Lisbon, Portugal and Madrid, Spain: New Years 2015

Synopsis: Fresh off eating lots of Spanish food for the Christmas holidays, we hit the road again, this time headed to Lisbon, Portugal, before we celebrate New year's in Madrid, Spain.

Just a short drive

Trip Overview:

Day 1: Head out around midday after my parents say goodbye to Virginia and the boys. We said goodbye to Leo the night before since he had to wake up to go to work today. We make good time to Salamanca, listening to the Pentatonix. I didn't realize driving west meant having the sun blind you the whole time - thank God for sunglasses. There is absolutely no one else on the road, on either side of the highway, which makes it easier to disregard the speed limit. As soon as we cross into Portugal, we are suddenly overcome by intense fog.

When entering Portugal on the via verde, you have to use your Visa/Mastercard to register at the first toll, which simply takes a picture of your license plate and then bills your credit card directly, instead of you stopping to pay tolls.

Once we get to downtown, we drive around the block a few times and perform several illegal maneuvers before we find our hotel. As soon as we check-in, we leave the hotel to go to the pharmacy, and now my GPS is officially fired. She (because it's a female voice) has us all over the city and lost. And this isn't the first time on this trip. After we find the pharmacy on our own, like the settlers used to do, we want to stop for food on the way back to the hotel, but nothing is open. We end up ordering the least delicious pizza I've ever had. But I am hungry...

Thoughts: That was a looong drive, but between Portuguese coffee and talking with my parents, the 8 hours flew by quickly.

Almost there

I should email them a copy of this photo

Almost no visibility

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Spanish Road Trip: Christmas 2014

Synopsis: My parents are flying out a few days before Christmas so we can tour around Spain a bit and then head back to Pamplona for Christmas with my new Spanish family. I plan to do all the driving so my parents can enjoy the scenery and relax.

Road trip!

Day 1: I head out at 5 in the morning to Madrid, and it's actually nice since no one else is on the road. Super foggy and dark, though. As the sun finally comes up around 8:15, I can finally see the beautiful Spanish countryside in the Sierra Guadarrama, and the sunlight helps wake me up.

Meet my parents at the airport in Madrid and we sit and talk a bit over coffee and catch up. Hop in the car and while heading down to Granada, we stop at Toledo on the way. We park in a garage and my mother and I take the elevator while my dad walks up the stairs. I tell him if anyone talks to him in Spanish to say "no entiendo". He walks away practicing aloud "Nintendo". 

As soon as we are out the parking garage, we grab some food. We eat at Bű Terraza and it is delicious. Walk around the city a bit and it's very foggy, but still nice. Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo towers over the city, but again the fog makes it hard to see.

Drive on to Granada and I'm glad my parents are there to talk to because there is nothing between Toledo and Granada, except some beautiful mountains right before Granada. Walk around the city a bit and stop to eat at La Terraza, by the Granada Cathedral, and the food is decent, except the paella. Then we head to our hotel that we found, and decided on, while eating dinner.

Thoughts: So great to see my parents again. It's been a full year since we last hung out and we have so much to catch up on. My dad is funny at languages and when trying to imitate me saying "hasta luego" he says "yoyo". Turns out we got a pretty good hotel, Gran Luna De Granada (tripadvisor review), at 77€ for 3 people, plus cheap parking and breakfast and Wi-Fi included. My parents also gifted me an iPhone 6 for Christmas, that they let me open tonight. So happy! Today I drove 8 hours.

Picking my parents up at the Madrid airport

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Riga, Latvia: Lots of Firsts

...and people wonder why I love Europe!

Synopsis: "European Capital of Culture 2014" means that Riga is a must-see destination, and I am a must-see kind of guy. I had some friends who were going to come with me, but they bailed at the last minute, so I'll go by myself. I try to find a couchsurfing host but have no luck. So, I just go to the city and hope for the best. Maybe, I'll try a hostel for the first time ever in my entire life?

Supporting Cast: Since I mention some people by groups in this post, here is a quick who's who.

