travel

Happy in Brodick

/ runningforthegate / 1 Comment

We said goodbye to the west coast of Canada at noon on Mon July 23 and have been saying  hello to Scotland since 9am on Tuesday July 24. Wow, that was quick. Just three flights for me and two for my fellow travellers, a Harry Potter movie, a few games of Yahtzee, a fresh lobster roll, a face mask treatment on the plane or two, a bus and we arrived safe and excited to be in Glasgow!

We caught the Glasgow Airport Express (20pounds for 4 of us) to Glasgow Central Train Station (about a 15min journey) so we could hit Buchanan Street. This is a long, cobbled stoneshopping street or district with lots of clothes shops, Tesco (grocery store), Boots (drug stores) and Poundland (dollar store). A great place for the newly arrived tourist to grab a  iPhone charger that works in the plugs here, an international SIM card so I can gave a data plan for safety .. and blogging reasons, etc.

While out and about in Glasgow, we stopped at the Willow Tea Room – a Charles Rennie Mackintosh inspired cafe – for scones and Loren sausage morning rolls, fresh tea and strong coffee. Charles Rennie Mackintosh is a famous Scottish architect and artist who draws these beautiful roses! During breakfast my amazing crew had birthday cards for me and eeeeeek a Polaroid camera! No joke!

Yup that little lime green guy is mine! This is going to make scrapbooking this trip even more fun – oh my goodness I cannot wait! That’s the first pic I took so I could remember how crazy happy I am! Wow, what a present! You even have to  wave the Polaroid around darter it slides out until the film does its magic show up thing. So fun!

We did a bit more looking about in Glasgow, grabbing a few wee things we thought we might not be able to get on the small Island of Arran and then made our way back to the Glasgow Central Station to grab a train out to Adrosson Harbour and then onto the ferry to Brodick on the Island.

Of course we snapped a few pics on the way … including one of a Tim Horton’s right in central Glasgow. Who knew!?

The ticket for both train and ferry was about 12 pounds total, that is pretty awesome considering we spent almost a full hour on each. We bought them right from the ticket office at ScotRail with no problem at all and during the summer months he trains sets out every hour. We were on the train for 12:19pm and then the ferry by 2pm. So easy.

Once in Brodick we quickly got acquainted with this very small village, found the best photo spot, sized up all the local pubs (all 3 haha) and found quick directions to our home for the evening.

We are staying at a little B&B / self catering apartments place called The Broomage. The family that runs it is lovely and live on the top third floor, while the rest of us have the run of the main and second floor. A little sad we don’t get a full Scottish Breakfast our first morning of our hike but no one should complain about yummy fruit, toast and cereal when you aren’t the one making it. Love that!

We dropped our heavy packs, chatted with the owner couple a little bit, and then headed into town (snicker, snicker that’s about a half a block away and about that big) for something to eat – we were famished.

Yahoo at the Fiddler’s Roof we found haggis and Arran Island cheese toasties and Cullen Skink soup – two delicious, very Scottish meals. Haggis is well um sort of peppery meatloaf (we will leave it at that) and Cullen Skink is a fish, cream, potato soup. Oh and some local Scottish ale too. Mmmm

We had a great supper pouring over the maps, guide book and information about the towns we would visit in the days to come. Many of us yawning and ready to go grab groceries then get back and sort out our backpacks  for the next day! But not before Cheryl gifted the bar a sweet, crisp, pretty 5dollar bill for their brick wall of money. They had loads of other kinds of money up there but  Canadian – well that just had to be remedied! Go Canada Go!

Ok back at our home, we got to packing. Sorting out what would be in our day packs (rain gear, fleece, chow for lunch and snacks, first aid kit, sun screen, hat, sneakers if wearing boots or vice versa, lip chap, camera, map, compass, etc) and what would go in our carry forward packs. Contours Walking Company will be picking up our carry forward packs in the morning and they will be there waiting at our next evenings home.

By now, just 7pm Glasgow time, the flights and the time change are getting to us. A couple of the crew turned in while Shar and I went to the beach for a few sunset pics, some blog time and journaling.

Shar and I wrapped up the evening with some tea and biscuits while we reviewed tomorrow’s route and looked ahead to the highlights of the days to follow.

Now that’s us off to bed – we have a 27km day tomorrow up island to Lochranza! Time for some Z’s!

Brande

Let’s Pack – Clothing

/ runningforthegate / 4 Comments

 

21 sleeps to Scotland …

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We talked about toiletries in my last post, Let’s Pack – Toiletries, so now lets talk about the biggest bulk of any suitcase, backpack or duffel bag… the clothes!

From conversations with many a travelling soul in hostels or hotels, on planes or trains, and chats among my friends and family – it seems to me that deciding on the clothes to bring on a trip is the toughest part of packing. I get that. This used to be something I really struggled with.

I used to hunt through websites and books for that perfect packing list – which of course alluded me as much as the perfect,  diet alludes us all. I would stand in front of my closet or dresser pulling out anything I might just maybe want wear while away on a trip. I would think of every possible scenario that could ever possibly happen and make sure I had an outfit for it. The result was always way too much stuff. My suitcase or pack would be burden not a comfort. Why was I creating burdens to take with me, when the whole idea of trip is to ditch those burdens at home and travel light and free?

Well after a few trips of carrying way too much, I started to think about what principles I could apply to how I pack that would reduce the amount I take on a trip without leaving me unprepared. Not only was I keen to stop over packing, I was also keen to make the act of packing a little less stressful. Also, if it made picking what to wear while abroad a little less stressful too that would be fabulous. So over a few more trips I developed some principles that really, really work for me – happy to share them with you here!

Packing (Clothes) Principles:

  • Leave items that still have price tags at home (or at the store)

If you have not worn it and loved it, it does not come on the trip. There is nothing worse than discovering a shirt is uncomfortable, those pants ride up, or even that something is broken or you don’t know how to use it when you are abroad. That was precious pack space and weight that has been spent on an unworthy item. Test every item you are taking with you before you take it with you.

  • Leave anything that is too special to wear at home, at home 

Clothes that you are not wearing at home are not going to get worn on a trip. We are creatures of habit and will reach for those comfort items more than the new or special almost every time. That summer dress you have been saving to wear again when you next go to Mexico – don’t bother packing it. If you don’t love it enough to wear at home it does not deserve a place in your pack. Only items that bring you joy, no matter latitude and longitude, should be coming with you on your travels.

