Segovia, Spain has a rich architectural legacy, including an exquisite gothic cathedral, a castle which inspired Disney, and a stunningly preserved double decker Roman aqueduct. Unlike Salamanca, this UNESCO world heritage city, Segovia is inundated with tourists, which is no surprise considering its one-hour proximity from Madrid and its offerings. It is also the home of the “suckling pig.” The…
For four centuries, the distinguished and elegant university town of Salamanca (population 150,000) attracted prestigious names such as conquistador Hernán Cortés (Yeah, the guy that wiped out the Aztec Empire) and Christopher Columbus who came here in 1486 on a fruitless attempt to get the university to fund his exploration plans. The town, draped in a seductive sandstone, deteriorated for…
It’s phenomenal what can happen in your life when you just will it to happen. And, sometimes things serendipitously cruise along at the perfect time, with the perfect people and the perfect place. We feel this way about this last minute housesit in rural Castelo Branco, Portugal, a place we never would have gone otherwise, and is an example of…
From Porto, we hopped a one hour train ride north to the town of Braga, a lively city which is one of the oldest in the country dating more than 2000 years. In fact, in the Middle Ages it competed in power and importance with Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Its cathedral is the oldest in the country built in…
Porto is one of those cities that is dripping with European charm...red roof tops, contrasting sapphire blue waters, port wine flowing like water, and azulejos bedecking every other surface you encounter. It has a long and fascinating history as a port city, endless captivating colors and pedestrian thoroughfares dotting the spaces near the Douro River. It's undoubtedly immensely walkable, and…
Well, we’d narrowly succeeded in dragging ourselves five days down the Salkantay Trek to Aguas Calientes, so now it was time for the Grand Finale…Machu Picchu herself. We’d both been waiting our whole lives for this! Of course, as we’d learned on the trek, nothing comes easy (without dropping buckets of dough) around these parts. But after navigating a ridiculous…
We came to Peru from Colombia basically because we wanted to experience it, particularly Machu Picchu, before all the crowds return following COVID. While this had proven to be pretty successful, we knew that planning our trekking routes would be a little more challenging considering it was low (aka rainy) season, which runs from December-March. However, we also read that…
Any true traveler has “suffered” through a budget airline. We use quotes because we realize flying is privilege (which we’re grateful for) no matter what sort of jet box you’re gliding through the air on. In our travels, we have been on many, but perhaps none so restrictive or annoying as Viva Air. If you’re familiar with budget travel in…
