Last Day in Lisbon/Europe: Pictures

(1): First beach in Cascais we hung on, (2): Second beach where we rented the boat, (3): Crazy slide peddle boat we rented, (4): View of Figueira and Rossio square from the castle at night & (5): Rossio train station at night

Last Day in Lisbon/Europe

Today was our last day of our trip. It's a bit depressing but looking back we had a really good time. Anyway, here is what we did today:

Today was our beach day. The forecast looked good, but when we woke up it was cloudy and didn't look great. Regardless, we were going to the beach, Cascais to be exact. We got off the train into a little town on the water. The sky was still cloudy, but looking bettter. We headed to the closest beach, which ended up being a tiny stretch of sand where there was about 5 other people. We hung out there for a little then decided to walk along the path above that followed the water. By the time we came to the next beach, the sky was completely sunny and it was real hot out. The first thing we noticed here were these big peddle boats that had slides attached to them. We wandered around trying to find out how much they cost to rent and who to get them
from, but ended up renting one for an hour and headed off into the water with it. Because there are so many rocks around the stetch of coast we were on, the water was more like a bay even though we were on the Atlantic; the water was very still and calm. We took our boat out and slid off it and jumped out of if. A few Portuguese kids asked us in English if they could use our slide just once, and very grateful after we let them. That boat and slide combo was pretty awesome.

After our time was up and we were whistles in, we decided to keep walking along the promenade to the next beach town, Estoril, which was probably a 5 or 10 minute walk. We got some drinks at a cafe on the walk then set up on a beach there and went in the water. When we got out, we started getting swarmed with alll these "sand fleas," tiny little black bugs that kind of bite or something. We first noticed them at the cafe, but they were literally everywhere and freaking us
out. We decided it was time to go back to Lisbon.

We grabbed some sandwiches for a snack once we got back, then got ready for dinner. When we were at the Castle Sao Jorge in Lisbon a few days ago, we came across a really nice restaurant in the castle that we agreed would be great for our last night. We had our hotel call to make reservations, and when they told us it was all booked for Tuesday night, I was sure that couldn't be true. I was determined to eat there and thought we could just show up, maybe have to wait a little, but definitely end up with a table. We took a taxi from Comercio Square downtown and our crazy cab driver, who was talking to himself the entire ride, got us there in about 5 minutes. We convinced the security guards at the castle gate to let us in only to find that the restaurant had a private party which was the reason it was completely booked. Still, it was worth the trip. The city and all the squares and monuments are lit up at night and from the castle you can see all that and the Tejo River.

We walked to a restaurnt in the center. I had steak and Alison had cod. The restaurnat made it very clear that they wanted us to leave after they closed at 11. It was awkward. After, we took our bottle of wine that we didn't have time to finish for dinner out to Rossio square. We saw camermn and two actors there filming a commeci. I asked two Portuguese kids who they were and they said the actors were both soap opra ish actors that were very famous in Portugal. They also said they really want to visit the USA (especially California and la) and asked If people in America are as crazy as the movies make them out to be. They were legit excited when we said we were Americans, I'm not sure how many foreing countries you'll get that response in.

We came home and now I'm writing this with all my bags left to pack as Alison is passed out. It's sad to be leaving here, but there are things we are excited to get back to in the states. Well see how long that excitement lasts for, our routines back home aren't too interesting compared to our day to day here. Anyway, it couldn't last forever. Back to the real world.

