Portugal to Vienna

This is in Baleal, Portugal... amazing geological formations. 

Baleal, on the other side of the island I was surfing at. 

Fishing boats in Baleal

I realised that its been a while since my last post and I have been to a few countries since then so time for an update! I flew from Porto, Portugal to Frankfurt, Germany last Tuesday. I hadn't planned to spend any time in Frankfurt as it has nothing that interests me and I would rather get farther east sooner. I took a long train/bus ride to Prague where I spent 3 short days trying to pack in the entire city. My rail pass timeline is running out and will expire on January 25th so I am trying to travel far within that time frame then I will slow down and not rush as much. So Prague: amazing city, I was so sad to leave. There is so much to see and do plus its so cheap!! I am very much into architecture and Prague is pretty much the birth place of the Romanesque style with some Gothic style thrown in the mix. I could have wandered Prague for days just staring up at the buildings.

Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square, Prague. It was raining all day this day hence the ugly umbrella that just walked into my picture. 

One side of the Old Town Square. Love the buildings! 

Old Town Square at night. Lovely cathedral. 

View of Prague from Prague Castle grounds. 

St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle... containing the tombs of many Bohemian and holy Roman Emperors. Its in mostly Neo-Gothic style. 

Gargoyles spitting water from St Vitus. 

Gloomy day in Prague and my poor ability to hold my phone and an umbrella while trying to take a photo. Good thing about the rain: almost no tourists in the photos! 

Babies by David Cerny. These used to be "climbing" up the tv tower in Prague. 

After 3 days in Prague I travelled to Vienna which is of course famous for being the so called "birth place" of modern culture, music, science, mathmatics...etc. Many of these new ideas where thought of over a cup of coffee in the many little cafes in old town Vienna making Viennese coffee and cafes famous. I sampled the coffee in Vienna, not so great. My quest to find a good cup of coffee while in Europe continues... one month left. 

Earlier in my trip while traveling through France I picked up a novel with a plot line that was mainly based in Vienna during the late 1890s so I was excited to see this city and its famous Ring Strasse (ring road that surrounds the old city). I didn't need more than a full day here as like Venice, unless you are willing to pay the minimum 14euro entrance fee to get into the museums, opera, art galleries, palaces, etc. then there really isn't too much to do in Vienna. Here are the few photos I took on my phone. I have many more on my "big" camera as again, the architecture was amazing. 

The apartment where Sigmund Freud lived in Vienna between 1891-1938 before fleeing Austria and the Nazis to London. Its a museum now. 

Backside of the famous fountain in front the Vienna Parliament building (Ring Strasse in the background!).  Athena up at the top of the podium just outside of the picture. She was quite lovely with lots of gold decoration. 

Not sure whats going on here but I know when I am comforting an upset friend, we do not take off our shirts and hug. Just sayin'. 

I am now in lovely Budapest. I have a feeling I will be here for awhile as having done my research ahead of time, I am excited to spend some quality time here. Oh, and having found an amazing hostel for only 3euro a night?! Thats CRAZY! 

Gosh me oh my January has flown by. Before you know it I will be back in Canada!

KRG

Happy Birthday to me...

Warning...typing on my phone and likely not going to edit before posting.

So I decided to by myself a birthday prsnt. I am passing through Portugal for a few weeks and have heard it has the most consistant waves for all levels...why not go surfing for a week? I have always wanted to spend sone time learning proper technique from pros and now seemed like a better time then any.

I started on Monday and have 2 sessons per day with an ex surf pro from Argentina. He is hilarious with his strong accent, blonde dreds, and permanent dark tan. Its hard to tell how old he really is because his skin is like leather from the sun. Makes me want to apply my sunscreen extra thick so I dont end up like that one day. I am the only one taking lessons this week so get private lessons! Lucky me!

Wednesday was another great day of surfing in portugal! Today I got a private tour of a surfboard factory. I was shown the step by step process of making a board as well a the history and evolution of surfboards. It's pretty amazing how much craftsmanship (auto correct wanted to change that to "cosmonaut") goes into shaping and finishing a board. Since about the 60s, boards have been made with a dense but very light foam core with a thin strip of woods down the centre for added strength. Expensive boards are finished with epoxy and fiberglass while the non-pros are fine with a poly-fiberglass finish.

After lunch we got out into some new waves and checked out a famous surf spot in Baleal Bay. Spent about 2 hours catching waves then I was too pooped from battling the waves so we headed home for some dinner.

As I am typing this post, I am sitting outside drinking tea and watching the beautiful sun set over the Portugese Atlantic with a large cat named Beef on my lap. Tomorrow morning is really low tide so we won't be in the water until about one. The amazing thing about surfing in Portugal is there are always surfable waves. The off shore wind creates perfect waves then there are the huge swells that come across from North America. The best waves are during the winter which is great for the locals because this also means less tourists. For me it means cheaper rates for lessons and equipment!

I've often heard that "surfing is like snowboarding". I agree except if when snowboarding, you had to hike up the mountain first. Thats what paddling out through 5ft waves feels like. Also means I am going to have to practice swimming head up front crawl for 2 hours straight before I head out to the ocean next time.

Pictures! Not sure what order they'll upload in...
Below are photos of the beach Ive been surfing at. The waves have been between 3-5feet.
-The guys bobbing waiting for a good set.
-Beef on my lap.
-The surf camp at the beach.

Lisbon!

Don't be fooled by the title, I spent New Years in Sevilla (Seville) which was amazing! Went to a huge party that had an international food buffet then out to a crazy night club. In Spain the tradition is to eat one grape for every chime of the clock at the midnight of New Years in order to have good luck for the coming year. The square we were at had a huge clock and bell so we all stood around waiting for the chimes. I couldn't hear the chimes (or something like that) so ended up eating 12 grapes within the last 5 rings... and they had seeds. The Spanish sure know how to party, I had a great night with some really cool people!

I am now in Lisbon for about 5 days. There is so much to do here, I want to take my time and see all the sites. On Sunday I head to the coast for a week long vacation on the beach! Looking forward to that. 

Oh my, I think I figured out how to upload better quality photos from my phone! This just made my day....if it works!

Some awesome graffiti along the banks to the Quadalquivir (??) River in Sevilla. They were huge, this is a picture of maybe a third of one. 

Tram in Lisbon. Lisbon is a very hilly city making my morning runs harder than I would like for a morning run! My legs are sore today... must rest up before my vacation. 

Lots of the building fronts in Lisbon are covered in these beautiful tiles. They are about 6x6" all over 5 story buildings and are all different patterns. This one is my favorite so far. 

I am so far away from the bridge at this point but it looks just like the one in San Fran! Its red too... so along with the hills and tram, if I did't know any better, I would think I was in the USA. Another reason why I love Portugal is because just about everyone speaks english! Its a nice change from Spain where almost no one does... only means that before my next trip to Spain I need to brush up on some Spanish. I also like the coffee in Portugal more. 

Adeus! (practicing my Portuguese)

K