  • All tops and all bottoms need to get along 

This is a tough one folks but has the most impact. This one principle will make decision making so much easier when you pack and when you decide what to wear while away. Here it is … every top you take should match any bottom you take. So that tank top needs to match the shorts, skirt and the pants you are packing. Those tights need to match every shirt you are taking.  An easy way to achieve this is to stick to black, grey and khaki on the bottom; with solids or muted, simple patterns on top. Refer to the next principle if you need more spice than this principles suggests.

  • Always pack a scarf or pashmina shawl 

Some of y’all will think this only applies to the ladies, but for those fashion forward and comfy-in-their-own-skin men I would also recommend this one for you too!

While I have been using the same grey scarf when I travel for 15 years, this is where I encourage you all to add a little more ju-ju (some spice for those of you who do not watch Queer Eye) to your trip wardrobe. Don’t let my easy choice colour deter you from some pizzazz here. Caveat is you need to be willing to wear it with every top/bottom combo you have. For people like me who are fashion-challenged this means a neutral solid colour like grey but for those of you who actually have a sense of style you can kick it up a notch here and get your own look on.

A scarf is great for so many things: when you are chilled and need a little something more than you have on but less than a jacket, a pillow on a plane or train, a fashion accessory, to cover knees or shoulders when visiting churches or sacred locations where you have to cover up, a make shift dress while all your clothes are in the dryer due to bed bugs, as a towel in a pinch, a tourniquet and more. I also use mine to create some privacy when staying in hostels – pick the bottom bunk for your bed, and then tuck you scarf under the mattress above you and let it hand down like a curtain.

With just these principles in play I guarantee you your packing stress will be reduced big time. Don’t trust me – try it! Oh and if you are heading out on a overseas long distance hike trip, I am also happy to share my full packing list with you too. Here we go!

Packing List – Arran Coastal Way, Scotland:

This list takes into account that our trip to Scotland is 2 weeks long , is largely based on hiking 20+km each, includes only a few urban tourist days, includes flights of over 10hrs, and temperature will be summer moderate 20C with rain on a pretty regular basis. This is a long distance hike to different accommodations each night, not a thru hike.

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Hiking – Bottoms

  • Hiking Capri
  • Hiking Pant
  • Hiking Shorts
  • Undies (cotton recommended) 1 pair/day

If you have zip off hiking pants that’s even better – as you can drop one of the other items from the list. For example if I pack my hiking pants that zip off into carpi length then I don’t also pack my Capri pants. Oh and make sure you trial your pants on an actual hike before you go. Shorts that ride up. undies that crawl or pant waistbands that bunch under your pack straps can cause rubs and even blisters that will ruin days of hiking for you.

Hiking – Top

  • Technical Long Sleeve
  • Technical Short Sleeve x2
  • Technical No Sleeve
  • Sports bra x2

I prefer short sleeves over no sleeves as I don’t like the pack straps being directly on my skin and it reduces the need for sunscreen on some hard to reach parts like the back of my shoulders. But if you prefer no sleeves then just flip the numbers here.

I always take 2 sports bras as I find they dry too slow to wash one evening and wear the next day. Also I want to wear the non-sweaty one in the evening after a hike post shower. In a bind, pun intended, you can also use your buff as a boob-tube of sorts if both the bras need a clean and dry. Again, make sure you do a few hikes in all your gear and especially your bras. Falling straps or pressure spots where a clasp is will make you crazy on the trail. If its uncomfortable at home it will be annoying as heck abroad.

Hiking – Outer

  • Gortex Jacket (shell)
  • Fleece jacket / layer
  • Toque (Buff can work)
  • Sun / rain hat
  • Departure Day Decision: Gortex rain pants

If you do not have Gortex outer layers bring the very best rain gear you can afford, borrow or already have. Arriving at to your accommodation soggy at the end of the day is all good when you have a bath and heat available – but what if you don’t make it, get lost or are tenting? Sogginess can make for some morbid outcomes if you cannot warm up and dry off at the end of a hike day.

Also, make sure you can put all the things on – trial having your no sleeve, short sleeve, long sleeve, fleece and shell on to make sure they all fit and are comfortable. If you cannot put your rain shell on over your fleece and base layers, you need a bigger one. You want to have things fit nicely over each other. Not too tight or you will be uncomfortable but also not too loose as you will lose heat in those spaces.

Hiking – Feet

  • Hiking boots
  • Hiking runners or sneakers
  • Flip Flops
  • Smart Wool medium hiking sock x3
  • Hiking liner sock x3
  • Running sock (ankle) x2
  • Compression sock (knee length) x2
  • Departure Day Decision: Gaiters 

This is largely where personal choice comes into play – there is nothing more important that finding the shoe or shoe combo that works for you. If you need some help deciding and want to know why I prefer a hiking boot and running shoe combo, check out my blog post 8 Weeks to Isle of Arran – Feet. No matter what your footwear preference is you need to test it over and over again. Make your decision early and train in them.

I take a number of socks because I have specific combos for my boots and my runners which I toggle between everyday depending on the trail terrain. I also take more than a couple Smart Wool Medium Hiking Socks as I find they tend to stretch when moist or after a day of travel and that is blister city for me if I don’t switch them out for a new pair. When you are training, find your combo and adjust this list accordingly.

Hiking – Head

  • Toque or Buff
  • Sun / Rain hat

I go nowhere without my Patagonia Beanie so this may something that you don’t need to bring with you if the weather where you are heading is always moderate. I love mine for cool morning starts, pints on the patio with the sun setting, and to block the light when sleeping on planes or train stations.

The sun/rain hat should have a decent rim on it to keep the elements from your face and neck – a good brim is also good for keeping the bug netting off your face if we have to resort to this measure when the Scottish midges get too bad.