Day 4 in Lisbon: Pictures

(1): Prais das Majas, (2): Soup at lunch, (3) Downtown Sintra, (4): Pena Palace, (5) & (6): Moorish Castle

Day 4 in Lisbon: Day Trip to Sintra

Today we decided to take a day trip to Sintra which is about 35
minutes from Lisbon via train. Supposedly Portugal's aristocracy often
vacation here. We woke up around 8:30 because we wanted to spend the
morning on one of Sintra's beaches. We took a train to Sintra and then
a pretty crazy bus to the beach Prais das Majas. It was pretty windy
on the beach and we could tell that a lot of surfers probably came
here because the waves were so big. On the one side of the beach were
huge cliffs which we walked to. We only stayed a little over an hour
at the beach since it was cold because of the wind. We caught the bus
into town and had lunch at this place Tirol where we each tried some
traditional Portguese soup, I had cabbage, potato and carrot soup, and
Kevin had garlic, bread and chicken broth soup. They were both so good
and with soup two sandwiches drinks and sides lunch was only $10 which
is amazing.

After lunch we walked to the National Palace which dates back to the
15th century making it the oldest surviving palace in Portugal. The
palace was pretty small with not that much to see. It's funny because
the two chimneys are said to look like Madonna's bra from back in the
1980's.

We took a bus uphill to visit the Pema Palace which was amazing. If
you ever see a picture of Sintra it is most likely of this multi-
colored palace. The palace was built by Kimg Ferdinand from 1840 to
1885. I really liked this palace because all of the rooms we went into
were filled with cool pictures, furniture, great views etc. It really
felt like it was lived in and not as if the museum just placed objects
there that were not original. The palace sits high above the city so
there were fresh views of two castles and the National Palace. I
think this palace was my favorite attraction if the trip.

Lastly we headed to the Moorish castle which is 1000 years old. The
remains of the castle are scattered around through a huge forest. The
castle was built by the Moors but takem by Christian force in 1147. We
walked through some of the remains; we were way too tired to walk
through the whole castle which winded around the entire top of the
hill it seemed.

When we finally got back to the hotel we showered and relaxed for a
little bit. For dinner we went to a restaurant that both of our books
suggested. The restaurant, Casa do Alentejo, is a Neo-Moorish former
palace which serves simple Alentejan food. The room we were in had
walls filled with traditional Portuguese tiles. The food was really
good too. I ordered salmon with potato, carrots, zucchini and
mushrooms while Kev got pork in a spicy sauce with clams and potatoes.
We also ordered a bottle of vinho verde or green wine and tried there
version of chocolate mouse which Kevin said tasted like a cadbury
creme egg. I think we both agree that we enjoy Portguese food better
than Spanish food. After dinner we went back to our hotel and pretty
much passed out from our long day.

Day 3 in Lisbon: Pictures

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Day 3 in Lisbon: Sao Cathedral, Castelo Sao Jorge, and Night at the Museum

We woke up today with expectetions to go to the beach. After
breakfast, we put on our bathing suits, packed our towels and sun
block, and headed downstairs only to realize it was raining out. The
weather had made a dramatic change from the forecast the night before
which said it would be mostly sunny in Lisbon. We decided to get
changed into normal clothes, put our ponchos on, and walk up the hill
to the huge spanish department store called El Corte Ingles, or the
english cut (of cloth) in Spanish. To get there, we walked up a steep
pedestrian road through Eduardo the 7th park where there wasn't too
much to see as far as parks go. After wandering around the perimeter
of the huge department store building and finding nothing but closed
entrances, we came across an old man who spoke English and told us how
to get to the one door that was still open. When we got in, we found
that there were a bunch of bars and food places open, a supermarket
down there, and a movie theater. We ate some not so great food for
lunch then checked out the theater to find it was playing night at the
museum 2 in English. We made plans to come back that night since the
day was pretty dreary and we had been trying to find that movie in
English since Madrid.

As a result of the benadryll I took ealier and since it was still
pretty gross out, we went back to the hotel and took a short nap. When
we woke up, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was really hot out.
We walked downtown and visited the cathedral of se which had some cool
cloisters where they were uncovering roman ruins. After that we walked
up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge where we saw great views of the city
and river and were able to climb along the castles walls and though
the inside. We also saw a few peacocks.

