http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Portugal en-us Mon, 12 May 2008 13:49:25 BST Mon, 12 May 2008 13:49:25 BST Espana to PortugalToledo to Castelo de Vide It was a long drive 300 kilometers or so not all on highways some farm roads and ancient narrow cobblestone streets. Castelo de Vide is in the middle of...... nowhere. This is our first town in Portugal. The town was conquered from the Moors in 1138. The Portuguese language is a source of pride but extremely difficult to grab hold of. Some http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-274781.html ENROUTE TO PONTA DELGADA THE AZORESIrsquom sitting in the Piazza the central core of the CROWN PRINCESS. They have just come round and passed out chocolate cookies and milk to everyone sitting here. Yum. My traveling buddy Dick Burns is seeing what is on offer at the Trident Grill.So far its been a very smooth crossinghellip.but then when the ship is 950 feet long and 133000 tons it t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/blog-274606.html Buena noiteHello everyone So sorry to only be getting on here now to let you know how all is going We have just been having way too much funAll was good with the flight..it didnt seem as long as overseas flights Ive taken before...maybe cuz I had someone to get giddy with on the plane. we were separated on the long leg mom and dad got to sit together at least while I enjoyed my speci http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Northern/Porto/blog-273185.html Picture catchup in CoimbraSorry for the terrible picture qualityAll through my trip I looked in vain for an Internet cafe that had USB upload capability to grab pictures from my camera on which the whole travel blog idea hinged for me at leastnaturally I could have just entered unadorned text. I pretty much stopped taking any pictures at all. This accounts for the very fragmentary cov http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Central/Coimbra/blog-272476.html Dear friends of MaddyI decided to publish this after the interest in the McCanns seemed to be freshly in peoples minds. I hope that those of you who are still interested in helping to find madeleine will spread this information...as perhaps it will help to find out who dunnit...Ive had an incredible amount of people reading my articles on the disappearance of Madeleine and it shows me that I must http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-272163.html I am on holiday with Laura again This time we are in Lisbon in Portugal. We have spent the time wandering about and seeing the sights. It is very hilly here compared to Cambridge which means Laura has been eating lots of custard tarts to keep her strength upOne day we went to Sintra which is a town about 40 minutes away. It was very pretty and had a very nice castle on the hill. The castle was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-271823.html Hello everyoneGreece was amazing and now I'm in Portugal until FridayThere are 4 of us and we are staying in a resort on the beach. We spend our whole day at the pool and it's so nice to just relax in the sunshineWe didn't know it but this resort caters to Germans so everything is in German and all the workers speak German. It's also almost all old people but some of them are niceYesterday I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Albufeira/blog-271718.html We are in Lisbon It is very nice but very hilly so we are exhausted We never thought we would appreciate the flatness of East Anglia. Due to the hilliness of Lisbon and the fact that most of the streets are very narrow and windy we spend most of our time not being entirely sure where we areWe have had 2 days exploring Lisbon. the first day we went to Belm which is a district that is a 6km away http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-271606.html Went on a day trip to Sintra today. Sintra is a town about 30kms away. We got the train which was a bargain euro1.65 each way. Why aren't trains at home this cheapWe visited a really cool castle when we were here. It is Palcio da Pena which is this brightly coloured castle high above the town. The architecture was a little bizarre in places think cartoon castle but I really liked it.We also http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Sintra/blog-271605.html My friend Damir was right when he said I'd never want to leave Portugal Just got back from the long weekend and Portugal was by far my favorite trip I've taken. I saw a total of 8 cities and had an unexpectedly amazing time. Even the pictures don't do the actual scenery justiceit was that beautiful there. The city of Lisbon was so eclectic in that it had its ancient buildings on one side of town http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-271489.html Friday 8 February 2008Our bus arrived at Porto bus station early afternoon. The lsquobus stationrsquo was basically a big shed which was half way through being renovated. There being no signs in sight to direct us anywhere probably because of the renovation so we enquired at the information desk. The instructions from our hostel advised catching a Metro to it. In Barbararsquos best attempt http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Northern/Porto/blog-271443.html ldquoA church made of bonerdquo I exclaimed. ldquoYes and tastefully done toordquo came Ralphrsquos reply. The bus taking both of us from the city of Palmyra in Syria continued to rumble along the dusty desert highway as visions of a bone church unfurled in my mind. I again questioned ldquoHuman bonerdquo and the answer though expected was still a surprising ldquoYesr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Alentejo/-vora/blog-271110.html Happy Birthday to Kim's little sister Lisa She is 19 today Due to our late night we slept in a little 830 instead of 630. This visit to Lisbon Portugal is longer than when we went to Ponta Delgada so we had some time to spare. When we got off the ship we went thought the customs building and got some maps to try to find our way out to the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. We walked past the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-270841.html Tuesday 5 February 2008Over the rolling hills of Portugal we drove around the southern coastline past the popular seaside town of Faro and up the western coastline towards Lisbon. We stopped at a service station along the way for the driverrsquos rest break. We werenrsquot excited by buying dinner from a diner with such a name photo.It was quite late when we arrived in Lisbon so we caught