Madrid Photos

Here are a few of my favorites from Madrid.

The rest are located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/david.imboden/SpainTrip2010Madrid

Read the blog about our time in Madrid

http://www.imbodenphotography.com/2010/09/last-stop-madrid.html

Seville Photos

Here are a few of my favorites from Seville.

The rest are located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/david.imboden/SpainTrip2010Seville

Read the blog about our time in Andalucia (including Seville)

http://www.imbodenphotography.com/2010/09/moors-and-lucia_10.html

Andalucia Photos

Here are a few of my favorites from Cordoba and Granada.

The rest are located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/david.imboden/SpainTrip2010Andalucia

Read the blog about our time in Andalucia

http://www.imbodenphotography.com/2010/09/moors-and-lucia_10.html

Barcelona Photos

Here are a few of my favorites from Barcelona.

The rest are located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/david.imboden/SpainTrip2010Barcelona

Read the blog about our time in Barcelona

http://www.imbodenphotography.com/2010/09/hi-this-is-barcelona.html

Lisbon Photos

Here are a few of my favorites from Lisbon.

The rest are located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/david.imboden/SpainTrip2010Lisbon

Read the blog about our time in Lisbon

http://www.imbodenphotography.com/2010/09/not-enough-time-in-lisbon.html

London Photos

Here are a few of my favorites from London.

The rest are located at

http://picasaweb.google.com/david.imboden/SpainTrip2010London

Read the blog about our time in London

http://www.imbodenphotography.com/2010/08/quick-london-shopping-trip.html

Last Stop! Madrid!

Day 12 – Sep 9: Seville to Madrid

In the morning, the plan was to visit the advertised open air clothing markets, unfortunately when we got there, they were basically purse and nick-knack vendors. We decided to check out the Fine Arts Museum instead, but Apryl called it the “Religious Paintings museum” and we hurried through. Some ice cream before the train, not knowing that it was going to be our last good ice cream of the trip.

We boarded the high speed train to Madrid, taking about 2 hours. After checking in to the Westin Palace Hotel for a little relaxing, we walked 20 minutes up the street passing not one but two Museo del Jamon (Museum of Ham) shops to get to our wine and tapas tour called “Walks of Spain”. I mention how long it took us to get there, because the amount of walking we actually did on the “Walking” tour was about 10 minutes.

After introducing himself and taking us to a traditional Vermouth bar, where the wine comes out of a tap and is mixed with soda water, then placed in a glass of ice. This is a “refreshing” drink that locals come and get during lunch or after work. I thought it wasn’t bad, Apryl thought no bueno.

From here we went to a Sherry bar and sat out on the patio. Supposedly we got some of the best top 4% of the Iberian Ham in the world, because they eat 100% acorns and the fat is a liquid at room temperature. We also got to try a sherry that was from the region where we went wine tasting a couple of days prior, needless to say, it wasn’t our favorite.

Our last stop was at a restaurant where the tour said we would get paella. We tried two white wines that were fairly decent and it was served with mussels in a broth that was really good. Two local red wines were served with cheese croquettes (think mozzarella sticks), beef wonton type things and then chicken fingers.. We finished up with a traditional sweet sherry and a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Some girls that were on the tour asked where they could buy some of the wine, he said we couldn’t, that he bought them from a collector and he only tastes the best Spanish wines. When Apryl asked some basic questions like where is a good wine shop, or where can we get good Paella since it wasn’t served (he told me they stopped that two years ago, I mentioned it was on the website and he said oh no, they took it off.. nope, I checked), he didn’t really have good answers. Recap, food decent, wine above average, “tour guide” and “walks of Spain”.. Thumbs down.

Day 13 – Sep 10: Madrid

A trip to Starbucks around the corner started our day, then up the street to the Royal Palace and Cathedral. The Palace was pretty cool, kind of like the Versailles, the King doesn’t live there anymore, but they still have state functions when necessary. The best part of the Palace tour was the Royal Armory. Lots of old knight and horse armor, definitely the highlight.

Across the plaza was the Royal Cathedral, pretty plain compared to all the Cathedrals we’ve visited, but I actually appreciated that, didn’t feel like I was on sensory overload. We walked back up the street to where we came, to a Market that had little food shops from “all the best chefs in town”. Definitely a gathering place for lunch, we picked a few ham sandwiches, some empanadas and of course, wine. Finally we were able to buy a few good bottles for a good price.

