Sunkissed in Portugal

Portugal is the perfect place for a little beach getaway. I had been homesick being away from Florida. Now being in a country that rarely sees the sun I was desperate to get back to the beach, back to the sun.

There’s a little bit of everything, at least from what I saw between Lisbon and Lagos. The city of Lisbon is full of history. After we landed in the Lisbon airport, we headed to Castelo de São Jorge to explore its inner walls. In my opinion, this was the best view of the city. You can see everything from up there. I took the time to sit and just bask in the beautiful scene before me, while listening to the soft melodies of the music playing below.

view of lisbon from Castelo de São Jorge

As we got in pretty late, the castle was the only thing we had the chance to see before we had to rush to our hotel which was 4 hours away in Lagos.

The next day we had a morning kayaking trip booked that would take us around the coastline. While we waited for our time slot, we took the time to walk around and find some breakfast options. Most places didn’t open till around 10, which is when we were supposed to begin our trip. We ended up stumbling upon this quaint cafe that served coffee and pastries, which were delicious.

After breakfast we made our way down to the beach to check in. Our tour guide was this really quirky woman named Sophie, who happened to be from the UK. She reminded me of Mae Whitman from the Duff when she talks in her monster voice to Wesley because she would randomly start talking like that. She definitely made the tour fun and she was very knowledgeable about the rock formations. I made sure I purchased a waterproof camera to capture our coastal adventure.

Here are some of the best shots I took:

inside one of the caves

the beach we stopped at for a swim

When we got back, we decided to find one of the more secluded beaches the tour guide mentioned. There was a cool path we discovered to hike up to one of the formations. It was scary when we finally made our way to the top but it was an amazing view. There was a party boat we saw down below and I was wishing we were on it.

For dinner that night we went to this restaurant that had the best tasting mussels. They were covered in this delectable sauce that I couldn’t get enough of. It was so good that we went back for more the next night.

don’t they look yummy?

The next day one of my friends had to leave as he had an early flight to catch so it was just me and my friend Daniel. The famous Algarves were about 40 minutes or so away so we drove there.

the algarves

The rest of the day was spent searching for unbroken sea shells, more sunbathing and swimming out to this tucked in cove. For once, this actually felt like a real vacation. I got to relax instead of always being on the go to do site seeing or other activities.

After we had our second helping of mussels for dinner, this was our night to go out on the town and see the night life. Happy hour is done right here. We had several drinks for the price of one. The last bar we went to I made the mistake of telling the bartender to surprise me, but I said no tequila or whiskey. So he gave me a flaming shot with a bit of absinthe. I was not ready for this. He stuck a straw in the glass and said I had to be quick or else the straw will burn up. I was too slow and kind of scared so he had to relight it and give me another straw. It was actually really good, a pleasant surprise. There was a shot of baileys in there as well.

Sadly our trip came to an end and we had to fly back home the next day, but we were coming back more tan and relaxed than when we left.

Scotland Tough Mudder

June 19-20

I just went to Scotland for a day specifically for the tough mudder. It was grueling to say the least but rewarding. If you don’t know what tough mudder is it’s a 10-12 mile obstacle course in the well mud. The proceeds went to support a charitable UK organization called “Help for Heroes,” which helps wounded veterans. It is similar to the US organization “the Wounded Warrior Project,” which has the same goals of helping wounded veterans. While the obstacle race started in the US back in 2010, it has become an international success with races now sprouting across Europe.

So I went straight from work on that Friday to drive the 6 hours to Dumfries super close to the border of Scotland, which is where my hotel was. The view from my room was really something, with the rooftops below and the mountains off in the distance.

The morning of I was on a mission to find a kilt or something scottish to possibly wear in the race. I was cutting it close so I did a mini sprint through town once I parked. Once I finally stepped foot in the kilt store, the prices were a bit out of my price range so I got out of there with a bit of a sulk. Oh well, there’s always next year, I thought to myself. I got back in my car and drove the rest of the way to Drumlanrig castle, which is where the tough mudder was to be held. I was already running late trying to find a kilt so I was in a bit of a hurry to get checked in.