"Dutch guys" - Chris, Don, Rueben

"Finnish group" - Alexandra, Stephanie, Markus, Christopher

"Finnish guys" - Zachary, Olli

"Italian guys" - Simon, Andrea

"Polish girls" - Agnieszka, Marzena 

Trip Overview:
Day 1: Flight out of Zaventem and it's the first time I use my phone as my boarding pass. Pretty neat and convenient. When I land in Riga, I take bus 22 to Old Town. I sit next to a girl who I try to practice my Latvian with but she is so shy, she just giggles and speaks too fast. I get off at Rifleman Square and there is an really cool giant snail exhibit (a group of artists' commentary on the government: slow as snails). At the square, I jump on the hop on/off bus to get my geographic bearings, plus now I have public transport for 48hrs. The English speaker on the recording is from Scotland; first time I've heard that. 

After the bus tour arrives back at Rifleman Square, I see a hostel, Friendly Fun Franks Backpackers Hostel, and walk to it to check it out and end up booking a room. I walk in right before it gets busy, which is not good because only one person is trying to help many people at the same time.

After booking,  I venture out into the city. I walk up and down the streets of old town until I find myself in the park, Esplanāde, with a canal running through it, that separates Old Town and the Art Nouveau district. It's a beautiful park and they have free, clean toilets. I see the National Opera, Freedom Monument, Riga Castle, and many other places. I head to the Central Market, which is 4 airplane hangars plus an outdoor area, turned into a fresh food and artisan/craft market. The food is making me hungry.

Both the hop on/off and the hostel recommend Lido for traditional Latvian food, so after searching over an hour for it, I find it. It's reasonably priced for a touristic restaurant and the grey beans (the chef recommends it with sour cream) and chicken, strawberries in cream, and mint tea are delicious!

Afterward, I head back to the hostel and meet four of my roommates, the Finnish group. They are finishing up a summer tour of Europe and this is their last stop. I then go out into the community area and there are about 15 guys and no girls. A bit later, 4 girls show up plus 10 more guys. One of the girls says it is a sausage fest, lol. Only problem with the common area is that the smoke area is adjacent, behind a glass wall, but it's overpowering the clean-air area. I meet the three Dutch guys who are pretty cool and are going on the pub crawl. I decide to join in, on my first pub crawl. 

We (the Finnish group, the Dutch guys, the Italian guys, and me and the guide) start the pub crawl at 830pm and go to four different bars. Our guide is really nice, but some of the professional pub crawlers say she isn't a great pub crawl leader. At the last bar, our guide leaves, but most of us stick around to play some drinking games and listen to the occasionally decent karaoke singers. Around 230am we leave to go get pizza. Stop at one last bar/club and it's pretty weak so we leave after an hour. Get back to the hostel around 4am.


Thoughts: This is the first trip I've been on by myself in a long time. I have no plan and I'm just going to let the wind direct my sails. Most places you could pay in in euros or Latvian lats, since they just transitioned to the euro January 14 of this year.

Bus police boarded the 22 bus, and it's funny, because in four years of living in Brussels, I've never seen a transit cop, but saw one in Bucharest, Warsaw, and Riga, on the first bus I got on. First hostel. First pub crawl. Lots of firsts for me.

For those who have never been to a hostel, let me give you a brief scoop. Hostels are designed for travelers who don't need the luxury of a hotel, but prefer not to sleep on a park bench. They have great info and amenities like local maps and discount offers on restaurants and bars, walking tours, kitchens for personal cooking, in-house bar, free wifi, and organized events. They have towels, mixed dorm rooms with bunk beds and linen, and common toilets and showers, as well as a safe room for valuables. The kitchen is open 24/7 and there is unlimited free tea and coffee. At this hostel, I got a free Latvian sparkling wine (I know it's only "champagne" in France) as a welcome gift. The doors are always locked and you have to be buzzed into the building.

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Rome, Italy: Sono affamato for cappuccino

Synopsis: Stephanie and I decide last minute to take advantage of the 3-day weekend and do a 4-day trip to Rome. Weather will be nice so we will just walk around until we see something cool. She speaks a little Italian and I eat a lot of Italian, so we should have no problems.

