Scones, Teacakes, and Cookies...Oh My!

I got the kindest birthday gift to try out Betty's Cookery School.  You  may remember that Betty's has the world-famous tea in town and a fancy bakery and cooking school outside of town.  They have an amazing array of classes - from fancy entertaining courses to baking classes!  We selected an awesome baking class that included a full day of baking a chocolate raspberry cake, teacup cookies (aka biscuits), and sultana scones with rhubarb / ginger compote.  The entire day was also filled with a Betty's teas, snacks, and lunch.  There were just 12 in the class with two instructors, so we all got lots of hands-on instruction.  It was an amazing, posh, and informative day (if a bit calorie laden!) .

Here are snaps from today:

A happy welcome onto campus!

The beautiful demonstration kitchen:

Cooking stations for 12:

Stirring begins...

Raspberry chocolate cakes come out of the oven:

...and cookies go into the oven!

...icing was harder than it looked...P was much better than me!

Final product...

Happy, happy bakers:

Madeira: Paradise Found

Madeira is a perfect, Portuguese paradise 180 miles off the coast of Morocco.  I read an article a year ago on CNN that inspired me to add Madeira to my bucket list.  It was absolutely worth the trip - the scenery was stunning, the people friendly, and the food incredible.  Here are a few of my favorite snaps:

This hike...amazing:

Amazing mountainside village from our jeep tour:

Paradise found:

See the terraced banana plants above Ribera Brava.  Explosion of color:

We got in the heated pool at the resort to end a day...and tried out our new action cam:

Brilliant colors of sunset:

Natural lava pools at Porto Moniz:

View from our hotel room:

Crazy shot of me in a waterfall from P's fancy camera:

Beyond the incredible seafood, they also have a specialty of amazing skewered steak...at this restaurant, it was hung from the ceiling...yum!

If You Go: Madeira

We had such a wonderful, unstructured exploration of Madeira.  We rented a car and drove around the tiny, death-defying roads that twisted and turned through the mountains.  Here are our recommendations and the itinerary:

Hotel 

Porto Del Mare: A beautiful resort within walking distance of Funchal.  The grounds were immaculate and we just wished we were there in nicer weather to enjoy more of the pools / sun loungers.  Also - breakfast was fab!  ($200/night)

Restaurants 

Restaurante Doca do Cavacas: This cliffside restaurant outside of Funchal has amazing views.  We went late a night so the view was of glimmering lights, but it's supposed to be fabulous at sunset.  We enjoyed the grilled calamari, praws, and octopus.  The white wine from the island is fantastic!

Med Restaurant: We rarely go to hotel restaurants, but this restaurant in our resort was in the top 10 on Trip Advisor.  The atmosphere was lovely - intimate and well decorated.  The food was beautifully presented...P loved the Tuna and the dessert was stunning

Things to Do 

Up Mountain Jeep Tours: We did an amazing half day tour around the island.  It's a very small tour - and you stand in the back of an open air jeep driving up crazy, off road paths around the mountains.  It was highly enjoyable and we never would have been able to see these spots without the tour.  It's inexpensive and fabulous

Ponta de Sao Lourence: This was a wonderful 2 hour hike - we only got about half way through the path before it began to get dark.  If you want to do the whole hike, it would take about 5 hours -- it was moderately strenuous - definitely bring sturdy shoes, but you don't need to be an expert hiker.

Monte's Palace: There are two botanic gardens on Madeira.  This one was beautiful - tropical with a beautiful orchid garden, oriental decoration, and waterfalls.  My only regret was that we didn't take the cable car up...the road to get there was insanely dangerous.  Also, suggest arriving when it first opens...cruise ship hoards seemed to arrive around 12:00 pm

Porto Muniz: This is about an hour from Funchal, the city is neat with all kinds of calm lava pools.  If you were there in the summer it would be a great place to swim, but in the winter, it was a lovely spot for photos.  Along the path to Porto Muniz, there are many beautiful spots to take photos!

Art, Churros, and a New Year!

What surprised us the most about Madrid?  The amount of art!  We were stunned at the size and scale of the collections of the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen Gallery.  It was easy to get lost in these museums for days and not run out of beautiful works to see.   We also loved the graceful architecture, amazing tapas, and of course... churros!  Here are our favorite snaps from our 5 days there:

The beautiful hand painting in the basilica...loved the stunning colors:

Beautiful Iberian Jamon from our food tour!  Yum! 

Beautiful main post office building...refugees welcome...and it was lit up for Christmas too!

A sweet-filled Christmas market...Dulce Navidad is right! 