We took the bus down from the castle and went to eat at a place both
of our books recommended that is famous for it's grilled chicken
called Bonjardim. We ordered a bottle of "green wine," green not
because of the color but because it is a young wine (it was actually
white wine) which is very famous in Lisbon. We ordered the chicken
which came out in under 2 minutes and was a whole chickn pretty much.
It was extremely good though, we both really liked it. On the table
was this piri-piri pepper sauce that you painted on to the chicken it
this little brush that made it spicy but really good. For desert we
had the waiter bring out his favorites and we ended up picking two of
them, a piece of something kinds like apple pie and some flan which
tasted a little too much of eggs for my liking but was good
nonetheless. Our waiter was great so we gave him a pretty solid tip (a
little over 20%, here it's customary to leave only 5-10%.

After dinner we stopped at the hotel then walked back to El Corte
Ingles to see night at the museum. The movie was funny and very
enjoyable. We kinda forgot we were in Portugal when we came out of the
theater. We also felt a little like locals, walking out with all the
Portuguese people. I'm not sure how many people visit other countries
and go to the movies there, but we were glad we did.

Day 2 in Lisbon: Pictures

(1): Stairs from first to second floor right outside our room in the hotel, (2): Funicular we rode, (3): Beer hall for lunch, (4): Cloister of the Monastery de San Jeronimo, (5): Inside or monastery church, (6): Pastels de Belem pastries, (7): Tower of Belem, (8): Monument to Diacoverers, & (9): Coach Museum

Day 2 in Lisbon: Barrio Alto Walk and Belem

After breakfast at the hotel we were able to change our room and get
one on the first floor that was cooler and not so awkward. We then
took a self-guided walk of The Bairro Alto which is one of Lisbon's
downtown neighborhoods. We took a funicular to the top of a hill which
gave great views of the city including the river and castle. We
visited a church and then stopped in the oldest beer hall in Lisbon
which was once the reflectory of a monastery before the monks were
forced out. We got some beer and Kevin tried out a popular Lisbon soup
with cabbage, potato and a single piece of spicy sausage. It was
alright. We decided pretty spur of the moment to go to Belem which is
a district about three miles from downtown Lisbon. We needed to take a
trolley to Belem where we headed to the Monastery of Jeronimos which
was erected by King Manuel in the 15th century. The monastery is a
celebration of Portugal's expansion and houses the tombs of men such
as Henry the Navigator, Dom Sebastiao and Luis de Camoes who helped
make Portugal the country it is today. We went inside the cloister
which was pretty nice. After the monastery we went to the National
Coach Museum which has a collection of 45 different horse-drawn
carriages.

We took a little break and went to the Antiga Confeitsria de Belem
which is a historic cafe known for making the first Pastel de Belem, a
pastry that can be found in every restuarant here. It's a custard
filled tart that you can see in the picture and we both agreed that
they were so good. You are supposed to eat them with coffee but it was
so so hot so we ate them
with some cokes instead.

We went to the Torre de Belem which is a tower with castellated
battlements and carvings of ropes and shields. It was built as a
fortress to guard the city and as a prison under Spanish control. We
walked to the top of the tower by climbing a very steep and small set
of spiral steps which were used to climb up and down the tower. I got
pretty freaked out when people would be climbing in the opposite
direction because there was very little room to manuvere around. We
also walked down to the dungeon which was very tiny and had very low
ceilings.

We literally ran to the next monument, Padrao dos Descobrimentos,
which is crafted in the shape of a boat right on the river with
crafted explorers who sailed during the 15-16th centuries such as
Vasco da Gama. We ran to make a 6:00 movie which retold the story of
Lisbon and the relationship between Lisbon and the sea. The movie was
definitely worth seeing and afterwards Kevin and I bought t-shirts. We
climbed up the monument where there were great views of the city and
river again.

We took the trolley back to the city and went to an Internet area so
that I could apply to some jobs and then got some dinner. After dinner
we came back to the hotel and watched Chicago on tv and went to bed.
It was a very long day!

