European Tryst: Bom Dia!

I just got back from a trip Erin and I took to Lisbon, Portugal. It was fantastic! Very picturesque! I was not expecting it to be so beautiful. The first day was busy since we got a fast start as soon as we got off the plane. We arrived around 9:30 and caught a bus to our hostel - which was great! Very cozy rooms, helpful staff, and I met so many awesome people. I think I could totally do the traveling solo thing now that I know I'd be able to meet people at my destination. After we locked up all our stuff we decided to just walk around and after finding some promising stairs, we attempted to walk up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge. It was a walk, but the winding streets and alley ways were pretty and we definitely got our exercise. Once there, we used our student discount (amazing! I would be spending alot more money without my id) and walked through the grounds and took some great pictures.

arch leading to our street - rua agusta

rossio plaza

lots of stairs

view from the castle

the greenest grass ever and a moat and bridge!

erin and i atop lisbon

erin being silly

After our tour of the castle we walked around some more and then headed back to the hostel were they were serving dinner - Roasted Chicken with Piri Piri Sauce. It was delicious! You took the pieces of chicken and used slices of bread for a plate and ate with your fingers then when the bread was all soaked in sauce you would eat that.

sunset over the 25 de Abril Bridge

at a bar on top of a really old elevator they use to get to a street on the hill - very clever form of transportation

view from the top at night

The next day we headed to the Belem district and went to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos which brought me back to architecture history classes with all the vaulted ceilings, intricate archways, and detailed columns. After that we visited the Berardo Museum of Modern Art which was excellent! I saw an original Andy Warhol and they other great photography exhibits and also some video and mechanical exhibits as well. I didn't take any pictures unfortunately. I thought we werent allowed but I think I could have...After the museum we walked through the adjacent park and took pictures of the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, which is a monument dedicated to Lisbon's various explorers.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

the cathedral

the courtyard

padrao dos descobrimentos

That night we went on a bar crawl in the Barrio Alto district with the hostel. We met a bunch of people at the hostel: Ja, Lucy, and Beth from Australia, Thomas from Ireland, Tom from England, Mark from Ohio, Zach from Long Island and these three guys from Finland who had crazy names (we dubbed on Millhouse and another Odie).

our finnish escorts

The next day we took a 40 minute train ride to Sintra with our new friend Ja. There we visited the National Palace, an old Morrish Castle, and another Palace. The day became hectic - after we toured the National Palace and had lunch, we rode a bus to the top of the mountain where the Morrish Castle was and decided to forgoe the 11 Euro entrance fee and walk around the outside so after a couple miles of walking up and down and around we realized we couldn't see anything. It was a pretty nature walk though. We then hopped on the bus again and rode further up to the Palácio da Pena and ran into a couple of Brits who said the Moorish Castle was amazing! So we paid the entrance fee and decided we'd visit the Palace and then walk down to the Castle again. The Palace was great! Very colorful and gorgeous. So after than we walked down the mountain and back into the Castle where we found stairs! Lots and lots of stairs! Needless to say I am still sore today but it was worth every step! It was amazing to walk through something built in the 900's. There was sight I really wanted to see but didn't get a chance to: Quinta da Regaleira which was apparently a mansion with a very cool, fantasy land garden. We just ran out of time because of our indecisiveness. I guess I'll have to hit it up next time I'm in Portugal...

view from the national palace

view of the national palace from above

palácio da pena

the moorish castle

the highest point!

sintra

On our last day, we first went to a flea market the city has every Tuesday and Saturday. While there is a ton of junk there are tons of treasures! Definitely a collector's dream. I got myself a scarf and a magnet - I think I'll try to get a magnet in every city I go to, cheap and easy to pack. We then took a bus (which ended up taking hours since the first two we waiting for didn't run on saturdays....) to a newer area in Lisbon where it is more reminiscent of a downtown here in the states. There we saw Oriente Station by Santiago Calatrava. It is quite an amazing work! Then we went across the street and shopped in a great mall! They are smart in Europe and group there stores according the the client - all of the kids stores were together and such - very smart.

waiting for tram 28 (famous for sight-seeing, also took us to the market)