Hiking – The Other Bits

  • Day Pack (rain cover)
  • Bladder
  • First Aid Kit
  • Hiking Poles*
  • Buff x2
  • Sunscreen (face/body and lip)
  • Bug Spray
  • Trail Guide, Map, Compass (waterproof map case)
  • Phone, Camera (Ziploc bag)
  • Some extra Ziploc baggies (to transfer your snacks into)
  • Carabiner x2 (to dry clothes while walking)
  • Departure Day Decision: Hiking Poles

Many of these items will also be part of your sight seeing tourist days as well – your phone, camera, hat, sunscreen, bug spray, Ziploc baggies are all daily items no matter the activity. Even a Carabiner or 2 should be clipped onto your lightweight day bag or purse so you can clip on anything you buy, secure your water bottle, secure the purse to your clothing (if you are in a high rate pick pocket city), etc.

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All The Other Things

  • Top and bottom pajamas (cotton)
  • Sleep mask
  • Earplugs or headphones
  • Cotton tights or light pants
  • Cotton No Sleeve, T-Shirt or Long Sleeve
  • Cotton button up (or Technical UV Button Up)
  • Journal and pens
  • Scarf or Pashmina
  • Light weight bag or purse
  • Light weight water bottle
  • Cotton undies 1 pair/day when not hiking
  • Small Ziploc of dry laundry soap

I am a big advocate of natural fibers when technical gear is not required. They just feel comfortable and cozy and I like to have what is immediately next to my body be as natural as possible. So I am all about the cotton undies everyday on a trip even if you have to bring a few extra pairs as they don’t wick as well as synthetic fibers. Also, I always wear cotton tights, cotton tank or tee, a cotton button up shirt, my scarf and compression socks on a long haul plane trip. This keeps me in cotton, gives me layers for when the temp changes on the plane, keeps the feet swelling down and is almost like being in pajamas without the world knowing it.

Do you have to do laundry on your trip? To have your hiking clothes available for sight seeing or vice versa you may need to do a little laundry. If you can find a laundromat great but I tend to not worry about that and just hand wash a couple of items each night or every other night. I do not put any of my technical gear in the dryer so a sink wash and a hang dry works for me – especially in the United Kingdom where most rooms have a radiator heater for quick drying.

Departure Day Decisions … prior to departing I will check the long term forecast and make a decision on if Gortex rain paints are needed. I will bring them if we they are forecasting a 50% chance of rain for 50% of the hiking days. I have read the guide book and continue to read blogs about the trail and will use this info to decide if Gaiters or hiking poles are needed. I will bring Gaiters if 50% of the trail is either high grasses, through overgrown bush or over gravel, pebble, shale based trail. This will keep the ticks at bay and the rocks out of my shoes which are blister makers. I will bring the poles if there is a 50% elevation gain or drop on 50% of the hiking days. This will keep my balance up and reduce the pressure on these four decade old knees.

There you go – now off I go to put all these items together!

Next week I will post some packing tips – some things I have learned that help make the actual act of putting stuff in that duffel, suitcase or pack easier before you go and when you are off gallivanting.

Brande

 

Goat Creek to Goat Fell

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Yahoo lassies!

On Monday the crew of us heading to Scotland to complete the Arran Coast Way in July had our one and only chance to train all together and it was awesome!

Shar selected the Goat Creek Trail for us seeing it would mimic much of our path in Scotland. I sure hope so too because the trail was great and I could do that for a week for sure!

The trail starts at the Goat Creek trail head just outside of Canmore and ends 19km later at the Banff Springs outside of Banff (the trail tail / trail butt as Rosa and Shar joked).

The path was undulating for the most part, up away from Goat Creek and then back down again as we left Canmore further behind and gained on approaching Banff. Just a few slogs up overall really – what a treat!!

At the head of the trail there was a big ole sign warning of wolves and grizzly bears in the area. Always a nice ‘welcome to the trail you hikers who may also double dinner’. Ha! Usually I see these signs when I am alone hiking and they freak me out – which 4 of us hiking though it was way less intimidating. Ok maybe not way less but at least a bit less.

Best way to curb the ‘gonna get eaten’ fear is to launch into full ‘don’t eat me’ mode. This includes being generally loud on the trail – holding conversations, hollering out a word or two every 50 feet or when approaching a bend in the path or a creek, and staying together if you have a hiking tribe.

Really you are just hoping to scare any wildlife away before there is any chance of you startling them into eating you. We also did a quick run down of what to do if we do see a bear, cougar or wolf so we were all on the same page. We did this loudly of course as part of our ‘be heard and be seen’ wildlife strategy. (I like to call things strategies so they sound all planned and awesome – even though this this was more of a ‘holy crap, what if’ scenario discussion.)

We had a lot of fun with the calling out a word every 50 feet or so strategy; turning it into a game of sorts. This keeps the bears away, is fun, and seems to eat up the miles quickly! We did the classic name that country sound off starting with A thru to Z, then a round for celebrities and one for names of songs. This last one may have include some short bursts of singing which may have been the best thing for keeping those pack hunting wolves at bay. At least when I was belting out the ole Toy Soldier by Martika! Remember that one?

During our walk we focused on a two things – the beauty of the trail and our gear. Lots of gear talk. Mostly gear talk. We were out there on Monday to test gear. Everything from socks to hats, and from undies to backpacks to see what will make the cut for Scotland.

I discovered my penchant for being cheap has resulted in wearing decade old SmartWools that don’t keep their shape any longer resulting in under the heel blister potential, and that my new hiking capris from Eddie Bauer are great but they are not the replacement for my long standing favourite Nike capris that need to make one final trip me thinks. I also confirmed that after logging probably 1000s of kilometers in my Asolo Backpacking boots across the globe I may need to splurge for some new insoles. I better get on that quick so I can train the next 6 weeks in them before we depart.

Rosa tried the switch from boots to shoes technique to see how that worked for her dogs – a strategy I deploy on 20km+ days with great success especially when it includes compression socks! Cheryl discovered that the pants she thought would be perfect were not and will not be making the cut for the trip’s packing list. Shar confirmed her hiking shorts are perfect for the trip and that the wax from Baby Bel Cheese can be used to prevent sunburns on your the nose if there is ever a shortage of sunscreen.

Overall the trail of 19km took us just over 4 hours at a very easy pace with lots of wee stops to check and test that gear and some snacks mid way too. The weather was overcast with some small breaks of sun – perfect for hiking! Not too hot or cold. Oh and

A little extra time was added to the trip for an extra special reason! We had to make one special pit stop for Rosa to see if Jamie Fraser of Outlander was perhaps at this standing stone – nope, she did not hear bees. Doh! We will try every standing stone in Scotland for you Rosa until we find him.

