European Adventures: Lisbon, Portugal.

Lisbon was definitely my favourite stop on my backpacking adventures. We stayed in the Travellers House hostel. This was definitely my favourite hostel to stay in based on the activities that they organized for their guests. They put on events every night whether it is a chorizo and wine tasting or a night walk through the Alfama district.

We were told by the staff at the hostel that we absolutely needed to visit Sintra. We were able to round up enough people from the hostel to go so they provided us with a driver and a van to get around. Our first stop in Sintra was the Palace of Pena, the most magical castle I have ever been to! This place is seriously like something out of a fairy tale. I wish our time was not limited because there is so much to explore here. The forest leading up to the castle is beautiful and the castle itself is stunning. Words cannot describe how this place feels. I will just say that if you go to Portugal, you absolutely must visit the Palace. After spending a few hours at the castle, we all had lunch at a tiny cafe in the town centre.

Forest heading up to the palace in Sintra.

Leanne and I outside of the Palace of Pena.

Inside Palace of Pena.

Our afternoon was spent at Quinta da Regaleira, which is a massive estate that has been made into a park with lakes, wells and tunnels throughout it. Again, this place was like a fairy tale. Basically, Sintra feels like one big fairy tale. It is incredible.

We made one last stop at Cabo da Roca, before heading back to Lisbon. Cabo da Roca is the most western point on the European mainland and has beautiful views of the Atlantic ocean. This was definitely my favourite day in the month I spent backpacking.

Cabo da Roca views.

The next few days in Lisbon were spent making friends with the people at our hostel, visiting Belem Tower, the Contemporary Art Museum, Sao Jorge Castle, walking through the winding streets of the Alfama District and stopping at Pasteis de Belem to try their famous custard tarts.

View from the castle in Lisbon.

Monument in Lisbon.

Portugal is an awesome place filled with beautiful, friendly people, stunning architecture and sunshine. I seriously can’t wait for the day that I get to return to this incredible country. Have you had the joy of visiting Portugal before? What were your favourite memories from your trip there? If you haven’t been, is it somewhere you would like to visit?

European Adventures: Porto, Portugal.

Portugal was definitely my favourite place to visit on my backpacking trip with my friend Leanne. We spent the first few days in Porto and stayed at Tattva Design Hostel. The hostel was in a great location and had incredible staff! The first night we were there, we spent the evening drinking wine and an entire bottle of port with the staff and a few of the guys who we met at the hostel. After drinking so much liquor we needed some food so the guys who worked at the hostel took us out to one of their favourite restaurants. It happened to be closed but they knew the owners so they let us in and made us some of their favourite dishes. My memories of this night are a bit foggy but I definitely remember sausage being a part of what we ate.

While we were in Porto we spent a lot of time walking through the city streets, admiring the beautiful views and architecture. I love how each country in Europe feels to have their own distinct style of architecture.

Church in Porto.

You can’t visit Porto without doing a port tasting. We decided on Calem for our tour. I loved learning about the process of making port. At the end of the tour we tried three ports paired with chocolate. My favourite port that I tried was a 10 year aged tawny. I found it the best because it was the least sweet of the ones we sampled.

Streets of Porto.

On our last day in Porto, we decided to take a day trip to Guimaraes, a beautiful medieval town about an hour train ride from Porto. Guimaraes is lovely, but I would only recommend going during tourist season. Because we went there at the end of November, there was almost nothing open and we had a hard time navigating where to go and even finding somewhere to stop for lunch.

Walking through the streets of Guimaraes.

Guimaraes castle.

I am so glad we spent time in Porto and Guimaraes. These are definitely places I would visit again. Have you been to Portugal to visit? What was your favourite Portuguese dish? Did you get a tour of any of their wineries?

European Adventures: Best of Belgium.

When my friend Leanne and I were planning where we would travel to on our month long backpacking trip, I was adamant that we had to go to Belgium for the sole reason that I love their beer.