After I checked in my bag, I headed to the starting line. There was a guy there to get people warmed up and excited to start the race. He pointed out this group of guys dressed as super heroes and said “you know what we do with super heroes…have a super hero battle” or something along those lines. First up, it was Batman vs. Superman. Wearing a batman shirt of course I would root for him and of course he won. Next up was Iron Man vs. Spiderman. Iron man won this round. With that, Batman and Iron Man were pitted against each other. It was quite the struggle and the crowd was yelling out the name of the super hero they wanted to win. In the end it was Iron Man who won all the marbles, which in this case was just bragging rights with his friends.

We did a few more warm up exercises before he sent us off to the next section. It wasn’t time yet. First they had to go over some rules and then we recited the tough mudder pledge. It ended with “I overcome all fears.” It was enough to get me pumped up and motivated for what was to come. This wasn’t my first tough mudder (my first was in Virginia) so I wasn’t as nervous as I was back then. I knew I could get through this. And like that we were off. The first obstacle was a low crawl under a barbed wire. This is what it looked like:

Everything was 2.0, double the challenge from last years obstacles. The Arctic Enema, an obstacle where you have to delve into freezing cold water was much colder and larger than the last time I did it. Also, instead of stepping into it this time I had to slide into it, which gave me no time to mentally prepare myself. There were many obstacles where you have to go over tall wooden walls. What I love about this event that it values camaraderie. Everyone helps each other through the course, whether you know the person or not. It’s not really a race, but a challenge and a journey. It’s what will keep me going back. So on these particular obstacles, people would help me as well as other get up over the wall and over.

I brought gloves this time, which didn’t help on the one thing I needed them on, this obstacle called “the funky monkey.” It’s just monkey bars suspended over a pool of muddy water, but it’s harder than it looks. You have to go up and down the bars at an angle and after going through all the previous obstacles it’s not an easy chore. So suffice it to say, I fell.

Another memorable obstacle was one in which we literally had to trudge through a swamp. It is the closest feeling to what I believe would be the way it feels to be in quick sand. We were stuck. It took quite a bit of energy to drag my feet one at a time through the thick bog. I lived in Florida for most of my life never did I get stuck in a swamp. It took me coming all the way to Scotland to get in such a situation. How Ironic!

Of course to wash off we had to suffer through another obstacle, one of those being the “King of the Swingers.” It was pretty similar to the walk the plank obstacle I had to do in Virginia, in which I had to jump from about a height of 12 feet into yet another pit of muddy water. The 2.0 in this case is that I not only had to jump from that height, I also was asked to jump onto a metal bar, swing over and attempt to hit a bell.

I’m only afraid of heights in some cases and this happened to be one of them. I mean I’ve sky dived from 18,000 ft, but there was a guy strapped to me who knew what he was doing. There’s something entirely different when you have no control over you falling. I did jump, but straight into the water and not on the bar. The bar was maybe five feet away so you had to jump to the bar in order to reach it.

The last obstacle was my worst enemy. It was accurately named “electroshock therapy.” Last year, I had chickened out half way through, not able to take it anymore. This time I was determined to conquer it! In this obstacle, there are dozens of hanging wires with electric current suspended from beams. The object is basically to just run through it. You can do this, I told myself in preparation. I took a few deep breaths and then plunged through the stream of wires.

I got hit with electricity about 4 or so times. It made it easier with no hay bails to jump over like last time. Still, one gave me quite a punch and knocked me down at the end. I got back up and ran the rest of the way to the finish line. I was handed an orange tough mudder head band and an ice cold cider. I was looking forward to this. I had made it and was ready for my victory! Unfortunately, I didn’t have time for one. When I asked for the time it was already 6pm and I still had to drive back since I had work the next day. That was another obstacle in itself. With the construction, it added another hour to my drive since my GPS couldn’t figure out an alternate route. As soon as I got home, I crashed into a deep slumber. With all that, it was still worth it!