Day 1 in Lisbon: Pictures

(1): Breakfast, (2) & (3): Free Wine Tasting in Placa Commercio, (4), (5), & (6): Parade for Festival down Avenida da Libertade

Day 1 in Lisbon: Arrival, Baixa, and Free Wine Tasting

We got into Lisbon today without any incident and luckily were able to
check into our room around 9 am even though official check in isn't
until 2. Pluses for the hotel so far: 5 channels in English, porter
brought our bags up for us, and great location. Minuses: It was around
95 today and our AC isn't great, our room is on the corner or the
hotel so our ceiling is pretty low and sloped, and when you turn the
shower on too high it sprays all over the bathroom (Alison found this
out the hard way).

We ate some breakfast at a place down the street then slept for a
little before heading out into Lisbon to wander around. We walked down
to the water, which is actually the Tejo River and not the Atlantic
which I expected. We met an american from
Arizona on the way who heard us talking and was excited to see other
ameicans in Lisbon since he hadn't before us. After that, we decided
to do a walk through the Baixa neighborhood which was destroyed in the
earthquake of 1755 and rebuilt, so it is the relatively new part of
the city. Rick steves pointed us to a place where you could taste
Portuguese wines for free on exchange for filling out a survey and
rating each wine on different categories. Definitely a great deal. We
had 4 different wines then headed along the walk back to our hotel.

This whole month apparenly has been declared a festival in Lisbon, but
tonight there is a parade down avenida da libertade (which our hotel
is on) and then parties raging into the night until around 5 am. The
festival tonight is for lisbon patron saint, Saint Anthony. Someone
told us the procession heads toward the castle after the parade. We
watched the parade for a while and got some beers at one of the many
makeshift bars set up along the avenue then headed to get some food.
The street and rest of the city was absolutely packed with seemingly
everyone who lives here out and about for the festivities. We stumbled
upon a place with outdoor seating in the middle of a crowded street
and decided to sit out there. We ordered some pizza which was the only
really apparizibg item on the menu, listened to some guy jam on his
electric guitar along the street, and watched the people go by.
Although we had great plans to join the party all night and go to the
castle with everyone, it became clear to both of us as we ate that we
were ready to pass out since we had such an early start on the day and
didn't nap that long. We finished up and did just that, walking home
and falling asleep almost immeditaley. At least we saw the festival
going on even though we couldn't completely participate in the nights
activities. Then again we didn't really know what was going on either
so maybe that was ok.

Google Thought We Were Spammin',

Apparently google thought we were running a "spam blog" and decided to
freeze our posting abilities until they looked into it. Well I guess
they have gotten that figured out so now all our posts from Madrid are
up.

Day 5 in Madrid: Retiro Park

Pictures: (1): Lake in Retiro Park, (2) & (3): Me then Alison rowing the boat we rented for the lake

Today we planned to take east. We had seen all the sights we wanted to see and since it was going to be around 95 out, we thought it would be nice to go to the park. We first got breakfast at a bakery in Puerta del Sol that Alison had her eye on for the last few days. After that we walked to Retiro Park which is right next to the Prado. The park had some interesting statues, lots of trees and shade, tons of street performers and musicians, and a sweet lake where you could rent row boats. We rented one and had it for 45 minutes to cruise around the lake whcih was a lot of fun. We both rowed for a little (Alison put her 5 minutes in) and we called out whatever nautical terms we could think of as we rowed.

After the park we found a Mexican restaurant near our hotel to have lunch at. We went back to the hotel where to relax for a little where Alison got a little sick. Fortunately she felt better after we napped for a bit. For dinner we went back to The Wok restaurant we had been to before which was delicious.

Now were packing up and getting ready for our 3:45 am wake up to get to the airport in time for our flight to Lisbon. Excited for portugal, not so much for the early plane.

Day 4 in Madrid: Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, National Archaelogical Museum and Prado Museum

Picture: A column from a cave that we saw in the National Archaelogical Museum.