Mmmmm...chocolate and churros:

Beautiful day in Retiro Park:

Blue skies over the Crystal Palace: 

...and a Dali for the road:

If You Go: Madrid

For months P wanted to visit Madrid to visit the art at the Prado and specifically see Picasso's El Greco.  After visiting every Picasso museum in the world, we had not visited this master piece.  If you know my husband, you know he is (nearly) always right and always accurate.  So, we booked a trip to Madrid and the first item on our list was visiting the Prado.  After hours walking around and no sign of Picasso or any other artist like him... P looked it up online and found it was actually in another museum in Madrid.  HA!  Luckily we had time to visit all three of the major art museums in Madrid as well as a number of smaller galleries.  Madrid is up there with Paris and Rome for the amount of masterpieces resident in its city boundaries... Picasso, Miro, Renoir... amazing!

Hotel 
NH Paseo del Prado: We splurged on this five star hotel since we spent New Year's Eve in Madrid.  It's in an amazing location - you can see the Prado from the hotel and its walking distance to the rest of Madrid.  Highly recommend (though admittedly a splurge!)

Restaurants 
If it had been open, our dream was to go to Punto MX ...the only Michelin starred Mexican restaurant in Europe.  The Madid food scene is amazing, though admittedly, we just went to so-so restaurants since many were either booked or closed for the holiday.  Note that I booked an amazing restaurant for NYE, but it turned out I booked for January 31, not December 31.  Whoops!

Taberno Del Arco: This was well reviewed on Trip Advisor so we made reservations here.  The food was ok, but somewhat uninspired and the atmosphere was lacking.  That said, it did have one of the best Sangria's of my trip.

Pad Thai: After a week in Madrid, we were ready for some non-Spanish food.  This was a pretty decent Thai restaurant (bonus: open on New Year's Eve!).  My dish was ok, but P claims this to be the best Pad Thai he has eaten outside of Thailand

Museo de Jamon: This is a chain in Madrid, we stopped here for a quick lunch one day.  The food here was good, the atmosphere was a bit like a bar (but with delicious sandwiches of Iberian ham!).  Stop here if you are looking for something quick throughout your day!

Itinerary 

Day One
Mercado de San Miguel: You MUST stop here for lunch or dinner.  This market has about 50 tapas stands of every variety - cheese, croquettes, paella, seafood.  Don't expect to find a seat, but do expect to try some really interesting, new foods.  We had some amazing sardines and octopus pinxos, a set of 10 local cheeses, and the best croquettes I have had in my life. Come.Here.Eat!

Stroll Through the City + Campo Del Moro: We walked through the city, stopped at Plaza Mayor, visited Plaza Del Sol and finished at the Royal Palace.  It was a lovely walk and ended with a visit to Campo del Moro.  This is a large, empty park behind the Royal Palace, but had some amazing views (without the hoards of tourists!)

Devour Food Tour: Madrid: We love food tours.  This was an excellent tour with five stops for food and wine.  The guide was fantastic, it was a nice, small group, and the tour took us to restaurants we would never book ourselves.  Definitely worth it if you like food and wine!

Day Two 
Prado: We spent the entire day wondering the Prado.  If you like centuries old, religious art - this is the perfect place for you.  They have many of the Spanish masters - especially Goya - as well as some more recent, smaller paintings by Picasso.  This was high on our list, but I think we didn't do enough research - we are not "old" art people.

Day Three
Royal Palace: We booked a tour through the Royal Palace.  This was fantastic - the Frescoes are amazing.  Two words of advice: (1) Book online (the line for non booking was crazy town); and (2) get the audio guide.  It really did explain everything!

Gran Via: This was New Year's Eve - so many attractions were closed early, so we did a bit of shopping at the big box stores on Gran Via.  Corte Ingles in the Nordstrom equivalent of Madrid, it's in most major cities  and is definitely worth some time!

Day Four (New Year's Day!)
We took it slow to start 2017
Chocolateria San Gines:  This is the most famous churros shop in Madrid.  You have to stand in line to get your cup of chocolate and churros, but they are absolutely heavenly.  Like the Mercado, you must stop here and you must eat everything.  OMG.  This spot is open 24/7 - so there is no excuse!

Parque Buen Retiro: We strolled the beautiful pathways of Retiro Park - saw the huge central lake, visited the crystal palace, and saw beautiful black swans.  Stunning on a sunny day.

Day Five 
Saved our best day for last!
Museo Reina Sofia: This was where the elusive El Greco painting lived...along with modern masterpieces and up and coming Spanish artists.  We absolutely loved our time visiting here - buy tickets online, you can duck in and out for lunch too!