Oh and we had to stop for Shar and Cheryl to knock off a few yoga moves for those tight ham-dogs and hip-flexors too.

We rolled into Banff arriving at the trail butt by the Banff Springs Hotel of amazingness. But us classy gals didn’t stop there for a cool, fancy drink. No way! We made our way down to Buffalo Bills for a cold pint and some meat!

Then we headed up Banff Main Street to catch the Roam bus for $6bucks back to Canmore where our vehicles were waiting! Lots of peeps bike the trail we walked so there were even some bins strapped to the front or the back of the bus to bead back to Canmore.

Am awesome trial and trail day for all of us! We all loved the trail and each of us figured out something a little more than we knew before about our gear for Scotland.

Eeeek the trip is coming fast!

Brande

8 Weeks to Isle of Arran – Feet

/ runningforthegate / 3 Comments

Well with 8 weeks to go till departure I have a big decision to make – boots or no boots?

Seems crazy to even consider hiking 100+km in soggy Scotland without my beloved, make me happy, bring me joy as soon as I slip into them boots. But I have a love / hate relationship with my Asolo boots and that makes this a big decision.

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Weight: My boots are a mid-backpacking boot  – which means they are heavier than a hiking boot or shoe but lighter than a heavy backpacking boot. Together they weigh just under 3lbs and while that may seem like not much right now when you add that to the bottom of your feet for 25,000 steps or more every day it definitely adds to the workout. Not to mention my pack weight when they are not on my feet. I have strong enough legs, knees and ankles that I could most likely go with a light hiker or even a cross trainer like my also very loved purple running shoes from Nike. hmmm

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Waterproof: My boots are totally waterproof – lovely, amazing Gortex that has kept up its waterproof-ness now for over a decade. I can tell you that dry feet are happy feet. While some hikers may be all like “I don’t mind if my feet get wet”  – I am not one of those. I know from experience that wet feet become swollen, the skin becomes weak and soft and that means blisters, blisters, blisters. Also, I wear SmartWool socks and wet and wool means stretching, which means bunching, which means (yup you guess it) blisters, blisters, blisters. If there is one thing Scotland is famous for (maybe almost as famous as Ireland for) its rain. Hey they named that misty, hang in the air rain Scotch Mist for a reason! So if the weather is perfect every day of hiking, I wont need my boots but .. well it is Scotland.

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Underfoot: I love the weightlessness of my running shoes for sure but a rocky or shale path is havoc on feet in running shoes. The bits of sand and grit gets kicked up and settles into your socks and shoes – making blisters, unless you annoyingly stop every 100 yards to clear em out. The rocks under the soft tread of sneakers feels like a few bumps at the start of a 25km day but those same rocks starts to feel like broken glass and upturned nails as the dogs bark louder and louder by the end of the day. My boots have a Vibram sole – hard equals heavy, but hard also means you do not feel rock edges or the bumps and clumps underfoot. In fact, the bottom of my boots are so good that I can balance on a pointed rock as if its flat (assuming I am doing spirit fingers for balance and posing for a photo of course).  Now I could find the perfect balance and get me some trail runners which feature a much harder sole than regular cross trainers, and I could where gaiters to keep the dust and rocks out of my shoes and socks. But hmm 9 weeks out I do not want to be breaking in anything new and gaiters assuming good weather make the feet sweat and we are back to the wet feet issue above.

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Change of pace: now I have to say one of my favourite things to do is to switch it up. If the path is rocky or scrambling is involved; my boots are fabulous for grip, kicking in a toe hold, keeping the grit out, and generally keeping the feet happy. But when the path is maybe on a flat surface or through the wee Scottish villages; then my sneakers are light and bouncy and I feel like I can really kick the pace up a notch with 1.5lbs less on each foot holding me to the earth. I also love switching to my sneakers from my boots when the sun starts shining, as a kind of celebration of Vitamin D. Not to mention throwing on my sneakers and compression socks (of a lovely lime green variety cause I am sure the bright the colour the better the compression) for an awesome pick me up – both in blood flow and in hiking attire appeal.

Hmmmm decisions, decisions -well, no not really. I have decided – I am taking both.

This will surprise very few people I suspect; its kinda my thing to have both. I just cant imagine how lonely my Asolo’s would feel being left out of the fun and I love a good mid-day change up! I also like that when I have my boots or my sneakers secure to Missy Morado (my Osprey backpack’s name) she sits upright and proud in her purple goodness.  Really its Missy confirming my choice to bring both really! Yup.

Brande

Announcing a New Adventure

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I am super excited to announce my next adventure …

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I will be heading back to do some more hiking (hill walking as they  like to call it) in Scotland this summer. A celebration of a milestone birthday. I cheered my 30th in Scotland so what a great way to bring in my 40th. Hmm maybe this trend will continue for my 50th in another decade!

The hike I will be celebrating with is the Arran Coastal Path, about a 108+km path that goes all the way around the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. An area I have never explored and an island that boasts it is a mini-Scotland.

I will be joined in my merriment with a trio of three amazing women…

My sister Shar, who I have done many hikes with including the Great Glen Way in Scotland back in 2013. Which we both loved and have been trying to get back on the long distance path together since! Shar brings the planning, go-get-em-ra-ra cheerleading, and excited clapping to our band.

My sister-in-scrapbooking Cheryl, who I have not hiked with before but have had the awesome pleasure of spending loads of deep thinking and laugh till you cry time with so it should be awesome. Cheryl brings the deep conversations, conventional and unconventional wisdom and get-it-done-in-colour to the troupe.

My sister-in-as-good-as-law Rosa, who I have not hiked with per se but we have put on a tonne of miles together walking and stair climbing during far off family vacations. Rosa brings the perseverance, logic, competition and hilariously heckling sense of humour to the team.

We are just 19weeks out and already having a wonderful time just in the planning. Over the coming weeks I will share our training plans, details of our itinerary and all the other preparation bits and bobs. Then of course a day by day, play by play here on the blog while we are on our adventure.