Trip Overview:

Day 1: Land at Ciampino in the morning and head to the hotel to check-in. We are staying by Termini station so we have access to every kind of transportation available in the city. Stop for cappuccino. We decide on the 110 Open bus tour. We take the red one around for an hour and a half just to get an overview of the city. Stop for cappuccino. Republicca Fountain is nearby, waiting for a photo op. Head down to Altar of the Fatherland (Altare della Patria, aka The Wedding Cake), which just happens to be near a third of the tourist attractions in Rome: Trajan Forum, Roman Forum, Piazza Campidoglio, and the Flavian Amphitheater (Colosseum) in the near distance.

First day, full of energy, let's walk to Trevi Fountain. Wow, can there be any more people here? We gently blitzkrieg our way to the front for a photo. Alright, that took two minutes, let's go to the Spanish Steps. Oh, the other half of the entire world is here. Stephanie's friend recommended a restaurant near here but we can't seem to find it. Let's check google maps... yeah its on the other side of town. Let's head back to the hotel. Stop for cappuccino.

Night 1: In Italy, they don't eat dinner until very late, so we venture out around 9PM looking for food.  Walk by the Pantheon, but it's closed this late. Continue on to Piazza Navona and check out the Fountain of the Four Rivers and eat at a restaurant.

Thoughts: After navigating Rome by foot and traversing the length of the city twice, we are completely familiar with the layout and quickly get to wherever we want.

Main train station in Rome

The "Wedding Cake" aka Altar of the Fatherland

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Miami, FL: New Year's 2014

Synopsis: Fresh off our cruise, my parents and I stay in Miami to celebrate New Year's. But we don't just stay in Miami, we do all of southern Florida.

Trip Overview:

Day 1: First things first, I go to an Apple store in the mall and buy an iPad mini. Then, I can breathe, eat, drink, and use the bathroom. Gotta have priorities. We drive down to Homestead AFB, where we will stay for a couple of days. En route, what do I see? Krispy Kreme donut stores abound. We are passing the 3rd one on this road alone! Well, when in Rome... or when in America, eat as much as you can!

Thoughts: Driving about 20 miles down the highway, I saw 4 McDonalds, 3 Krispy Kreme's, 17 car dealerships, and 4 shopping malls. Talk about a consumer-driven society!

First picture taken with my new iPad mini

Yummy! Don't worry, I only ate 2... dozen

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Dublin, Ireland: St Patrick's Trinity of Jameson, Guinness, and...

Synopsis:

(Tim walks into the location where he sees Katherine for the first time)
Tim: Hi, I'm Tim and I like to travel.
Katherine: Hi, Tim. I am Katherine and I also like to travel.
Tim: Let me know if you want to travel somewhere.
Katherine: I want to go to Ireland. You ever been there?
Tim: No I haven't. Let's go.
Katherine: I'm already on the plane, hurry up!
(They go to Ireland)

Please read this post with an Irish accent. Trust me, it will make it much more interesting.

Trip Overview:
Day 1: Fly out of Charleroi to be welcomed by a wet and miserable day in Dublin. We don't let that stop us and walk out into the city with one child-sized umbrella. Needless to say, we get wet. After about 2 hours of torturing ourselves, we head back to the hotel to shower and change. Then, now that the rain stopped, we head back out to check out Temple Bar District and find something to eat.

Thoughts: I tried for weeks to find a couchsurfing host, but no one would host us. Not so lucky, if you aren't Irish? Friday night and there doesn't seem to be a lot of people at the bars and one nightclub we went into was completely empty. Guess the Irish party on other nights? Plus, Ireland is renown for its amazing greenery, which, unfortunately, is all white now.

Travel buddy, Katherine

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Istanbul, Turkey: Tryptophantastic Turkey Day

Synopsis: On my quest to visit all of Europe, and then see Asia, I found a place that will give me both in one visit: Istanbul, Turkey. I found a host on couchsurfing and I will stay with him for a few days. And, I spend Thanksgiving in Turkey.