The afternoon brought us to two museums, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum was first. Originally a private collection of artwork from the 1400s to modern day, including artwork from around the world, his wife persuaded the Baron to donate the collection to Spain, as long as they would publicly display them. This was one of our more favorite museums on our travels.

The Prado museum was next. It is considered to house the world’s finest collection of European art, from the 12th to 19th century. Originally part of the Spanish Royal Collection and is considered one of the most visited sites in the world and the greatest museums of art (yes, I just got all that from Wikipedia). Sort of like the Louvre, but smaller and all works after the 19th century is in the Reina Sofia museum that we went to the next day.

We bought a 1 Euro guide that had a list (and pictures) of all the most famous art works in the museum. Since this isn’t our favorite art and we were tired, but knew the importance of seeing this museum, we made a game of it and tried to find all the artwork in the book. We did a pretty good job and called it a day with some beer and sangria.

Not knowing what to do for dinner, Apryl suggested Italian or Argentine (we had seen a few touristy type Argentine restaurants in our walks, yet we still hadn’t found ANY ice cream, we even asked the concierge and he sent us to a location, yet it wasn’t there). On our walk back to the hotel, we found both a pizza place and an Argentine place, so we looked them up at the hotel and decided on Argentina.

We arrived at 9pm and the place was empty (cept for a party in the back). Not a good sign on a Friday night. Or meat came out just seared, but then we got a little pan to cook it to our liking. Kind of like Argentina parillada meets Korean BBQ. The food was pretty good and the place started to fill up a little later.

Day 14 – Sep 11: Madrid

First, we headed to the Reina Sofia museum to complete the triangle of museums and see the art we are more interested in. Many Dali and Picasso paintings are here, including Picasso’s most famous, the Guernica, which depicts a scene from the Civil War when the government actually purposefully bombed civilians. The artwork was cool, but the museum was a little confusing. Plus, we think they ran out of places to store old tires, so they piled them up in a hallway and called it art. Still not able to find ice cream, we gave up and had a McFlurry at McDonalds. The cool part was they add caramel to it. So it wasn’t a complete loss.

Today was shopping day. Our last full day in Spain and the promise to check out the shops, we took the metro for the first time, so that we could get to the farthest point and walk back to our hotel. Our first stop was another wine bar that was suggested to us. It was really nice, you are allowed to taste any bottle in the facility and we found one we liked. The shopping in the immediate area was mostly high high end stuff (ie, Louis V.) so we skipped past that and made it to more manageable stuff. Apryl was disappointed in the lack of boutique type stores (although you would never know it by the size and weight of our luggage coming home).

In the evening, we had reservations at a paella restaurant. The paella and wine was good and Apryl left satisfied from having proper paella. Tonight was something called La Noche en Blanco. The streets of the entire city were literally closed off, no vehicles allowed in or out of the city. At every city circle, there was either an art display or a band playing. There were people packed everywhere, but it wasn’t bad, it was fun and energetic and exciting. The complete opposite of the carnival we got mobbed at in London. You’d think it’d be the other way around. We had a good time checking out some of the entertainment and headed back to the hotel. The city would continue to party it up until sunrise, but even when we went to the airport the next morning, you couldn’t even tell anything had happened. The city knows what they were doing with this.

So we started our trip with a carnival, ended it with a celebration. Not a bad thing at all. We had a great, amazing vacation and wouldn’t have had the trip any other way (sure, I’d change a few things here and there if I were to plan it again, but nothing took away from our trip). We’ve got some catching up to do at home, so the pictures might take a couple of weeks, but they should trickle in as I have time and I’ll post them here, Facebook, Picasa, etc.

Thanks for reading and ‘Til Next Time!

Dave and Apryl

The Moors And a Lucia

Day 8 - Sep 5: Barcelona to Cordoba (via Seville)

What we thought was going to be a day of shopping before heading off to Cordoba ended up being a day of wandering around empty streets with closed shops. The city shuts down on Sundays. Even in touristy areas only had snack shops and souvenir shops open. We also saw the "C-list" street performers out and about. There were a few local artists with some booths out, but that was it. We did find a restaurant that had American style breakfasts (scrambled eggs and omelets) but tapas style (i.e. small plates). One last ice cream stop before we hit the road, I finally partook in the sweet waffle with chocolate syrup, nuts and a scoop of ice cream on top. I couldn't finish it, too much sweet, but what I did have was good.