Brande

Lots of Love for Lisboa

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We wrapped up our month long France, Spain and a Portugal whirlwind Camino pilgrimage in Lisboa (Lisbon) Portugal. An amazing city that sadly we only had about 36 hours to enjoy and it deserves much more time than that.

We arrived on Thursday night around 6pm at the Oriente Train Station after an afternoon of train travel from Lagos. We easily found our way from the trains to the metro to get to Interdente Metro station where our new home, a great Air BnB, was located – right on the edge of the historic city center! The metro and train systems and stations are intertwined in Lisbon and so easy to navigate.

Our place was again another fabulous booking (thank you Lana!) – pic above is our evening and night view from our kitchen window! Our host Miguel was so helpful with all our Lisbon questions. Who needs Tourist Info when you have a Miguel!?

We didn’t have much time in Lisboa, just one evening and a full day, so once we checked in and got sorted we hit the town to do some evening exploring and to find a great place for dinner. We found a wonderful district just before the historic city center and the most fabulous cafe called O’ Corvo!

Wow! They made us sparking green wine sangria that had all kinds of fruit and coffee beans and mint. Mmmm to go with our yummy homemade salads. So great – the food, the staff and the atmosphere was perfect. The place was decorated with a collection of furniture and pics from antique shops and second hand stores. Icing on the cake was the Tina Turner Greatest Hits they were playing. That’s totally my jam … we don’t need another hero (insert singing and dancing here).

The next morning, we were up at our the door by 9am to maximize our short time in Lisboa.

We started the day with a walk down to the historic city centre, snapping pics as we went. With such beautiful streets and history it’s hard to make any progress as you walk – we are so busy looking and gawking and snapping pics.

Some highlights from our morning / pre-breakfast walk about town …

Some highlights from our visit to the Cathedral, a few other churches and the Alfama District (artsy and Fado music district) after our outdoor cafe breakfast …


While having lunch (which was meant to be just a cold drink but the food smelled and looked so good we did lunch too), we decided to fit Sintra in. Sintra is a fairytale little town outside Lisboa with amazing, colourful castles. A place that Lana was keen to see and disappointed that our time in Lisboa was shirt and we couldn’t make it work. Well? Why can’t we?!

We wrapped up lunch, popped over to the Tourist Info who gave us the details on how to make it happen, and then headed straight for Rossi train station for the 50min train to Sintra. A round trip train is only 4,90 Euros each and the train comes every 20mins. We would be there for 330pm, leaving us loads of time to see the highlights! Yahoo!

Most people take a full day in Sinatra but we only had a half day and we were determined to make the most of it! Once in Sintra, we saved our walking time for around the sights and instead used a Tuk Tuk (thanks Pedro) to get a tour of the highlights of Sintra and to take us up to the mountain top castle. Here are the highlights of Sintra – its gorgeous!



We had an awesome time in Sintra and made it back to Lisboa for about 7pm. We did a little souvenir shopping and some more sight seeing, then looked for a place to eat. Our last supper of our whole trip – no pressure!

Well we found an awesome new tapas restaurant in our neighborhood, Endente. The owner was featuring traditional tapas from all Portugal, local wine, cheeses and even served the food on Portuguese made ceramics. The place just opened this summer and he was so great to us! We loved it.

Portugal you have a very special in our hearts – we both cannot wait to be back. What a country and what an awesome finish to just an amazing trip we both feel so grateful for having the opportunity to take.

We are now boarding our flight back to Canada – smiling as we reminisce about the trip. A bit sad it’s over but very much looking forward to seeing our families!

Thanks for following our adventure!
Brande

Lovely Lagos

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I know I already gave you a ‘city you must visit’ for your bucket list .. well now I must also give you a ‘beach to visit’ for the list too. Lagos, Portugal. In a word – stunning! Oh and it’s pronounced LagoSH as we quickly learned!

We arrived by train from Porto on Monday, early evening. At first I was underwhelmed as the train station is just your regular, ole station with nothing to make it a warm Lagos welcome. And when you walk out of the stations, it’s into a parking lot and you can’t even see the ocean I was so looking forward to being at. However just yards out of the train parking lot and around a stone wall, it was a very different story!

We were greeted by a beach side resort town that many Europeans consider their holiday destination – like us Canadians consider Mexico and Cuba. The streets were all cobble stone walks and the marina was full of boats and the water crystal clear and full of fish and the beaches and the cafes and the pubs and the shops and overall a beachside city of wow! Yup wow! The air was warm and smelt of salt and we had arrived at our Camino reward!

It was around 6pm when we arrived and we were due to meet our Air BnB host straight away. So we made our way right to the flat we rented. We did not have to go far. It was just a half block off of the main cafe and market street and we ogled the fun as we walked.

Our host met us and gave us a very thorough introduction to our little one bedroom and a futon home for the next 3 nights. Very thorough and we were dying for it to end so we could just relax. She was sweet for sure but when you have been traveling all day, you just wanna throw your feet up and enjoy your new home already! I have never had an Air BnB host take 40mins to welcome us – just another charm of Lagos.


After our host departed, we checked the place out for real and got settled. Checked in with family on our safe arrival on social media and then headed out to explore this cool new town we would call home for 3 sleeps!

The place was full of great cafes and pubs, and we ended up at Giovanni’s a pizza place for dinner. Sitting at a wee table right on the main pedestrian thoroughfare – people watching, sipping Somersby and eating gooey cheese pizza. We wrapped up by grabbing groceries for breakfast and headed back to our flat.

Lagos – Day 1, Hiking and Beach Day

After my morning run (my fav way to see a new city), for our first day in Lagos we enjoyed a home cooked breakfast and then decided to hike (yes more walking yahoo). There is a sort of path around the perimeter of the entire Lagos coastline covering about 10km. Hiking this gave us a chance to check out all of the 6+ beaches Lagos has to offer and experience the famous grottos at birds eye level.

We were not disappointed! We had great fun hiking about, checking each beach for what it offered, grabbing a cool Somersby at the lighthouse cafe and making time for some photo fun as well. Looks like many a tourist does this little hike about, we were never alone but also didn’t feel overwhelmed by people.

At one point we decided to poke a little fun at those peeps who do their yoga poses for photos in famous places. In good fun of course. We are total geeks who can’t do yoga to save our lives …. we ended up with a chuckling audience at our timer on the camera antics.

