Exploring the Iberian Peninsula
So I started my 2020 off with a trip to Europe!! Not too shabby if I do say so myself. The reason for this little vacay is that mom turned 60 back in November so my siblings and I gifted this to her. November is a very busy time over here at LMP so I thought January would be a little easier to take off for (turns out January was just as nuts so go figure).
My mom has pretty much done all of Europe (she even lived in Spain for a few months). The only country still on her bucket list was Portugal! So me, my mom, and uncle Andres (my moms brother and basically my second dad) packed our bags and headed to the Iberian Peninsula!
Day 1 - Arrival in Madrid
We began our trip in Madrid, though only for a day.... you see it is way less expensive to fly into a major city and then from there travel to neighboring ones. So even though Portugal was our real destination we thought we’d rent a car and do a little site seeing in between (more on that soon).
Our first day was basically them showing me the city. We went to eat at a famous little chocolate shop in the city center, walked around the Plaza Mayor, went to go see the Royal Palace (which has a statue with my mom’s family name on the outside!!) and went to the cutest little indoor food market ever. It was a great intro to Spanish life. The food was so awesome - I loved eating tapas and tasting new European beers!!
Day 2 - Traveling to Lisbon
So remember when I said we rented a car? Bad idea. Just a bad idea. Everything started off fine..... we traveled to a little Spanish city called Caceres (I have no idea what the appeal to this city was but my mom and uncle wanted to see it) on our way down to Lisbon. Caceres is like most European cities (or at least the ones I’ve been to so far) they have super narrow old streets that are impossible to maneuver through. So basically we didn’t see Caceres - it was too scary getting around and these old cities don’t have places to put a car!!
So onto Lisbon we go... my uncle had rented a hybrid car that came full of gas so it wasn’t until late that night that we needed to fill up. Well basically 10 minutes after filling up with gas, our car broke down on the side of the road. Help didn’t come for about 2 hours. So we were stranded at night in the middle of Portugal not knowing how we were gonna get the rest of the way to our destination. Talk about a nightmare. We ended up getting picked up by a tow truck and ubering the rest of the way (we were about 60 miles out and Uber’s are SUPER cheap over there). Exhausting, but when we finally got to Lisbon I drank my sorrows away and had a nice warm tortilla :)
Day 3 - Lisbon
Once the dust settled on that nightmare we got to really see Lisbon!! It’s SO beautiful. You really get that small town feel where everyone you meet is so nice and eager to show you the best of the city. That day we basically traveled around by the city’s tram car, saw an old fort that’s been around since the city was built (awesome views), enjoyed sangria by the water, and then later that night headed to another indoor food market for more tapas and drinks, my fave!
Day 4 - Lisbon
The next day was our last full day in Lisbon. We headed to the main shopping plaza where I did a little damage.. Pro tip: go to Europe with an empty suitcase and just buy your clothes there. If you love Zara like I do, the clothes are literally half price there because it’s a European based brand. I did the math and even with the conversion rate, I was saving more than half on everything I bought…. so I went a little nuts.
Once the shopping was done, we headed to the old royal palace of Lisbon. It’s a cute little old palace. I’m super into that stuff after binging all of The Crown!
That night we went to go see a traditional Portuguese Fado show. The one we went to was a family owned restaurant where our waiter doubled as an entertainer as well! You could tell this place was something the whole family was involved which made it that much cooler.
Day 5 - traveling to Porto
So after all the car drama, my uncle booked us on a first class train ride to Porto which is north of Lisbon along the coast. It’s true what they say, once you do first class you can’t go back (that’s totally not the saying but you get the gist). All of the troubles from a few days earlier left my mind and I was happy as a clam on that train!!!! (Though my mom gets super motion sick and DID NOT enjoy it).
Once there we went to go see one of my favorite things on trip - the oldest bookstore in the world! If you ever get a chance to go I HIGHLY recommend it. It is so damn cool inside. Fun fact: this store is what the inside of Hogwarts was based off!
Day 6 - Porto
So this was my favorite day of the entire trip. We arranged to go on a Portuguese winery tour! It was so much fun and the wine was so good!!! I’m not really much of a wine drinker so I’m surprised I liked it as much as I did.
First we went to a family owned one where we sampled all of your traditional wines - moscato, Cabernet, etc (l don’t even know what else, haha). They also gave us the most delicious home made olive oil to try with our wine (we bought 2 bottles and are saving it for a special occasion). After lots rounds of wine, we hopped in the car and stopped for a few pics a long the way...
Until we reached a little boat ride. After that we had lunch a local place that was so good! Next was our last stop, another winery but this one specialized in making Porto wines. I hated them but surprisingly my mom, who never ever drinks, liked them. So go figure!!!
We had the best tour group and an awesome tour guide which made that experience that much better!
Day 7 - Back to Madrid
We headed back to Madrid for the last leg of our trip. My mom and uncle have been there a bunch of times but I’ve never been so they wanted me to see the city (for real this time). That day was pretty chill. The travel was really starting to catch up with us and we were tired so we just took it easy and visited a famous park called El Buen Retiro Park.
Day 8 - Madrid
We started off with a plan to go see the royal palace but then the ambassador to Libya showed up so.... that was not gonna happen. Instead we went to El Prado museum. It’s super famous because it houses a piece by Velasquez called Las Meninas. Anyone who’s ever taken an art history class has learned about this piece!!!! I remember it vividly. And honestly, it was as magnificent as it had been described to me. Also at the Prado I discovered a new favorite of mine, a painter named Sofonisba. If you ever have a chance, check her work out! She’s an amazing portrait artist.
That night we went to go meet up with some family of ours who moved to Spain after leaving Cuba just a few years ago. It was pretty interesting meeting people who felt so close to us but we’d never met before! They had a daughter my age who is studying to be a journalist and she told me about life in Madrid and I in returned talked to her about life in NY!
Day 9 - Madrid
Royal palace day!!!! It totally lived up to the hype. It honestly made the Portuguese one look super small, haha. Spain has an active monarchy so the Palace is actually used quite frequently for events and royal engagements though the royals do not live there. We couldn’t take many photos but the ones I was able to snap were pretty spectacular!
Later that night we went to go see a traditional Flamenco show. Another favorite of mine on the trip! I highly recommend it. The energy these dancers put into it is amazing. Also I think there I had my best sangria of the whole trip, so extra fun!
Day 10 - Last day in Madrid
Our flight was at 7pm that night so we couldn’t do much but we decided to go to this famous flee market they have in Madrid that is massive!!!!! The flee market was ok but what really interested me was all of the antique stores. They’re all right next to each other so you can pop into as many as you’d like! It was fascinating seeing all the little trinkets they had in there. And after my trip to El Prado, I was especially interested in the paintings!
Once that was done, we went back to El Prado because it is so massive we couldn’t even finish the whole thing on the first day. And of course I got one last look at Las Meninas before going home.
This trip was such a fun experience! Would I ever go back? Maybe to Spain with my family but it just made me excited to plan my next adventure! Stay tuned for that, I’m sure its right around the corner.
Until next time!