After an uneventful flight to Seville, we were escorted to our rental car. A BMW 118d, manual transmission. We decided that Apryl would drive first so that I could give directions. The drive was pretty, think Central California with olive trees everywhere. We arrived into Cordoba and had to navigate all the traffic circles (and understand the Google Maps directions I had printed at the same time). We missed our hotel the first time around, but were able to navigate the streets and get back to it. This hotel and the next night in Granada were picked based on Trip Advisor reviews and distance to the monuments we were there to see. This hotel was very modern, had dual showers and a whirlpool bath. The bed was comfy and the location was perfect. I explain all of this, because you'll have to compare it to our hotel in Granada.

When looking into what to do in Cordoba, I found a 2 hr walking tour that started at 9:30pm. I figured that was perfect since we were limited on time and were arriving so late. I did think it was weird to have a tour so late. Before the tour we stopped into a tapas pace that had "broken eggs". We thought it was going to be a scramble in a skillet, but they were actually fried eggs in a skillet with whatever added ingredients you wanted. So we still aren't sure what the "broken egg" part was, but it was pretty good. We noticed throughout Andalucia that tapas menus had Broken eggs on their menus.

After we grabbed some ice cream, we soon realized why the tour was at this time. It's HOT here in the summer. Seville and Cordoba had just had a heat wave that got into the 100's. The day we arrived it was 95. So the 9:30pm start time was perfect. The tour was nice, showing us through the little town. One that at one time had been the 4th largest in the world. We heard how the Moors and Jews were defeated and how the mosques were turned into churches. The tour didn't really have to last 2 hours, but since she had to do the talk in two languages, it took longer than it had to. We had two little "acts" during the tour, but they were in Spanish and were given English cards to read, so they weren't really necessary. After, she took us to a bar for drink and tapas; we just had a couple of beers and went back to the hotel. Our feet got a nice soak in the whirlpool tub and off to sleep for an early rise.

Day 9 - Sep 6: Cordoba to Granada

We got up early to get to the Cathedral. Before it was a Cathedral, it was a Mosque, one of the largest in the World behind the likes of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. When the city was conquered by the Catalans (Spanish), they thought it was a beautiful building and would make a great Cathedral. This is where the Mezquita Cathedral was born. Of course the minaret was replaced with a bell tower as well. Because we got there right when it opened, it was still cool outside and not many people were around. It is a very beautiful facility and a lot of the Moorish markings and style still existed throughout the facility.

We tried to find some breakfast, but the town was still asleep, so we got back in our BMW and headed to a winery. I had already known that the wineries that I researched were closed for a city holiday. Luckily there were some wineries in a nearby town. After getting lost in the city of Moriles, we found a bodega that was open. They are in the middle of production, but someone took the time to cater to us and let us try some of their wine. The wine in this region are similar to Sherries, at least so that we are told. Let's just say we were not fans. We did pick up one bottle that we know someone would like, all for the price of 4 Euros. We decided to skip the next winery and went back into town for lunch, but couldn't figure out the menus, so we just got some ice cream to go and jumped back in the car.

Granada was definitely a bigger city and I headed up the mountain towards the Alhambra (Moorish fortress). This is where the Google maps said we should go and I knew the hotel I picked was near the Alhambra. After driving up and down the hill for an hour, I was frustrated and hungry, so we stopped at a little restaurant with a view of the city. Both of us grumpy, we couldn't even pick something off the menu, and finally decided on the chicken and pork skewers. They came out hanging on a rod and although it wasn't fantastic good, it was pretty good and gave us new life. I decided to drive into town and had Apryl go into a tourist office and help us out. Turns out the hotel is just on the other side of the Alhambra, and oh by the way, we can't drive to it. We had to park in town and take a cab to the hotel.

Ahh.. The hotel. Apryl won't call it anything else than a hostel. Although it wasn't a hostel, it might as well have been. It was only like 14 rooms and our room had two twin beds pushed together, with separate linens. Oh, and they were rock hard. The bathroom was probably once a closet. Both this and that hotel in Cordoba were highly rated on Trip Advisor, I just can't figure out how.

