The Wonderful Praha !

Hello My Dear Routers!

We’ve been a little away, but our 09AM/18PM Jobs gave us a lot to do during this month.

You know… Finance and the closing of 1st semester of the year it’s not easy!

So, we decided to get back with our first adventure in foreign lands together: Prague, the capital of Czech Republic ! And what a story we have to tell !!!

First things first, we decided to buy a Voucher in something called Groupon to the stay in a hotel in Prague, because it was chapear… Well…

Let’s get back to February 2015.

We get a flight from TAP Portugal, Lisbon – Prague, direct flight.

Get to Prague at 13:00, so we decided to left the bags at the hotel and start to explore the city. And now, we were glad that we diceded to do that. Why? Not because of the bags.

We arrived to the Hotel and… It was closed to remove!!! CLOSED !!! You can imagine our panic…

So, manager come to speak with us, and basically there was a problem with the previous management who deleted all data from reservations… They wanted to modernize the hotel so we were forwarded to an Aparthotel near to Vysherad Castle: Vysherad Castle Suites.

It turn to be a very nice stay, with a very warm room, clean and comfortable. But, we lost our evening because we end up really stressed and a big migraine come to my head.

So we bought dinner in Tesco, breakfast to, because we had a little kitchen so we were able to eat and save money on food.

We stayed in Prague for 2 complete days. So we bought the Prague Card to have public transports and some free entrances to some attractions.

After all this adventure and a good night of sleep to recover let’s start our route.

We dived the sides of the river so split the city in 2 days.

Day One

Our little apartment were away about 15 min walking from the middle town d it’s a walk by the river so we decided to go by foot.

The first big thing and most known at the city that we’ve saw, was the Dancing House. It as a very interesting constriction so we were glad that it felt on our way.

We kept walking until we get to Charles Brigde. But we didn’t passed it. No! It’s for day 2. We turn in the street to right to see Orloj. It’s in the Old City and it’s an astronomical and medieval clock that was built in 1334. Whoever, during the WWII if sofered a lot of damaged. After a lot of work and research, get back to work in 1948. The clock sings in every hour starting at 9AM.

In this way, we find a lot of souvenirs stores and other things, very interesting!

We’ve spent our time in there to saw the Plaza of The Old Town and visits the Meridian Mark in there.

We kept walking. Saw a lot of churches but, our main goal was to get to Jewish Quarter (Josefov). As a WWII as a theme that we like to know more, start with a Ghetto was a trigger to our curiosity.

We picked up our ticket with our Prague Card to enter to the Jewish Museum, to Synagogue and to the Jewish Cemetery. And it really worth it to our general culture.

We kept walking until e came to river, we passed the Stefanikuv Bridge to get to Letenske Sady. And after a lot of stairs we arrived to a beautiful garden with a stunning view through the city. For us it really worth it and this took as a good part of the morning.

We get back to the city and eat at Kafka Cafe. Not the best thing ever but a pretty place do Kafka’s fans. Of course we’ve had lunch very late in the afternoon.

After lunch, we started to get lost in the new part of the city.

We’ve passed thought the mall and a lot of pretty places. One of them the University of Prague were a lot of Portuguese students came to this to make part of them degree at the Erasmus Program.

We went to the Powder Tower. Another place that we’ve visits with Pague Card. One of the most significants bulging sim Praga. Was the entrance of the kings in the Old Town and has a fabulous view of the city.

We get to see the sun going down in a place with the to the castle and the river and a little waterfall: Smetanovo Nabrezi.

After that and walk so much in the cold (February were line -1 Celcious Degrees) we get the Metro, get to Tesco do buy dinner and went to the apartment to get some rest. Day 2 we’ll be very long too !

Day 2

The day when we saw the other side of the river!!!

Our day started early in the morning, like 08:00 AM.

So we passed the river by Charles Bridge. Slowly, appreciating the statues enjoying the non-crowding bridge and the views by the river and the castle.

After pass the bridge we turn left in our way to John Lennon Wall.

In the way, we stop at St. Nicholas Church that is very beautiful.

After check the wall we went to catch the Funicular to Petrin Tower (with Prague Card).

We climbs the hill by this little train and enter in to the garden of the Olympic Stadium.

After see the garden we went to go up at the top of Petrin Tower (with Praga Card). Attention, it have elevator but in order to not pay more we went by the stairs… And a lot of stares !

