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Published: August 7th 2007
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Lisbon
View from the Hostel 4/18/07 Lisbon
Yesterday we took the bus from Lagos. The countryside was so pretty. We started out our day of wandering by heading to the Praca do Comercio. There were trolley cars all over the place (I would describe it as the San Francisco of Europe---granted I have never been to San Francisco but it is what I imagine San Francisco to be like); it really is a cute city. After taking some pictures, we hopped on one of the trolleys and made our way to Belem which is another part of the city. We walked around in one of the park areas, looked at the Padrao Dos Descobrimentos (monument of the discoverers), walked through the Mosteiro Dos Jeronimos, and finally bought one of the Belem pastries that I had been told we needed to try (they were these sort of custard things that had caramelized sugar on the top and then you were supposed to put powdered sugar and cinnamon on top. It was good, but I personally didn’t think it was the greatest pastry ever). When we were done in Belem we took another trolley back and then decided to go to the Alfama part of town. We
walked, mostly uphill, until we reached a park where we sat for a bit. We really had nothing in particular we wanted to see so we just sort of wandered. I left Jenny and Sudie at the park while I went in search for a cache. I didn’t find the cache, but the view was amazing. I literally had a panoramic view of the city. Well worth my trek uphill. After taking it in for a while, I met back up with the others and we headed down. We ended up eating seafood at a restaurant along the way. I had salmon which was pretty good, though it was a little irritating because the waiters constantly bring you food and put it on your table (the problem is that the food is not complimentary and they just keep putting it right in front of you and you have to either stare at it the whole time, or make them take it right back with them---it’s rather annoying). We ended the night by watching a movie in the hostel and then heading to bed (yes slightly boring I know).
4/19/07 Lisbon
We set off for Sintra in the morning.
Lisbon
Sintra The train ride was fairly short and only cost us 1.60euros. The city/town is so pretty, and one of the major draws is the numerous castles that dot its perimeters. After attempting to make our way to one of the castles and getting lost, eventually ending up walking all the way down the mountain back to the center of the town, we ended up paying to get into the grounds of the Quinta da Regaleira which wasn’t exactly a castle but pretty all the same. After walking around the gardens for a while we hopped on a bus to take us up to the castles at the top of the surrounding mountains. While it would have been nice to go in and actually see them, it was a little too late and they were closing, not to mention the price to get in was slightly higher than I wanted to pay. We took some pictures and then waited in line to get on the bus to take us back down to the train station. We were at the front of the line, but when the bus came there was a mad rush of all these old people who were at
Lisbon
Sintra the back of the line, and they basically pushed us out of the way, shoving themselves onto the bus. We barely made it on. Then, we were standing in the back and at one of the stops, when the door opened; a lady didn’t move in time and got her foot caught in the door. She was screaming and yelling at the bus driver to close the door. A bunch of other people started screaming as well, but the driver couldn’t get the door to close. A man began pulling on the door and the woman was freaking out. We were standing right there. In fact I had been standing on the other side of the bus doors but had managed to move as the doors began to open. Eventually the bus driver was able to get the doors closed and the woman wasn’t seriously hurt. I think she was probably more in shock. She got off with all the old people and they just walked away. The bus driver closed the doors and we continued on our way. It had to have been one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen, however, Sintra and Lisbon were both
amazing places and I really enjoyed them.
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