Day 4: Porto

For this morning we actually had an alarm set, maybe that was decided after I had fallen asleep but anyway it was good to get up a bit earlier.  We started the day with what we thought was a breakfast for us.  Ended up we were suppose to sign up for breakfast instead of just show up.  Oh the things that don't get explained when there isn't a common language among hotel workers and us.  Oh well.  Feeling a bit bad about the situation we decided to leave and started to head our for our walking tour beginning point. Our first stop was a church that we had spent some time yesterday sitting on the steps trying to figure out where we were.  Today we climbed into and up the tower for a view of the city.  It was a nice view.  Not the nicest of steps to climb but was worth the trip up.   Next the tour sent us wandering through different streets and looking at different points of interest.  Some very nice buildings and finally leading us over the bridge t the other side of the river.  Here we took a short break to sit and watch a man deal with a box filled with bees.  It almost seemed like he had taken his bees for a walk down to the river, something happened and he dropped the box, and now had to figure out what to do with them.  Of course this is not the true story but the one we created for him.   From here we moved on upward to a port winery called Taylor's where we would go on a tour and also have the chance to sample different types of port.  Being in Porto it was a logical adventure for us to go on.  We arrived early and decided to do the tasting before going on the tour.  We were introduced to 3 types of port: a white, fruity red and a cognac-tasting one.  By now of course I can only remember that the white is to be served cold and the other two reds can be served either lightly chilled or not chilled at all.  My favorite was the white one but the other two were also nice.  As we finished pour three small glasses the tour was  going to begin.  On the tour we got to see where the port is put to age and how the different vats look.  Interestingly enough for one certain port, the vats that are used are first used for making house wine, then they are used for port and finally can be made for making cognac.  Our tour guide was filled with information and it was interesting to hear about all the different types. After the tour we decided to try a mixed drink that contained one of the red ports, tonic water, ice and mint leaves.  It was quite nice.  We sat outside in the garden and enjoyed the warm sun with this mixed drink.  After finishing our drinks we proceeded back down the hill to the river to find something light to eat.  Not being very successful we decided to return to the food store to get some lunch and then back to our room to relax and eat for a bit. Later in the evening we headed back down to the river to eat dinner.  We found this nice place that looked like all their tables were reserved but as the waiter noticed that we were going to stay he took the reserved sign away and he seated us there.  After dinner we returned back to our room to enjoy some port that we had bought earlier in the day and this massive cookie we had found in Coimbra.  It was a nice way to finish off our days in Porto.   It's a nice city that I would come back to in the future.  Tomorrow we have an early train back to Lisbon.

Day 3: Porto

After a good night sleep we were ready to explore Porto.  With our maps in hand a book in our bag.  We headed out the door to first find something for breakfast.  Store owners here really dent have good English.  We had to do a lot of pointing and attempting to pronounce what is written on the menu.  After successfully getting some food we began our wander around the city.  The city of hill exploration continued.  Every where we went it was either and up or down climb but we did find a funicular to ride up with at one point which was a nice change to walking.  By late afternoon we were a bit tired and decide to visit our local food store for some snacks and then to head back to our room to relax for a bit. In the evening only my brother and I decided to go out to look for dinner.  We decided to stay decently close to our area but soon realized that little is far away. Though the problem is that dinner culture in this are of the world is to have dinner late which makes it hard for tourists.  As we wandered around looking, we started to notice that there were a few other groups of tourists also looking for a place eat.  In the end we gave in to a decently priced place and started the trend.  Dinner ended up being nothing special but filling.   We returned to our room to plan out our final day in Porto which would include a walking tour and a Wine tour.

Day 2: en route to Porto

Oh what a long night.  Trying to sit and sleep is never easy.  The seats were decently comfortable but the temperature fluctuated between warm and cool. Upon arriving to Lisbon we once again reserved out train tickets to Coimbria and then finally ending the day pin Porto. Coimbra is this cute little city that is filled with hills and is pretty much a university town.  As we walked down the main walking street we were followed by musicians playing music for everyone's enjoyment.  It added to the atmosphere.  Being Sunday it was very quiet all around, but also the city is known as a university city so that also added to the empty streets.  A few weeks ago we would have been right in the middle of the end of the year celebrations. After wandering around, we boarded the train again to head over to Porto.  An hour latter we were in Porto.  After dropping off our things at our hotel we went out to wander to find something for dinner.  Being a Sunday it proved to be challenging but in the end we found a nice little place that had really good white sangria, along with dinner foods and finally ending the night with dessert.

