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.