Scandinavian Adventure Part 2: Norway

I apologize while I play catch up. I really need to learn to blog as I go…

Anywho…in my last post I talked about Sweden. Well about two weeks after that I went to Norway. I didn’t really plan to go to two Scandinavian countries back to back it just happened that I got invited to travel to Norway after I had registered for the marathon.
Personally, I felt Norway satisfied the outdoorsy gal in me more so than Sweden (granted I had only seen Stockholm).

We jam packed so much in the little we had. There was no time to waste. This is why I need a vacation from my vacations. 😛 First, when we got there we went to get our rental car, which was a far better experience than picking up our rental in Romania. Even though it was almost midnight the sun hadn’t fully gone down.This country is known as “the land of the midnight sun” for this reason. It didn’t surprise me as much since I started living in England where it doesn’t get dark till late in the evening and with my trip to Alaska last August where I only saw it get dark once the whole time I was there.

The next day we drove through snow-capped mountains. It was so picturesque! The lakes we passed were so pristine. I remember along the way on one of our photo stops there was a duck, who proceeded to come right up to us. We called him Frank. At first I felt special that Mr. Frank came to greet us, but no he just thought we had food. We probably weren’t the first tourists to say hello.

Mr. Frank in his natural habitat

All we had to offer were bits of our granola bars that we broke up to give to the little guy. He loved it very much, pecking up the bits as we spread it across the road. Sadly we had to say goodbye to our new friend and get on our merry way. There was much more to see and explore.

As we drove into higher altitudes, the mountains were covered in snow. It felt like Christmas time even though it was already mid June. When we saw this massive lake to the left of us we just had to stop.

Before we continued on our way we thought it would be fun to do a bit of off roading fun, doing donuts in the mud and snow and it was a blast!

Next on the agenda was a mini hike to Manafossen falls to prepare our legs a bit for what was to come the next day at Preikestolen rock. When we got to the top we were presented with a real treat. The gushing falls looked magnificent paired with a beautiful rainbow sparkling in the mist.

Just when I took a small breather we were on the road once again on to our last destination before we had to head back for dinner. I honestly can’t remember the name of the forts but it was definitely on the top of the list of the coolest things I’ve ever explored. They were run by the Germans back in World War II. Germany had control over Norway back then.

It was a good location to keep an eye on any potential invaders along the coast. Much of the forts were built underground with a protruding dome that looked as if it were part of the rock. The coolest part was that we were able to look around the underground tunnels, though you needed a flashlight to see anything (which we came prepared with). And what do you do in a spooky underground tunnel? Take spooky ghost pictures with your DSLR of course! Even though I hate basements and spooky tunnels (spooky anything really) I couldn’t resist. I don’t want to scare anyone so I won’t post that here 😉

On Saturday we got up bright and early. We had to catch the ferry at 6am sharp to go across the peninsula to where the famous Preikestolen rock (aka pulpit rock). We wanted to get to the top before all the tourists started rolling in. This hike was no easy task. The cliff itself stands at 604 meters and from where the hike begins it’s about half that. This means that your mostly going up a steep incline to the top. Good thing I was wearing my trusty, sturdy hiking boots!

When we got to the top there were only a handful of people up there with us, but we knew we had to hurry up and take our pictures before the rush came in.

There was nothing separating us from falling off the cliff. Now I’m not afraid of heights but even that made me a bit dizzy!

Sure enough we were right. Minutes after taking our last pictures they started buzzing in like moths to a flame.

The way back, seeing all the hundreds of people making their way to the top we were glad we got up before dawn (and I don’t say that very often).

The hike drained all our energy. All we wanted to do is stay in and get pizza from around the corner. We deserved to be a bit lazy after that.