As you can see by the subject of this blog we got a lot accomplished throughtout the day. We started off with breakfast at this restuarant Cafe&Te. I ordered coffee and a crossiant while Kev got a ridiculously big chicken sandwich and a smoothie. We then headed to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum which is an art museum that displays the collection of a wealthy German Baron Thyssen who is married to a former Miss Spain. His collection consists of minor works of major artists such as Monet, Piccaso etc. Before seeing this permanent collection we saw a temporary exhibit (a recommendation by Uncle Tommy) of Matisse. We both really liked this exhibit. A lot of the paintings reflected the sea or people having conversations from a higher vantage point such as if painted from a balcony so it was as if we were looking down on what was happening.

We made a quick trip to Starbucks to check out their new berry drink that I have been eyeing (not that good) and then went to the National Archaelogical Museum. This museum consisted of a chronological walk through the story of Iberia. It was pretty cool, and the highlight was a column from one of the caves (picture above).

We got some montadillos and went back to the Prado. We finished up the bottom floors and got the chance to see Las Meninas by Velazquez which is considered the best painting in the history of art to many. We also saw works by Titian but we liked the Goya paintings from the day before the best. We tried to go into the cathedral San Jeronimo El Real which was right outside of the Prado but there were cameras and videocameras all around and a lot of people dressed up so we were not able to see it.

We headed back to the room and then for dinner went to check out a vegetarian restuarant recommended by Kevin's book. It looked kind of weird so we went to Dibocca which was a really good Italian place. We both got pasta and a bottle of wine which was great!

Day 3 in Madrid: Churros, Royal Palace, and Prado Day 1

Pictures: (1): Churros at La Chocolateria, (2): courtyard of Royal Palace, (3): one of the rooms of the Royal Palace, (4): Choir of the Cathedral of Almudena, (5): Temple of Debod park, and (6): Paella

For breakfast we decided to try Churros, fried batter sticks that you dip in a chocolate pudding like sauce. Can't be the best way to start your day but they are into it in
Madrid so we gave it a try. We went to a place called La Chocolateria San Gines that our book recommended and it was pretty good but we both agreed we probably woulnt be doing that again.

After breakfast we headed back to the Royal Palace since we couldn't get in the day before and waited in line for about 20 minutes to enter. We rented some audio guides to explan all the rooms as we walked through which was a good idea. The inside of the palace was really intricately and meticulously constructed and all the rooms looked amazing. I tried to take more pictures but they yelled at me shortly after I took the one above. Aside from loud tour groups the visit was very enjoyable. After the palace we stopped in the Cathedral of Almudena next to the palace then walked to the Temple of Debod park. The Egyptian government gave Spain an actual Egyptian temple in 1968, Egypt being grateful to Franco for helping to rescue monuments in Egypt that were threatened by rising Nile waters and here it sits. The temple has artwork on the interior from around 200 B.C. The park was nice and had great views over the city but unfortunately we just missed being able to walk in.

We walked to Mercado San Miguel for lunch which turned out to be a poor choice for where to hve lunch. We had both worked up quite the appetite and having to wait a combined 45 minutes once we got there to be served at the cheese, then meat, then soda counter really wasn't helping matters. I think we ate our food in 5 minutes including desert once we finally got it.

We stopped back at the hotel then walked to the Prado art museum which has one of the best collection of art in Europe and the absolute best of Spanish art. It has over 3,000 canvasas. The museum is free from 6 to close (7:30) so we arrived at around 6 and grabbed some audio guides. The museum has a ton of Goya, Velazquez, and Italian art like Titian to name a few. We started with Goyas "black painting" which were part of a later period of his when he was gradually detaching from the world and began mixing black printers ink into his colors to make them so dark and reflect his seclusion. We saw the famous paintings "Saturn Devouring one of Children" and "Colossus." all very cool stuff. We also saw his "2nd and 3rd of May 1808" which depicts a massacre by the French of Madrids citizens who were protestjnh the French occupation which happened right in Madrids Puerta del Sol. We finished the visit having not even finished floor one (of 2) so we knew we would come back the next day.