But it really worth it it. The photos doesn’t make justice to the real view. It’s no words !

Included in the ticket was the Mirror Maze at the Petrin Garden. Of course we enter to take a look and laugh a little.

After that, we started to walking down the hill taking our way to the Castle.

We almost see the change of guard. Couldn’t catch on time.

But we enter to see the Castle and the Crush of St. Miguel. Tickets with Prague Card.

After visit this and take our time, we still getting down the hill. No fancy spot to lunch this time. Subway was good and we can deal with it. xD

We started to look for Speculum Alchemiae Museum. A little museum of alchimy. Were you can see an old lab. Believe, it will not take more than a hour from your trip but it’s very interesting.

After that, we wanted to see the city by nigth. We passed the bridge and take our way to olg plaza again. We’ve tried a Tredelnik. Typical cake, try it xD

So, know that, you have a Starbucks almost in every corner. In the winter you can get a little warm.

We hope you enjoy the post. Any question, let us know.

Évora – A must see in our beautiful Portugal

Hello my Dear Routers !!!

This time we are here to tell you about our 3 nights get away in Évora, Alentejo, Portugal. A rustic get away to get some rest from our stressful jobs.

First of all, how to get there? It’s easy:

    By car: it’s the fastest way. It’s from 1h and 30 min away from Lisbon. If you get the highway it have the cost of 19€ (come and back) because of the tolls.
    By train or bus: it’s cheaper because you don’t have the cost of the gas either the tolls or the cost to rent a car.

In our sweet escape, we stayed in a rustic hotel. A very simple but clean old farm in the middle of nowhere. The perfect place to just hear the birds singing and rest our heads from our busy city’s. It have a swimming pool very cool to get some sun. Hotel Quinta dos Bastos. That’s the name of our hotel.

Now, be aware that it’s not in the middle of the town. If you came by train our bus make sure that you can get to the city. With a bicycle or something. Otherwise you’ll pay like 7€ to a taxi.

Now, places to see in Évora? You got some nice places but you can just get lost in the tiny streets from this city:

Now, a list of places to see besides the little streets:

  • Praça do Giraldo (principal square);
  • Roman Temple of Évora;
  • Bones Chapel (Capela dos Ossos);
  • Sé Catedral from Évora (Principal Cathedral with a good rooftop to see the view);
  • San Francisco Church;
  • Public Garden of Évora;
  • Ageda Cartuxa (wine producers);
  • Aqueduto das Aguas de Prata (old water system)

And do many other places that we didn’t see because we take one of the days to the swimming pool and rest.

Here some pictures:

Other thing that you’ll do a lot in Évora: eat !! Eat a lot in quantity and quality !! A big variety of cheese and something that we call “enchidos” (sausages). You have a lot of Tapas restaurantes and good ones. We will let you a small list of where we’ve eat:

  • Bodeguita D’Avis: Tapas places. Excellent food, good list of wines and good gin tonic. A modern space (have about 4 months of existence) that have already the first place at “Rota das Tapas” (tapas route, onde route of places that serve one tapa and one bear for a small price). The people here are amazing!!!! Definitely a place do return and for you, a must go!
  • Taskafina: a familiar place with local food. Very tasty food and the owner is very kind. Go with time because e serve and his the chef so it can take some time. However, totally worth it !!! No pictures here… Very entertaining by eating !!! But check in the link. 1st in TripAdviser. Good price.
  • Balcão 47: TOP !!! Not so cheap but we’ve drink a good rose wine and eat a mixed table of cheese and “enchidos” and a steak in the stone (made in the table) with some seafood.

Last but not the least, SKYDIVE !!!!! SkyDive in Évora sky’s with Fly4Fun !!!

This is for the tenacious ones !!! Jump from a airplane!!!! It feels like CRAZY !!!! If you are an adrenaline lover you’ll need to do that.

First of all: the team that we’ve chooses Fly4Fun is AMAZING ! We totally recommend them for your first tandem jump. Very nice people, completely worried about our safety, always !!!

Describe, we can’t ! Just do it and see for yourself. It’s an indiscernible feeling!!

We’ve jumped from 4.200 meters and felt like this:

Advice: not cheap. Try to buy earlier and book with time because normally they monthly promotions that worth in the time of payment !! But really: do it !!! At least once in your lifetime !!!

Hope you’ve enjoy the post and that makes you feel like visit Évora in your next visit to Portugal !