Hike and laugh till we cry photo session complete, we selected the Costa da Mos Beach as our beach for the day. We rented a 2 chair beach umbrella for 13 Euros (a bit steep in price but for this gal the only way I could spend a day in the hot 24C sun!)

We went in the water despite Lana’s crippling fear of sharks (there are rumors of hammer heads in these waters). Laughing at ourselves as the bottom has large stones and rocks which are rolled by the waves and actually kind of beat you up as you get in. So you have to just suck up the cold of the water and get in quick. Everyone getting in looked hilarious trying to avoid the rock beating. Us included!

We wrapped up our evening back in town enjoying, believe it or not, Chinese food! Yum!

Lagos – Day 2, Boating and Beach Day

Another beautiful day in Lagos (around 24C expected again), we started our morning with a grotto and cave tour by boat! Wow and wow and wow.

It was 15 Euro per person and worth every penny. The tour was just under an hour and the guide took us into each cave – his driving skills were pretty fantastic as some looked only big enough for the kayaks around us and yet he went right in. He also slowed and told us the names of the rocks and caves as we went and had a great sense of humor. It was just Lana and I in the boat for the tour.

I will let the pictures speak for the amazing beauty of these grottos and caves themselves … selected just a few of the 50+ pics I took!

After our grotto by boat morning, we headed over to the only beach we had not explored yet. The one you can actually see right from the tourist area – the beach is 5km long so hard to miss. Before heading over though we made sure we had the three things that make a beach day a success – over and above a beach and summer weather of course … beer, roast chicken and a good book ha ha!

We spent the day on our rented beach chairs for just 12 Euros this time, me under the umbrella and Lana as usual soaking up maximum rays. My time out from under the umbrella was spent combing the beach for shells! (Yup hubby I am coming home with a freezer ziplock bag full of shells.)

We also went in the water on this beach and it was quite different than our rock beat down from the day prior – this was all sand and shells and fish and was wonderful to walk out on.

By about 5pm we figured we should probably shower up, get prepped for our departure the next day and find some eats. The night prior we had walked by an awesome, tiny pub called Ol Bastard Fish and Chips and we were keen to make it our supper destination.

Ol Bastard was amazing. So small and so busy the atmosphere just brought you right in – they had all kinds of fish and chips and fish tacos and loads of fries, as well as a great assortment of wine and craft beer. We loved it, sat right at the bar and had an awesome time! Were even given a complimentary order of fish cakes to make the new chef feel good about his special and some Kraken rum to try. Check out this spread of food yumminess mmmmmm

Our final full day in Lagos wrapped up, we headed back to the flat to chill and get our last great sleep in our awesome BnB before heading to Lisbon (pronounced Leesh-boa), our last destination before heading home to Canada.

Lagos – Day 3 (1/2 Day) Laundry and Marina Lunch

Our final day in Lagos was just a short one – we had a train at 2pm so had ourselves a lazy morning and yummy breakfast at home, then did our laundry (oh the every 3 or 4 day plight of a backpacking pilgrim) before our train.

Oh and just a heads up, you are not allowed to put your dogs in the washing machine in Lagos. So if your pup needs a wash? this is not the place to make this happen.

We ended our time in Lagos with a final toast and snacks at the Marina right beside the train station at the Lighthouse Cafe.

We loved Lagos- add it to your list! While it felt very much like a British tourist beach town, it was really fun and had awesome positive energy and beaches worth spending a week at!

We will check in again post Lisboa.

Brande

Camino-a-pooloza wraps up in Porto

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Yesterday we completed our final and fourth Camino in our Camino Mash Up Adventure!

The Camino de Santiago (St. James Way, 285kms of the total distance) the Camino Finisterre, the Camino Muxia and now the Camino Portuguese Coastal Way (Fisherman’s Route). A sort of Camino-a-pooloza! We walked the sections, or stages as pilgrims and guidebooks like to call them, that we thought we would get the most joy from step by step. Overall, despite some sore feet and muscles and a few detours and lost moments, our mission of joyful walking has been accomplished.

Here is how we wrapped up our final day …

We started the day earlier than usual at around 6am. As you have probably read, we have had some issues getting our extra bag with all the heaviest stuff transported to the next place we are staying. It seems there are very few companies who do this for the Portuguese Way compared to St. James Way and even less who are willing to help a couple of pilgrims walking ‘backwards’ away from Santiago in Portugal. But the company Top Santiago did us a favour the last two nights and made it happen – what a crew! However, we did have to have our bag ready for 7am which was early for us. The sun is not even close to being up at that time, let alone the other peeps in the hostel.

At 7am, after saying best of luck to our roomie from France, we were waiting in the lobby of the Erva Doce Guest House for Top Santiago to pick up our bag. Here is our Guest House. So pretty and feminine, but as Lana is demonstrating below also a veritable death trap for top-bunkers!



At 720am the Top Santiago guy came screeching quite literally to a halt in front of our home, grabbed the bag and gave a quick Bom Dia (good morning or good day) and was outta there to assist other pilgrims!

Bag sorted, we got to walking right away – we did have breakfast included in the Guest House cost but it didn’t start till 830 and we had 33km to Porto to cover to best to not set out so late. We determined we could catch a cafe on our way for breakfast instead.

Some of the views on our way out of Vila do Conde:

For the path, we knew right away there was bridge to cross into the next town called Azurara. Then we could sort of see on the guidebook map (which is way too high level to follow with any confidence and it rarely has street names) that we needed to then take a left for the Way that was all inland to Porto or a right for the Way that was all Coastal to Porto. Well I am sure you know where this is going – we went the Coastal Route and there were absolutely no Way markers to help us find our way. Now what?

Well when in doubt, go with your gut! A few times over the course of this trip Lana has said ‘let’s turn right’ – so that’s what we did! It hasn’t let us down so far and didn’t this time either. In about 40mins we found a marker or two. The markers were few and far between but we had the ocean directly to our right all day so that gave us all the compass we needed!

We soon started to see pilgrims coming the opposite / usual direction. Another welcome confirmation we are on the right route.

