage. We wandered down past the beautiful harbour, envying the owners of all the gorgeous yachts parked in the glistening waters. Then made our way to the beach where we once again envied all those smart enough to have brought with them their bathers. Although in saying that this did give us a chance to walk along the coast dipping our feet in the ocean and it gave Jayden a chance to check out all the very liberal topless spanish. We were then lucky enough to have a couple of hours in which we were able to meet up with Ashlea and her friends Jordan and Kristine. Our time with them was once again spent at tapas bars and then not that we needed it, but we also went out for dinner and scored ourselves free delicious, seafood paella all round.

Gaudi Cathedral

Jay being sad because he forgot his bathers

Our amazing room!

After a huge day out wandering the city we suddenly realised that the festival we were attending and camping at the next day was probably going to require us having a tent so the rest of our evening was spent scouring Barcelona high and low for a tent store. To our relief it was a success and after a good nights sleep in the most beautiful bed and breakfast I have ever come across (if you are ever in Barcelona I can not recommend it enough - see link below) we packed up our bags yet again and made our way to the bus station for a bus which we still hadn't booked. So it came as no surprise when the bus to get to the 35, 000 people festival was sold out, when we quite vocally showed our disappointment the man behind the counter found a way for us to get there and only a couple of hours and missing a few of our favorite bands later.

So we finally arrived in Bilbao and attempted to set up our tent in pitch black amongst a sea of others. As soon as the tent was somewhat secure we made our way to the festival and spent the rest of the evening dancing and singing away to "The Maccabees", "Bloc Party", "Snow Patrol" and "The Cure". The next morning we were able to catch a shuttle into town and were pleasantly surprised to discover the amazing town of Bilbao. They had beautiful streets lined with huge trees and every luxury store under the sun. We stumbled upon an amazing art gallery with a statue of a dog out the front made entirely out of flowers! And of course it wouldn't be a day out in Spain without our beloved friend Tapas. After a quick booze stop it was back to the festival where we got to see even more great bands such as "Radiohead", "The Kooks", "Noah and the Whale" and our favourite for the night "Mumford and Sons". The next day was incredibly painful as we were up at 6am to catch a flight and unfortunately had to pack up our tent in the pouring rain and make the trek into town, but its not a proper festival till its rained right?

We made it!

The flower dog!

Being cute in our super cute tent

Watching and RUNNING with the bulls!

Over the next couple of days we had the chance to go into town a couple of mornings to watch the bull runs. We decided that to avoid the crowds that line the streets of the run we would head for the arena where we were able to watch the run through the streets on the big screens and then see the runners flood the stadium from the door out to the street as the bulls chased them in. The atmosphere in the arena was incredible. It is the second largest bull fighting arena in the world and the crowd was so pumped that mexican waves were running around the entire circle five times at least, and rest assured sangria was still aplenty for all in the crowd. After the larger bulls that take part in the run are herded away the spectacle began. One by one six smaller bulls (steers) are let into the arena to have a stab (no pun intended) at the runners that are now waiting inside the bull ring. We all agreed that buying the tickets worth a couple of euro to see this gave us more entertainment then any sporting match we have every paid a lot more money for. There are hundreds of people running around trying to have there shot at stardom by touching the bull and avoiding serious injury, but for the crowds injuries are what they came for. The crowds go wild when a bull charges into a group of people silly enough not to stay out of its way, and when the bull occasionally gets someone and either attempts to gore them right there on the ground or send them flying through the air with its horns the crowds get even louder. Everyone here is clearly on the side of the bulls. This is demonstrated even more so when someone grabs the bull by its tail which is a big no no. The crowd starts chanting "viva la puta"which essentially means you are a bitch, and then they also get met with a couple of swings from the Spaniards in the ring. Obviously the only ones to do this are generally tourists and unfortunately majority Australian. To make this experience even better we got to meet up with Hayley's best friend from back home Ashlea and watch the whole thing with her :) All in all though this was a great spot to watch the happenings of the bull run but it will never compare to ACTUALLY running which one half of this blog decided to do. We have all established that this is Hayley writing so I am going to hand the keyboard over to Jayden so he can recount his experience in his own words ...

