Porto Pics

Porto 1

So my parents went home and you might expect that means my travelling was over. Well that would make you wrong, because I still had another country to visit and the entire weekend back in Madrid. First Porto, Portugal.

I was getting worried at first. A full year in Spain and I wasn’t even going to make it to Portugal? What was I doing with my time? Well, now I can proudly say that I have made it to every one of Spain’s neighboring countries. Yep! Even Andorra and Morocco. It just so happens that Portugal was the last one marked off the list, even though it is so close!

Waking up early yet again for a flight, I say my farewells to my family and fly to Porto, Portugal. If you are pretty clever and have a slight knowledge of varieties of wine, you might be thinking, “Zach, is Porto where port wine comes from?” Why, yes, yes it is. Porto and the surround Duoro River Valley is the only place in the European Union that can claim to produce port, while other countries get away with it if they aren’t in the EU.

So as you can guess, I drank a lot of port. But that really isn’t the only thing I did.

The first day Hill and I formed our own little DIY tour of Porto with the help of Hill’s iPad, Wikipedia and Lonely Planet’s Porto Guide. We followed the itinerary across the city, seeing all the amazing sites.

Porto isn’t very well known I would guess. Yeah, it is Portugal’s second largest city, but how many of you knew that? It is pretty small as cities go, only 250,000 or so for a population (the metro is larger at 1.35 million) and there aren’t any Eiffel towers or the likes to see here. Just a lot of beautiful, old buildings lining the banks of the Duoro, charming streets winding up steep hills flanking the river, and of course wineries.

Okay, well I guess there may be one famous must see site in Porto, Livraria Lello. Look it up. It is gorgeous. I couldn’t take many pictures because they said it was too busy. I don’t know. Anyways, it has probably one of the most interesting stair cases I have ever seen and is filled with an eclectic mix of old and new books in Portuguese and English. It also has really beautiful stained glass sky lights combined with really old intricate crown molding to make such a perfect bookstore atmosphere. It is up by the university.

Speaking about the university, I have another thing for you to look up. Burning of the Ribbons. When we checked in, the woman working at the hostel (I believe she was the owner) told us that we would notice a lot of people dressed up in their school colors or black jackets in the city because it was a very special week for the students. Some sort of graduation celebration similar to Cornell’s Senior Week. I was not prepared for what it actually was.

There were students dressed up in black capes, with colored top hats and canes and groups of students all dressed up like bob the builder or with other costumes running around chanting. It was incredible to see so much school spirit and true elation. It made me nostalgic for high school graduation where there was just this huge sense of cohesion and accomplishment hanging in the air.

Oh, and the black capes looked like Harry Potter, and for a very good reason. Apparently JK Rowling wrote a lot of her first Harry Potter book in Porto and the capes served as an inspiration for the uniforms in the book. How great is that!?

After the tour, we picked up some cheese and our first bottle of port and brought it back to the hostel for lunch. Hill and I just enjoyed our white port and goat’s cheese while chatting with the girl working at the hostel.

We headed out again and stopped at this hipster mall that served a huge piece of chocolate cake for just a euro that the girl in the hostel suggested. Then we went to the park to pass out and relax. Apparently it was supposed to have spectacular views of the river because it was situated on some bluffs. Well, it did have some nice views, but we couldn’t relax too much. We heard this really loud music in the distance. It was constant, and we couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but kept on getting closer and closer to the source because it kept getting louder and louder as we walked through the park.

Finally, down below, we spotted a huge gathering of students lined up along the street, ready to parade through the city. We made our way down to the parade to find all the students that were dressed up standing on and around large trucks blasting all types of music into the streets. The ones wearing capes and top hats were going around hitting each other on the head with their canes while whispering questions or phrases of good luck or congratulations or something between each whack. Like I said, it was spectacular and I was so happy just from their happiness.

A quick dinner finished our first day in Porto. We were ready for a long night of well deserved sleep. We needed rest for our port wine winery tour the next day.

Madrid with the Family

As I said in the previous post, we had an early flight. I mean early. We left our place in Vienna at 4 or so in the morning to get to the airport on time. Well, that afforded us a full day in Madrid!

One thing before I talk a little about Madrid. We were sitting in the Vienna airport at our gate and found out they had wireless. For free. Awesome! That actually isn’t the important part. Due to the free wireless Hill was able to access the internet with her iPad and the first piece of news we read that morning was OSAMA WAS KILLED!!!

Thrilled, I told my mom, “Hey Mom! Guess what! They Osama is dead.”

Shocked, she pauses for a second. She then turns to my dad and says solemnly, “Gary, the president is dead.”

It is unfortunate how close their names are.

Our three goals for Madrid:

1. Meghan wants sangria.

2. Dad wants paella.

3. Mom wants tapas.

We get into Madrid at around 8 or 9 in the morning and head to the place we are staying, Hostal Pez Azul. It is in this really eclectic and interesting part of Madrid, right next to Gumbo, a Cajun food restaurant. I am not sure if I mentioned that Hillary’s family is from New Orleans in my post about her, but she was really excited about this fact. Too bad it was closed that day. Next time.