Thyssen Museum: We stopped here on a Monday afternoon - when it's actually free to the public and there was no line!  We both really enjoyed this personal collection - and we especially liked how it was organized by themes.  Because it's from a personal collection, P noted that he thought the pictures were more "pleasing" because there wasn't so much sad/death-related art (???)

Valencia: Sunshine + Street Art

We loved the warm weather, street art, and delicious food of Valencia.  If you have already hit Barcelona and Grenada...add Valencia to your list!  We really loved it...and selfishly, I got a lot of fabulous shopping done!

Flying into Valencia...beautiful turquoise water!

Clear blue skies over the Lonja de Sed:

Mmmm...the end of one of the best meals of 2016 at Central Bar:

Another amazing meal at a pintxo bar:

The amazing statues for Santa Semana...must be an incredible parade:

Taking the occasional work call...but at least it's by the beach:

Amazing sand castle...

Can't say I <3 bike riding, but it was worth it for this view:

Loved the street art and the special street ninjas...they were everywhere and adorable!

Love you, Valencia!

If You Go: Valencia

Going to warm-ish places post holidays is always a good idea!  We enjoyed our 3 days in Valencia - the 3rd largest city in Spain.  While we were there, it felt like there was nothing "big" there - no huge attraction, etc - but the days after our visit we realized how much we liked the city.  It had fantastic street art, great shopping, and an amazing mix of new and old architecture.  Below are a few tips for the city:

Hotel 

Hotel Vincci Lys: This hotel was fabulous!  The room was large, the location central, and the bed comfortable.  Really interesting decoration and in the heart of the shopping area!

Restaurants

Central Bar Tapas: This is a tapas bar in the Central Market - it is amazing and probably the best meal we had in Valencia.  Famous as it's run by a 3 Michelin Star Chef!  Make sure to arrive either early ish (11:30) or late ish 2:30 pm - to get a seat, otherwise you'll be in a very long line.  That said, the food is totally worth it.  Such a special meal!
Casa Roberto: Valencia is famous for inventing the paella dish so it's definitely the place to try paella.  Roberto's was fantastic - we enjoyed their seafood paella with shrimp, crayfish, and mussels.  Beware, fresh paella takes about an hour to make so make sure to plan appropriately!
Jamon, Jamon: This was a fabulously fun restaurant.  We had their set menu and the food was amazing.  The tapas were inventive, the jamon was delcious, and dessert was excellent!
Fum de Llum: This was a neat restaurant with fantastic patatas bravas, iberian ham, and steak.  We had a delicious meal!

Things to Do!

Lonja de Seda: This is their major, historical center.  Built in the 1400's, it has amazing column architecture and beautiful orange trees.  It will not take you long to walk through, but it's a neat spot.
Valencia Cathedral: The cathedral had stunning vaulted ceilings and some really neat stained glass, but the best part was going into the deep foundation within the museum next door to see the original church many, many centuries ago
Palau del Marques de Dos Aguas: This was a really neat museum / palace - with beautiful ceramics and rococo style decoration.
Central Market: The Central Market of Valencia is just beautiful!  Make sure to get a fresh "zuma" (aka juice) before it closes at 3 pm daily.  Also - see the restaurant recommendation above for the incredible tapas bar inside run by a 3 star chef
Corpus Museum: This was the most incredible stop!  It had about two dozen amazing statues that they carry during the easter parade.  They are huge and amazing to look at up close!  This was an amazing stop!
Biking to the City of Arts and Sciences: One day we rented bikes and rode down to the beach and city of arts and sciences - the architecture here was amazing.  If we had more time, I would have loved to go into the aquarium, but unfortunately, we didn't have time!

Mmmm..zuma!

The Most Beautiful Beaches in the World

You know those annual photos that get posted at the end of a year with "World's Most Beautiful Beaches" or "52 Destinations to See in 2016?"  I have always wondered how they got those photos for the articles.  After a visit to the Algarve Coast of Portugal in December, I now know!  We spent two days driving to beach after empty beach of turquoise waters, amazing rock formations, and soft sand.  It was definitely not warm enough to swim, but it was perfect weather to catch some sun and take in the most beautiful beaches in the world (in my opinion).  Enjoy some eye candy:

P at Ponta Da Piedade.  I tried to get in the same spot and promptly got soaked by a very cold wave:

The view from our hotel room over a marina

Perfect turquoise waters from above:

The empty expanse of beach at Praia de Amado

Amado means "beloved" in Portuguese.  Here I am with my beloved:

Western most tip of Europe...also...don't trip!

My most favorite secret, golden beach in the sunshine:

P at work:

Silves Castle was beautiful and green!

Our final morning in Lagos...a final sunrise over the marina: