Comparison of Accomodations

Today we’ve moved on to Bruges (also spelt Brugge if you go by the Dutch version), a medieval city in the northwest region of Belgium. We’re staying at a hostel called Lybeer Travellers, and my main thought is “thank God we’re only here for two nights!”  Apart from the fact that we’re in a dorm room with two other guys who don’t seem to understand the common courtesy of coming and going quietly when you’re staying in a dorm room, the hostel itself is in bad need of repair and the bathrooms are horrendous.  I tried taking a shower and the water went from freezing cold to scorching hot every five minutes so I had keep waiting for that brief moment when the water would start changing temperatures to splash myself with a bit of normal temperature water!  It was not a fun experience… (more…)

Train Travel In Europe

After travelling by train in Portugal, Spain, France and Switzerland, I thought it might be informative to put up some information about stuff like ticket checks, etc.

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Cost of Living Comparison

We find our cost of living slowly but surely creeping upwards as we travel from Portugal to Switzerland, so I thought it might be informative to create a table to compare some basic costs for anyone reading this blog and/or planning a trip to Europe.  This table shows average prices of the places we’ve shopped/eaten at – obviously smaller supermarkets are more expensive that large ones and the “fanciness” of the restaurant has varied, but we’ve stuck to mostly average places. In some cities I didn’t buy or look at certain things, so I’ve labeled them “Didn’t see.”  Also, because the notebook I had initially been using to keep track of expenditures was stolen in Madrid, the costs listed for Lisbon, Porto, and Madrid are to the best of my memory, but they are fairly accurate. (more…)

If the Food Doesn’t Get Better, I’m Going Home!

Last night, after a wonderful day in Porto, we decided to have dinner in the Ribeira area by the water so that we could see the Ponte D. Luis bridge at night.  The view was spectacular, but the food was a big disappointment! (more…)

Saturday in Porto

Since the breakfast included at the hostel was only toast and cereal, we headed out early today and wandered into a cafe that seemed to serve our normal idea of breakfast (eggs, toast, etc).  The language barrier came into play again so we blindly ordered by pointing at things on the menu that looked like words we sort of recognized (such as ovo, which means egg).  We ended up ordering a heart-attack breakfast (2 eggs, a hamburger patty, and a hot dog style wiener for me and 1 egg, a small steak, and french fries for Paul), but it was delicious and it kept us full for most of the day (more…)

First Day in Porto

Today we arrived in Porto and checked into the Rivoli Cinema Hostel.  I am happy to report that this hostel has a nicer bathroom, but unfortunately it’s co-ed, so now I’ll really have to be careful when getting out of the shower!  The other good thing about this hostel is that we have a private room with a “double” bed (which is really actually two single beds pushed together) and they have a washer and dryer you can use for free!  The bad thing about this hostel is there is an ant infestation in the kitchen, which makes us not want to store any food there, and there is no social atmosphere whatsoever. (more…)

Last Day in Lisbon

We decided that after a couple of days  of sightseeing, we would just take it easy today and walk around Lisbon’s Old Town and do some people watching.  We spent the morning wandering, stopping at a couple of parks along the way, and found a nice view of Lisboa at the top of the hill.  We also managed to find the way to get to the top of the elevator to Old Town by walking instead of paying for a ride up; a handy tip the guys at the hostel told us about! (more…)

Weird Hostel Experience #2

This morning I noticed a rather large family checking in (3 young girls, 2 women, and 1 man) and I thought it was strange to see an entire family at a hostel since I associate hostels with younger people who are still in school or recent graduates.  During the first dinner, we were definitely the oldest people here!  (more…)

Portuguese Tarts @ Pasties de Belem – My New Favourite Treat

We bumped into Uwe at breakfast today and found out that we were heading in the same direction - the district of Belem to check out the Jeronimos Monastery – so we traveled together again.  We went to catch the tram, but it turned out the tram to Belem was not running today so a tram driver told us we should catch bus #40 across the Plaza.

After waiting 25 minutes, we became frustrated with the bus system and decided to share a cab with another random person Paul met at the bus stop who was also going to the Monastery.  We never learned his name but he told us he’s a history professor from a college in Chicago, here on his sabbatical and he gave us a few good tips on places in the world he has traveled to. (more…)

Dinner Experience #3 in Lisbon

Sigh – when will the food start tasting better?  Tonight we went in search of a restaurant that got some good reviews on the Internet about it’s Portuguese style chicken but only to find said restaurant deserted and quite pricey.  We decided to walk around and find something busier since going to the busiest restaurant we could find for lunch had worked out well.  We ended up at a restaurant where a South-African man (possibly the owner) kindly explained the menu and there were several people eating on the patio, including one couple deeply engrossed in their make-out session!  “PDA” (Public Display of Affection) is taken to a whole new level in Europe…. (horse is impressed as he edits) (more…)