Day 1: Madrid

Today began what seems like days ago.  We had an early flight from Riga to Madrid and arrived here at 10:00ish.  We decided that the first thing that we need to do was to reserve all of our train tickets.  Since we already have a Eurail pass, all we need is the reservation.  This is where each country differs in how they deal with Eurail pass users.  In Germany we just needed to get on the train, but since here, in Spain and Portugal, they have assigned seating and we needed to make all of the reservations.  Before leaving Latvija we had planned out ton the minute which trains we were going to take and where we were going which made the reservation process a lot faster.  We lucked out and got all the trains that we had planned on.  The only thing was that we waited for nearly 3 for our number to be called so that we could make these reservations.  Thankful the train station has places to eat and bank machines so we could really take care of everything. Once our reservations were made, we were off to wander the city.  A few days prior to the trip my iPhone decided to stop working.  I restored it twice in once week and upon the third time that it wanted to restore, it was not able to go through the entire process and now doesn't even turn on.  So I was hoping to fix this in Madrid because they have an actual Apple store and not just a reseller like in Riga.  So we headed out to try and do that first.  Unfortunately to find out that the Apple store is out side of the city and quite a trip to get there.  So my hope of getting it fixed in Madrid was put on hold.  I hope to now fix it in Barcelona.   So we decided to head to the down town area to wander around and to find sangria.  Oh sangria how I love thee!!  We didn't have a set plan because we would be back in Madrid later on in the trip to really see the sights. After wandering for a few hours, we found dinner and finally made our way back to the train station.  Our first leg of the trip would be Portugal.  Armed with a few snacks and bottles of water be grabbed our things and settled into our seats for the over night trip to Lisbon.  Not the most comfortable trip but it was fine.

Back in the motherland

The excitement about coming back to Latvia made the last few days in Kuwait easy to get through.  My only biggest worry was about my cat.  Tie vet in Kuwait had in formed me that she might be quarantined upon arriving in Latvia because she was traveling from outside of then EU.  Out flight was delayed by 3 hours in istanbul which made the trip that began at 3 am even longer.  They had us all board the bus to go to the airplane only to turn the bus around and drop us back off at the terminal.  Due to technical problems with the plane we had to wait an extra 3 hours to have it fixed.  The flight attendant for the second flight fell in love with her. He wanted to feed her and kept checking on her to make sure she was doing ok.  Upon landing in Latvia I collected my bags and went to declare that I had a cat travel.  They scanned her chip and checked over all the papers that I had.  I think they were slightly confused about it all but in the end looked at everything and wished us a great summer back in Latvia. We have both truly enjoyed being back. The first week I didn't really do anything other than read and sleep on a blanket on the lawn outside of my summer home.  The weather was perfect and I was able to get a head start on the literacy online course that I have decided to take. Still need to buckle down and sign up for a masters degree.  All still in the plans for the rest of the summer weeks in Latvia. Near the end of my first week back my best friend flew in and my dad finished off his trip that he was on with a youth group traveling around Latvia.  Wit was nice to have these two people now to hang out with.  Living alone is nice but I would rather have company.  We celebrated the Latvian traditional holiday of "ligo".  Traditionally you are suppose to stay up to see the sunrise, but since it was cloudy we all gave up around 3 am, which is pretty close when you think about it. My father and I also took a road trip down to Daugavpil, to see where his dad worked and to meet up with an old friend.  I miss road trips and enjoyed just driving through Latvia again.  At the end of this week my brother arrived for his annual summer trip to the mother land.  With a few days to spend together we met up with our distant relatives and just hung out wandering around the old town. It was sad to see my dad leave knowing that I wont see him till december but I could tell that he too was ready to go home.  It was good to at least spend the week and a half with him.  Now it's down to the dynamic trio and next up is our big Spain and Portugal trip.  I hope to post daily updates about that.  Pictures will only be added upon arriving back back though.

End of year 1 in Kuwait

I can't believe how quickly the school year went by.  To already be back in Latvia and the green is unbelievable.  The first year truly flew by.  Getting settled into the country and ASK was easier than I thought it would be.  Time really does fly when your having fun.  I can't say that I am a huge fan of Kuwait but working at my school has been fantastic.  Friendly people and wonderful children to work with.  If it wasn't for the school atmosphere then I don't think I would have lasted the year. It was sad to let go of my class this year.  They really were a great group of kind and caring students.  Some of them are off to different countries, while others are staying in Kuwait and I will be able to see them around. Honestly where did the year go?!