The next day we took a Fjord tour to see what we had just hiked from a different angle, from a boat. We saw the mini cruise ships from the top and we were like “that’s gonna be us.” Unfortunately, the rock wasn’t as impressive from the bottom (at least in my opinion). It just looked like a little sliver, which is what it is (but from the top it looks more massive and grander).

It was still an interesting cruise, don’t get me wrong. They took us to a waterfall along the cliffs and stopped in order to fill buckets of fresh water from it for us to drink. The water was so refreshing and came with a story to tell, which made it that much more magical.

We also met this lovely elderly couple who told us they had recently gone on an expedition to Antarctica. They were wearing the very coats they received from the trip. I hope to someday go on one of those trips myself, though they cost a pretty penny.

On our last day we splurged a little on lunch. It was worth it. The buffet was an entire smorgasbord of different foods to choose from and it had the prettiest view of the beach. I felt like I was in the Hamptons.

I piled it on…which probably wasn’t very lady like in a fancy restaurant but oh well

After we felt completely stuffed and couldn’t possibly have anymore we went down to the beach to walk off all the food. Being from Florida, a walk on a Norwegian beach definitely satisfied the homesickness I was feeling, even if just by a smidge. The water was still completely freezing (even though again it was the middle of June). We got in it anyway!

One of our last stops before sadly heading back to the airport were these stone sword statues. They were so cool, and a viking festival just happened to be going on across the way. I had a run in with both as you can see.

’till the next adventure! ❤

Scandinavian Adventure Part 1: Stockholm

In the past couple weeks, I went to Sweden and Norway. Each one had their own unique charm.

I went to Stockholm to participate in the Stockholm Marathon, which is currently considered the 4th largest marathon in the world with approximately 22,000 participants. This was my first marathon so I didn’t know what to expect.

When I arrived into Skavsta airport, which is about an hour and a half away from Stockholm, my first reaction was this is the smallest airport I have ever been to. Seriously, it was a box compared to other airports, but this made maneuvering through the airport extremely easy.

I had a few hours to kill in the city center before I had to meet my airbnb host. I checked out a few art galleries that were along the street. One was entirely dedicated to shoes, paintings of all sorts of heels. Then I made my way to drop coffee roasters, which was boasted as being one of the top coffee shops in the world to check out. The inside of the cafe was very cozy, but my favorite part was the cool latte designs. There’s just something about that attention to detail.

 

It was time to get on the metro to meet up with my host for the weekend. This was also my first time using airbnb. I highly recommend it. It’s cheaper than most hotels and you feel like you’re one of the locals. After I dropped off my things I headed to Hagaparken, which was recommended to me by my lovely host. This is another reason why I feel airbnb beats staying in a hotel. Instead of getting recommendations on the more touristy areas, she gave me tips on more local places of interest to see in the area.

Hagaparken was only about a 10 minute walk from my lodging, and it was incredibly beautiful. It was this park, which was a part of Sweden’s National Trust, and it surrounded this pristine shimmering lake. The park’s best feature, in my opinion, is what’s called “the great lawn.” Towards the back you come across these lavish blue and gold tents, which look like circus tents. Presently, the tents have been made into a cafe and museum for the park.

King Gustav III originally created this place as a home for his summer palace.

 

At this point I decided to head back as I wanted to be well rested for race day.

The next day I wandered over to the stadium, where the race would start and finish. After I received my race packet, I walked around the pre-race expo. They had items for purchase to satisfy all your running needs from shoes and shirts to energy bars and gels. I grabbed a pair of compression socks to use during the race, which help reduce muscle fatigue. I didn’t see many people who were from the United States so I was one of the few who represented.