The band in the ring

The ring filled with runners

When I woke to the alarm at 4:30am shit had already started gathering in my pants and the hangover that had been at home for most mornings of the festival with me set in. Most of us had agreed to run but as the morning went on the pull outs escalated (I'm looking at you Hayls) and I started to really doubt what I was doing. All week I had been telling campers just to rethink running, as yes its fun but people get seriously hurt and yep the odd one or two may die. Although I was determined and decided to go through with it even with the hangover pumped like crazy behind my eyes. We set off on the bus into town which was 45 minutes away and unfortunately left me a long time to think about how stupid it really is, but the adrenaline started kicking in the closer we got and the more determined I became to have what I hoped would be one of the best experiences of my life. Then before I knew it I was lined up on the sangria and urine smelling streets amongst the the revved up Spaniards in our red and whites. As the time of the run grew closer the vibe of the crowd was ever lifting. Chants broke out and the nervous faces in the crowd grew, those with nothing but a smile ear to ear earlier now became more sober, you could see the thoughts running through peoples heads (what the fuck am i doing!). The gates shut down around the runners and the crowd irrupted. We were let out to flood the track and pick our starting points. For obvious reasons my chosen spot was after dead mans corner. Luckily I ended up on the street below Hayley as she had got cheap tickets from 'Topdeck' watch the run from a balcony that lined the street below. This for me worked out perfect as I was able to see 'dead mans corner' over the crowd. I nervously jumped up and down as I waited to see the 6 bulls, some weighing as much as 620kg turn the corner. 


The cannon fired and signalled the release of the bulls. I looked up to Hayls' balcony and was reassured I was safe for the moment. Runners pushed passed me, pushing me to the wall and any which way for me to be out of there way. The bulls passed the corner and I remember clear as day as my stomach dropped as Hayls and the others all screamed "RUN!". WELL I LEGGED IT!!! Probably quicker than I ever did back in my athletics days. Next thing the thunder of the hooves were next to me, and the grunting as they took the hill. I made it to the top near the stadium and all of the sudden 1 big fuck off bull was running right at me! It had fallen back from the pack, got confused and turned around. All I remember jumping to the side to get out of its way. As I got to my feet thankfully it had be persuaded into the tunnel of the stadium. Nothing will compare to the rush of this run and making it into the stadium with 1000's of people cheering. I stayed in the ring to try my luck at slapping one of the smaller steers on the ass (this is tradition to do). The first steer burst out the gate sending many into the air and goring a couple of others to the ground. It wasn't till the fourth steer I got the courage to coax it towards me and give it a slap as it passed. After it was all done and over I could not have felt more shattered from the massive adrenaline rush, the run itself and then dodging 6 steers in the space of just over an hour but it had been a truely unbelievable experience. This is one of those things I will never forget and will be telling my grandkids over and over in years to come "Back in my youth I ran with the bulls ..."

We spotted Jayden from the balcony!

Here come the bulls!

As mentioned when I was offered a spot on a balcony I jumped at the chance as I wasn't overly keen to run. This also meant I was able to get some great shots and videos (will be posted when we have better internet) of Jayden on the streets below. We also got to go inside the flat of the balcony and watch the carnage on TV of what we had missed from the balcony and my eyes couldn't help but search for Jayden on every stretcher that came on screen. So when we finally found him after the run the sense of relief that washed over me was indescribable.

Jayden in the ring (middle right, next to guy in red jumper)

Running of the Bulls Opening Ceremony!

