PORTUGAL
AND SPAIN
04/12/24 - 04/20/24
DAY 1
Day 1 - Our April adventure is here! After a direct overnight flight from Boston to Lisbon, Portugal, we made our way to our hotel in central Lisbon. It was still early, so we could not access our room yet, but the hotel took our bags and offered us a great breakfast to get settled. We decided to walk to Lisbon's waterfront and take the tram to the Quake Museum as a low key activity for our arrival day. The Quake museum, relatively new to Lisbon, gave a unique immersive journey through the history of Lisbon including a major earthquake in the 18th century. Well worth a visit. After the museum we walked the waterfront viewing many of the beautiful sites, including the Monument of the Discoveries, an impressive 180+ foot high monument with over 30 statues carved on it. We finished our day at a local Pizzeria right on the water and a walk through of the Belem Tower, a nearly 500 year old castle now classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. With amazing sunny weather, it was a fantastic first day!
DAY 2
Day 2 - Today, we had a full day touring Lisbon. Lisbon is the vibrant capital city of Portugal with many unique neighborhoods. We started the day, with a peak into the Lisbon Cathedral, the oldest church in the city. After exploring the church, we stopped by the famous Ginjinha bar located right outside. The bar established in 1840, is a tiny stand in a historic building near the church. It serves one iconic drink, Ginjinha, which is a Portuguese cherry liquor. What a fun little place. After walking around a few local neighborhoods, we checked out the Sao Jorge Castle and its beautiful gardens, perched high above the city center. Once done exploring, we took a short funicular ride down to a main square for some traditional Portuguese pastries. We finished the day with a nice dinner and some relaxing by the hotel pool.
DAY 3
Day 3 - After breakfast, we headed back to Lisbon airport for a quick flight to our next destination, Barcelona! On our list for a few years, we were excited to finally arrive! This May, was big Mike's 50th birthday, so we went all out with a 3 night stay at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. And what a treat it was! On a arrival, we were whisked up to our gorgeous room, like celebrities, to find a birthday cake, chilled champagne and large 5-0 balloons awaiting for us in our room. It was a really nice surprise! After getting settled, we walked to Barcelona's waterfront and had a fun lunch with refreshing Sangria in the Port Vell section of the city, a neighborhood lined with amazing yachts and great people watching. After lunch, we walked along the beach and ended at the famous W Hotel shaped like a large glass sail boat. Day one in Barcelona was a fantastic hit!
DAY 4
Day 4 - After an amazing breakfast at our hotel we took the subway to Sagrada Familia, one of Barcelona most popular sites. Considered, the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world, Sagrada Familia is one of architects, Antoni Gaudi, most famous work. An audio tour is available, (advanced reservations required) as well as a breathtaking view from the top of one of the church's 550+ feet high spires. We then headed to Mercat de la Concepcio, a Spanish food market for lunch. After lunch, Karen & little Mike toured the La Pedrera, another one of Gaudi's masterpieces, while Big Mike enjoyed a birthday cocktail at the Mandarin's roof top pool. We then met back for dinner and an impressive candlelight orchestra featuring music by Coldplay, held in the unique setting of the Palau de la Musica, a historic concert hall in the heart of Barcelona, first opened in 1908.
DAY 5
Day 5 - We started our day with a tram ride to Park Guell. Park Guell is a area high above the city composed of gardens and architecture elements and was created by Architects Antoni Gaudi and Eusebi Guell. Since Covid, the park restricts the number of visitors by advanced reservation only inside the center area, (which we found out about, a little late!) but we still enjoyed the entrance and look out areas for the morning! After we took a quick bus ride, to Barcelona's own Arc de Triomp, very similar to the one you think of in Paris. We then enjoyed a stroll down La Ramba, one of Barcelona's most famous shopping streets where we endulged in some amazing fries! We ended the afternoon at the Barcelona Cathedral, which was very interesting to compare styles vs. Sagrada Familia yesterday and then on to dinner for traditional Spanish Tapas!
DAY 6
Day 6 - It's hard to believe our time in Barcelona is coming to an end with our last breakfast at the hotel and a casual walk over to the main train station. From there, we took an approximately three hour train ride South to the city of Valencia. Valencia is Spain's third largest city. It's home to one of Spain's largest ports, it's own unique historic old town and an expansive arts & science center. After checking in to our hotel, we took a recommended walking tour through the city center. It was beautiful, streets and parks lined with monuments, fountains, flowers and even palm trees. We enjoyed a lunch in the main town square, checked our a few food halls and sipped on Valencia's famous Sangria. We ended the day with a walk through of Valencia's botanical gardens.
DAY 7
Day 7 - Named the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia's main tourist attraction is a complex group of futuristic buildings and structures housing a state of the art science center, aquarium, IMAX theater and planetarium. Today was dedicated to this complex. and we did it all!
Taking the majority of the day, we worked our way through each building in this impressive area. Once done, it was time for dinner and we had certainly worked up an appetite. The hotel recommended a local restaurant located right on a farm directly off the main street. Down a set of stairs transformed us quickly from the Valencia city streets to a rural farm filled with onions, artichokes and lettuce. Our dinner included a large and delicious traditional seafood Paella along side a refreshing pitcher of Sangria. It was a really nice way to end the trip!
DAY 8
Day 8 - Our Portugal and Spain adventure has come to an end! A quick breakfast and room check out and we were on our way to Valencia Airport. Lisbon, Barcelona and Valencia were great cities to visit. Each with their unique landscapes, food and sites. We really enjoyed all of them. Our flight pattern home, had us returning to Boston via a stop back in Lisbon for lunch. We arrived in Boston late afternoon, Boston time. Another great trip complete and in the books!
WHAT WE THOUGHT OF IT
MICHAEL
KAREN
MICHAEL S.