Trip Overview:

Day 1: Head out of Zaventem in the early afternoon, to Ataturk, Istanbul. It's a 4 hour flight so I have plenty of time to learn some Turkish...that I quickly realize is super hard to learn and I immediately give up and watch spongebob on my iPad. I land in Istanbul and catch the bus to the stop where my host, Ibrahim, is going to meet me. He eventually finds me and he takes me back to his place. After dropping off my stuff, we go out for something to eat at a local spot that he frequents. I tell him to order me something really Turkish, and I end up with a tripe sandwich and wash it down with yogurt. Head back to the house for the night... a bit traumatized.

Thoughts: I am greeted with rainy weather, though it is warmer here than in Brussels. Initially I didn't know it was a cow stomach sandwich, and after eating 85% of it, I asked him what I was eating... which meant I had to struggle with that last 15%.

Ibrahim, my host, and I

The mosque next to his house that had loud speakers that announced the 5 daily prayers

Işkembe and ayran = Cow stomach and yogurt! 

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Budapest, Hungary: Great Place to Take a Bath

Synopsis: Found a pretty good deal on flights to Budapest and Julius found a host on couchsurfing, so nothing left to it but to do it!

Trip Overview:
Day 1: Fly into Budapest and we catch the train into town. Our host, Karolina, won't be home from work until later, so we have a couple of hours before we meet her. So, we hit the gym and get in some reps, while studying our broscience manuals. Afterward, we wipe off the equipment we use, because that's just courteous, and then head over to meet Karolina. We stop by the store for special ingredients, on the way to her place, so that we(I) can share our(my) love of cooking gumbo from my native land of Zataran (Julius didn't do any work). The girls do not like the gumbo but they're trying to be nice about it, excusing themselves to the bathroom after each bite. Julius and I ended up eating it all. 

Now that we are feeling good, we head out into the city and our first stop is a random bar where we try palinka. Wow, that stuff is strong! Then, we go to Szimpla. This bar is really cool. It has two stories and part of the downstairs is outside. There are so many people in here and I am hearing several different accents and languages, but mostly english. Next place we go to is Morrison's 2, which is like 5 clubs and 4 bars all in one big building. We stay there for awhile, hopping to different sections and dancing and having fun.

Thoughts: Karolina seems really nice and friendly. There are a lot of clubs in Budapest, and we actually got carded at a few, which is flattering, except Julius forgot his ID, so we couldn't get in. Plus, the trams were running well after 3am, which is super convenient and should be adopted in more major European cities.

At the train station

First thing we did was find a gym to get our (not so) swol on

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Lisbon, Portugal: Couchsurfing the Capital during Carnaval

Synopsis: Last minute decision (a few days before) to use a three-day weekend for travel and I want to go to Portugal. Porto, Faro, or Lisbon? RyanAir times don't work for me so I'm gonna have to pay a bit more. Let's go to couchsurfing to see if I can find a host. Hmmm, got a response in Lisbon, guess I'm going there! And this will be my first time staying with someone from couchsurfing.

Trip Overview:
Day 1: Land in Lisbon in the late morning and I hail a taxi. I am trying to speak spanish to the cab driver, who is nice about it, but tells me, in broken english, that they speak portugese and I am saying everything wrong. He tries to drop me off and I say I don't see the house and he is just pointing. The cab fare is 8€ so I give him a 10€ and say keep the change. He directs me to stay in the cab and then drives me the extra distance to the actual place of my host, in Alfama. Money talks!

So, I'm in a pretty sketch neighborhood and I manage to figure out which house is my host's and I ring the doorbell. Apparently, I woke him up and he tells me to come in. He introduces me to his other surfer, Diana, from the Philippines, who is touring Europe. She arrived last night and has no plans today so I invite her to walk around the city with me.

First we head to São Jorge (St. George) castle. It offers an impressive view of the city and there are peacocks all over. From there we go down to the Praça do Comércio, the main square, and go down to the harbor. We sit with all the teenagers and tourists, watching the boats go by.

Thoughts: I won't describe in too much detail about my host's place, but it is not the most well-kept apartment. There is also no heat, and my "couch" that I surf on is actually a mattress in the attic, accessible only by a ladder (yes, a legit ladder). I slept with all my clothes on, including my shoes, because of the lack of heat and the uncleanliness of the place.

My new pose for pictures. The Superman

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