We left Legoland and headed back to Singapore for a few days of continued R&R before we flew home to Australia.

Our two days in Singapore mostly involved eating and sauntering along the riverside.

Hamish and Rod have a bit of pool time and we do some (expensive) shopping.

It was an easy few days of complete down time. There was, though, a mix up with our room. We checked in to find a king bed (only) in our room. Rod ducks down to Reception to find out what is going on. He does not get very far; when he returns, he is still not sure if we are meant to share the one bed with Hamish, if there is a fold our bed to come, or if we need to swap rooms? Belinda heads back to sort it out. We get moved (eventually) to a larger room, with two beds. For a fee, of course.

Singapore is a beautiful city and we particularly enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere.

We were spoiled for choice for dinner, but settled on Vietnamese and Thai, by the river.

We just adore the ambience and start making plans to work for a year somewhere in Asia. Hamish and Belinda have absolutely fallen in love with the Thai dessert of mango and sticky rice and it would be great to recreate this at home.

We wandered into Chinatown and manage to find some souvenirs and a new book for Belinda (bookstores are thin on the ground).

On our final night we get Turkish ice cream; you get a cone and a show, as you have possibly seen via Facebook. We then take a river boat cruise, which heads to the port. Our timing is perfect and we are treated to the sound and light show emanating (mostly) from the Marina Bay Sands building. It is awesome.

Back on shore, Belinda and Hamish line up for a big finish on the giant swing ride, but the minimum age is 12 years, so they are sadly let down.

Our flight back to Melbourne is an easy 6 – 7 hours and we arrive after midnight to steady rain. There’s a bit of a scramble to get warm clothes out of our luggage whilst we are waiting for our bus to the hotel. Late the next morning, we drive back to Wangaratta and just like that, our trip is done and we’re home.

 

 

 

 

Singapore

We flew from Barcelona to Singapore – two pretty easy 6 – 7 hour flights with a little stop at Dubai along the way. Unfortunately, our bags were not uplifted at Dubai which we were informed about once reaching Singapore. Not the end of the world, but definitely disappointing. After being on the go for 24+ hours, it’s nice to be able to go to your hotel, shower, wear your own fresh clothes… There was no real reason for the baggage delay (that we were told anyway) – the ground staff at Changi were very nice and very understanding. I asked if there was any compensation from Emirates for the delay: 5 minutes later I had 200 Singapore dollars of ‘emergency’ money in my hand. This was more compensation than I had bargained for!

Our taxi driver dropped us off at a 24hr market that sells just about everything! We did a bit of a quick shop for toothbrushes, deodorant, underwear, summer-weight clothes and PJ’s. I tell you, don’t expect to come out of a Singaporean market buying underwear with your dignity intact. Hamish held up a pair of what I can only describe as ‘bloomers’ and said “These should fit you Mum!” Jeez, thanks mate… I did find a pair of my sized undies, (not 3XL’s) however it was the boxers Rod purchased for he and Hamish that were, well, snug.

We finally checked into our hotel, showered and crashed – well after midnight. To cut a long story short, we got our bags back by midday the next day, but only after a couple of phone calls and a strong hint from the Changi Emirates staff to pick our bags up if we wanted them by 4pm.

 

Legoland – Malaysia

In the early planning stages of this trip, we decided that our last week should be spent relaxing either on the beach or by a pool, in a warm climate. After a bit of discussion, we decided upon Singapore. It was only after searching for a resort-like hotel that I stumbled across Legoland, just across the border in Malaysia. We were pretty excited and knew Hamish would love it. A brief discussion about the price ended in me booking three nights with two days access to Legoland Theme Park and Water Park. We kept this a secret until we arrived at our hotel in Singapore Thursday night. Hamish, as anticipated, was very excited.

I’ll let Hamish tell some of the story, but Rod and I have been so impressed with the staff here at the Hotel, as well as both theme parks. They are super polite, have jokes with the kids and ensure you are well looked after – nothing at all like the Australian idea of customer service. The kid-centered approach here is just awesome – not a tablet in sight, kids are busy building Lego: at the pool, in the lobby, in their rooms, in the restaurants.

The buffet breakfast here is massive with a real mix of Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Indian and Western breakfast foods. Hamish has been keen to try (everything) the Asian dishes such as fried rice and chicken curry. Being in a Muslim country, the bacon is beef and the sausages and salami are chicken. It’s interesting. I didn’t realise what a delight it is to have curry for breakfast.

 

Legoland, by Hamish

 Friday

We got the taxi and we started going to Malaysia. The taxi was like 50 minutes long, but that didn’t bother Mum, she was relaxing. When we arrived, I started playing with the Lego in the hotel lobby. The Lego is in a Pirate Ship and a Castle.

