Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 129

7 a.m: Wake up! Breakfast. Bus to the airport! 9.a.m: Picking up the rental car. We had booked one in advance, since our travel agent had a good deal. We strongly recommend renting a car from the airport because 1) it is very easy to go from the airport to the highways out of Lisbon, and 2) unless you have no fear at all you don't want to drive around in central Lisbon in a car that is not yours. 10.a.m: Arriving Sintra, an old village some 30 kms northwest of Lisbon. Since this was a Sunday, we were accompanied by about half of Lisbon's population (Sintra seems to be a very popular Sunday destination for the Portuguese...). The small town of Sintra is built up by small, pittoresque houses, narrow streets, and older buildings (neo-gothic). ... read more

Yesterday's disappointments were soon forgotten because of a king size cornflakes dispenser, bacon, scrambled eggs and great coffee in the breakfast hall. The weather was good, cloudy but warm. We went down Avenida Liberdade (one of the mainstreets downtown), eager to see upper town Bairro Alto as well as Castelo São Jorge and the neighboring Alfama with its pittoresque, steep and narrow streets. Siri's passion for cats, in combination with her brand new digital camera, made us stop several times to take pictures of the local animal life. After some time in Bairro Alto we went to the other side of the city center to catch the charming, old tram no.28 to Castelo São Jorge. The 15-minute-trip from Praca Martim Moniz was excellent through steep streets making unexpected turns left and right only a few inches ... read more

We (Siri and Håvard) went to Lisbon for four days, in order to get away from Norwegian winter (-15 degrees centigrade), to practice some Portuguese, and to explore on of the finest cities in Europe. After a pleasant flight with some top quality beer in Munich on the way, we landed at Aeroporto de Lisboa at midnight local time. The taxi voucher that the guide book advised us to buy turned out to be twice as expensive as a normal taxi ride from the airport to the hotel, and 20 times as expensive as taking a regular bus. Lesson no.1 learnt. After a neckbreaking taxi ride to Hotel Lisbon (Rua Barata Salgueiro), we checked in and went out for a lively night in downtown Lisbon. However, it was cold and empty and everything was closed! Until ... read more

Well this is starting to sound more like a sickness journal lol and I do apologize but I promise that as soon as Rafa is well u'll all be reading about places to visit in and around Portugal. Well Rafa had a fever all day yesterday again, so at Lunch time hubby decided it was time for another Docs visit. Again we were told it was the flu or some virus...yeah like ok pick one:(((. I was really pissed off with all this, as we all know a fever has a reason for being, so in the evening we took him to Hospital Garcia da Horta. Here after 3 Docs had examined him they reached my conclusion, and decide to run some tests on him. After a short wait we were told that the urine was ... read more

Well this is starting to sound more like a sickness journal lol and I do apologize but I promise that as sson as Rafa is well u'll all be reading about places to visit in and around Portugal. Well Rafa had a fever all day yesterday again, so at Lunch time hubby decided it was time for another Docs visit. Again we were told it was the flu or some virus...yeah like ok pick one:(((. I was really pissed off with all this, as we all know a fever has a reason for being, so in the evening we took him to Hospital Garcia da Horta. Here after 3 Docs had examined him they reached my conclusion, and decide to run some tests on him. After a short wait we were told that the urine was ... read more

Well this seems to be one of those never ending sagas! Rafa had a horrid night again y'day, he sweated and had high fever again. In the morning we had him down at the doctors, who told us that as he had no cold or sore throut it was some sort of virus...jah well erm I wonder. The last time I had given him meds was at 3:30 in the early morning and he seemed ok till about 12:45 when his fever started raising again, but I must add that he looks way better today, so lets keep em fingers crossed that we have kicked the fever! Ok to top all this my car is being repaired again after having been in for the same thing just before our Serra da Estrela mini holiday:(( Oh leason ... read more

Well here I am again, and let me tell u all about the lousy night I had. My son developed a high grade fever late last afternoon, and so I moved him into my bedroom for the night...hehee. Dear hubby was posted off to Nadines room, erm but he was ok with it..at least me thinks so lol. Well to cut a long evening short today I am funcioning like a zoombie:=) Like I promised let me post here a great recipe that I cooked for the Family last night. Bacalhau Recipe Another Portuguese lesson. Bacalhau is cod fish. 1 lb. of salt cod ( most times found in little wooden boxes)U can also use the frozen type. 5 to 6 large potatoes 2 large onions, sliced 1 green peppers, sliced into slivers 3 hard-boiled eggs, ... read more