Okay, so we check into the room and then head out. For what? Another Sandeman’s free tour! Yes, that makes my Sandeman’s Free Tours count up to five: Dublin, Berlin, Munich, Prague, & Madrid! You might actually think that I enjoy these tours.

Well, I do. But after already having been on another Madrid free tour, having a flight at 6 in the morning and just being overall exhausted from so much travelling, by the end of the tour I just wanted to pass out. And after accomplishing goals one and two at dinner, I get that opportunity, as my family wants a siesta. Instead I stay up though, planning out Porto details with Hill.

After a few hours siesta (not the way actual Spanish do it by the way), we knock off number three on the list on Cava Baja, this street lined with great tapas restaurants. We end the night with some churros.

I would say, all in all, a good end to a good family vacation.

Vienna Pics

Vienna Cont

Vienna, day two, was a pretty easy, relaxing day. I don’t recall too much what we did, in fact. I know first off we went to the schloss. Yes, I got my fill of schlosses on this trip. Schlosses in Potsdam, Fussen, and now Vienna. How enchanting.

This schloss is one of the biggest of them all, coming in at 1440 rooms, large, beautiful gardens, I believe one of the first zoos in the world (and googling confirms that the zoo, founded in 1752, is indeed the oldest), mazes, statues, a giant green house, need I go on?

Well, I have seen my share of fancy pants palatial rooms and didn’t see the point of entering. Instead, we explored the grounds. I never cease to be amazed by the gardens kept by palaces. The things they get plants to do are really impressive. The gardens at the Schonbrunn Schloss had walls and arches stretching forever formed entirely by trees, the flowers and bushes were perfectly maintained. On a nice day I could definitely lose myself in these gardens.

Hungry, we left in search of food. More family fun ensued and we ended up on the other end of the city. First we failed at a café where we were all hoping for chili.

Lies. First we got yelled at by a guy in German. This guy must have been crazy or anarchist or something. We were walking along the street, looking for an ATM. We found one, but there was this guy shouting at it and at people around. We crossed the street to a different ATM, thinking we would avoid this guy. The guy comes across the street and starts yelling god knows what at my dad, inches from my face. None of us know what to do. Eventually he just leaves, but waits around the corner. We wait a little, hoping he actually walks further away. We get our money and put distance between that man and us. He was not stable.

So after that, we fail at the café. They really just had no food that they had on the menu. Chili con carne? No. How about the goulash then? Nope. And the soup? No dice.

After finally eating at another restaurant that we found after walking for at least an hour, we go to the music museum. YAY MUSEUMS! I bet you are all thinking it. A museum about classical music? How could that be even remotely interesting? Let me tell you, it was so much fun. I highly recommend it. It seems like it could play to children, but if you really like interactive museums, it is great. You can conduct a symphony. I made my own waltz by rolling dice. I also tried to paint with sound, but that wasn’t exactly working correctly. I did, however, get to feel like I was in a womb in this one room. Fun!

Wait, I am going completely out of order! I know, I am typing this so I could really just go back and write this in the order it actually happened, but that isn’t how I am doing it. Deal. Before we went to the museum we ate sacher torte at Sacher Café. Yep, the original hope of the sacher torte, which is really just chocolate cake. I was disappointed. It looked perfect, but it was too dry for me. And seriously, how much was that? Like 5 euro for a slice of chocolate cake? Not again.

So after the cake and after the museum we are ready for what we have all been waiting to eat since being in Vienna: Weiner schnitzel. My dad and I found some places recommended in our guide book that were nearby and went to one. Yet, it seemed the theme of the day would be restaurants not having what you order. Yep! This place was out of Weiner schnitzel! Why me? Oh well, the pork schnitzel was delicious, too. One plate could have definitely served two though.

That ends day two in Vienna. The next morning we fly back to Spain EARRRLYYY in the morning.

Vienna

So I left off at least a week ago with my very uneventful first day in Vienna. I mean, I guess that eating a ton of great falafel really doesn’t count as uneventful, but seriously, I am in Vienna! The capital of classical music, Wiener schnitzel, and Hapsburg happenings. I need to take advantage of day 2.

And I would say I did.

The fam + Hillary heads into town on the metro after a good breakfast of pastries and fruit. Why Hillary and the family? Where is Hillary’s family? Well, they actually stayed back in Budapest to catch their flight back to the US of A.

Side note: The Hillary/Richard family departure was pretty entertaining. My family had seen all it wanted to see in Budapest (well, all we could fit in on our last day, there is definitely more I want to see but would need more time, oh, and definitely more paprikash to eat) so decided to catch an earlier train. I texted Hillary and got no response. At the train station we were bumming around, waiting for the train and wondering if we should wait for Hillary. Fifteen minutes before the train’s departure I spot Mrs. Richard, frantic. Hillary dashes across the platforms to buy her ticket. In a matter of minutes we are running for the train as Mr. Richard snaps pictures of the farewell and Mrs. Richard runs after Hillary. Classic train departure scene, I would say.