Did you know that Évora will be the Capital of Mundial Culture in 2027?! Don’t wait that long xD

If you need some advice: rootingtheworld@hotmail.com

You can come top us by Instagram to: routingtheworld01

We will wait for your feedback !!

See you soon !!

PS.: you can check the restaurant and the places to visit mentions in TripAdviser !

2 Days and Half in London

Hello my dear Routers !

So, there is a “Route” for London, a city where we keep coming back. With this path that we’ve made, you’d better be prepeard to walk, and walk, and walk a little longer.

1st Day

So, the beginning. We arrive in London through Gatwick Airport in a morning fligth. We get on the Gatwick Express, bought our OyesterCards (for public transportation), and made the check-in at our hotel to leave our backpacks and we started our walk.

We start in London City, to see the newests buildings in the city.

From here, we pass the London Bridge to go the the Deck Observation The View from the Shard, the highest building in the City.

Don’t forget that, in London you need to get lucky with the weather and we visisted it in January. Lots of cold and a litlle bit of rain.

From The Shard, we’ve passed the London Bridge again to go to the Tower of London. Pay attention because in the Winter the attractions close earlier.

So, Tower of London, the place where are the Crown Jewels are kept and one of the most important castles and fortresses of the city.

The contrast that you get between the old history and the new history of London is giant, because, from certain points of the Tower of London you can see the new part of town. It’s a must see point.

After that, we took a great walk along the river. We crossed the Tower Bridge and walked along all the new buildings in the other side of the river until we got to Tate Modern Museum of Art. It’s nigth by now, so we go in to see the Museum and, the best part, it’s for free. YES!!! You do not pay to enter in a big bunch of museuns in London. You can see them here.

After check Tate Modern Museum, it was very late by now. So we started looking for a place to eat. We chose Covent Garden. It’s like a market that has a lot of restaurants that you can pick. We’ve eaten pizza!

In the way to Covent Garden we passed by a lot of pretty places.Y ou can see some photos below. One of them is the huge Saint Paul Cathedral.

Dinner done, time to go to Leicester Square to go to one of the biggest comercial attractions in London: the M&M’s store !!!!! That’s like… the smell’s so good inside.

Next stop? Picadilly Circus before resting a little bit in the hotel. It’s the most technological square in Londo and, of course, a must see for eveyone.

2nd Day

To start, Nothing Hill and Portobello Road to see the street Market. To get there we get the underground from Hammersmith to Ladbroke Grove Station. It’s a very pretty place with colourful houses and a lot of stores that you can see. It has a lot of street artists having the statue show.

After a long run thorugh all the streets and all the roads, it starts to be a little busy, so we decided to go and take a long walk at the Hyde Park, take pictures at the entrance of Kensington Palace, check Diana’s Memorial and Royal Albert Memorial, with the Royal Albert Hall in the background.

Passing another street market onto Harrod’s Shopping Center. Get so fancy so fast ! Then a stop for lunch at the iconic Hard Rock Café of London. Pay attention ! It’s an expensive spot but on this day we didn’t have dinner, just a quick bite before returning to the hotel.

After that big and tasty lunch we went down the street to Buckingham Palace. Being a lot of times in London, never got the chance to see the change of the guard.

After checking the Buckingham Palace, we kept going down the street until reaching Trafalgar Square: the Square of the Lions (dear for us because of our Football Club in Lisbon xD).

Down the way, we got to the see Prime Minister’s Residence, the Memorial of WWII, the statue from one of the most important man in the History of London and the UK: Mister Churchill. After all of that, seen the outside of the Westminister Abbey (were all of he Royal weddings happen), see the Parliament Houses and the Famous Big Ben ! This one was being recovered at the time (January 2018).

From now, you can the that we’ve walk a lot. But didn’t end by now.

This nigth we’ve get back to Leicester Square, to see Lego Store and visit Carnaby Street and ChinaTown. Iconic places that you should not lose in Lodon.

After all that walking, we were dead by then. A lot of cold made us return to the hotel room to recover for the 3rd Day.

3rd Day

So, we started the day with Madame Tussauds Museum. Really, all of us know that it’s very similar but you need to see them with your own eyes. It’s an expensive visit but, if you can, you should take this oportunity.

After that, King’s Cross Station where you can find the Harry Potter Official store and a very tasty lunch at Nando’s.

Taking in consideration that Madame Tussauds took us most part of the morning, we’ve took the afternoon to meet the peculiar zone of Camden Town.

