Today we travelled again by train to Madrid. From our home in San Lorenzo de El Escorial it is an easy, comfortable, and inexpensive 1 hour trip to the city centre. Upon arrival we boarded a hop on-hop off bus for a tour of the city. We first toured most of the historic city centre, then got off and had a coffee at a nice street cafe. Then we took a walk through a park to the Royal Palace and its gardens, before re-boarding the bus. We finished the historic city tour, and then switched lines to tour the modern city. It was a great way to get an overview of the city's and, given that it is very hot, it was much less exhausting. After our tours, we returned to the train for our comfortable ... read more

Today we are off on a 45 minute train ride to the beautiful city of Madrid. Madrid is the capital and largest city in Spain with a population in the city of roughly 3.3 million and with a metro area population of almost 6.5 million. Madrid is best known for its great cultural and artistic heritage but also boasts some of the liveliest nightlife in the world. On arrival at the main train station in Madrid Allison and Patrick purchased train tickets to Malaga for the next day. Unfortunately tomorrow they will be leaving us as the following day they fly back to Canada. We have had a wonderful time traveling with the two of them and they will be missed. After the train station we found a coffee spot in a pretty area where we ... read more

This morning we caught a 4 am taxi to the airport in Porto. We are flying with RyanAir for our flight to Madrid. On this flight Jim had to book a separate seat just for his guitar! RyanAir is a no frills airline, but they were on time and the plane was clean. We were met at the airport by Pablo, the exchange home owner of where we will be living for the next week. He drove us to his lovely home in Madrid and there he and his wife Gema offered us a coffee. Once coffee was done we jumped into one of their vehicles which we will be using for the next week and followed them to their second home in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. It is a big beautiful home on a ... read more

Today we doing our own walking tour of Porto. First stop is the famous Lello Bookstore which is considered one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. We had to book advanced tickets for it, because it is so popular. It was really amazing to see but too overcrowded to really enjoy it. Then we walked up past Carmo Church with its striking facade of azulejos (blue and white painted tiles) adorning its outside walls. As we wandered through the streets we came upon the beautiful square at Avenida dos Aliados. There we admired magnificent architecture of the buildings surrounding it. We walked on past the very old Church of Saint Ildefonso and then Chapel of Souls both with lovely azulejo tiles. Bolhao Market, which dates back to 1850, was next on our list to ... read more

Up early as today we are off to the town of Sintra. Sintra is a picturesque Portuguese town that is set amidst the pine-covered hills of the Serra de Sintra. This hilly and slightly cooler climate enticed the nobility and elite of Portugal, who constructed exquisite palaces, extravagant residences and decorative gardens. We boarded a train for the 45 minute journey. Once in Sintra town we caught a bus to our first destination, Quinta da Regaleira palace, which is a decorative stately home but for us the main attraction was the elaborate grounds. The gardens are filled with mystic symbolism and hidden features which include secret tunnels, Gothic towers and stone fortified walls. Our first objective was to get to the Initiation Well before it got to busy with other tourists. The well is 27 metres ... read more