There were lots of mini figures behind the reception desk.

The outside of the hotel has GIANT mini-figures and the hotel looks like it has been made out of Lego!

We went up to our room, which was on Level 3. The theme of our room was Kingdoms – with Knights, shields and dragons. There was a quiz for me to do to try and work out a code to unlock a safe. Once I worked out the code, the safe unlocked and inside it was a Lego pack for me! (it’s a Star Wars Pod-Racer). My bed is a bunk bed. The hotel has a pool and we went to it. I swam for a bit, then I built a huge yellow shield from giant Lego bricks. I thought it was fun.

 

Saturday

This was our first day at the Legoland Theme Park. The first thing I saw was Batman! I got a photo with him.

Then, we explored all the areas and went on rides, like:

• Lego City – Boat Ride, Fire Truck Rescue

• Land of Adventure – Beetle Bounce Ride, Pharaoh’s Revenge, Dino Island (we all got soaked on this ride!)
• Ninjago World – Ninjago The Ride, I also met Kai and Sensei Wu and got a photo with them

• Imagination – 4D movie called Chima, observation tower ride, musical fountain, Kids Power Tower

• Lego Kingdoms – Dragon’s Apprentice Roller Coaster
• Mini Land – lots and lots and lots of miniature buildings/ships/trains

After this (which was a lot) we went to the Water Park. We went on lots of fun slides, played in the splash park and went on the Build-a-Raft river. I really liked the splash park when the bucket fills up and tips out on everyone – you get soaked!

 

Sunday

Today we went back to the Theme Park and went to the areas we missed yesterday. Plus, we went on a couple of rides I really liked from yesterday (Technic Twister, Aqua Zone, back to the Ninjago Ride and the roller coaster).

The weather was super humid – Dad got us ice-creams. We were happy to go back to the Water Park. We stayed there for the rest of the day and had lunch there, too.

I asked Mum and Dad why don’t all parents bring their kids to Legoland? Because I think it’s the best place in the world for kids.

 

 

 

 

We’re writing Part B of the Barcelona blog from the airport. We have a late flight to Singapore, via Dubai. It’s an hour until we board.

Tuesday

I’d purchased tours of the Sagrada Familia (SF), mostly because our guide Karim, had said we must definitely go there. We’d seen a few Gaudi sites around Barcelona, so were keen to check out this one for which he is most famous.

Catching the metro was easy. We walked up out of the subway, and Rod said, “Oh, there it is!” I mean, he is often Captain Obvious, but in this case, who could blame him. The SF loomed above us – it was already way more impressive than we had imagined.

Our tour promptly started at 11am, which covered information about the history of the church, as well as prior architects who’d tried to place their stamp upon this building. The guide explained that once Gaudi took over, he was given complete artistic control.

It’s hard to imagine what the inside is going to look like, based on the (in part) colourless, busy exterior. It is, without a doubt, the most impressive interior of any building we have ever seen. It is, the daddy of churches. Hamish was taken with the mostly blue toned stained-glass windows, but Rod and I were just overwhelmed. We’re not religious or arty, but it appealed to us on so many levels. The photographs do not do the SF justice – it’s something you have to see for yourself, just like approximately 4 million tourists do each year.

After this, we headed into Barcelona centre, pottered around a bit and had lunch at a seafood stand in the La Bouqueria market. After this, feeling buoyed (partly because Rod had just been paid), we purchased a few handmade chocolates (at about $130/kg!) and wandered around eating these tasty, expensive delights.

 

Wednesday

Today, we planned a late brunch at a local café in Gracia. Rod and Hamish then went to the Zoo and I went home to pack. I mean, this sounds bad, but I enjoy being the organiser and I quite enjoyed a few hours on my own.  There had also been a muck up with a booking in Singapore, so it gave me time to amend this (and rebook a new place!) It also meant Hamish was occupied instead of being overly excited for the next part of trip.

From all accounts, the Zoo was great. Hamish’s favourite exhibit: penguins, Rod liked the big cats. Rod said it was ‘surprisingly expansive’ considering it is right in the heart of the city. He also mentioned (a few times) that it was very quiet.

Not much else to say, except we found our car drop off point without any problem and I’d like to say Rod has done a great job driving. It’s stressful: wrong side of the road, intense drivers, narrow lanes, wife giving directions…

 

Saturday

We left Valencia by 10am Saturday morning and headed north along the coast for Barcelona. We were rewarded with clear blue skies and coastal views for most of the trip. As we got closer to our apartment in the northern suburb of Gracia, we only went the wrong way once – which wasn’t too bad in busy Saturday afternoon traffic. But I’ll not lie, it’s stressful waiting for the sat nav/mapping app to re-route!