http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-270746.html Went to Sintra yesterday. A 35 Mins train journey from the Rossio station took me to the Sintra station. From the Sintra station we took a 2 way hop ticket for the bus 434 which took us to the Pena park and palace. The palace is on a hill and park around the palace. After visiting the palace we had long walk inside the park. The map given at the entrance was helpful. You just need to follow the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Sintra/blog-270499.html Today we got up at 7am got breakfast and got ready to go on land. We arrived at the Ponta Delgada Port in the Aores on Sal Miguel Island Green Island at about 8am. We got off the ship with a main mission of finding an Internet cafe. We asked people at the information booth and a police officer and walked by it a couple of times before finding it. Once there we updated our blog and upload http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Azores/S-o-Miguel/blog-270187.html The next day we visited the castle of the moores which was Constructed by the Moors in the 8th or 9th Century A.D. this castle is situated on two peaks of the Serra de Sintra and from its walls there are magnificent views. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-269717.html My buddy and I went to Sintra which has become a major tourist attraction with many daytrippers visiting from nearby Lisbon.Attractions include the fabulous Pena Palace which is the oldest palace of the European Romanticism and It is a national monument and constitute one of the major expressions of 19th century http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-269715.html we went to tavira today to hang out on the beaches. there was no one on any of the beaches they were totally deserted. The common building's in the city were amazingly built like museums or something. like the old buldings in calgary. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Tavira/blog-269477.html A Postcard from Madeira April 2008Itrsquos now nearly nine months since we returned from our trip around North America and the English winter has recently been getting to our bones time for a short break to warmer climes to top up on a bit of sunshine. Why then Madeira you might ask Well for a start we had heard about their cake and wine but more to the point we remembered my little http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Madeira/Madeira/blog-269263.html The meeting was at 08.30 in the cafeteria for breakfast.We could choose among many types of foods milk chocolate fruit juice cereal joghurt jam cheese ham or Portuguese cold meathellipAbout at 09.30 we went on a first tour of Lisbona .we took the underground and after three stops we got off at AzhulhellipThe beautiful voice of an African lady received us in the underground it was a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-269198.html Meeting at 11 in Zuffo area all happy to say goodbye to parents from the coach window... At last we started for this adventure far away from Italy for 13 days On the road for MilanMalpensa we laughed and joked we listened to music and we had fun. When we arrived at the airport for someone the anxiety started to grow we waited still a bit of time before doing the checkin and later wal http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Faro/blog-269197.html On Wednesday there was the workshop of the teacher Eccli. Everyone had their own Portuguese partner and they had to taste Italian typical foods. At the same time we were taking photos or note down the expression on their face. After the workshop there was a conversation looking for a new identity with the architect Lago Monte Pedago. From 1200 to 1300 we had to return to school but before we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Faro/blog-269196.html Hey Everyone So this is sort of my fairwell blog to you all. I am in my last week of classes here in Spain and will leaving in two short weeks. I cant believe how fast everything is going Im looking forward however to my month of traveling and visits. It should be a fantastic time and will have to tell you about it when I get back since I dont have the time to really write in the next month http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-268596.html Itrsquos unfortunate we had only 12 hours in Lisbon. Itrsquos definitely a city I could have spent a week in. We spent the morning searching for internet getting our bearings on the city and eating delicious soup and spaghetti. In the afternoon we headed to Castelo Sao Jorge which is a beautiful castle. I really have no idea of the history of the castle which is a shame but the building wa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-267379.html When in Portugal we explored Lisbon the capital city for a daynight and a small beach town named Lagos for three. Lisbon is very city like although itrsquos definitely not your average city. It has a lot of old Moorish influence which comes from the ancient Arabs and Moroccans. There is a labyrinth of windy roads with no names in the middle of the city. One of the explanations for this com http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Lagos/blog-266793.html Last weekend I went with 4 of my friends to Portugal. First we flew into Lisbon the capital and spent a night there. We stayed in this adorable little hostel right in the center of town. It had a room with internet a room you could watch movies in a room with beanbags and a stereo system that you could hook your own music up to and a kitchen. We could use all these rooms whenever we wanted a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/blog-266780.html April 13 2008We left leaving Portimao this morning so it was breakfast and onto the bus for an hour until we arrived in Albufeira an Arabic influenced town. We were given 5 hours here so we headed to the beach. Now since we especially me were a little colored from the day of tanning before we lathered up our sunscreen before laying out. We didnrsquot have much to do so again walks happen http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/Albufeira/blog-266762.html April 12 2008We went to the free breakfast and it was delish because there were peaches and pineapple and chocolate muffins Then Julie Katie and I headed to the beach. The beaches in Portugal are gorgeous There are cliffs and rocks all over. We found a place to lay and started to tan. I went for a couple walks because I was getting bored and wanted to see more of the beach. Around 3 after 4 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Algarve/blog-266757.html