Renato and I decided to visit Europe for our honeymoon to explore places and visit friends along the way. We went to Amsterdam, London, Lisbon, Portimão, and Porto. Throughout our travels, the topic of North American car-culture came up alot. We admired the bike infrastructure in the Netherlands and extensive train networks in Europe. Though we also realized that many European cities are quite car centric as well.
It was freezing when we arrived in Amsterdam! Coming from Canada we expected milder temperatures and didn’t pack for full-on winter weather. Train and metro stations weren't heated so it felt just as cold inside as outside. Good thing we were staying a quick stop from Centraal station in the Nord (North). Some of the fun things we did in Amsterdam included a self-guided walking tour, going to IJburg (a modern neighbourhood with floating homes), and the Stedelijk Museum for modern and contemporary art. We also took a day trip to Utrecht and met up with my friend Baskaran who teaches at the university there.
There was always a constant drizzle and cold temperatures when we were in Amsterdam. Yet it was inspiring to see how people continued to bike everywhere no matter what the weather conditioners were. For that reason the Netherlands is on a bucket list of cities to live in.
Getting from Amsterdam to London was uncertain due to train strikes. Luckily the shut down happened the day after we arrived. We stayed with my friend Alina in her lovely apartment in Greenwich. On Christmas Eve we walked non-stop around what seemed like an abandoned city. It was eerie to walk into King’s Cross and not see trains listed on the boards. Of course the Harry Potter Platform 9¾ still had tourists taking photos.
Christmas day was really fun because we stayed home making dinner all day. Alina was dog sitting (Luna) so we had a furry friend keeping us company. We watched Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. It wasn't as good as the first.
While in London we had to eat at Dishoom. Alina knew exactly what to order and our tummies were pleased. Renato and I also got tickets to see the Back to the Future musical. While an unconventional choice, it was funny and had cool digital backdrops when Marty travelled back and forth in time.
From London we flew to Lisbon and travelled within Portugal. Shortly after we boarded, the pilot said that we had to sit for several hours on the runway before taking off due to rainy weather conditions in Lisbon 🤷♀️. It ended up being a long flight. I found the vibe of Lisbon to be very relaxed though. It’s an old city with lots of charm. We frequently walked to a small park near where we stayed called Jardim Fialho de Almeida. There were restaurants and bars surrounding this park and we ate at two of them. One thing we had to get used to were the later eating times. Everything starts and ends later! Arriving to dinner at 7pm is not a thing, it's when restaurants just start opening up.
After a few days in Lisbon we went south to Portimão in the Algarve region and visited Renato's friend. We were originally planning to visit them in a small town called Figueira da Foz on the west coast but they ended up moving south on late notice. Portimão was all beaches and cliffs where we were. It was very serene. We spent New Years Eve all together and hiked the scenic beach area full of large rock formations.
My first impression of Porto was gloomy because it was a cloudy morning. The older facades of the buildings were not as vibrant as I thought. But Porto's beauty quickly grew on me as the sun came out and streets filled up. The smaller scale feeling compared to Lisbon had its own charm.
Perhaps the funniest moment was seeing a giant seagull snatch an entire sandwich from a little girl and proceed to eat it right in front of her. The girl was so angry she stomped her feet at the bird, but with no success. Seagulls can be quite aggressive and scary in touristic areas of Europe!
On our last full day we visited the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, a modern art museum. We spent the entire afternoon there because it was so large with an entire garden full of installations (like a giant shovel). That evening we went to a restaurant called Emotivo Restaurante where we were asked to pick a region in Portugal through a game that determined the menu for the night. It was great and solidified that the best part about Portugal was the food.