We were fortunate enough to be able to work for the tour company "Topdeck" in Pamplona for Running of the Bulls festival. It was unpaid work but the benefits were endless - free booze, food, accomodation (okay it was just a tent but still!) and a free festival! What more could you want? So we made the long and painful 27 hour journey there from Egypt and were greeted at the campsite by the rest of the amazing Topdeck crew. The first couple of days were spent setting up 150 tents and double that in lilos for the passengers travelling with Topdeck. Lets just say we are not going into the professional tent building business any time soon ... Luckily afternoon beverages were always readily available to get us through.

Our amazing Topdeck crew

Once the hard labour was done and the passengers arrived, the highly anticipated "Opening Ceremony"  was upon us. This is the day that marks the start of the festival and would have to be the funnest day we have ever had. We were all dressed up in our traditional white outfits with red sashes and scarves, and most importantly our sack of sangria! Arriving in the main town was out of this world! Every single person was dressed in white and going absolutely crazy with festival spirit, but we hadn't seen anything yet. As the mayor made his speech from town hall that was shown on huge screens throughout the town everyone held there red scarves high in the air chanting "Viva San Fermin!". You couldn't help but join in and feel as though you had been a part of it all along. And then the mayor fired the canon to signify the start of it all and the town literally went wild and so did we. Sangria went everywhere leaving no ones clothing still coloured white, along with shaving cream, flour, eggs and the occasional stream of mustard and ketchup. Unless experiencing it yourself nothing could ever describe the adrenaline rush from being amongst it all. The streets were heaving with people fuelled on excitement and huge amounts of sangria. The party didn't stop as we danced and sung our way through the streets past marching bands and Spaniards pouring sangria straight into our mouths. Buckets of water came down from the balconies above us which were a welcome refreshment to wash the copious amounts of sangria off that were now causing our eyelids to stick together. We stumbled upon bar after bar filled with people dancing inside and out onto the street. We ducked into one purely to use the bathroom but ended up being swept onto the dance floor by Spaniards spinning and twirling us around and offering us more sangria. We could go on and on about the greatest day of our lives for ever so lets just say that on the 6th of July next year I know exactly where I will be and that is back on the streets of Pamplona doing it all over again.

'

Hayley's new spanish boyfriend

Everyone covered in sangria and cream

One of the marching bands

Next stop Dahab

After seeing a few more sights (mostly temples) around Luxor we hopped on the bus for the treacherous 22 hour drive to Dahab. Jayden unfortunately (although it makes for a good story) came down with a severe case of "the runs" quite literally an hour or so before we jumped on the bus, to keep it PG so we don't get banned from the blog world we will just say that this meant a lot more toilet stops and leave it at that.

Dahab is as the Egyptians call it a "hippy" town which was just what we were after. We spent our days snorkelling around the amazing coral that lines the coast and even got a chance to snorkel over the blue hole. The blue hole is as it says - a hole in the ocean that is a whopping 120 metres deep, it was created by a volcano thousands of years ago. We did buy an underwater camera however somehow it didn't stay so waterproof so the photos we took have developed with a slight "old school effect".

Wandering around Dahab

Snorkelling at the blue hole

From our underwater camera

And another quality underwater shot

For some reason while we were in Dahab we thought it would be a good idea to climb a mountain at two in the morning. Lucky for us it turns out it was one of the best ideas we have had. The mountain was Mount Sinai and this is believed to be where Moses received the ten commandments and the base of the mountain is believed to be home to the "burning bush". As hard as the three hour walk in pitch black was, when we got to the top just as the sun began to rise it was completely worth it.

Freezing our bums off waiting for the sun to rise

Here it comes!

After an amazing 13 days with our tour group it was time for us to venture off on our own, so we left the tour and chose to stay on in Dahab for a bit longer so Jayden could get his open water scuba license! 4 days later and he was certified and hooked on the idea of becoming a scuba diving master. And so we bid farewell to Egypt, having had one of the hottest and most culturally challenging holidays thus far but all very worth it to have been able to explore this beautiful country.

Jay being the biggest cutie in the world in his scuba get up!