Spain. Portugal. The Jurassic Coast. Stonehenge. Salisbury. Part 4- The English adventures/ End of the trip

I got back from Portugal on a Thursday afternoon with a great surprise awaiting me! Ben was at my terminal, waiting for me so that I didn't have to take the train back on my own.
And then the next day (Friday) we were off! I really didn't know where we were going- it was a surprise to me. But I found out on Saturday that we were spending the day along the Jurassic Coast.

Poole:

 Durdle Door:

 Lulworth Cove:

Fossil hunting along the Jurassic Coast:

And I found a fossil!!!! If you look closely, it looks like a fish :)

Lyme Regis:

Do you see all the people? Well, Lyme Regis IS a beach town, but its little. There usually aren't this many people. We accidentally stumbled upon a Red Bull sponsored water sports show. So we watched it for awhile and enjoyed the sun.

The next day, we headed to Stonehenge and Salisbury (which is famous for its cathedral):

Stonehenge:

Salisbury:

A cute little town!



Sadly, we made the trek home which means I had to go back to the real world and back to work.

Since them, I've been preparing for the conference in October- This includes hearing that I received a travel grant! Everyone likes a little free money in their life :)! On the sadder side, I've had to say good bye to two good friends- Chad and Fernanda. And besides those things, life has been pretty normal.

I hope you have enjoyed the travel blogs. Sadly, it might be awhile until another one comes around...
 

Spain. Portugal. The Jurassic Coast. Stonehenge. Salisbury. Part 3- Lisbon and Porto

Unfortunately, the trip around Spain had come to an end.
But the trip around Portugal was just beginning! To be honest, I didn't have high expectations of Portugal. I really thought the highlights of the trip were going to be in Spain. But I was so wrong! I loved Portugal! It is very underrated, but that's why its so amazing. The culture is SO rich there and that's because there aren't nearly as many tourists forcing the cities to modernize. I highly recommend Portugal. Both Lisbon and Porto are great :)

Lisbon:

 Pictured above: The Alfama district. Colorful and beautifully tiled!

 ...and hilly.

 My new food addiction- Pasteis de Nata. I literally miss these custard tarts every day.

 Ginjinha is a cherry liqueur that is pretty intense, but good too. And this is the original shop.

Pictured below is a city view of the Barrio Alto district

 More Pasteis de Nata. These are the famous ones in Belem. Truth be told though, the ones closer to our hostel were better. Don't always trust the travel guides!!!

 Loved the cable cars!

 In the Monastery in Belem. This is the most famous area of the monastery- the cloister.

 More cloister.
Pictured below is the tomb of de Gama- the famous navigator!

 Pictured above is my FAVORITE Fado singer!!!

 The three of us at the top of the Tower of Belem

 The guitars used in Fado. And the drunken old man who became friends with us throughout the night.

 Me being too tall (typical) to fit in the Tower of Belem.

 Cutesy pose at the Tower.

I think I should explain Fado a little bit. It is famous in Portugal- a music made with the two different guitars pictured above and a singer who basically is lyrically lamenting. When done correctly, it is beautiful. We went to a local bar and listened to a bunch of different Fado singers perform. We ended up staying for 5 hours! It was probably my favorite part of the trip, if I had to pick one.
Also- because this really does deserve an honorable mention- YOU MUST EAT PASTEIS DE NATA AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE. Seriously, if you have a bucket list- add it to the list. Its life changing and I'm not even joking about that.


Porto:

 This amazingly beautiful, hand-painted tile room is.... a train station. Let me repeat. This is a train station. The tiling is so so so amazing here.

 Completely hand-painted tile church

 River front

 Loving the colors

 Boats!

 I feel like this picture speaks for itself. But.... Do you understand yet why I love Portugal so much???

 Since Port is grown in Porto (surprise surprise), we went wine tasting. This is Graham's oldest year. Only a few bottles left.

 The view from the winery.

 A ruby and two tawnys (that's Port talk for all you fancy pants)

 All of us wine tasting, with our new friend!

I really only got one full day in Porto. I would've loved another day, or even a half day, but I feel like I got to see the majority of the city.

And in a flash, the trip was over. I had to head back to England to continue work on my PhD. However, luckily for me, I still had a few English adventures to go on before work really started back up again.

Watch this space for the next travel-related post!