Spring break

Living in s country with so little do to, you would think that I would at least be able to keep up a blog about school things.  But here it is already 3 weeks into summer break, I have long since left Kuwait for the summer and only now have a chance to write updates. Over spring break my parents came to visit.  They had wanted to see what see what the Arab world is like and this was the perfect opportunity.  I gave them only one requirement: we would have to leave Kuwait also.  With that being said we planned pour trip to Dubai. Kuwait doesn't have much to offer for tourist attraction but  among he first few days I took them top see my school which they really enjoyed.  Mom especially loved my starboard.  After spending some time wandering around school we went for the afternoon to the heritage souk.  There we wandered the streets looking at scarfs and looking for saffron.  We also took an evening trip down to Fahaheel to have dinner and to have a look out onto the sea.  during the first few days we also went to the aquarium and to an IMAX movie about the hajj.  It was interesting to see what that trip must have been like and to think t ourselves what it might be like now for the people who go to visit Mecca. Before leaving for Dubai we took a walk around my neighborhood.  My area doesn't have much to offer for w nice walk.  My neighborhood is still being built.  We don't really even have proper streets yet.  We took a walk down to the gulf road and out onto the nearest "beach" were dad quickly realized why we don't go there to swim.  The beach is anything but nice, it is very dirty!  After our walk we went home made something to eat and get ready to go to the airport.  Dubai looks like something out of the Jetsons.  Very futuristic, tall buildings that go on for days a very very modern.  Coming from Kuwait I could tell that this was a purpose built city.  Everything was very nice and clean and greener than Kuwait.  The morning after we arrived we were sitting at breakfast just doing our own thing and out of the blue my colleague approaches us and tells us that she has a car and nothing to do that day.  She was more than willing to drive us around and show us some of the sights.  With her we were able to visit 5 out of the 7 Emirates.  We had the chance to see the desert, camels crossing the road and even the mountains of Oman.  This also gave my parents the chance to ask her all sorts of Arab related questions because my colleague has been living in Kuwait for the past few years and knows a lot about the local culture and way of life.  In the end the day was a success. For our second day in Dubai we had arranged with a guy from the hotel for a personal tour around Dubai.  We were driven around in a very nice Lexus and shown all the main sights.  We really got to see everything and even things the tour buses wouldn't go to.  My favorite was going to the gate of the Amir's palace were there were hundreds of peacocks just freely wandering around.  Every where you looked there they were sitting in trees, sleeping among the flowers, or just wandering around.  We finished off the at at the Burj Kalife by going up to the highest point in Dubai.  Now that is a view!  In have had the chance to go to the top of many places around the world but this one you truly could see very very far.  Seeing the city at nice was also neat. On our final day in Dubai we decided to take the subway down to city's center and continue to wander around.  We went to the aquarium, which was nice but at the same time nothing too special.  We went to also find the souk to wander around.  It was different then the one in Kuwait but still interesting to see.  By the end of the day we were exhausted and ready to go to the airport to go back to Kuwait.  Upon arriving back into Kuwait and while waiting for my parents to get their visa, I noticed a group of boys from India observing me.  Now I have pretty much grown used to being watched (white, blonde, female . . . I kind of stand out in a crowd) so I was not bothered by it.  My mom finished first and she found it fascinating.  One of the boys approached us and asked if my mom could take a picture.  My mom though that they wanted a group shot of the boys . . .  No no they wanted pictures with me.  So I stuck a pose as the guys surrounded me ready for group shots and individuals.  Once again a common occurrence for me in the middle east. During the last few days of my parents trip, we visited the Kuwait Towers, which gave us an interesting perspective of the city. They aren't the tallest landmarks of the city, but one of them still holds water while the other has been made into an observation deck.  Once again I was asked to pose with people in a picture, just this time with a group of Asian females and a very cute little girl who asked her mom to ask me.  I will have to start charging per picture.  We continued to walk along the coast just to see an area that has been developed and made to look nice. Overall I think my parents enjoyed the trip to both Kuwait and to Dubai.  It was good also to get away from Kuwait and to see another Arab country.