Some morning highlights:

At about 845am we walked through a tiny little village – the smell of coffee and cafe sounds brought us into this tiny, local cafe. We had wished for real breakfast but the cafe, in Portuguese fashion, only had sweets. So we shared this puff pastry, chocolate covered, custard filled cone of goodness. Wow and yum and wow! The place was full of mom’s and kids – we assume the mom’s getting their coffee fix before dropping the kids at school, and seems the kids were getting their morning candy fix. (I wish I had a pic of that pastry to show you – clearly I was too excited to eat it to pause for a photo opp.)

About 20mins later we were back on the Way. The sun was fully up now and it was hot. I was already considering when and how many times I would be putting on sunscreen – the pilgrim tan lines I have developed are not hot!

At about 1130 we stopped for lunch. As much as we loved our pasty it does not fuel the pace and distance we were walking. We found an awesome little place right on there beach:

We ordered a Somsersby (they have them everywhere here, like everywhere – Portugal has a Somersby addiction) and a famous Portuguese sandwich called the Francesinha. Basically a delicious combo of multi meats and cheese and special beer sauce on a bun. Wow! This one was a Francesinha Especial and included an egg. Brunch it is! (And yes that is the baggy of pepper I have been carrying around and using anytime we get eggs.)


Completely stuffed and relaxed an hour later, we got up to enjoy (aka wrangle and ramble instead of power walk) our last 18km into Porto. We were full but the weather was beauty, the coastline was magnificent and it was easy walking. We decided it was a good time for some headphone and tunes (audio book for me) to get going.

A few highlights of our afternoon:

At around 4pm we were really into Porto proper now. Our feet started to bark quite a bit louder from the cement boardwalks and cobble stones, and the number of people (insert not-paying-attention-cut-you-off-as-you-walk tourists here) were increasing quickly.

We were ready to hoof it to make the meet and greet with our Porto Air BnB contact, and then we saw this wee, old tram …

Well why wouldn’t ya?! We hopped the rickety tram and caught a ride the last 6km or so into old city centre in style. Well truth be told it was a very bumpy and jarring ride and as we were standing was not really a break on our feet, but it was an old fashioned tram in Porto and that’s awesome!



The tram conductor (I think that’s what he would be called) literally moved the big cable from one end of the tram to the other and flipped the seats to face the other direction at each end of the tram line – which went from the old Fort to the bottom of hill up into old city. So we got to stand at the back but in the other direction would be the front of the tram, and stage a little photo shoot of sorts!

We got off at the bottom of the massive hill into the old city centre, hoofed our way up to pick our bag up at the Hostel Invictus (were are not staying here just needed a place to send our bag forward to) then enjoyed a ‘cheers Camino complete’ glass of wine before meeting our Air BnB.

Wow here is our Air BnB in the middle, dead centre of the old city – we are so lucky! Here in Porto Lana gets the room and I get the futon – it’s this amazing studio and we love it.

We are here in Porto till Monday before making our way to Lagos by train. Expect a Porto blog post on Monday with a summary of what we already can feel will be an awesome city!

Porto look out, we are here!

Brande

Loving Vila Do Conde

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Yesterday was another interesting day on the Portuguese Camino Coastal Route.

We were supposed to walk 25km but a few detours from the hard to find route probably added a few to that number. Good times!

The day started out with a great breakfast from our Albergue, Hostel Eleven, and their much appreciated help sending our bag from Viana to Vila. (Oh and yes that is chocolate cereal you see and absolutely I poured the left over ‘chocolate milk’ into my coffee!)

After breaky, we stepped outside to a beautiful day and our hostel lady smiling, waving and wishing us Buen Camino at about 830am. We knew which direction to start and had a chocolate cereal spring in our step!

A few photos on the way out of town below. The rooster is the symbol of Barcelos, this region of Portugal. He is everywhere, cute as a button with his big heart and I love him! (Is it appropriate to warn my husband via this blog post that I am bringing home some kinda of statue or stuffy of this rooster guy!?)

After a number of kilometres of clear way markers our luck started to run out a wee bit. We had a choice to take a Coastal option or stay on the main Camino path.

Well we chose Coastal of course and that was our demise. We ended up all over hell’s half acre just off the coast in some farm land stretch with markers that made no sense at all! We finally decided to just revert to finding a milestone noted in the guidebook and using Apple Maps to get there. We finally made it back in civilization after walking many roads as designated by Apple Maps but which were actually a sand track with some old tire marks. All in all, we determined we had spent an hour guessing and hoping and walking only to realise that the Camino has white and red markers and the national park in this region has yellow and red markers – we were following both and basically chasing our tails. Insert forehead slapping motion here! When those colours are faded or rusted out they look the darn same!

Any who, we made it to a wee village called Apuila. Once there we stood on a street corner, ironically with a statue of Saint Santiago on it, looking confused again when a local guy drove by in his car and slowed to give us directions. Amazing! We ‘leap of faith’ followed what he said and headed in the direction he pointed. When we tried to take a right where we thought he had indicated, a cafe shop owner came out to give us the X ‘don’t go there’ symbol with his arms and pointed us to keep straight – we were making the right turn too soon it seems. A couple blocks later, the first guy came back around, put on his car’s hazard lights, got out, and showed us personally where the right turn had to be made. And as the sound of angels singing from heaven rang out a Camino shell and arrow appeared on the stone wall to confirm! Wow!

So we were on our way again …

Only to quickly see that the signs were clearly indicating that there had been Camino detour that we never saw one sign for 2 hours ago/ had we saw a sign maybe we could have headed in the right direction.

A detour explains a few things!

Ok so for real back on track and making good time, we hit our next ‘detour’ of the day. A street we needed to walk on was torn up and under construction. Just as we started to wonder where and how do we get around this without getting lost (important point), the construction worker waved us to just walk through. What? I don’t have hard hat or steel toed boots? Where is Worksafe? So we walked through – it was an excellent photo opp!

Ok for real, for real on our way on The Way now, we started to make good time. We were hoofing it through farmland at a great pace and passing loads of pilgrims making their way in the opposite (and usual) direction to Santiago.

Then all of a sudden the pilgrim steam ran out and the Camino markers did too. Crap! But do not worry some Portuguese lady working in the field waved us down and pointed the direction to Porto for us. Yahoo for the locals. We of course turned in the direction she pointed and kept on keeping on. Well oops. At our next intersection kilometres later we couldn’t find a way marker and still hadn’t seen one for a long time. Crap again.