With that out of the way, we headed into town to check out what else it has to offer. The Cathedral was already closed, but had fun wandering through all the souvenir shops. Oh look, an Ice Cream/Gelato shop, called Los Italianos. Apryl has declared it the best ice cream on the trip. With time to spare and not yet hungry, we climbed the hill to the Albaicin. The old Moorish part of the town, with little streets and old buildings. At the top was the Mirador de San Nicolas. It had a view of the Alhambra and the rest of town. The hike up and down the hill gave us an appetite and Apryl has still been looking for seafood paella. We ate at a touristy place near our hotel and wished we hadn't. Apryl's paella tasted like it was microwaved and my pizza was cardboard. Granada was turning out to be a bad idea, but the next morning was going to be great.

Day 10 - Sep 7: Granada to Seville

There are four parts to the Alhambra, the fortress called the Alcazaba, the Nasrid Palace which had beautiful architecture and gardens. The Palace of Charles V which was added after the Spanish rule and the Generalife, which was the country estate of the Nasrids (Moorish rulers). I know I'm not very descriptive here, but you'll just have to wait for the photos. Apryl also wants to know why we are hearing about the conquering of the Moors and the Inquisitions of the Jews, but no real mention of the destruction of the Latin American Natives (Aztecs, Incas, etc). (Apryl) During our travels through South America we learned that being conquered, raped, and pillaged by the Spaniards was such a huge part of their history, and yet we get to Spain and no mention of it. Although they are very proud of the thinning of the Jewish and the Moors.

Back into town, we wandered through the mausoleum of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, you know, the ones that "unified" Spain and killed all the Jews. Next door was ABC (Another Bloody Cathedral), but still beautiful none the less. Unfortunately, no photos allowed in this one. For lunch, we had kebabs (gyros) which really hit the spot, took a cab back to our car and headed back to Seville.

The cab driver from the rental car facility to the hotel told us we were staying in the best hotel in Seville. The Hotel Alfonso XIII was designed in the early 1900s for the King. He wanted the nicest facility in the world for his guests when they come to visit. Not only was it nice, it was also near all the sites, so that made it easy on our feet. Only 100 ft into town, Apryl declared this her favorite city. It looks like a Spanish version of Main Street Disneyland. Everything is so clean, all the buildings are colorful, there's transportation ranging from horse carriages to a modern metro train. There is just something about this city that is so inviting. We did get lost in the alleys looking for our Flamenco place and restaurant we wanted to make reservations for, but we found the Flamenco and then found a nice Italian place to have dinner.

Day 11 - Sep 8: Seville

After enjoying our luxury hotel's amazing bed, we set our sights out on the town. After walking through a group of workers that was striking, we chowed on some pastries and ham sandwiches. We haven't been very successful in the pastry selecting department and unfortunately, this was no exception. We continued down the street and found a gathering of people. When we got closer, we realized they were looking at old refrigerators that were turned into art. They were really cool actually, although we don't know if it was an art display, or competition or what.

Seville's Cathedral occupies the site of another great Mosque, with the minaret changed into one of the most beautiful bell towers. At the time this was the largest Cathedral in the world. From the Cathedral, we checked out the Real Alcazar. Another fortress turned into a palace. This is where it is said that Spain sent Christopher Columbus and others to explore the New World. Smaller than the Alhambra, definitely a site to see due to its history.

Time to wander the shopping streets, after some ice cream of course. The streets were busy, but the shops were a thumbs down. After grabbing a snack and some sangria, we headed back to the hotel via the Bullfighting ring and a tower overlooking the river. We relaxed at the hotel, one of our first times of the trip and got a call that they were having a little pizza party down at the pool. Free wine and pizza, who says no to that?

We found our restaurant, rated #1 on Trip Advisor. Vinetesa San Telmo. We haven't had the best of luck with Tapas bars, but we were determined this would be different. Starting with a real salad (we haven't seen much vegetables and fruits around here), then a salmon tartar with an olive spread. Grilled duck breast and an Argentine steak rounded out our selections. All was good, we even paired it with a nice bottle of wine. Finally we were enjoying some Spanish cuisine.

Los Gallos was the name of the Flamenco place and the show was fantastic. A Guitarist, vocalist and hand clapper were all on stage to get the rhythm ready for the dancer. Over the course of two hours, there were 6 dancers, four ladies and two men. How their feet can move that fast and their hands can move in the ways that they do is completely unknown and made for an amazing show. (Apryl) The most spectacular show EVER!

