Back in the home land

Sunday
Grabbed and over night train from Madrid to Lisbon on Saturday night. I am still Hemorrhaging money and the train ride did not help. My accommodations were already booked in Lisbon so I needed to grab the train but the only spots they had on the train were 1st class sleepers. It was nice that I had my a whole room to myself and a bed for the 10 hour train ride over night. But $212 later my wallet is once again a little lighter. ::Sigh::

Got into Lisbon, slightly delayed, Sunday morning and found my way to the Hostel. Luckily it was very close to the train station. Only a 3 minute walk. Unluckily, it was not the easiest to find and my 3 minute walk turned into 30 as I walked by it a zillion times. :)

After I checked in I spent the day exploring the city. It was a Sunday so everything except tourist sites were closed. I walked to the Praca do Comercio (once home of the Royal Palace) which is only about 10 minutes away. Praca do Comercio was unfortunately being updated/remodeled so there was a big wall around it so you really could not see it that well. Made my way through Arco da Victoria and up to Se' Cathedral. Like I said it was Sunday so I caught the Sunday mass there. I figured if I ever meet St. Peter the more masses I have under my belt the better. Also, I think I have been to more churches and cathedrals than most Catholics. I am just hedging my bets. The mass.... well, it was a mass. What can you say. But the organ and the choir were pretty damn amazing I must say. The Cathedral was nothing special. After you have seen 20 cathedrals you have seen them all. Worked my way through the Alfama District (the oldest district in Lisbon) up the Castello de Sao Jorge. Which, it not really a castle in my opinion. It's more like a hill top fort. There is nothing worth seeing their except that is has some of the best views of the city. Walked through the Baixa District before making my way back to the Praca do Comerci to jump on a tram to Belem. Belém is famous as the place from which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery. In particular, it is the place from which Vasco da Gama departed for India in 1497. While in Belem I chalked another UNESCO site off my list as I went to Jerónimos Monastery. This monastery can be considered one of the most prominent monuments in Lisbon. Although, my second favorite thing in Belem was the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. It's a monument that celebrates the Portuguese who took part in the Age of Discovery of the 15th and 16th centuries and it is pretty damn big. Pictures do not describe how big this is. The monument is a 170 foot-high slab of concrete, carved into the shape of the prow of a ship. The side that faces away from the river features a carved sword stretching the full height of the monument. On the sides of the monument are Henry the Navigator, the sponsor of the Portuguese Discoveries. He is the figure at the tip of the monument, looking out over the river. Behind Henry, on both sides of the monument, are statues of other 33 great people of that era, including explorers, cartographers, artists, scientists and missionaries. The other cool thing about this monument is there is a massive Wind Rose made of tile on the courtyard leading up to the monument. the map of the world inside the wind rose has dates listed all over it and I think the dates correspond to all the locations and when Portugal colonized different parts of the world. I am not sure but I looks to be right.

Now.... my favorite part of Belem was Pastel de Belém. 160-year-old pastry shop specializing in custard tarts made with flaky pastry. They are sooooo very delish.

I made my way back to the Hostel to relax and take a shower. That night I went out with Shiraa, Gina and Robin (hostel roomies). It was a Sunday so we just and had a beer and a little Ginja. Ginja is a liqueur made by infusing ginja berries, (sour cherry) in alcohol and adding sugar together with other ingredients. Ginja is served in a shot form usually with a piece of the fruit in the bottom of the cup. It is a favorite liqueur of many Portuguese and a typical drink in Lisbon. It's good except when all four shots are spills on me by Gina. :(

Monday
Took a short train ride to Estoril today which is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais. Went to Tamariz Beach there. Lined with cafes and bars, this beach is packed by the tourists and the locals. It's overlooked by a castle owned by the royal family of Monaco. The water is not warm much to my sadness. It is tolerable to go into but not enjoyable.

I'm not sure what is up with Lisbon but this city is dead. I thought maybe it was just Sunday when I arrived. But it does not matter if it is day or night or what day of the week it is. This city is not thriving with activity.

[B]Tuesday
Spent most of the morning and early afternoon trying to sort out things. Air travel, car rental, finding a travel clinic to finish my immunizations, etc. After I got most of that sorted out I headed to the Travel Clinic to get the rest of my of immunizations and Malaria pills. When I was in Sweden it was like a one stop shop. I walked into the clinic there, talk to a consultant about where I was going and she gave me the shots there on the spot. Easy. Well... I should have known the Portuguese would not be as efficient as the Swedes. First off when I got to the clinic they did not speak English. Actually I am going to make a very long story short here. In Portugal you need to see a doctor first who prescribes the immunizations. Then you need to go the pharmacy to get the immunizations, then you need to take those to the travel clinic for them to actually take the prescriptions from you and give you the shot. Through a lot of combined effort from some very very helpful staff at the actual hospital I was able to get an expedited appointment for Wednesday and got everything taken care of.

That night I went to a fantastic place for dinner for called "Bacalheoiro" Surprisingly for its very central location it was pretty void of tourists and the seafood was fantastic. I met Sebastian and Anne at the table next to me. They were a German couple traveling in Portugal. So I had dinner with them and then the three of us went out in the Bairro Alto for some drinks. It took until Tuesday for me to find the fun. Bairro Alto is great. Its row and rows of streets, bars and restaurants. And most people take their drinks out into the street. So there is like a big street party here at night. Lots of fun.

Wednesday
Finished the immunizations that I needed from the run around the day before and headed down to Costa da Caparica Beach for another day in the sun. That night I figured I would try a Pub Crawl. They only have pub crawls on Wednesday nights in Lisbon. I had been a few PCs in some other cities and had a great time. Unfortunatley, this was not that good of one. It was OK and it was nice to meet some new people but the crawl itself or perhaps the mix of people did not make for a great night. I actually left before it was finished. Which was actually OK because I had to leave tomorrow to head to the airport and pick up my rental for my road tour down the coast of Portugal and Spain.

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Part of trip: 2009 Walk of the Earth

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