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Welcome to Portugal!
There were thousands of seashells on the beaches so we had some fun with them! Hello Everyone!
We were very excited about Portugal since their language is Portuguese (obviously), which Heather is fluent in and I can get by from what I learned in Brazil, but also this was going to be the first time that we would be somewhere with warm beaches since we started traveling over a month ago! We had no specific agenda, and really didn’t know what Lisbon had to offer, but that was our first stop and a great introduction to the country.
We took and overnight train from Madrid, and we slept so-so, but we weren’t going to meet Estrela, the guy we were going to couch surf with, until after 8pm due to him being at work. So we found the luggage lockers for our stuff and decided to start walking the town to try to stay awake! Travel Tidbit: Traveling by train in Europe has been great because, unlike airports, the train stations usually take you right into town so you don’t have to bother with public transportation most of the time.
We stopped by the tourist office for a free map to guide us, noticed the skies were nice and sunny and we were
off. Our first stop was Lisbon’s Pantheon because it was behind the train station then we continued through medieval neighborhood Alfama, which was the only neighborhood to not crumble in the 1755 earthquake. Then we headed to the Castle of Sao Jorge and paid to enter because it is the highest point in Lisbon and gives you a fantastic 360° view of the city…although, the castle wasn’t that impressive.
After a quick ice cream break, we headed into Baixa, the downtown area, to take a look around. It was your typical downtown area, but there were these guys standing around holding a few pairs of sunglasses (you’ll find just about everywhere people selling knock-off purses and sunglasses along the streets), but in Lisbon as soon as you passed by them they would open the hand holding the glasses and there would be some hashish. So if you wanted the sunglasses I guess you were out of luck! We had a couple more hours to kill so we jumped a tram visited Torre de Belém, the most famous tower in Portugal that is right on the water (didn’t pay to go in this time), as well as viewed their big
bridge that looks like the Golden Gate Bridge, and some other buildings in the area.
We met Estrela back at the train station and headed to his flat to get acquainted. After he gave us a tour around his neighborhood, we stopped by the grocery store and were very excited to find some foods that are typical to Brazil!! So we filled up a basket and decided the next night we would have a feast. We also noticed there was a cinema by the grocery store and were thinking that maybe we needed to watch a movie soon since we have been go-go-go so much…maybe tomorrow.
We slept in and woke up to overcast skies and decided to take it easy. We took the metro to the sight of the 1998 World Expo and took some food picnic supplies with us to have for lunch. After the ’98 Expo the government spent millions and turned the area into Parque das Nações, Park of Nations, and added in the largest Oceanarium as well as numerous pavilions and seaside restaurants. We also decided that we would go and check out the new X-men movie later that afternoon then head back
to the flat to make our Brazilian feast.
As for the movie…no comment, but our feast was fantastic! We had a root called Mandioca, but we knew it as Macaxeira from Brazil. We also had rice and beans and topped them with Farina, which is another type of Brazilian food that is made from the Mandioca. After cooking it all up we realized we made way too much food, our couch surfing hosts decided not to join us, but it wasn’t a problem for us - we were just as excited to have the food for leftovers.
The next day the skies were blue so we headed to a neighboring town called Sintra, which is famous for their fairytale castes. The castles were amazing in color and size, but after reading a little Rick Steves’ wisdom, we decided to skip the fancy one (well preserved and thus more expensive) and check out the ancient, more-ruinous Moorish castle. The castles were located 3km on top of a steep hill, so we utilized the buses here. The Moorish castle seemed to be nothing but stairs, but the views were amazing. To the east you could see Lisbon, to the south
you could see the Rio Tejo, and to the west you could see the Atlantic Ocean.
Talking with Estrela, he said that after viewing Sintra it was best to grab a bus to south to a town called Cascais that is located on the sea. Then from there you can take a 20 minute stroll on the beach and end up in town of Estoril and catch the train there back to Lisbon and it runs along the coast line. We decided to go for it and glad we did because the beach was beautiful and the train ride offered great views of the sea.
We decided that night that we had conquered Lisbon and after some more leftovers (which we had for breakfast and lunch that day too) we headed to the cinemas to watch the Da Vinci Code. Even after reading the book twice, I thought it was a great movie. The next morning, after saying our goodbyes, we jumped an early train to Lagos in southern Portugal. We arrived in Lagos mid afternoon, found our little pension and headed out on the town. We noticed at the marina there were people trying to sell tickets
to tour the famous coastal cliffs and grottoes (caves) and they were running anywhere from €7.50 to €60 - we decided on the more basic tour (€7.50). The first one we chose was called Love Boat, but it was full, so we went down to the next guy, Costa D’Oiro, and were off in about 15 minutes.
The boat ride was great! It was about one hour long and our boat driver took us through the caves and, once or twice, had us worried we were going to wreck into some of the rocks, but Juan was a great driver. After the tour, which was more than worth the money, we stopped at the beach where I swam for a little bit and Heather took a nap in the sand. The town was quiet that night, so we headed in early and made a nice shrimp dinner.
The next day we only had a few hours before we headed back to Spain, so we took a long walk along the beach and while enjoying the views something fell from the sky and hit us. It took a moment to register what happened, but then we heard the squawk
of the seagulls and we realized that we had just been hit by poop. I just had a little on my leg, but Heather - Oh, poor Heather - was hit on the shirt, pants, and arm. After laughing about it a bit, we headed to the bus station and off to Seville.
Portugal was a great place to visit. We were able to converse easily with the locals, had some great food, saw some of the greatest coast line, and had our first experience with being pooped on. Our next stop was going to be Seville, Spain and Morocco, so look forward to our next blog where we tell you about my one life long dreams that came true, our awkward experience in a Moroccan rug shop, and our Jedi master tour guide.
Love Ben and Heather
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Mary (Mom) Wright
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Shells and Seagulls
You just gotta love collecting seashells - I know I always do. But the seagulls is another story... at least it was "just" the arm - hair... face... much worse. Too bad the seagulls couldn't whitewash the graffitti on the wall behind - guess it's a universal problem... or at least a global problem. Keep smiling... On-on! ;-)