Off to Madrid.. 'Til Next Time!

Hi. This is Barcelona

Day 5 - Sep 2: Lisbon to Barcelona

We had a morning flight from Lisbon to Barcelona. Now I wouldn't talk much about flights, but Southwest has NOTHING on Vueling. I have never felt so cramped on a flight. The seats are plastic and leather and about an inch thick. There was no way to recline them and my knees hit up against the back of the chair in front of me (and I'm not a tall guy). Plus sodas were 2.50 Euro. Luckily the flight was only an hour and a half.

We arrived at the Le Meridien hotel about an hour before our room was ready. After we checked in, we started down La Rambla looking for a quick bite to eat, Apryl noticed a lot of people with plastic bowls of fruit. We went into every little bakery and food shop we could find, but no fruit. Just as we were about to give up, we saw an incredible food market. Since we were in a hurry, we just grabbed some fruit and told ourselves to return. On La Rambla, there are tons of street performers. Right outside our hotel were two people dressed as gargoyles, the best costumes on the street. Again, since we were in a hurry, we decided to come back and take pictures later. Unfortunately, every day after, they were either setting up or tearing down when we'd walk by. Just goes to show when you are traveling, if you see something you want, get it right then, because you'll never see it again.

We met our guide, Jose, he is from a company called Hi. This is Barcelona. Right off the bat, we both felt like he smelled like an ash tray. He turned out to be a pretty good guide, taking us through the Barrio Gothic, showing us the old quarters and plaza. He is a history buff and had a lot of stories to tell. I like this because it keeps me interested in the walk. We still had some of a language barrier, not quite as simple to understand as Paolo from Lisbon. The tour was supposed to last from 4pm-7pm and then he was to take us to a tapas place to go over the rest of our stay in Barcelona. At 6pm he called the tapas place and they told him they only had a 6:30 reservation. He asked us if that was ok, and we were tired, so we said ok.

At the tapas place, he had some recommendations and we ordered garlic prawns, assorted cheeses and the Iberian sausage. We also got bread that you rub garlic and tomatoes on. Apryl had a Clara, which is half beer, half lemonade. I had a glass of wine. Jose pulled out a map of Barcelona and went over all the places we should go while in town. He also partook in all of the food with us, and near the end, said he had to return a call to his mom and asked if that was okay. We said sure. He came back smelling like smoke. When the bill came, he didn't offer to pay for any of the food, even though he had about a third share. Apryl thought this was weird and was really annoyed. I had planned on saying "Thanks for all the great information, we'll take care of it" but since he never offered to pay, I didn't have the opportunity to offer my thanks, I just had to pay.

He walked us back to the hotel and we crashed.

Day 6 - Sep 3: Barcelona

For breakfast, we decided to head back to the open air food market. It was amazing, every kind of fruit, vegetable, meat and bread you could think of was there. Plus candy and nut stands. It was crazy, locals and tourists weaving in and out of this place. If we had one of these near home, I'd never step foot in a grocery store again. We really have it backwards in the US sometimes. We found out that the fruit bowls and juices are cheaper near the back, places the tourists don't travel as much.

With fruit in hand, we started north of our hotel, into the Modern part of town. Here, the architecture of Gaudi and two others (that I can't remember) can be found. As we walked up the street, we went into the Casa Asia, which is a cultural center for Asians, but the first floor is still in Gaudi style and from the roof, you can see Sagrada Familia, Gauid's most famous, yet still unfinished, work. This saved us time and money seeing the insides of other Gaudi buildings.

We walked down to the Sagrada Familia, it is an amazing building. Still being built (they stopped building during the fascist period of the 20th century), it will not be complete until 2026. The Pope is supposed to dedicate it as a Basillica this upcoming November. We jumped on the metro up to Park Guell, where more Gaudi works can be found. To get to the top of the park, the street is lined with escalators. At each break, was a little takeaway cafe. We stopped at one for a quick bite and some refreshing smoothies. It's still pretty hot here. We wandered through the park, enjoying the facility and more street performers.

From the park, we headed to the Contemporary Art Museum. It was pretty much a waste in our mind, we still don't know where they housed the "art". From here, we finally took some time to wander La Rambla and get lost in the streets and do some shopping (and of course, stop for gelato). After, we rested in our hotel for a while, then headed out to dinner, where Hi. This is Barcelona made us a reservation.

