Just finished my first trip ever to Europe. Felt like the 40 year old virgin in that regard. The reason we picked Spain is because my wife lived here for a summer while in college so for a milestone birthday this year I decided to bring her back! We tacked on Portugal because I've heard nothing but great things about it and started to learn some Portuguese after visiting Brazil last year.
Flight wasn't too bad. Departed DFW on AA at 5pm. Watched a movie and a podcast or two then slept for most of it. Arrived at 9am local time. We dropped our bags at the hotel Indigo which was fairly nice and pretty close to all the touristy spots and a sweet rooftop bar.
Madrid
Day1: Very cool guided Tour of the Palace. You can do this one on your own but I think the guide helped teach us the history and take us through in the proper order (we also did the royal armory and cathedral right next door -self guided). Later we hit up the Prado Museum. Museum was loaded with classical art. To me, it was just A lot of royal portraits, Jesus , nips, and dicks.
Day 2: Bike Tour with TimBikes the next morning was awesome. Saw the palace changing of the guards, plaza mayor, reteiro park , etc. For lunch after, we hit up the Mercado de San Miguel. It was huge and a lot of drink and food offerings. Be prepared It was a bit crowded but worth it. we were there on Spanish Labor Day so it was probably busier than usual.
For dinner we did a Flamenco show at Corral de la Moreira. They offered wines and a Michelin star restaurant there. Definitely one of the highlights of Madrid. After two days I feel like we "did Madrid" so I'd recommend not staying too awful long here as a tourist.
Day3 we took a train to Salamanca. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for anyone else but that's where my wife lived (For anyone else I'd probably recommend going south of Spain instead. Seville , Malaga, Cordoba etc. as I heard nothing but amazing things about these areas. ) She showed me the nostalgic sites and we stayed at a hotel located in the plaza mayor which was definitely an amazing sight to see at night. Had some cervezas and tapas at your typical street cafe there.
Day 4 Porto, Portugal
This was by far my favorite place. The views are incredible. The people here friendlier than in Spain and everyone spoke incredible English- I didn't get to hardly practice any of my Portuguese in learned.
We walked around an incredibly hilly town to all the Cathedrals and towers etc just to get a lay of the land. Found a cervejaria and sat on a patio listening to live music for the afternoon and had dinner at Casario on the Ribeira riverfront. That area was hoppin' at night with outdoor cafes and music and dancing.
Day 5
Took a LivingTours tour of the Duoro Valley. It was an entire day but 100% worth it. It was a few hour bus ride with a stop in a beautiful small town. We did a few tastings, a boat ride in the river , had a few tours of the facilities where they pick and sort grapes and get production started before hauling it to Porto to finish. They provided a nice lunch and I had an epic nap on the way home.
Day6
Our last day in Porto. We walked across the Ponte De Luis to "the other side" of the river called Vila Nova de Gaia, where all the Port Wine companies have their storage facilities. We did a guided tour and lunch at Grahams. Grahams came HIGHLY recommend to us and I would echo the sentiment. The grounds were nice and clean. The tour was Informative and entertaining. I feel like I know all there is to know about Port Wine production now. I would almost suggest doing this BEFORE a Duoro Valley tour.
My biggest take away from the trip were how fun the different cultures were to see. The history and architecture and beauty of the land. I'm not a wine guy but didn't have a single bad one the entire time I was here. While I loved being able to walk almost anywhere , I noticed how narrow the streets were and how crazy the drivers can be.
Lastly the food was amazing. Here, a few of my favorite dishes: Spanish steak, paella and pulpo (octopus ). And in Portugal- Franceschinha (best I can explain it is it's an egg on top of lasagna with steak, cheese, and ham) bacalhou (sea bass) natas (egg tart pastry )
Flight wasn't too bad. Departed DFW on AA at 5pm. Watched a movie and a podcast or two then slept for most of it. Arrived at 9am local time. We dropped our bags at the hotel Indigo which was fairly nice and pretty close to all the touristy spots and a sweet rooftop bar.
Madrid
Day1: Very cool guided Tour of the Palace. You can do this one on your own but I think the guide helped teach us the history and take us through in the proper order (we also did the royal armory and cathedral right next door -self guided). Later we hit up the Prado Museum. Museum was loaded with classical art. To me, it was just A lot of royal portraits, Jesus , nips, and dicks.
Day 2: Bike Tour with TimBikes the next morning was awesome. Saw the palace changing of the guards, plaza mayor, reteiro park , etc. For lunch after, we hit up the Mercado de San Miguel. It was huge and a lot of drink and food offerings. Be prepared It was a bit crowded but worth it. we were there on Spanish Labor Day so it was probably busier than usual.
For dinner we did a Flamenco show at Corral de la Moreira. They offered wines and a Michelin star restaurant there. Definitely one of the highlights of Madrid. After two days I feel like we "did Madrid" so I'd recommend not staying too awful long here as a tourist.
Day3 we took a train to Salamanca. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for anyone else but that's where my wife lived (For anyone else I'd probably recommend going south of Spain instead. Seville , Malaga, Cordoba etc. as I heard nothing but amazing things about these areas. ) She showed me the nostalgic sites and we stayed at a hotel located in the plaza mayor which was definitely an amazing sight to see at night. Had some cervezas and tapas at your typical street cafe there.
Day 4 Porto, Portugal
This was by far my favorite place. The views are incredible. The people here friendlier than in Spain and everyone spoke incredible English- I didn't get to hardly practice any of my Portuguese in learned.
We walked around an incredibly hilly town to all the Cathedrals and towers etc just to get a lay of the land. Found a cervejaria and sat on a patio listening to live music for the afternoon and had dinner at Casario on the Ribeira riverfront. That area was hoppin' at night with outdoor cafes and music and dancing.
Day 5
Took a LivingTours tour of the Duoro Valley. It was an entire day but 100% worth it. It was a few hour bus ride with a stop in a beautiful small town. We did a few tastings, a boat ride in the river , had a few tours of the facilities where they pick and sort grapes and get production started before hauling it to Porto to finish. They provided a nice lunch and I had an epic nap on the way home.
Day6
Our last day in Porto. We walked across the Ponte De Luis to "the other side" of the river called Vila Nova de Gaia, where all the Port Wine companies have their storage facilities. We did a guided tour and lunch at Grahams. Grahams came HIGHLY recommend to us and I would echo the sentiment. The grounds were nice and clean. The tour was Informative and entertaining. I feel like I know all there is to know about Port Wine production now. I would almost suggest doing this BEFORE a Duoro Valley tour.
My biggest take away from the trip were how fun the different cultures were to see. The history and architecture and beauty of the land. I'm not a wine guy but didn't have a single bad one the entire time I was here. While I loved being able to walk almost anywhere , I noticed how narrow the streets were and how crazy the drivers can be.
Lastly the food was amazing. Here, a few of my favorite dishes: Spanish steak, paella and pulpo (octopus ). And in Portugal- Franceschinha (best I can explain it is it's an egg on top of lasagna with steak, cheese, and ham) bacalhou (sea bass) natas (egg tart pastry )