The apartment has (only) 40-odd narrow stairs to our front door. We settled in and set out to explore the neighbourhood which included a recce of the metro, a few groceries and what was essentially a sausage in a croissant for Hamish and Rod, from one of the many, many bakeries.

 

Sunday

Overwhelmed with a choice of things to do in Barcelona, we opted for a 2 hour ‘Introduction to Barcelona’ walking tour with a company called ‘With Locals’. We met our host Karim, at the metro in front of the Liceu Theatre, in central Barcelona. Karim is a young man from Lebanon, who moved to Barcelona to complete a Master’s Degree a few years ago. He is an architect by trade and an accomplished violinist to boot. He gave us a very interesting, art/architecture/history inspired walking tour of Barcelona, including a few Antonio Gaudi sites (his award-winning lamp posts & Guell Palace).

He managed to keep Hamish’s attention with churros and chocolate mid-way through the tour, and discussions about the finer points of MineCraft, school and music. A constant theme of our dialogue with Karim was the separatist intentions of the local Catalans, so stumbling upon a boisterous demonstration, with both sides actively engaged, was an unexpected highlight.

At the end of our two hours, Karim recommended a local restaurant for lunch near the beach. We found it quite easily: Salamanca. It was authentic Spanish cuisine and the place was packed with locals. The staff were very friendly and our food arrived very quickly. Hamish’s chicken ordered off the children’s section, was in effect, half a roast chicken with chips and fried green capsicum. Rod and I shared seafood paella. It was a grand lunch. Rod’s hands were stained yellow with saffron from peeling his prawns; I used cutlery…We did our best to finish the lunch, but we just couldn’t.

Before the bill arrived, small squares of cake were put on our table. It would have been rude not to have a bite! Then as Rod went to pay the bill, the waiter told him to sit down! She said, ‘digestif’ and put down two small glasses of something. We sipped the liquor – it packed some punch! In the meantime, she took Hamish away to show him a picture of when Lionel Messi ate at the restaurant. I asked about the drink – it was grappa. It had no flavour other than heat and pure alcohol!

We sauntered along the esplanade and found our way back to the metro easily. Hamish had clocked up his highest step count – 21000. He only mentioned his feet were ‘killing’ him a few times. What a great job he’s been doing.

 

Monday

 We all kind of needed a slow day today, so we didn’t plan too many activities. I had accidentally stumbled across ‘Placa de John Lennon’ a short walk from our apartment, so this was our first stop. It’s a little play ground and square with a dedication to John Lennon. We stopped for morning tea (at midday) at the Lennon Café and the boys played a few John Lennon songs on Rod’s phone in tribute.

Our next stop for the day was Park Guell – another Antoni Gaudi site. We packed a picnic lunch and walked around the amazing gardens and surrounds, which is just a few minutes behind our apartment. It’s a beautiful outdoor space and has incredible views over the city. Pigeons, sparrows and parrots (akin to green lorikeets) are very interested in everyone’s lunch.

We headed home for a bit of down time, before walking to another Gaudi site – Casa Vicens (the first house he designed). The buildings of Gaudi are very impressive and they appeal to all of us for different reasons: the colours, the intricacies, the fun design. You don’t have to be an art lover to enjoy the Gaudi buildings. Tomorrow we have tickets for the La Sagrada Familia: we’ve left the best church to last.

Authentic Italian gelati helps with the trip home.

Tuesday

We left the frosty city of Toledo for a relatively quick drive to Valencia on the East coast of Spain. I know I said this in the last post, but much of the countryside really reminds us of Australia.

Hamish has been enjoying stopping for a ‘hot drink’ at the petrol stations. This involves usually 1E, a vending machine and him getting a small cup of hot chocolate. He’s a funny boy. When Rod says we’re going to need petrol soon, Hamish always pipes up with, “oooh, and a hot drink?”.

Snacks (and hot drinks) got us through until we arrived in Valencia, found our apartment and walked downtown to a shopping centre to get some lunch: even by Spanish standards, it was getting a bit late for lunch. The weather was a balmy 17 degrees as we sauntered along the huge, tree-lined streets. Valencia is a beautiful city.

Lunch was eventually had at a Japanese restaurant at 4pm. Shortly after, the boys got haircuts and we stopped to grab some groceries from a Lidl on the way home – carrying everything in two backpacks and one shopping bag. Our apartment is very comfortable and we take advantage of the opportunity to do some washing.

 

Wednesday

We kind of planned to take it easy whilst in Valencia as we’d clocked up quite a few km’s in Toledo. With two weeks of holidays left, we don’t want Hamish to run out of steam – or enthusiasm (“Not another Church!”). So, with this in mind, we hit the Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe – Prince Phillip Science Museum (similar to Questacon). The buildings in the art and science precinct are worth visiting for their architecture alone. We spent a good 5 hours at the discovery centre and we all loved it. So much for taking it easy – Hamish walked 13000 steps!