For dinner we were deteimned to have paella finally, which is saffron rice with some sort of sauce and meat and vegetables, very popular here. We headed out to a place we were planning to go only to realize it closed at 10:30 which is just ridiculous, but luckily found a good authentic place in Plaza Mayor right by our hotel. A lot of restaurants serve cheaper microwaves paella but this one was legit: it took 30 mibutes for our food to come out and was served in a huge pan that both of us ate from. We got it with chicken and vegetables. I though it was delicious, possibly my favorite meal of the trip. Alison was less enthusiastic about it.

A long day especially since we had to make up for the lack of progress on the day before but I think we it a lot done. Tomorrow would be just as busy.

Day 2 in Madrid: Laundromat, Guernica, and Mercado San Miguel

Pictures: (1): Laundromat, (2), (3), & (4): Mercado San Miguel, (5): Picasso's Guernica at Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, (6): Desert before dinner back at Mercado San Miguel

After a failed attempt at doing laundry in our sink, two day at the beach in Barcelona, eating in lots of smokey restaurants, and almost two weeks of travel, we decided it was time to do wash in a laundromat. We finally found one and with the help of some of the locals who were also doing wash, cleaned all of our clothes. After that we decided to try to get breakfast (although it was a little after 12 now) at this indoor market near Plaza Mayor and our hotel. They have fresh fish, fruit, coffee, pastries and desert, bread, lots of ham, cheese and wine stands. Alison got a huge pastry and I got two little prosciutto sandwiches and we both got coffee. The ham guy making the sandwiches was cutting the meat right off of a huge pigs leg and onto the bread (see picture of pigs legs hanging above this stand).

We walked the royal palace after lunch only to find out that it was closed to the public for the day for a ceremony or wedding or something. Since it was pretty cold and overcast, we didn't want to go to the park and since it was Monday, there were only a couple of sights that were open. The royal palace was down, so the only other thing to see was the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, a modem art museum. Some of the pictures were interesting, but some were a little out there. One picture we saw, for example, was literally a one half inch black brush stroke on an otherwise blank canvas. My theory is that the artist starting painting the picture but stopped immediately and after he died collectors found it and assumed it was finished art. That's the only explanation I can come up with. The most famous painting is Picassos Guernica. He painted it after he heard about the Nazi bombing of the little Spanish town Guernica to test out their new air fleet (Franco let them do it). I took a picture (above) right after the lady told me no pictures even without flash. Woops.

After that we went to go shopping when it started pouring out. We went in a few stores then came back to the hotel for a bit. We wanted to have desert at Mercado San Miguel but since it closes at 10pm, we decided to have desert first. For dinner, we went to a Wok place that we had walked past the day before and got edamame and pad Thai which was very good.

Day 1 in Madrid: Bus ride from Sevilla,Plaza Mayor and Plaza Espana Mayor,

Picture 1) Plaza Mayor - historic square explained below. Picture 2) Plaza Espana

After a 6.5 hour bus ride from Sevilla, which was a little rough for me as I get car sick, we arrived in Madrid. Our hotel, Hotel Plaza Mayor, (pictures coming soon) is really nice and in a great location right in front of the Plaza Mayor which is a huge cobble stone square where bullfights and executions used to occur. Now there are just nice restuarants, performers, etc. Here. We walked alittle through the square and went to this salad buffet La Fresca because we were starving.

We went back to the hotel for a little and went on a self-guided walk to Plaza Espana which had a lit up fountain and statue that can be seen in picture two. Then we went to a bar, ojos Negro or black eyes for some beers before heading home. So far we really like Madrid and both agree that it reminds us a little of New York City. The weather has been a little iffy but the forecasts look good for the rest of the week which we are excited about!