★ Week Eighteen & Nineteen Itinerary:
- Budapest, Spain
- Viana do Castelo, Portugal
- Porto, Portugal
- Lisbon, Portugal
Barcelona, Spain
Tirana ✈️ Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain | November 14th – 19th
Our plane ride to Spain went without a hitch and before we knew it we were wandering the streets of Barcelona; the city of dreams.
From previous travels N.D had already visited Barcelona and other regions of Spain but as it was my first time we focused on exploring the main sites and trying the local cuisine.
The four days were spent doing A LOT of trotting and reacquainting ourselves with our favourite tour guide; Rick Steves.
Some of the famous sites included:
- Catedral de Barcelona, Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar and La Sagrada Família
- La Rambla, Plaça de Catalunya and Palau de la Música Catalana
- Ciutadella Park, Arc de Triomf and Arco de Triunfo de Barcelona
- Casa Amatller, La Pedrera-Casa Milà and Casa Batlló
- Güell Palace, Gothic Quarter Barri Gotic
- Mercat de la Boqueria
- Magic Fountain of Montjuïc
- Olympic Ring
As usual no tour is complete without stunning scenery and hill climbs. The best views were from MUHBA Turó de la Rovira, Parc del Turó del Putxet and Montjuïc Castle Hill.
By far my favourite day in Barcelona was the day we explored solo and I went and toured the awe-inspiring, very impressive and still a masterpiece in progress Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família; more commonly known as the Sagrada Família.
For those of you living under a rock that is the unfinished church in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia Spain. The largest unfinished church in the world!
Originally commissioned and with construction underway in March of 1882, architect Francisco de Paula del Villar would be the first but by no means last to work on this masterpiece. After much turmoil he resigned and the notable Antoni Gaudi took over in 1883 transforming this project into the Gothic, Art Nouveau form it is today. Gaudi would inevitably devote the remainder of his life to this project and after his tragic passing in 1962 see less than a quarter of his vision complete.
Delays to the church have been frequent; from its highly intricate and ornate design, to funds initially only from private donations, the Spanish Civil war putting a complete halt to construction and later a fire in 1936 which was started by the disgruntled anarchists from FAI. Plans for the church were even stolen that very same year. In 1939 the continuation of the church was saved by Francesc de Paula Quintana who took over-site management and was able to use material from Gaudí’s workshop initiative and published photographs to redraw the plans. With construction resuming in the 1950s and advancements in technology enabling quicker progress you’d have thought that completion would be obvious but the lack of materials and aging of those already used meant further delays. The Montjuïc stone found only in the mountain of Montjuïc being a prime example. After the closure of the last quarry of that mountain range in the 1970s the basilica can now only source this particular stone from torn down buildings and has forced developers to find new materials to replicate the same colour, strength and durability.
The church passed its halfway point in 2010 and with increased general admission prices and further donations hoped to be finished by 2026; the centenary of Gaudí’s death… but then the pandemic happened. Now with no confirmed end date and the project’s greatest challenge ahead in the construction of ten more spires each symbolising an important biblical figure in the New Testament anything is possible.
Staring up at the ceiling I truly appreciated Gaudis vision of wanting the church to be a “bible in stone”; showcasing the journey of Christ through his stages of life, death and rebirth. Whether you see us as children of god or simply animals in a jungle, the Sagrada Família with its beams as sturdy as tree trunks provides shelter for us all and that’s pretty special.
Even in its unfinished state the Sagrada Família became the highlight of my time in Spain and possibly the best tour I went on during our Europa travels! I can’t wait to see it all over again whenever it’s complete. 🙂
Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Barcelona ✈️ Porto 🚂 Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo, Portugal | November 19th – 21st
From Spain it was a hop, skip and a jump to our last country of the Europa trip… Portugal.
Before we were joined by our two new travelling buddies, N.D and I ventured north to the quaint seaside town of Viana do Castelo.
With a looming church atop a hill, olden brick buildings and raining, grey atmosphere this coastal town looked like something out of a Grimm Brothers tale. But despite the chill N.D and I had a great time trotting around it!
The Santuário de Santa Luzia church was first on our exploration list, followed closely by the Poço Negro & Praia do Porto de Vinha costal walks and later by me taking a picture of every tiled building… trust me there were a lot.
Little did I know Porto and Lisbon would also share the external tiled appearance and I would be forced to limit my photography to only my top ten, more like fifty favourites per day. 😛
While we didn’t try any authentic Portuguese food in Viana do Castelo, we (really N.D) did cook quite the culinary feast that was very delicious!
Porto, Portugal
Viana do Castelo 🚂 Porto
Porto, Portugal | November 21st – 25th
We trained and trotted from Viana do Castelo to Porto to met our new Portugal companions José and Deb.
N.Ds mum and friend (who very kindly hosted us in Portsmouth earlier in our trip) were joining us for the last two stops in Portugal and what was to be the wettest days all trip. Winter had well and truly arrived in Europe.
While in Porto we did what any local would do… we drank port! And lots of it. I think the four of us might even call ourselves port connoisseurs; well we at least know the difference between a white, tawny and red. 😉
From port tastings to river cruises, we frolicked the streets of Porto exploring Cais da Ribeira, Ribeira do Porto and Cais da Estiva and spent probably too much time eating natas, ice cream and treats. It was an absolute delight!
The city sites included the Church of Saint Ildefonso, Porto Cathedral, Bolsa Palace, Clerigos Church and Tower, Rua Santa Catarina, Palacete dos Pestanas, Clérigos Tower and Igreja do Carmo.
Livraria Lello was number one on my to see list, with its art nouveau exterior, winding wooden staircase and lavish interior I was elated to visit this historic bookshop… even if it did have a long cue just to enter.
Meandering around Mercado Beira Rio, Mercado Ferreira Borges and Mercado do Bolhão enabled us all to enjoy many market treats before our trip south to our final destination.
Lisbon, Portugal
Porto 🚌 Lisbon
Lisbon, Portugal | November 25th – 28th
Cherry based liqueur (Ginja) to colourful streets, seaside towers to tiled buildings, palaces on churches on monastery’s of things to marvel at and explore. Lisbon had it all! Well only if you were happy to spend your time trotting up and down hilly streets and alleyways all day. 😛
Some of the places we marvelled at included:
- Ponte 25 de Abril, LxFactory and MAAT
- Pavilhão Sala Thai, Padrão dos Descobrimentos and Jerónimos Monastery
- Belém Lighthouse and Belém Tower
- Aqueduto das Águas Livres, Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara and Foz Palace
- Cat by Bordalo II, Basílica da Estrela and Green Street Lisbon
- Elevador da Bica, R. Nova do Carvalho, Doca da Caldeirinha, Arco da Rua Augusta and Praça do Comércio
- Lisbon Cathedral, Urinol, Caracol da Graça, Chafariz d’El-Rei, Alfândega Jardim do Tabaco and Old Alfama Square
- History of Lisbon Mural by Nuno Saraiva, Santa Justa Lift, National Pantheon and Carmo Convent
One particularly sunny day we ventured north to the brightly coloured and still very hilly town of Sintra. Here we explored Torre da Regaleira, Castelo dos Mouros, Vila Sassetti, Sintra National Palace and Sintra City Hall.
I also found my new favourite castle in the Park and National Palace of Pena. With its brightly coloured exterior, conical roofs, tower battlements and turrets galore what’s not to love of this 19th century romanticist era palace. 🙂
Our final day was spent trotting along the costal boardwalk exploring many tourist spots, running into stores sheltering from the rain and finishing up with a scrumptious Portuguese feast at a local restaurant (thanks José).
Auckland, New Zealand
Lisbon ✈️ London ✈️ Singapore ✈️ Auckland
That felt like the longest commute home… ever. Okay so it’s not like we were sailing across the ocean but in the modern age of commercial flights taking three plus days to get home seems excessive! Leaving November 28th at 3am from our accommodation we arrived at the airport only for me to realise I had left my passport in the living room and we needed to rush back and collect it. Not only was this the last day of our trip but I’ve never done something like this before… really not my finest moment! After a stressful pre check in process our leisure time in the terminal had quickly evaporated and we promptly boarded. Only to be delayed once boarded on the plane due to fog in London and later a thunderstorm in Singapore.
On December 1st sleep deprived, dehydrated and completely time bamboozled we finally stepped off the plane in Auckland and were home! After over four months abroad I had definitely missed the tiny oasis that is the country located at the bottom of the world.
Until next time… happy trotting everyone. 🙂
GC Chronicles 