Anyways, our first real experience of Vienna is a great church with a tiled roof like the one in Hungary. Here, instead of saying a church, I will look up which one it actually was. Okay, it was definitely St. Stephan’s. So we exit the metro at Stephansplatz or something like that and see a beautiful church. Okay, so that’s done.

One more thing: We are doing this tour on our own. There are no free tours of Vienna. Hey New Europe Tour Company, get on that. Really Sandeman’s? A tour of Hamburg and not Vienna? The guide book two day tour will have to do. Thank you Lonely Planet.

Then we head in the wrong direction. My mom was in charge of our DIY tour at this point. We happen upon Mozart’s house. Only in Vienna do you get lost and happen upon Mozart’s house. We correct our direction and that takes us towards the Hapsburgs’ winter palace, the Hofburg. Their palace is right in the middle of things. Usually a ruler’s castle or palace is situated a little bit outside of the city, to keep the plebs at bay. Berlin had Potsdam. Paris had Versailles. Really Hapsburgs, you gotta displace yourselves from the commoners a little bit.

Well, we see the palace and emerge on the other side to see some towering gothic spires and neoclassical buildings. The neoclassical buildings are part of the Museum Quartier. Boring. (Actually, I would’ve loved to see any of the museums I missed on this trip, but like my parents and friends keep reminding me, save some things for when you come back. Fine.) We head for the gothic spires instead.

Some of these spires are part of the Rathaus. Others belong to maybe parliament. The Rathaus is the city hall. Sorry I can’t remember what the other spires belong to, but really, does it matter too much?

The Rathaus is pretty impressive though. It even had music emanating from the grounds. Turns out we happened upon a fun run that ended at the Rathaus. Why can’t I ever be a part of an event that ends at a building like that? There was music and food and all these fun activities geared towards children smack in the middle of the grounds between the Rathaus and the National Theater of Austria. Well, I guess that would be like partying it up on the National Mall in D.C. Some day.

After mulling around the area, we happen upon a nice church. Again, all these churches are blending together sadly. I couldn’t tell you the name of this one. It did have a nice tiled roof though. I guess that is pretty much what I notice.

Since we skipped the Museum Quartier we were about done with the day’s worth of itinerary so I thought the Naschmarkt would be a good choice to waste some time at. On our way we spot another impressive church or cathedral or whatever. This one happens to be unknown to me again. This time I will google it for you all. Okay, so it turns out this one is St. Charles. The other one? Votive Church. And it was under restoration like usual. At least it was right next to Freud Park. And the part that was already restored looked really nice, so good for them. Restoration is worth it.

Naschmarkt is mainly a flea market plus a fresh food market plus a flower market plus a cheap tourist goods market. I only got some falafel, but really enjoyed looking at all the steins and some of the lederhosen they had for sale. Sadly, all of the cool lederhosen that I liked were too small for me. Bummer. Also, all of the steins were still expensive. I want a nice five euro stein, I am not going to buy a stein for 20 euros at a flea market. And when I try to barter with you by offering 10 and you come down to 18 but won’t budge from there, that is just annoying.

After the market another fun family adventure for food begins. It is impossible to please all the Wachtl’s. Really, we are mainly indecisive and cannot for the lives of us make a decision. My mom is usually the only one who is a little picky but tries to say she doesn’t care. Then when we find somewhere she finds a reason not to eat there. Eating on family vacations therefore is postponed usually an hour. This is ever more common when we are in a foreign country. By the end of our epic adventure across town in search of the perfect restaurant, I turn to Hillary and say, “At the end of this I am going to be eating Doner and my dad is going to be annoyed.”

We get off the metro and my mom announces we are going to just get Doner. Fine. I was ready for this. Anyways, it is my pre opera dinner anyways.

That is right, I saw opera in Vienna. After lunch, which really became my dinner because of the time it took to find a place, Hillary and I go to the Staadtoper, or the State Opera House, to see if we can get tickets. We waited in line for probably an hour and quickly bought our standing room only tickets for, brace yourselves, Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Finally, a real opera, none of that American opera bull. But again, I felt really classy in my flannel as I mingled with the upper class of Vienna.

The opera was good, but having standing room only after a long day (and long past two weeks) of walking was exhausting. It was hot and the opera was 3 hours long. I could have left at intermission and would have been happy. That was just too much for me. Don’t get me wrong. The opera was outstanding and the music itself was impeccable. I was just too tired to enjoy it fully.

That concludes day one of Vienna. One more day left.

Budapest Pics

Neuschwanstein Pics

Munich Pics

Prague Pics

Potsdam

Berlin Pics

Home again

So I made it back to Santander without any problems. For those of you counting, I made it to 7 cities in 6 countries over the past 20 days and am exhausted. I have homework and studying to catch up on, like usual, and more Italian food to eat. So while you wait in extended suspense for me to finish Vienna, Porto and Madrid blog posts, I will start to put up pictures. Those are easier and more interesting anyways.