I searched online and found an awesome craft beer tour so we immediately booked this. The beer tour was absolutely my favourite thing about Brussels! Leanne and I were the only ones on the tour that day so we got a private tour of some cool pubs and breweries in the city. On the tour we stopped at De Goede Oude Tijd and had a trappist beer, Cantillion Brewery where we tried their traditional sour beer and had a raspberry beer as well and finally we went to Moeder Lambic and had two different beers there. Moeder Lambic was definitely my favourite beer bar to visit.

First stop on our craft beer tour.

After finishing up our beer tour, our guide Alex took us out to some local Brussels bars including one called Zebra Club. Our beer tour started at 2pm and we were out with Alex until at least 3am drinking beer, smoking cigarettes (I don’t even smoke, but when in Europe I guess), eating great food and meeting awesome people! It was a day I will never forget!

La Grand-Place in Brussels.

The next day we got up, stopped at Le Pain Quotidian, an amazing little bakery that has incredible organic options for breakfast and lunch and took a train to Bruges despite our wicked hangovers! Bruges is a beautiful little town to spend a day in, especially if you want to escape the busyness of the city. There are lots of little winding roads to get lost on and great shops to visit. The day we were here, it was absolutely freezing out but it didn’t stop us from enjoying the beauty of Bruges.

Probably the most photographed place in Bruges.

I am sad that Leanne and I only spent a few days in Belgium. The people there are incredible, the food and beer is delightful and the architecture is stunning – definitely a place I will return in the future.

Have you travelled in Belgium at all? What places did you visit and what beer did you drink?

European Adventures: Berlin, Germany.

I have been terrible at blogging lately! I started posting about my European adventures quite a while ago, but I think it’s been months since I last posted. I have recently caught a death cold (which I blame on an epic day at Mt. Baker on Sunday..no hard feelings though 🙂 ) so since I am home sick from work, I have time to put some blog posts together!

While I was staying in the Czech Republic, one of my favourite humans from Canada came to visit and we spent a close to a month backpacking through Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. The first stop of our journey was in Berlin. We arrived at the Bus station in Prague early on the day we were traveling to Berlin. When we got to the counter we found out that I am brilliant and booked a bus for the wrong day! Thankfully there was a bus going to Berlin later in the day and there were free spots on it!

While in Berlin we stayed at the Pfefferbett Hostel. This is definitely one of my top 3 favourite hostels I have ever stayed in. The staff were awesome, they had a great bar at the hostel where they infused their own liquor (my favourite was a blueberry & balm infused gin – SO GOOD!) and it was located in the trendy district of Prenzlauer Berg. There are tons of restaurants, coffee shops and bars in the area and there are a lot of young people around.

Walking through Berlin.

It was absolutely freezing while we were in Berlin so we did what we could to keep warm! We enjoyed coffee and carrot cake at The Barn. If you are in Berlin, you MUST check this coffee shop out. Their food and drinks are incredible and the staff are friendly and so knowledgable about coffee.

The most delightful latte and carrot cake at The Barn.

One day we took a bus tour around the city because it was particularly freezing and rainy. It was a good way to see all the sights of the city and keep warm at the same time. We stumbled upon a cool market one day and spent hours rummaging through old vinyl and trinkets at the market even though we knew we couldn’t take anything with us. We also tried to visit the Holocaust Museum but it was closed both days we had free!

Berlin was a fun city and if I ever visit again, it will have to be in the summer!

Have you travelled in Germany at all? What places did you visit?

Explore America: Maui Adventures!

I have just arrived back in rainy Vancouver after the most AMAZING week in Maui! To say I miss the beautiful beaches, the warm breeze and birds waking me up before sunrise would be an understatement! What a perfect place Maui is. My plane landed quite late in the evening so I expected it to be a little chilly out, but to my surprise, the air was humid and warm and I immediately realized I landed in a Canadian’s winter paradise (that is, if you like a break from the snow and rain).

Ocean views that make my heart go boom.

Every morning I was there we started out the day with coffee on our deck, then walked along our beach as the sun was coming up. Maui has to be one of the most relaxing places on earth and it sure felt like Vancouver life was a million miles away while I was there.

Surfers paradise.