Montiel was the name of the restuarant. We shared a bottle of local wine and another cheese plate, Apryl had the Turbot, a local fresh fish. Apryl thought it was very good and not fishy. I had the "pork delights" which had some sautéed pork loin combined with the Iberian ham and apple pure. I really enjoyed this dish. Nothing jumped out at us for dessert (crazy I know) but we did manage to get some more ice cream in before heading for bed.

Day 7 - Sep 4: Barcelona

Back to the food market for breakfast, this time we are focusing on the south side of town. On the way to our first stop, we had two experiences. All of the sudden, Apryl says turn around and walk fast so that we can turn around again and be ready to take a picture. Just as she said that, I saw a man walking down the street. He has tattoos all over his body, including underwear/speedo tattoo'd around his butt and waist, so at first glance, you didn't think he was naked. As soon as the grocery bag that he was carrying swayed to his side, there was no mistaking he was naked. It was the biggest flaccid schlong (Apryl's term) we had ever seen. We think it was even tattoo'd, but we can't completely remember and the only picture Apryl got, the grocery bag mostly covered it up. We laughed about this for the rest of the day and hoped upon hope that we'd see him at the beach later that day. The second experience was a chocolate shop, not quite as interesting.

The Museu Picasso has an extensive collection, mainly because it opened before he died and he donated a lot of his collection to it. If you ever see a traveling Picasso exhibit, more than likely this museum owns the collection. After the museum, it was time to head to the beach for lunch. Apryl has been craving Paella since we landed in Spain and Jose recommended Salamonca. Unfortunately, to have paella, you have to have a minimum of two people. I was up for paella, but not the seafood kind and so Apryl had to settle for meat (chicken and rabbit) instead.

Finally, the beach. Apryl was on the search for schlong, and I was on the lookout for boobs.. Unfortunately, no old naked man in site, and the only topless women were over 60. Oh well, we still enjoyed the boardwalk, it was a nice day out (at least in the shade). We made it to Port Olympica, had some ice cream and headed back down the beach. We stopped for a beer, caught a glimpse of the new W hotel and then back up into town to catch the metro, a funicular and an aerial gondola to the top of the mountain. Another castle, but an amazing view of the city and the beaches. We walked down the mountain, I pushed some kids out of the way to go down a slide and then one missed turn later, we made it to the National Museum.

The Museum is in a beautiful building, but we were too tired to check out the inside. The main reason we were there was for the Magic Fountain. Think Bellagio with color. Unfortunately, it didn't go off for another hour. That didn't stop us from getting a cup of sangria before deciding to head back near the hotel where we knew of some restaurants. Already having tapas, a nice dinner and paella, neither one of us was up for Spanish food. So, we decided on the Hard Rock.. Yup.. We admit it.. But wait! a 45 minute wait, not for us. We went around the corner and there was a pizza restaurant, in the biggest tourist district of the city, its going to be over priced and not very good.. We were wrong! Apryl had a fresh Margharita pizza and I had an Americana pizza. Both were delicious and really good value, especially when you add in the pitcher of sangria and the dough balls we had.

We headed back to the fountains, they were pretty spectacular, even Apryl thought they were pretty cool and she's usually not into it. We went in search of a top dessert place, but alas it eluded us, probably because it was closed by the time we got there, but we just didn't find it. A long long day, and more walking than we've done all trip. Tomorrow we fly to Seville, rent a car and drive to Cordoba, where it was recently 100+ degrees.. Ouch!

Til Next time!

Not enough time in Lisbon

Day 3 - Aug 31: Lisbon

The plan was to get up early and go to the gym. Didn't happen. Alarm wasn't right and we slept in. Now we have to hurry. After rushing to get some pastries, we meet with our guide, Paolo. Born in America to a Portugese mother and Italian-American father, he lived most of his childhood in Florida, but that wasn't enough for him and he lived in Italy for many years to do his Art History schooling. Meet his wife, from Brazil in a taxi line, they both now live in Portugal. Crazy huh?

Anyway, we started at the Commercial Park, this is where all the ships that went to India used to come to port to trade their new found spices. Portugal was one of the richest countries in the 14-16th centuries. The king loved this center so much that he moved his palace here from the castle on the hill. Then the earthquake of 1755 happened. Destroyed the city and anything that survived got swept by the tsunamis. Luckily the king was on holiday with his family.