With no idea where we were again, we did the most logical thing and popped into the pastry coffee shop on the corner and had a coffee and a pastry! There is nothing like some caffeine and a donut to get you sorted!

We also again used Apple Maps to find a another milestone from the Guidebook to help us get back on track again. Turns out, thanks to the well intention but not exactly helpful lady, we were (insert groan here) 2.7km off course. No problem. We can knock that off in 20mins and be back to the Way – we had sugar and caffeine fuel now!

We stepped out of the cafe to literally a drastic change in weather, a storm was rolling in. Come on really! Lost and raining – is this a joke? Are we on candid camera or Punked? Ah well nothing to do but get the rain gear on, make some jokes and get back on course. It didn’t take long to be back on track or for the rain to stop. Yah us!


Seems the rain brought out our rain jackets and the snails! They are flowers, decorations for wine bottles, crossing roads, climbing walls and more. Weird and cute and gross really. We took it as a sign that our mascot was cheering for us.

Finally, we were back on the right track again. We were passing pilgrims coming the other direction again, we were spotting Way markers again and having fun. It’s a little stressful being lost and having little knowledge of how to ask for help IF there is even another human around to ask. So you fake it and hope for he best. When the sun came out again we knew (hoped) the rest of the day would be a good one.



We stopped for lunch on the boardwalk after while. Enjoying our pre-made sandwiches which included a little mustard thanks to the couple I scooped from a restaurant – they gave it to us technically but perhaps to use while in the restaurant not days later?!

Well we made it Vila and wow is it lovely! Here are a few pics of our town as we came in last night!

We toasted our crazy day with some vino at Cafe Cacau and had these amazing but a great odd hot dog with special sauce (which was poured on top instead of out inside) sandwiches. Wow delicious – might be something I crave when back home!

Then a glass of wine at a cool little cafe called O Navel which was built out of old doors and neat nautical stuff and there house wine (white and red was super yummy).

We then headed back to our lovely little home for the night called Erva Doca Guest House and got ourselves organised for today’s walk.

We are now off to walk the 33km into Porto, the end of the Fisherman’s or Coastal Route and our last day of walking. Feels weird to stop walking but we are also excited to just be tourists for the last week as we so smartly planned in advance. Yah us!

Buen Camino!
Brande

Tourists Dressed as Pilgrims

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Well yesterday was a tourist day! While we still had the pilgrim shuffle, clothes and packs; we decided to take the day and be tourists.

We didn’t get to see any of Viana de Costa after coming in so late and tired the day prior. Sad thing. We had heard from many pilgrims that it is one of the nicest cities on the Portuguese Coastal Route. So we decided to strap our hiking shoes to our packs and instead venture around the city of Viana in sandals before making our way by bus to Esponsende. Our new home for the night and the start of today’s walk.

Wow are we sure glad we did!

Our day started with breakfast and a reminder of how wonderful the people of Portugal are. We were invited into this tiny cafe by the most sweet little old grandma for breakfast. They really only eat pastries for breakfast here and we were looking for something beyond a sweet. She personally made us coffee and a ham and cheese bun sandwich (so fresh and good) and then also gave us some traditional pastries to try as dessert. Ironically she gave the very pastry we were talking about wanting to try just minutes before. Custard / creek brûlée in a puffy yet chewy pastry shell. Mmm We were the only ones in the cafe and she was so sweet!

Next, we took the cool little elevator trolley car thing up the huge hill in the middle of the city center to see the city from and coast line from a birds eye view and check out this massive church.

Funny as we made our way up in a normal elevator to get to the street that has this trolley elevator an old wee man joined us. He simply rode up with us to ask if we are pilgrims,how far we are walking, where we are from, etc. we assumed he was just in the elevator by chance. Nope when we got off he took it back down and wished is a good journey. He simply wanted to know more about us and say good luck.


The church at the top was a temple and monument to Santa Luzia and it was very impressive! We could see it for a long long time in the distance as we walked into Viana the day prior, so it was neat to check it out!




Before we went into the church, Lana was held up by some wee grandma who was rubbing her arm talking about the Camino and pilgrim and her poor feet. All in Portuguese so only a few words were understood.

Next we ventured though the small, winding, character streets of the city center that have all these little shops and cafes, amazing tiles and iron work, and just feel so different than our streets back home in Canada.

We enjoyed a super yummy lunch sitting at a wee baby table on one of these side streets. We don’t understand all the words on a menu so find something we think we know and get that. Today we got ‘pork meat’ and it came with salad and chips and rice and a bun. I appreciate how seriously these great people take their carbs and starches!

Then made our way to the bus station behind the below gorgeous old train station for a 3pm bus to Esponsende. Prior to boarding the bus, the very nice man who gave us the bus timetable earlier that day came to the platform to confirm for us that we were getting on the right bus!

By 4pm we were in our new city of Esponsende checking into the really great Hostel Eleven.

We dropped our packs, checked in with the family on our arrival then headed out to see what this city has to offer.

Before leaving we asked the hostel guy to help us arrange bag transport for us, from Esponsende to Vila do Conde. It’s been tough every day to get someone to move our extra bag. Yesterday we couldn’t final a single company or person willing which was a big part of our decision not to walk. Well Hostel Elevan was amazing and they worked our a deal with a local transport company to move our pack for us as an exception to the services they provide for just 10 euros. Deal. What was so easy to arrange on the St James Camino is a real struggle here on the Portugal Coastal away, especially walking backwards!

That done and dealt with, we ventured out into the central city of Esponsende.

We wrapped our day up with some red wine and homemade pasta in our hostel kitchen. I hate cooking usually but when you have been eating out all meals on most days it feels so good to prepare what you eat! Also all this for 7 Euros plus an apple and cookies for a trail side snack tomorrow is a price we can’t resist!

By the way – that big plate of cheese and bread and chorizo isn to make sandwiches for it walk today.

Just prior to making this meal, we saw the three pilgrims we crossed the ferry into Caminha with a couple days again show up in a taxi. We weren’t the only ones who suffered the day before and had to skip some or all of yesterday’s walk as a result. Ouch!

We are heading out now to walk 25km to our next home, Vila do Conde.

Buen Camino!
Brande