On my second day there, we drove up to Haleakala Crater and spend quite a few hours up there taking in the views and hiking every trail we could find! It really felt like we were on another planet while we were up there. It’s cool to see different plants and that dry red earth. If you happen to go to Maui, this is something you must do! But make sure it is a clear day or else you won’t have much of a view up there:) On our way back to Kihei my parents and I stopped in a town called Makawao for lunch where I had the BEST mahi mahi sandwich ever. I wish I knew the name of the place we ate at, but when on Hawaii, eating fish is always the right choice!

Haleakala views.

More Haleakala.

Succulent love.

The next day we hopped in the car and drove part of the Road to Hana. This was a beautiful drive that took us through the lush forest. This road is incredibly windy so if you get car sick, you may second guess the drive. Thankfully I don’t get car sick so it was an exciting day for me. We stopped and took a walk through a bamboo forest and also had lunch at a beautiful black lava beach in Keanae. It was just amazing to watch the crystal blue waves crash into the black rocks. This is a day I will always remember!

Bamboo forest.

Town of Keanae.

Lines in the sand.

The rest of my days there were spent by the ocean enjoying the warm sunshine and the beautiful water. We also drove up the coast past Kaanapali and I had the most amazing experience with a humpback whale! I was taking photos of one of the beautiful cliffs in the area and a humpback whale breached probably 30 feet from me! It was seriously one of the most incredible moments! I unfortunately didn’t get it on film, but that image will always be in my memory!

Maui coast.

Maui definitely has my heart now and I am already planning to go back again in 2018.

Have you been to any of the Hawaiian Islands before? What was the best thing you did on your trip?

European Adventures: Two Days in Poland.

Two years ago, we spent my sister-in-law’s birthday in Poland. The main reason we wanted to go to Poland was to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau (I know, a very happy thing to do for a birthday, right??!).

We first visited Auschwitz I and spent hours walking through the grounds. You can never understand the size of this place unless you visit it. I have watched numerous documentaries on the Holocaust but I could not fully comprehend the scale of this until we visited the site. After walking through this site, we went to the museum and walked through there. Again, this helped me realize just how many people came through the doors of this horrible place. I am so glad we visited, but it is a place I never want to go to again.

Auschwitz I.

After experiencing Auschwitz, we drove to Krakow. The car ride there was fairly somber so when we arrived in Krakow we figured it was time to get some food and beer to cheer ourselves up. We found an Italian restaurant called Mamma Mia Trattoria and had great pizza and some beer (sadly I have to say Polish beer just doesn’t compare to Czech beer)!

Wawel Castle.

The next day we got up early and had breakfast then spend the day walking through the beautiful streets of Krakow. We ate pierogis and walked through churches and finally up to the castle. Before heading back to Olomouc where my sister-in-law lives, we took a tour of Oskar Schindler’s Factory that has now been turned into a museum. If you visit Krakow, I would absolutely recommend going there – it was extremely well done!

Old Town in Krakow.

I really loved visiting Poland and I wish we had more time to spend there. Krakow is a beautiful city with incredible architecture and not so many tourists (which made me love it even more I’m sure). I would visit again for sure!

Have you visited Poland before? What cities and villages did you travel to?

 

European Adventures: Český Krumlov, Czech Republic.

I remember seeing a photograph of Český Krumlov many years ago and thinking that one day I just HAD to visit this cute little place. When I made the decision to take a leave of absence from my job and move to the Czech Republic for a number of months, I knew I would finally get to visit the town I dreamed about seeing.

Autumn is the best time to travel if you ask me. Places aren’t as busy as they are in the summer, the weather is still relatively warm and the colours on the trees make everything feel romantic.

View of Český Krumlov.

My partner and I spent a few days in Český Krumlov in October 2013. We had perfect weather while we were there and we enjoyed leaving the busyness of Prague but still experiencing that magical Czech feeling. We ate amazing Czech food like cesnecka (garlic soup) at Katakomby Grill Restaurant and svickova (my favourite Czech dish) and then found a amazing pub to enjoy beer with Český Krumlov locals.

BBQ ZEBRA on the menu?!! I later found out, zebra in Czech means ribs! 🙂

Each evening we were there we would walk up to the castle and enjoy the view from there. We would also walk through the castle gardens that are completely beautiful. I loved every minute of our trip to this perfect little Czech town Now I am anxiously anticipating the next time we will get to go there (perhaps this coming spring if all works out)!