Onto the rest of the city, where the Jews were persecuted 500 years ago so that he could marry the Princess of Spain, we saw where the Inquisitions happened and where French poets had coffee. We rode up an elevator to see the city and check out a church that survived the earthquake, up into the Barrio Alto, once an upper middle class area, now young people have their late night parties. Another church that has the most expensive chapel in the world. Oh, am I boring you? Alright, I'll move on..

We stopped off for some Gelato then up to a wine bar near the castle. We tried various wines (including what they call a Green Wine, which isn’t really green, much to our disappointment) and some local cheese and olive oil, even some black pork neck (free range that feed only on acorns). We climbed up to the castle and watched the sunset. Back down to the city we had dinner at Sacramento, a restaurant that Paolo recommended. We had the best sangria ever (Apryl is going to have to work on her recipe now), I had a roasted pork leg that was delish and Apryl had a really nice filet. We tried to stop off for more gelato, but the line was out the door and across the street.

Day 4 - Sep 1: Lisbon

We were able to get up and make it to the gym (darn). We are on our own today, but we had a plan. We took the train to Belem, where a 500 year old tower and monastery stood. This was the entrance to the original port of Lisbon. The architecture is beautiful and it is in great condition. We were told we had to try the pastries de Belem, which have a little flaky crust with a not too sweet cheese fillings. Yummy, we grabbed two more for the train ride back.

Back in town, we went to the modern museum (MUDA), where they had two floors, one of a bunch of scooters and another of modern furniture. We did that quickly, and went to a shop with cherry liquor. You get it in a little shot glass, walk outside, stand on the curb and sip with friends. They even grab one at lunch but Paolo said at the end of the work day there’s a line out the door and a patio full of people. It was so bad; we weren't even willing to get a bottle to torture you all. Lunch was at another of Paolo's favorite restaurants, translated Knife and Fork. Apryl had the seabass (after considering the baked sardines) and I had the steak of the house, which is covered in a coffee cream sauce. Wasn’t bad, but great for the price. You have to watch out, the bread and cheese they put on the table, if you don’t eat it, no charge, but if you do eat it, ca-ching!

We were finally fueled up for some shopping, but there wasn’t much to see, pretty much all the same stores as in London. Apryl invested in a European flat iron, even better, there were adult playthings in a basket on the cash register counter at the same location. We had a good chuckle about that. Another scoop of gelato and back to the hotel for a little break.

Back into a cab that tried to take us to a different Fado location than the one we wanted, we made it in with a minute to spare. Fado is a traditional Portuguese music, usually with one or two guitars and a vocalist. We called it Opera without the drama. It wasn’t a bad show and we were glad we experienced it.

Tonight, we ate at 100 maneiras. A molecular gastronomy restaurant run by a Serbian with his take on Portuguese cuisine. There is only one menu. A ten course tasting menu. I’ll leave you with the menu, including Apryl’s star rating. 5 stars amazing, 4 stars good…and on… ‘Til next time….


Cod fish clothesline – (dehydrated cod fish hanging on a miniature clothes line) - ****
Paired with a Verde wine

Melon soup and foie gras bonbon (soup was chilled, foie gras bonbon was drizzled with chocolate) - *

Marinated scallop w/ walnut oil, celery puree and truffle vinaigrette - ***
Paired with a White wine

Salmon tartar w/ elderberry flower cream, sesame pesto and pineapple mash - ****

Squid ink vermicelli with baby squid - **
Paired with a chilled Claret wine (in between a Rose and a Red)

Sauteed meager w/ crushed potatoes and basil oil (meager is a type of fish) - ****
Paired with a soft Red wine

Palate cleanser, mint and lime sorbet with champagne - *****

Sirloin with black beans, rice cake and Brazillian cabbage - *****
Paired with a bold Red wine

Serra cheese ice-cream, quince jelly and banana foam - *****
Paired with a Late Harvest wine

Fake peach cheesecake - *****
Paired with a Port

Quick London Shopping Trip

Day 0 - Aug 28: Los Angeles to Chicago to London

We took off shortly after midnight, headed for a short four hour trip to Chicago for our 3 hour layover. This was pretty much the only sleep I was able to manage for the entire day.

