SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

Another country, another language, as we crossed the border it dawned on me that I only knew one Spanish phrase (thanks to Tegan) and I didn’t know how helpful “Thank you for the dinner but I don’t like cheese” would end up being. So the phrase book came out and the Spanish class began and I settled with three important phrases Hello, Thank you and of course, do you speak English?

Armed with a minuscule knowledge of Spanish we continued to Barcelona. We arrived in Barcelona and settled into our campsite in El Masnou just outside of the Catalan capital. We headed in to the city on the metro the following morning to explore the centre. We headed to La Boqueria Market, the most colourful and impressive produce and spice market I have ever seen. Fruits, vegetables and seafood that I had never seen or sometimes even heard of, I was like a kid in a candy shop with endless variety. The vibrant displays combined with mouthwatering smells enticed us so we meandered, slowly eating our way through the food stalls. Once we were full to the brim we headed from the market towards MACBA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, although we weren’t there to peruse the masterpieces, it is also home to one (out of hundreds) of the famous Barcelona street skating spots. Matt had watched skate movies since he was a kid, and dreamed of skating the famous street spots of Barcelona, and lucky for me they were scattered on every corner of the city. We then continued to Sagrada de Familia, the cathedral built by Antonio Gaudi (Barcelona’s most famous modernist artist). The impressive and unique church is still under construction after 100 years, however it doesn’t prevent tourists from flocking to marvel at its brilliance. After walking continuously around the streets all day, we were exhausted so we ventured back to our campsite for sangria and an early night.  Waking late the next morning, we travelled back into the city this time heading north walking to Park Guell, another incredible Gaudi masterpiece, where we wandered through the Park admiring the distinctive architecture. Then Matt and I decided to go our separate ways for the day. There were many far away skate spots for Matt to see, and shops for me to explore. I roamed back through the center winding in and out of Spanish stores, just enjoying getting lost in the alluring streets. Matt and I met late in the afternoon to go for dinner at a tapas bar which we enjoyed with of course, some more sangria. 

Our next day was spent walking along the promenade finding more skate spots where I read or filmed, while Matt skated. I even tried my hand at skating, less than successfully; it usually involved Matt pulling me along flat stretches. After a few huge days of walking and skating we called it day truly exhausted and unable to walk anymore. The following day we said “Adios!” to Barcelona and headed for Valencia stopping for a day to ride around the city and admire the truly remarkable architecture of the Arts and Science Complex before continuing to Spain’s capital, Madrid.

We found ourselves arriving late again into another unfamiliar city, so we found ourselves a campsite and called it a night. We woke late and headed into Madrid on the bus. By this point starvation had set in so we decided on dessert before lunch. So the hunt began for the ultimate of devilish treats, churros. Deep fried, crispy dough with smooth, rich chocolate- what more could you want? There was one name, one name that had stood the test of time in Madrid. An institution famous amongst locals, celebrities and tourists alike who visit the venue at any time, day or night. San Gines Chocolateria has been making churros with chocolate the exact same way since 1894 and no wonder, because it is absolutely delicious just the way it is. Crunchy, sweet, savory and perfect. After our snack, we explored the streets surrounding Puerto de Sol more just admiring the inviting vibe that surrounds the Capital. We found a great restaurant late in the afternoon that were doing delectable modern takes on some Spanish tapas favourites that sounded too delicious to pass up, so we enjoyed a few with some Sangria. We strolled down the main drag of Gran Via, window shopping and taking in the sights before calling it a day in the early evening.

 We left Madrid the next morning, after a skate in the city, and headed towards Portugal driving through the Spanish countryside. We arrived in Costa de Caparica outside of Lisbon late in the evening and enjoyed dinner in the campsite.  We ventured in Lisbon the following day catching a boat across the water to Belem where we admired the stunning monastery while indulging in traditional Portuguese custard tarts from a bakery in Belem that was been making them since 1837. We walked from Belem, around the water stopping for sangria by the pier before stumbling upon the Time Out market that housed all different food stalls and cuisines. HEAVEN! We left after lunch and walked to Praca de Comercio, the main square, where we tried traditional Portuguese port for the first time. It was absolutely delicious, possibly a new favourite of mine. We continued through the town until we could walk no more of Lisbon’s hilly landscape so we began our journey home only getting lost a few times. 

The next morning we left Lisbon and headed to a skatepark just outside of Cascais, a stunning coastal town with winding mosaic laneways. We ate lunch by the park in the sunshine while Matt enjoyed the atmosphere of yet another incredible European masterpiece. We continued on to Sintra in the afternoon, a beautiful town perched in the Portuguese hills amongst manors and castles. We tasted Ginja (cherry liquer) and compared different ports before meandering through the streets admiring the beauty. We made our way to Ericeira early in the evening to a Quicksilver skate park right next to a campsite. PERFECT! Until Matt broke yet another board (number 6 for the trip) in the park effectively ending his night of skating so we grabbed a bottle of wine and walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. We found wild watercress in the rocks and water running to the ocean and played by the sea into the night.  And by played I mean, we got drunk and Matt mooned people.

The following day we left Ericeira around midday and began our journey north stopping in the fishing town of Peniche where we visited a beautiful beach and found (of course) yet another skate park. We ventured on late in the afternoon to Figeuira da Foz where we stayed at a lovely campsite with private access to the beach. Another day pass by, we kept driving north to Coimbra- a town boasting a stunning 16^th century university but that’s about it, so we continued driving to Porto where we spent the evening. We rode along the boardwalk by the beach and found a DJ concert on the sand so we danced and drank into twilight. Rain welcomed us the next morning, so went spent our lazy Sunday cleaning up before heading into Porto center for a peruse around the town and an extremely late lunch. 

The following day was spent solely in the car (a full nine hours!) driving back into Spain to San Sebastian. San Sebastian is a chef’s dream! The area boasts the most Michelin stars per capita than anywhere in the world, not to mention scrumptious local eats like pintxos (basque country tapas). So as you would expect, Matt and I were in heaven and planned to stay a few days, if not forever. However, if constant stream of delicious food wasn’t enough, San Sebastian was also beautiful with rolling green hills and stunning beaches. We spent our first day in the town exploring the streets, eating street food, marveling at incredible churches and visiting a few skate parks. When the evening rolled around, we headed for Pintxos. Such an incredible concept where you grab a spot standing at the bar and order a glass of wine before digging into small Spanish canapés on toothpicks, you simply pay for the amount of toothpicks at the end. Simples!

After stuffing ourselves with pintxos we ambled through the streets and watched the fireworks over the beach before calling it a night. Unfortunately overnight incredible storms set in and our plans for the day were washed out, so we bundled up in our rarely used winter gear and hung out in the car for the day, reading and cooking. The next day was Matt’s Birthday! To celebrate his quarter of a century, we headed to Mugaritz, currently number six in the world, the two Michelin star restaurant was high on Matt’s list. Deep into the beautiful hills of San Sebastian we dined for four hours on twenty-four incredible courses. We left, as you can imagine, completely stuffed, so we headed into town and rode along the water into the night. The following day we left Spain headed for France. The final leg is upon us. France and then back to England!