I was upset to find that it started trickling down as soon as the race started, eventually falling pretty heavily as the race went on. I didn’t train for the rain and cold, which was bad on my part. Only 16,000 of the 22,000 were able to finish the race due to the harsh weather conditions. Unfortunately, I was part of the group that was unable to make it to the end. I got to the cut-off point literally right after they closed it and they wouldn’t let me through. You would think they would give some leeway for the rain. Anyway, I made it to 28 km which is about 17.5 miles. It’s still an accomplishment as it was more than I had ever run, but it still pains me that I didn’t finish. I will just have to tackle another marathon with a better climate and atmosphere.

this gives you an idea of what it was like. There are a couple runners wearing ponchos

The shower after the race was heaven, and the dinner after was even more heavenly. I went to this very classy restaurant called tradition, which by the name does indeed serve traditional Swedish cuisine. The entire meal was just delectable. I had breaded herring with mashed potatoes and ice cream for dessert.

my phone camera was kind of wet from the rain but it still looks tasty

The day before and after the race were of course bright and shiny. For my last day I met up with one of my fellow marathoners, who actually finished the race (though this was her 3rd race). We went to Fotografiska, a contemporary photography gallery located in Sodermalm. The first floor kind of reminded seemed like they were instagram shots. It was a bunch of random pictures of people. There were themes and I did like this one room, which was a dance party theme. In the middle there was a spinning disco ball. It really brought the pictures to life. My favorite exhibit though was the wildlife safari exhibit. I felt like the photography in this exhibit was more captivating.

what an emotional depiction of elephants before and after they were poached for their tusks

Sadly after my time at the gallery I had to head to the bus terminal to go back to the airport

Meanwhile in Romania

Romania is a highly underrated travel destination. This place has everything you need to satisfy your wanderlust. From the rolling mountains to the many castles and monasteries that stretch out across this eastern european country, it’s a wonder why more people don’t choose to come here. The lack of large crowds, however, made this place that much more of a treasure.

The only area we ran into tourists was of course the Bran castle, which is also deemed as the infamous “dracula’s” castle. In truth, the real story that inspired author Bran Stoker originated from Poenari Castle, which now lies in ruins. The castle was a fortress to Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula) and his guards against adversaries to the Draculesti family. Vlad III gained his reputation of brutally punishing his enemies. He had a figurative thirst for blood, which sparked the world of vampires that has progressed immensely throughout the years in film and in literature.

Poenari Castle

Bran Castle

It costs 30 lei for entrance into the Bran Castle, while it only costs a whopping 5 lei for the lesser known Poenari castle. 10 Lei is equal to approximatley 2.50 USD at the moment. That’s another reason to visit this country. It is very budget friendly for the foreign traveler.

Be warned, the trip to the top of Poenari castle is not for the faint of heart. There are 1480 steps, but there are resting points with benches along the way.

Even though most of what I have covered has been on dracula’s castle and history, there is more to Romania than that. For example, there are hundreds of monasteries that each have their own unique character spread out all over the country. One really notable one that we visited was the Curtea De Arges Monastery. The architecture, in my opinion, had an immense likeness to that of the Taj Mahal in India.

Curtea de Arges Monastery

Another thing I loved was being able to access and explore the bell towers. I felt like Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

bell tower

Romania was once under Bavarian control, which is why there is such a great German influence. However, unlike Bavaria many of the houses were painted these bright shades of color. I was mesmerized as we drove past them in our rental car.

The city of Sighisoara was full of these colorful houses. This area is also home to the last remaining occupied citadel. This is where we stayed one of the nights and it was a really nice experience to be able to wake up and drink coffee in the square. It was really peaceful until the tour groups started rolling in around 10 am as this is also close to where Bran castle is located and it holds part of the history of Vlad the Impaler.

sighisoara

Last but definitely not least, we ended our trip with a visit to Peles Castle. Located in the Carpathian mountains, this place pleased my fairytale fantasies. All that was missing was a dashing prince.

meditating at Peles Castle

So add Romania to the list when planning your next adventure. You won’t be dissappointed!