There is not a lot of things to do, with the exception of the national pastime of drinking coffee. The strip is packed with cafes, one next to the other and all will have patrons sipping espressos at every hour of the day. There are more coffee shops here per capita than anywhere in the…

After our first two days in Albania it was off to Vlore by bus, which is how most Albanians travel if not by car. The bus station in Tirana is buzzing with loads of people smoking, drivers awaiting their passengers or those for their buses to take off. There are no particular times for departure,…

The day of travel from Milan was exhausting. We caught the train to Malpensa airport after a 15 minute uber, the train takes 35 minutes from the main station. It is the best deal to get to the airport, tickets are only 14€, where a cab would set you back 80€. The train was stuffy…

There are an abundance of churches here in Milan, nearly matching Portugal, but the facades are mainly brick instead of the dazzling tiles of the Portuguese. Inside however is a completely different story. The basilicas range from gothic, romanesque and baroque, or sometimes a combination of all three. Beautiful vaulted ceilings elaborately decorated with frescoes…

I had already been getting used to cooking on a two range hot plate from when we were in Porto. This place was no different, I say this because calling it a stove top would be generous. I have been becoming increasingly creative when making our meals, in Milan there is an abundance of beautiful…

Getting to Milan was a breeze. It was just a 20 minute uber to the Porto airport, which to me is hands down the best airport in the world so far. Security only took a few moments, as there was no one in line. The security agents were cheerful and friendly, one recognized the Arch…

It had been awhile since Mark had eaten a hotdog, so I agreed to take one for the team and join him one evening at Frankie. You can get a choice of frank, brat, chicken, or soy dog which is great but I am not too big into fake sausage so I opted to go…

The green spaces and Porto transport you to another time. All of the gardens are meticulously maintained and even in December there are blooms. The Jardins do Palacio de Cristal in front of Super Bock Stadium are home to peacocks and peahens that freely roam the area. The gardens are filled with fountains, flowering trees…

You could just spend your days walking around and never need to go into a museum. Every street has a church, from Gothic to Baroque and everything in between. Sightseeing is inexpensive here, a few Euros will grant entry to most churches and museums. There is always a free day or afternoon each month, so…

There was a brief panic after booking our tickets for the train, a rail strike was planned the 30th of November, the day we were leaving Lisbon. As our luck would have it, our train was one of the few (25% of trains that day) that was still running. A wave of relief washed over…