Cesky Krumlov castle views.

Have you had a chance to visit magical Český Krumlov?

American Adventures: Valley of Fire State Park.

The thing I was looking forward to most about visiting Nevada, was spending the day in the Valley of Fire State Park. We woke up bright and early so we could have as much sunlight as possible to explore in.

Desert friend.

Our first pit stop in the park was the Beehives. We spent some time walking around the area and then made our way to Atlatl Rock where there are some really neat petroglyphs carved into the red rocks.

Kate admiring the petroglyphs in Valley of Fire.

Desert views.

If you are visiting this State Park, I would suggest bringing lots of food and water so you can spend the day hiking through the various points of interest in the park. We hiked through Mouse’s Tank, Rainbow Vista and the White Domes. If we had more food and water, we would have hiked at every stop we made!

Elephant Rock.

As we were leaving Valley of Fire, we made one last pit stop at Elephant Rock where we saw three big horned sheep! I have seen these many times in Canada, but it was cool to see them in a completely different setting.

Big horned sheep.

What is your favourite desert to visit? Have you been to Valley of Fire before?

American Adventures: Vegas, baby!

Let me start this blog by saying that I have never had a huge desire to go to Vegas, aside from having it as a cheap way to get to the Grand Canyon. Last week my partner and I flew down to Vegas as she has friends there who would give us a free place to stay (and make breakfast for us each morning) so we thought it would be a good way to get out of rainy Vancouver for a few days.

Vegas Strip.

The first night we arrived in Vegas they wanted to take us to the Strip. We walked through the Bellagio and Paris before heading back to the apartment for the night. It was my first time going into a casino and while they are not for me, there were SO many people there playing the slot machines and the tables.

The next day was spent in the State park about an hour outside of Vegas. I will blog about this later as it was totally my favourite day in Nevada. At the end of the day, I had my first buffet experience at the Rio. Oh my life, there is just SO much food at these places. This was by far my favourite buffet.

Neon signs.

On Halloween we went to the Neon Museum as well as the Mob Museum. If you are planning on going to both museums while you are in Vegas, you can get a combo ticket for both museums on the Neon Museum website for $30, which I think is a great deal. These were by far my favourite thing about Vegas. If I were to go to the Neon Museum again, I would do it at night because then the signs are all lit up! Whatever time of day you go here though, I guarantee you will enjoy it!

Obligatory Vegas palm tree photo.

We finished off the next few days in Vegas by filling out bellies with buffets, walking through hotel after hotel and exploring the Fremont district. I am happy to have had the chance to go to Vegas, although it isn’t on my list of places I want to return.

Have you been to Las Vegas before? What was your favourite thing to do in the city?

European Adventures: Prague, Czech Republic.

Exactly two years ago today I arrived in Prague. It was dark when my plane landed and I vividly remember the excitement I felt seeing this beautiful medieval city all lit up at night. My partner picked me up at the airport and drove me through the city so I could get a glimpse of my new home (for the next few months anyway).

We woke up early the next morning and took the train into the city centre. The day was spent walking through the winding streets of Old Town, drinking svařák (hot wine) and taking in the incredible architectural views.

Streets of Prague.

My first cup of hot wine in Prague.

Over the next few days, we wandered the streets of Prague from morning to night. We stopped at the John Lennon Wall, walked through the Jewish quarter, saw Prague Castle, watched as the Astronomical Clock put on it’s show and enjoyed some yummy Czech food and drink along the way.

John Lennon Wall.

Old Town Square, Prague.

My awesome Czech tour guide.

My introduction to Prague was absolutely perfect (which is probably why it is my favourite city)! Prague has a charm like nowhere else I have visited. The history, the architecture and the beer some of the things that add to this charm. I can’t wait to go back to the city I love.

What are some of the places you visited while in Prague? Did you try some of their traditional food? Also, totally random question..I am going to Vegas and Valley of Fire State Park in two weeks and I have never been there before! What should I do while I am there?