Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon was both the first and last stop on our tour of Portugal in October 2015. (Itinerary HERE!) 

We didn't spend a ton of time in Lisbon, as we wanted to check out as much of the country as possible... so we had a half day in Lisbon the day we landed, and another half day when we returned from Porto. We will definitely return to Lisbon to check out more of the city, as what we did see of the city was fantastic.

Panorama of Lisbon from one of the many view points.

London: Meantime Brewing Company

I've mentioned Meantime on the blog before, but hubby and I were talking about beer and London a few days ago and it reminded me just how much we'd loved our tour. So, I figured they deserve their very own post!

Hubby and I, along with SD, hit up a tour at the Meantime Brewing Company last October. SD suggested it, and since hubby loves Greenwich so much, we figured it was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon! The tour costs 20£, and was absolutely worthwhile.

8 Nights in Portugal: An Overview

When hubby and I started planning our trip to Portugal last October, we changed our itinerary about a half dozen times. We knew we had 8 nights, but there was so much we wanted to see!

 Landing in Lisbon

We went back and forth - should we do four nights each in Lisbon and Porto, with accompanying day trips and exploring from each base? Should we work our way around the country with a night in each location? How hard would it be to incorporate a quick overnight to Gibraltar and Morocco? In the end, we decided this hopefully wouldn't be our only trip to Portugal, but we wanted to get a small taste of different parts. We settled on two nights each in Lisbon, Lagos, Sintra and Porto, with the nights in Lisbon book-ending the rest.

Travel Photo Tuesday: Red Beach, Santorini

Greece was amazing! We had a really great time on our girls' trip, and I'm sure there will be many blog posts to come on this amazing trip. Today's photo is from one of the really unique beaches we made it to on the islands - Red Beach on Santorini. The coasts and beaches there were so amazing due to all the volcanic rock.

Greece Girl's Trip: The Packing List

We're going on vacation! Yes, yes, I know it's not exactly unusual for someone who writes a travel blog to be going on a trip. But. This is a girls' vacation, and I am thrilled. There are a couple of us going who don't travel regularly, so a few weeks ago, they asked me what I would be packing.

 For this trip, swimsuits and a sun hat are a must! (I don't typically bring a hat like this with me unless I'm going to be beaching. Also, I'm bringing two swim suits, because I've been to humid climates where suits don't dry overnight, and there's very little more annoying than putting on a wet bathing suit!)

Now, that's sort of a loaded question. I'm a firm believer that what you pack is pretty personal and varied, so this list is what I would bring with me. In addition to that, what you pack is also pretty dependent on where you're going, and when. Perfect case in point: I'm packing for a spring trip to the Greek Islands. If I were packing for a fall trip to London, my bag would be drastically different! My best advice is to take your itinerary (even if it's rough!) and try to figure out what you'd be comfortable in for each day/adventure.

London to Brussels: The Chunnel Train

The Chunnel train is something that both Hubby and I were super excited to go on. We both love public transportation, and trains, and it seemed like the ultimate one - a train that goes under a channel!

 Inside the "standard" class car on the Eurostar train.

TRAVEL TIP: Buying train tickets in Europe for "long" trips (1.5 hours +) is almost always cheaper if you buy in advance online. Also - if you don't have a credit card with a chip (a lot of US banks are now issuing them), leave time to go into the ticket booth, as the ticket kiosks usually only take chip cards. When we were in Belgium, we missed two trains from Brussels to Bruges because we had to hunt down the ticket office and then stand in line!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Tower Bridge, London

Tower Bridge, London

It seems as if I've been on a bit of a London kick lately! We had a really nice time in London last October, I think when you have good friends in a place it makes that place 8x better for you. Anyway, Tower bridge is one of my favorite places in London - there's just something about it that I love so much! I took this shot from a boat back to London from Greenwich - something I highly recommend!

Travel Photo Tuesday: London Eye

The London Eye & Big Ben

Walking along the river in London is one of my absolute favorite things to do there. I don't know what it is - there's just a lot of life and bustle and so many things to see! Stop off for a cup of coffee or tea, a beer or cider, a bite to eat, or to just sit for a few minutes and people watch... so many options!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Brooklyn Bridge

One of my absolute favorite places in New York is the Brooklyn Bridge. There's just something about it - the light posts, the wooden planks, it's just really neat. I took the train from Manhattan to Brooklyn, then walked back to Manhattan. The skyline views were awesome, and you could even see the Statue of Liberty in the distance!

Travel Photo Tuesday: Bruges

Bruges was a super cute, VERY touristy town. We enjoyed our time there, but would likely not stay for more than a night if we were to visit again. Also, it's pretty pricey there! We ordered mussel frites one night and paid about €20, while in Cannes later in the trip, we paid €12 for more mussels!

Greece: A Girls' Trip Itinerary!

Shorty has a big birthday coming up, and she's been dreaming of a trip to Greece for years now, so she decided to make it happen and just go!

She put together the itinerary she wanted to do, the things that were the most important to see on her first trip to Greece, and then she sent it to a bunch of us, and we all picked the parts that we're able to make it to. It ended up working really well that way, because everyone had different dates, responsibilities, budgets, and this way there was no pressure on it!

London: Getting Around

Let me first say this: London is crazy. It's a very cool, vibrant, amazing city, and it was so incredible to see our friends, our first trip there in 2012 was NOT a relaxing trip! We got better with the additional visits, and now I feel like we're pros!

 The Piccadilly line on a map of London

GETTING AROUND
When I was thinking about what I wanted to express about our trips to London, one of the biggest things ended up being something I really wasn't expecting - getting around the city.

London: The City and Sights

London is a very interesting place. 

It's beautiful, with a mix of old and modern, clean and dodgy, quiet and crazy.

When we returned from our first trip in 2012, there was a lot about London that we hadn't liked. The rush. The rude people. The occasional feel of being in "just any" big city.

Travel Photo Tuesday: Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Today's Travel Photo Tuesday is from Titikaveka beach in Rarotonga, Cook Islands! Hubby and I spent 8 nights in the Cook Islands for our honeymoon, and it was the most relaxing and near perfect vacation I've ever been on! This afternoon was warm, peaceful, and a little windy - and was towards the end of our trip. We spent it wandering around, snorkeling, and relaxing!

Someday, I'll catch up.

Wow. So things have been absolutely insane over the last few years. We've been doing our fair share of traveling, and I've been very neglectful of writing about it!

What have we been up to the last couple years?

2013:
I made a New Year's resolution to do at minimum a small trip every month, and I did pretty well! Not only did we do some really fun weekend trips, including a road trip to Arizona, and a quick overnight trip to Savannah while I was in Atlanta for work, but we also snuck Europe in there in October when I went to a business conference in Cannes. Hubby and I tacked on London, Bruges, and Paris to Cannes, and it was really fun.

Bruges, Belguim, October 2013