Here you can find the most alternative things to do and see in London. A lot of alternative art here too. I give you some pictures:

After this stop, it’s time to pick up our backpacks and go to Heathrow Airport and get back to real life in Lisbon.

From Hammersmith to Heathtrow Airport by Underground you take about 30 minutes to get there.

We really enjoyed this city break, despite it taking us down: a lot of back pain and we will not talk about our feet. But it’s really worth all the steps that we’ve taken.

We really hope that you enjoyed this and please give us some feedback about it…

Instagram Page: routingtheworld01

So… It just gets left to say… See you next time, London !

Our best tips:

  • We arrived in London by the Gatwick Airport. To get to Central London we caught the Gatwick Express, which is very fast, if you want to save time. Not the most economical way, but, for sure, the fastest one. It took less than 20 minutes.
  • We’ve booked a room not in Central London, because it’s very expensive. We stayed in the Sapphire Boutique Hotel, it’s very clean and has a nice breakfast. To go everywhere you can get the Underground at Hammersmith Station.
  • To visit Tower of London and Madame Tussauds Museum we bought the tickets at Ticmate.pt. It’s a fiable website and sometimes you can get ticket combinations that can be cheaper and make a good deal.
  • We didn’t the to London Eye because it was closed to maintence. However we went to The Shard and we bought the tickets at the oficial website of The Shard.
  • The best expresso coffe was at Caffé Nero and was not too expensive.
  • Please be careful, London can be very cold even if you walk a lot. It’s not easy to get warm in the street so, take a lot and good clothes for Winter.
  • London it’s not a cheap city, so… Be prepared !

Our hide places…

Let’s start this with a very, very, very tiny village in Portugal, in south of it, Alentejo, called Minas de S. Domingos.

Alentejo it’s in the middle, between Lisbon and Algarve. It’s so hot and depopulated that some of our governants call it desert. Whatever, it’s in the district of Beja and it’s easier if you go by car, with the help of GPS. Belive, transportations to this place are very hard to find and can be very dramatic.

So, this village is a village with a history of mining exploration.
In 1858, begins the modern exploration of the mine, on the initiative of the mining company “Mason & Barry” an english company.

The principal objetive was to extract gold, silver and copper. The jobs continued until this materials ended, in 1965. The mine was closed and the mining village went in to decline because the job posts were missing to people.

CURIOSITY: Was the first village to have electric power in Portugal.

For now, it’s a ruined village that we can come and visit and enjoy this
scenario:

After exploring the mines, you can enjoy the river beach of Tapada Grande.

It’s a very beutiful beach with a nice water temperature were you can refresh. You’ll need to know that Alentejo, in the summer, can go up to 45ºC. Be carefull, it’s necessary to hydrate, use fresh clothes and use a good sun protector to avoid sun burns.

So, again to the beach, it has a lifeguard and a snack-bar/restaurant were you can have ligth meals and drink something. TripAdvisor here: River Beach Tapada Grande

Here, you can see some photos:

If you want to enjoy some local food. In the middle of the town, you can have really good food for a very chaep price. We usualy in a local restaurant that, I go since I was a kid with my grandparents and my parents (from my father side, they are from Alentejo so it’s a place that I know very well) it calls Casa de Pasto “A Taberna” (TripAdvisor Here) and eat something called “Cozido de Grão”:

You can see more about this in roteirodeminas. It’s the oficial website of mines in Portugal and you can read it in Portugues, English and Spanish.

Hope that you enjoy this post.

You can see our photos in Instagram: routingtheworld01.

If you need some help, let us know.

Routing the World

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining us !

The journy started a few years. We love to travel and to know this world that have so much to give.

Like the clichê that we all know “Travel is the only thing that you buy that makes your richer” and we agree with that and, assuming that we are two professional people that have our jobs that take us almost all the time we have, at our free time we enjoy to spend all over the places, descovering new landscapes and knowing new culteres that make us understand better the human kind.

We are from Portugal, actually living in Lisbon, we will show our wonderfull country (the one we love the most, of course). Try to give you the better advice and, we will show you and describe our adventures in foreing lands.

In the middle, tell you how we do a lot of out things. xD

And for know, thank you for watching, We’ll try to make out first post soon.

You can see our photos and follow us in Instagram with routingtheworl01

Routing the World.

PS.: We’re sorry for our english. Please understand that our mother language it’s our beautiful portugese 😀