From Hamish – The science centre was so cool. We explored space, four scientists (I wasn’t really interested in these scientists), brains and language. We got to see if we could follow a conversation without hearing any words. I liked the area where you got to see how far you could jump from a standing start – I could jump 1.3m. Dad could jump 2m.

 

Thursday

Today we really were going to take it easy! Park and beach – keep things simple. The park we visited is one of the coolest parks we’ve seen: Park Gulliver. With slides, rope climbs, steps and loads of bits and pieces to explore, Hamish loved it. Everyone around the ‘Gulliver’ looked like Lilliputians! What a great concept.

After about an hour at Gulliver’s park, we walked to the beach via the Turia Gardens. These gardens are situated in the site of the former Turia River (the river was diverted after flooding back in the 60’s). It makes for a beautiful addition to an already beautiful city; bike paths, walking paths, tree-lined, gardens – gorgeous. It also includes sports fields and a zoo.

We cut through the city and eventually made it to the beach for our picnic lunch and an opportunity for Hamish to splash about in the water; his fourth dip in the Mediterranean to date. To fuel up for the trip home, we stopped for coffee, ice-cream and churros. Did we ‘take it easy?’ – not really, Hamish clocked up 20 000 steps (which is probably about 12km).

From Hamish – Gulliver’s Park was so cool. Me and Dad played tiggy and hide and seek. I’ll talk about hide and seek first – so I was hiding in one of the best spots where I betcha Dad would spend like 12 minutes trying to find me. Instead, it took him 1 minute and 12 seconds. He was up on the highest point – I had no luck. Tiggy was better.

The beach was a good walk. After that we got churros and ice cream. The water was cold, the beach was gorgeous – it just looked pretty. I couldn’t see any pollution and this made me happy.

 

Friday

Our only plan for today was to visit the Oceanogràfic València, which is a bit like the Sea Life franchise. The Oceanographic is apparently the biggest complex of its type in Europe and I believe they do great conservation work, research and of course, education. Hamish was especially impressed with all the animals and underwater observatories. He thought he might like to work with dolphins one day.

From Hamish – The dolphins were awesome (sorry Gulliver’s Park). At one stage they were flapping their flippers – it was so cute. They did massive jumps, backwards and forwards. They could walk on water believe it or not!

Today we saw penguins (they were so cute), sharks, turtles, stingrays, tropical fish and loads more.

My favourite animal that go in the water, has to be the turtle. They are green, they have shells, they hatch babies on land not in the sea – they’re interesting creatures.

 

FC Porto

Hamish and I drop off Belinda at the shopping centre across the road from FC Porto’s stadium. We then try to navigate our way to the museum section of the stadium and eventually find it, after a very circuitous walk. I had read that tours of the stadium depart every hour on the hour, but had forgotten this detail. Fortunately, we checked in at 10:56 and promptly joined a tour.

We are led almost immediately onto the edge of the pitch, basically getting a player’s view of the spectacular stadium. After this we get to spend time in the President’s (club, not country) box, coach’s interview room and visitor’s change rooms, before Hamish gets to sit on the substitutes’ bench. The guide’s commentary is informative and the tour is a very enjoyable way to spend 50 minutes.

Hamish and I then grab a very quick (and cheap!) morning tea in the cafe before entering the Museum, which is also housed in the stadium. “Amazing” is not too strong a word to describe this museum. As you snake around one section after another it is hard to believe something so vast can fit somewhere within the bowels of this stadium, which is just perched in suburban Porto. It just seems to go on and on, like an almost infinite maze. Eventually, we have to abort and leave some sections for another day. We could have spent all afternoon happily reliving the history of Porto FC.

 

Our trip from Porto to Toledo would take approximately 6 hours, so we prepared a few rolls, sandwiches and snacks for the trip; saving us both money and time on the road. We’ve finally got our packing down to a fine art and Rod impresses all of us with finding a park at the front door of the apartment. It’s a miracle!

The trip was really quite smooth and I even did some driving! Boy, it’s stressful having everything in the car reversed and driving on the opposite side of the road. It was an interesting trip, over mountains, through small villages and forests. The landscape in Spain reminds us a little of Australia, complete with red dirt!

Day 1 Toledo

We arrived in Toledo, met our host, parked the car and walked up to our apartment. We have packed light for the three days, with one suitcase between the three of us. Our apartment is on the second floor in one of the main streets (small cobblestoned, single car width) and everything is in walking distance. We unpacked and headed out into the afternoon sun. It’s Saturday afternoon and the streets are loaded with people! I had no idea this was such a popular destination. Toledo was once the capital of Spain and it’s famous for the different religious groups who at one stage or another, were ensconced here.