Once in Chicago, we settled into a nice corner to rest and find ourselves some breakfast. We didn't quite get as comfortable as the guy with the pillow, blindfold and blanket though, he was in it for the long haul. I was excited for the Dunkin Donuts that Apryl spotted, but alas, the donut was dry and uninteresting. Plus, they didn't have any maple ones. So, I had to go for the ol' Standby, McDonalds.

Our flight to London was uneventful, and after the hour long tube ride, we made it into our hotel and given a room that did not live up to Miss Apryl's standards, as we had a view of scaffolding.

Day 1 - Aug 29: London

Luckily, Apryl set the alarm, or we probably would have slept most of the day. After enjoying our free buffet breakfast in the lounge, we headed out onto the town. Getting out tube day pass, we went out to the Spitalfields Market. Spitalfields is a covered outdoor area that houses Farmer's Markets and the like. On Sunday's its a clothing market, where local designers bring out their wares. Also in the area are bakeries and fresh juice stands. We partook in all of these!

Next stop, TopShop, Apryl's favorite clothing store. As she was given free reign to wander, an hour goes by with not much in her hands. She says, this isn't the good one, I need to go to the biggest one. So we ask the cashier, which store is the biggest. She says we are in it. They have a second store in Knightsbridge that isn't quite as big, but Apryl doesn't believe it. That means another TopShop tomorrow.

After stopping by the hotel to drop off the shopping spree, Apryl mentioned that she had gone to a pub that served good Thai food. Before we headed out, I spoke with the front desk about the scaffolding. He apologized and offered a bunch of hotel points.. Woohoo.. Our tummies were growling so off we went.

The trains were packed and everyone got out at our stop. We didn't know what was going on, there was security and police everywhere. On our way out, I picked up a pamphlet that said it was the Notting Hill Carnival, the largest Carnival in Europe.

We had a pretty good meal at the Thai Pub and then decided to walk into the "Carnival". To get there, we had to trudge through streets filled with trash, and then came to the Carnival Route. The Carnival route circles the neighborhood, where semi trucks pull trailers filled with speakers playing Carribean music while children in costumes follow. This isn't your typical parade, thousands of people are walking IN the street while the semis are driving through.

Within the neighborhoods are people selling food and beer from their patios and stages with bands on them. People just "hanging out" drinking beer, sitting in the streets or packed worse than a mosh pit in front of a stage. It took us 15 minutes to realize this isn't where we want to be, it took us an hour and 15 minutes to get out, mainly because the subways only let people out after 6pm, so we had to wait for them to open the stations. Worst crowd experience ever, makes the Int. Food Fair seem like a casual dinner gathering. Apryl says think of Compton and Watts having their own street fair, with no cops.. Would you wanna go?

Once we got out, we headed to Knightsbridge, but all the stores were closed. Back to the room, we decided we wanted to go to the Aboslut IceBar London. Its a room full of ice, at -5 deg, where you can drink vodka for 45 mintues in a glass made of .. yup .. ice..

Before the bar, we had unexciting Italian and some ice cream (not the smartest move before going into a cold room). We headed into the Ice Bar, donned our parkas and froze our butts off (actually, Apryl thinks she has frostbite on her nose).

A great day in the land of London, definitely wasn't the original agenda, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Day 2 - Aug 30: London (then flight to Lisbon)

Our next morning it was a little harder to get up, but we made it out of bed, got our free breaky, then out the door. Back to Knightsbridge, the TopShop was definitely smaller, but since it was empty of people, Apryl was able to better browse and found some things she liked.

From here, we found the Monument, climbed 311 stairs and then to reward ourselves, some AMAZING soft serve icecream from a truck. After spending an hour or so at the Tate Modern museum and Apryl transfixed on a photo of a woman with a bad (lopsided) c-section scar, we found a pub with great Fish and Chips. I have been VERY unhappy with the beer, but thats to be expected of British Beer.

Apryl found a Tesco so she could get her Digestives (British Cookies), we made it back to the hotel just in time. Off to the airport, we almost missed our flight trying to spend our last pound. They even called our name over the intercom. Then we had to wait to take the bus to the plane and off we went.

Our hotel in Lisbon is beautiful and can't wait to explore the city.

'Til next time!

Cantrell Family - Maternity and Newborn Photos

I was able to take both the 8 month maternity photos of Tonia Cantrell and her newborn Cooper at 6 days old. The whole family took part, David the proud papa and Jake, the big brother. They all turned out great..

Enjoy!