 

It’s not difficult to find grand buildings: cathedrals, towers and more cathedrals. Yes, that’s not an error. There are many churches that may or may not at one stage over the last 1000 years been run by: Muslims, Jews or Christians. Each little street reveals new buildings, or shops and it’s lovely. We have an early dinner, by Spanish standards, of tapas and paella. We’re hungry and the food is delicious. We retire back to our cool-ish apartment where Rod and I watch the tennis (ATP Cup) – it’s the only thing in Spanish we understand.

  

Day 2 Toledo

Toledo sits up on a hill and was heavily fortified in the day. Our plan is to follow the battlements which still exist in excellent condition and cover approximately half of the city. It’s been down to -2 degrees overnight, so we’re rewarded by our late start with clear blue skies, sunshine and 8 degrees. To cut a long story short, we complete the walk and test poor Rod’s fear of heights with tower lookouts, steep stairs and ramparts.

Lunch is enjoyed in a tiny café which comprises of 4 tables with 4 low stools at each table. Two staff are on duty, one of whom is the cook and table cleaner – the other takes orders, handles the bills and organizes the drinks. They’re busy for the entire time we are there. The menu is interesting: Hamish has chicken schnitzel, chips and a fried egg (I eat his salad). Rod has the same, but with chorizo sausage. I order meatballs which comes served like a casserole with some vegetables. Sometimes the translations can be tricky, but we are all pleased with our lunches and nothing is left over. Hamish’s fit bit tells him he’s completed 12 000 steps. Now apparently this is supposed to be the target for kids in his age range, but he achieved them in 5 hours. He’s not afraid to admit he is tired, as we put him to bed tonight.

 

Day 3 Toledo

 Another late start today; it’s 10am when we wake up – Hamish is still sleeping soundly (we don’t know how Spanish children cope with the late nights!). We’ve had to change our plans today because we forgot some museums don’t open in Europe on Mondays – rookie error. We’ve found a multi-museum ticket which is a little out of the ordinary. The four museums included in this ticket, scattered around Toledo are:

• Catapults and Siege Machines
• Instruments of Torture
• Witchcraft
• Templar Knights

Like I said, they’re not particularly normal museum topics, but are super interesting and have excellent displays of magic potions, dehydrated hands, catapults, hideous torture artefacts, dungeons and the usual Knight stuff. Hamish is not keen on the torture museum so I let him play on my phone so as not to traumatize him. The Templar knight museum has no English translation, but we get the gist.

Midway between museums, we stop for sugary treats of churros and hot chocolate, and caramel stuffed giant churros (Hamish). I’m trying to mitigate the sugar intake and attitude of ‘well, we’re in Spain, when are we going to do this again’ with fresh fruit and vegetables at any given opportunity.

Another plan today was the Cheese Museum (and tastings), but after consulting our mapping apps a number of times, and walking the wrong way (a number of times), we find it. It’s closed. By now it’s about 3pm which is becoming our regular lunch time. We decide to have a bite to eat at a spot we found quite by accident yesterday, which has unrivalled views over the city. It’s a tough day sitting in the late afternoon sun drinking a beer. This fortune is not lost on any of us and we all comment on how lucky we are to be here, in Toledo Spain.

 

New Year’s Day

We are prepared for a public holiday, with not much open and a reduced bus timetable. This does not stop us from packing a little picnic lunch and heading to the beach. There are many beaches along the coast of Portugal, obviously, but we choose the one on the bus route. The 902 bus, to be exact.

Hamish is looking a little bored until the bus reaches the destination of Praia de Lavadores, which translates inelegantly in English, to “washers beach”. We are greeted with a long, twinkling expanse of beach front, esplanade and walking paths.

Our Aussie kid is in heaven; we’re at the beach, it’s New Year’s Day and he’s wearing his shorts (underneath his trakkies) as he plans to, and I quote, “splash about”. He cares not for the fact the temperature is just hitting 12 degrees.

We walk for some distance until we find a suitable spot for Hamish to splash about. His soft feet are not ready for the coarse sand and pebbles – he looks like he’s walking on hot coals as he wobbles his way to the shoreline. I’m sure you can imagine the scene: Hamish at his flappiest, Rod close (but not close enough that he’s going to get his boots wet) and me, sitting on a rock taking photographs. We don’t care that no-one else is on the beach. I find a slightly less volatile patch of surf and usher Hamish over to it. After a while, we have our picnic. Hamish tells us his legs are cold. I suggest he lay down to embrace the full effect of the sun, but the weakness of the winter sun does little to warm his skinny legs.

Back up on the board walk, Hamish is re-dressed in his full winter gear, and we head towards the bus stop. We have made great use of our bus passes, although it has taken us quite a bit of study to work out which route goes where and the names, correction, Portuguese names, of our bus stops.

January 2 – Jessica’s 23^rd Birthday

Today my little Sugar Pop turned 23. We talked to her on the phone for a little while, but the connection was laggy, which made conversing difficult. To be fair, we did celebrate her birthday in late November, but it’s not the same.

Our plan today saw us split up until after midday. Rod booked a port tour and tasting, whilst Hamish and I caught the (901 or 906) bus into the city square. Hamish wanted to buy Jessica a present and I really had no agenda. The present buying was completed early, so as to escape the cold, we headed for a local café, where we spent a very pleasurable 45 minutes having morning tea, reading the messages written on the walls and playing a dice game. We met Rod at 1230 at the Dom Pedro IV statue and continued on foot, to explore the city centre.

Porto reminds of us Italy in that, some of it is modern, some of it is gritty and some of it has been restored to its former glory. We love this urban combination and staying in Gaia, amongst the locals, gives us an insight into daily life. We shun the chain-cafes unless we’re desperate for the loo!

 

I’d previously asked Hamish if he wanted to go to the Livraria Lello (again, inelegant translation to ‘Lello Bookstore’), which has become famous (apparently, JK Rowling was inspired by its’ interiors when writing the Harry Potter series). He said he didn’t want to go. Turning into another street today I noticed a long, long line of people, literally snaking down the street. I thought maybe it was a queue for a theatre, or famous café – but no. It was the line for the Lello Bookstore. Good call Hamish!

Graham’s (port place) – written by Rod

On the lounge wall in our apartment is a picture/poster/map describing the “Demarcated Port Region” of the Douro valley. It has intrigued me since our arrival and I figure we cannot stay in Porto and not pay some form of homage to the beverage named after this place. Literally around the corner from our apartment is Graham’s, a famed producer of port founded by a couple of Scots about 200 years ago. I book a ticket online and stroll around the corner for the tour. The establishment is amazing. Very schmick reception/sampling/shop areas, as well as a working cellar with a vast range of vats and bottles.

Our young guide is amazing. Born in Porto and university-educated in Germany, her English is better than mine and her knowledge of the port industry is exhaustive. She gives a comprehensive overview of port – its history, production and consumption. I learn that for a beverage to be called “port” the grapes must be grown in the Douro valley. (A subsequent quick Google of what I have always known as Penfold’s Club Port reveals it is now known as Penfold’s Club Tawny.)

We finish in the lounge to quaff our samples.

In the spirit of my father’s port consumption habits, I have chosen the cheapest sample. It is lovely, especially when accompanied by some truffles. Of course, one does not exit without traversing the shop. Here I see a bottle selling for 8500 Euros, as I sense my father turning in his grave. I buy a sample pack of 5 minis for 15 Euros and head to the bus stop.

 

Our week in Porto sees us half way through our trip and it’s a nice long break: no rush, no driving, no major plans. Life on the road can be very tiring, so we’re happy to potter around for a week.

Monday (written by Rod)

Monday we decide to walk to the river again, but head upstream. First I check out the corner shop, which I think sells ‘Andante’ cards, which are needed for travel on their buses/light rail/metro transport system. (We want to avoid the walk back up the steep hills on our return.) It is a small, local store and was filled with locals when I scoped it out the day before. I do some homework on my translator app and have some key words ready to go.

I enter and ask “Andante cartao?” This gets a nod. “Tres” (with 3 fingers held up, to ensure there is no confusion) sees the attendant successfully grab 3 cards. “Adicionar credito?” I ask, to check if they can also add credit to these cards, gets the reply “How many trips do you want to make?” The rest is pretty much plain sailing.

Walking down to the river (along a slightly different pathway) makes yesterday’s walk feel like it had a comprehensive risk assessment carried out. This one is full of narrow, one-way lanes (can’t really call them streets) with no footpaths but a steady flow of motorbikes, cars and even a bus.

We reach the river and are urgently sold tickets for a “6 bridges” river cruise. The urgency suggests the boat is just about to leave, but is, in fact, due to the fact that the seller does not want us to buy from another provider. The boat leaves in 35 minutes. The cruise is pretty straight-forward. A bit upstream, to get a view of the first/last (depending on which way you look at it) bridge. Then head downstream, under 4 bridges to the last/first bridge, before heading back to port. No headphones/commentary, which I find a bit disappointing.

We wander along the river bank and are just about to look at some local wares. As we approach there is some sort of warning call from one of the vendors. Nek minnit, all the vendors are covering their wares with blankets. Is it us? We cannot be sure. However, we stroll on and find one willing vendor. She speaks several languages, is most engaging and offers us a special promotion; one for 3 Euros becomes 4 for 10 Euros. I up the ante asking if this could then become 6 for 15 (maintaining the same ratio, to be fair.) She counters with 10 for 20. Sold! It would have been rude to refuse such a bargain and Belinda walks away with 10 new bracelets.

 

Gelato (written by Hamish)

Mum and Dad finally find a gelato shop in Porto. The lady let us try some different types. I had two flavours: pear and chocolate, Mum had plain French vanilla and Dad had Port wine. We sat in the square and ate our gelato. It was sunny as, not like in Gaia.

Bus Trip (also written by Hamish)

We caught the bus on the way home, it was the 901. Mum and I had to sit backwards, which was really messing with my mind. Every time we had to go downhill, it was like a ride on a rollercoaster! But sitting backwards! Mum said, she might feel sick. But she was fine (luckily). She said next time we’re on the bus, she has to sit facing forwards. It was a wild, wild, wild, also wild, ride.

New Year’s Eve (written by Belinda)

After discussing the pro’s and con’s of being out late New Year’s Eve, we decided to have a long lunch instead, and be home for the night. Our apartment is the top floor with uninterrupted views towards the river; we’ll see more of the fireworks here without the hassle of the crowds.

This morning, we caught the cable car from Gaia up to the top level of the bridge, which Hamish and I planned to walk over. The bridge is 85m high: Rod caught the light rail instead. It was a nice walk, interspersed with Hamish loudly saying things like, “I hope the bridge doesn’t fall down” and, “What would happen if…” Probably what other people were thinking anyway.

 

We found Rod safely on the other side and saw a few other sites of Porto, before heading to a riverside café where we spent the next couple of hours in sunshine with drinks and snacks. Hamish easily fitted in a lovely big piece of chocolate cake, before we caught the 901-bus back home. True to my word, I sat facing forwards, but this driver was nowhere near as intense at the retired formula one driver who flung us around yesterday.

New Year’s Eve has seen us home, doing puzzles, playing games, listening to music, having a few drinks and looking out our windows each time we hear fireworks going off. Not a bad way to spend the end of the year at all.

Happy 2020 to all our family and friends. See you in a few weeks. Oh, and Aunty Jenny? We had a Portuguese tart – thanks for the recommendation. It was delicious!

 

After a sleep in and a late breakfast, we ventured towards the Douro River. We are situated in Vila Nova de Gaia (just Gaia to the locals) which is like a large suburb (maybe it’s a city in its’ own right?) on the southside of Porto. Our apartment is halfway between two of the six bridges in Porto. Today we walked to the river and took a left towards the ocean. It was a sunny 16-18 degrees all day, which made perfect walking weather.

The waterfront of Porto/Gaia is just gorgeous; tiny cobblestone streets weave their way down to the water. The buildings are a mix of old and new, but there’s plenty of charm and character and it’s not lost on any of us.

After about 45 mins of walking, we looked around for gelato or something snack-worthy. Instead, we found a number of seafood restaurants with an open-air BBQ set-up. We stopped at one that wasn’t too crowded and had a menu with some English sub-titles. As seems to be the way here, we sat ourselves down at a table of our own choice. The waiter was around quickly with menus and he did, thankfully, speak enough English for us to order our meals. We ordered half serves (‘half-dose’ in Portugal) but they were full serves in our opinions!

Pepper steak (Rod), cod (Hamish) and sardines (me) are ordered – I’m keen to see our fish come off the open-air BBQ. Drinks consist of Fanta for Hamish, which we’ve found is not at all like the sickly-sweet drink at home and tastes a little like orange/mango mineral water, and red wine sangria for Rod and I.

The three of us enjoyed a leisurely lunch and marveled at how lucky we are to be in Portugal on this gorgeous winter day.

 

Hamish has really impressed us both with his new found ability to walk long distances; we easily covered 7-8 km today and not one ‘are we there yet’ or complaint was heard. Also, he’s eaten a range of new foods, including nearly 2 of my sardines, the tiny soft fish bones didn’t bother him at all (I can think of stacks of people who wouldn’t enjoy those fish). Hamish said he really enjoyed today, because it was: “sunny and not cold – lunch was pretty good”, although he preferred the sardines to the cod he ordered (he said the skin was chewy).

We’re here until Saturday – spending a bit of time tonight planning out the rest of the week, including New Year’s Eve (stay in or go out?). Our apartment is perfectly situated for uninterrupted views of the fireworks over the river, so staying in might be more pleasurable than negotiating the crowds.

Christmas Day – Dinan

A distinct lack of bells meant we all slept in until nearly 9am on Christmas morning, whereupon Hamish discovered Santa had managed to track him down. Christmas Day was a low key, but very enjoyable day. We followed our traditional breakfast (ham on toast) with roast chicken for lunch. Sweet French delicacies followed.

As per usual, the post lunch Christmas walk was necessary. However, we found ourselves in the gorgeous winter sunshine down by the port of Dinan. This is a totally different Christmas to one we could ever experience in Australia due to: A – the weather (it’s not 42 degrees) B – the tranquil surrounding of the typical French countryside and port area, and C – the fact that it’s just the three of us. There’s something to be said about escaping the harsh Australian summer for a Christmas in Europe.

The return trip to our apartment finds us scrambling up le rocket street (an incline to be reckoned with) and discovering a more modern part of Dinan.

Boxing Day – Dinan to Bayonne

We set off on our 3-day road trip early Boxing Day morning, with eggs and bacon in our bellies. It was an easy 6 hour drive, with plenty of tolls to chip away at our euros. We are pleasantly surprised with the city of Bayonne – Belinda has pre-empted us with “It’s not a fancy hotel or anything” and “Don’t expect too much”. We find a park easily; the room is clean and spacious, and we walk across the bridge of the rivers Nive and Adour to a Christmas market in full swing.

We go on the ferris wheel, eat churros and find a Thai restaurant for dinner.

 

Asian is high on the food agenda in our family, so we were very excited to have some pad thai, fried rice and beef stir fry.

A note here about dogs. Dogs are largely indoor animals here in Europe, as there’s not much yard space. Thus, people take them wherever they go: on the tram, to the supermarket, out to dinner, ON THE FERRIS WHEEL! (We couldn’t imagine having taken Livy-girl on the ferris wheel)

 

Day after Boxing Day – Bayonne (France) to Burgos (Spain)

Our hotel has a continental breakfast; Hamish is super excited to have hot chocolate from the automatic machine. He also finds other sugar-laden breakfast treats which we try and mitigate with the suggestion of fruit and yoghurt. He’s loving it.

It’s only a short drive from Bayonne to Burgos, but Belinda has planned to break the trip up with a stop over (and walk) at the San Juan de Gaztelugatxe. This is a religious site, made famous by the Game of Thrones series (it’s Daenerys Targaryen’s Dragonstone). It’s a serious uphill/downhill trek.

Rod tags out at the start of the section over the ocean (due to acrophobia), but Belinda and Hamish go on. It’s worth the 240-odd steps for the views alone. The entire walk is loaded with people and dogs. There’s a broad range of people sporting various fitness levels and dress codes (mini-skirts, heels) – ages range from babies in back packs to Grandma’s requiring assistance from younger family members. Luckily Belinda didn’t have to resuscitate anyone; she would have had to resuscitate herself first!

Once recovered, watered and fed, we hit the road for Burgos, our first night in Spain. Our accommodation is smack in the middle of the old town, but we find it easily along with the car park (car parking is still one of our major dramas). For an extra 20 E, we pay for a two-room suite with a super view of Burgos’ immense Cathedral.

We unpack and head outdoors for a look around. We are pleasantly surprised with the beauty of the city. A chocholaterie is found and we have afternoon tea; the waiter thinks Belinda is English “The tea is not what you’re used to in England…”

We are unable to readily get dinner, since “the kitchens are closed” (despite overt signs advertising their restaurants). We later read that restaurants do not tend to open in Spain until at least 8 pm. We find a pizza place that clearly caters for people more used to eating at dinner time, advertising itself (in English) as an all-day eatery. Belinda and Hamish get their pizzas promptly, but they (twice) forget to cook Rod’s. Three (small, cheap) wines and 40 minutes later, his pizza arrives. All’s well that ends well.

December 28 – Burgos (Spain) to Porto (Portugal)

Possibly due to the fact that everyone eats late in Spain, we are kept awake by people (having a great time, most likely) out and about until midnight. We have another hotel breakfast. Hamish has found his chocolate mecca: hot chocolate, coco-pops, chocolate cake, chocolate doughnut. He also has a croissant with jam and a kiwi fruit (because Belinda insists).

We follow the snow-capped mountains (Cantabrian Mountains) west, until we head south, then west again, until we reach Porto. We have been travelling in the lofty ranges of about 1000m above sea level: often above the clouds, but it’s a sweet 14 degrees for most of the trip.

It’s 21 degrees when we arrive in the port-side suburb of Vila Nova de Gaia. Our apartment is the top floor and has amazing views over the Duoro river and down to the Dom Luis I bridge. We are staying here for one week and are really looking forward to having a bit of down time, as well as exploring some of the local delights.

 

As we write this, two loads of washing have been done, dinner tonight was cooked and eaten (salmon and vegetables – no more chocolate!!) soup made for tomorrow and everything unpacked. Phew! What a full three days we’ve had since leaving Dinan; but we’re all talking to each other, Hamish continues to be a trooper and Rod and I are still happily married. Can’t ask for more than that.