Blogs from Lisbon, Lisbon & Tagus Valley, Portugal, Europe - page 34

Three days ‘til I leave! Yikes! Pretty much everything’s ready to go. The cold weather and wind here in Alaska reminds me why I scheduled Portugal in March—to actually experience spring which I haven’t really seen since I left Sedro Woolley in the summer of ’98. As all my Alaskan readers know, spring doesn’t much happen here. We get “break-up” when the snow thaws, and the frozen ground morphs into mud and turns unpaved roads and driveways into deep brown sink holes. Anyway, I’m counting on Portugal to remind me what spring feels like. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll miss “break-up,” which can happen anytime from the end of March ‘til the end of April. We had lots of snow, so it should be a doozer this year. For sure, I’ll be back in time to ... read more

Ok, ready for part 2? I'll try to make it short for your sake and mine. To start with I'll give you a quick overview of Lisbon. Sun, sun, sun! A few more modern buildings than Porto and more variation of neighbourhoods. Replacing the 8 foot wide buses on 9 foot wide streets of Porto was the 28 tram which was slightly less scary and a little more scenic. Top 3 foods: Churrasco chicken in Porto (and Lisbon), caldo verde soup in Porto, carmelized pecans in Lisbon. Top 3 attractions: Parque das Nacoes (site of Expo '98), Mosteiro dos Jeronimos in Belem (a 16th C. French and Spanish built monastery), and a traditional Fado club in Lisbon. Other notable things we saw in Lisbon: 1: Castelo de Sao Jorge, the castle in the middle of the ... read more

That's what Darrell Waltrip says at the start of the Nascar Races when the pace car heads for the pits and the cars really start to race., I shouldn't say that just yert, not until March 19th when I catch the plane for Lisbon, actually, Seattle, Atlanta, New York, then Lisbon. Presently, I'm busy learning Portuguese, actually trying to twist my Italian and Spanish into Portuguese. All three languages have a lot in common, but every once in a while I come across a word that is entirely different in all three, like butterfly--Italian is farfalla, Spanish, mariposa, and Portuguese, borboleta. I'm not sure, but I think the words that are entirely different help ground me in the apporpriate language. When a word is identical in all three, I feel as if my brain-train, having moved ... read more

Jason and I finally made it to Lisbon for the first time (after six months in Portugal!) a couple of weekends ago. We took a day trip, as it’s only a two hour train ride from Coimbra, and we hit some of the major highlights. We spent the morning walking through the quaint Alfama neighborhood, which has winding streets and buildings covered in colorful tiles. Near the top of the hill is the old city castle, built originally in the 5th century by the Visigoths and altered by the Moors and the Christians as control over the city switched hands over the centuries. Nowadays the castle is more or less in ruins, and the parts that are not have mostly been restored, but because it is up so high it has a great view over the ... read more

Today's location is Lisbon, and driving in from the airport only renewed my determination to stay holed up in my hotel room! Am staying at the Tivoli Lisboa (apparently, there are two Hotel Tivoli's here, so the distinction is important). The hotel is good, reminds me of Germany but with scarier elevators and no assistance with the bags. I decided I love the mirrored closest and that the tub is great because it's long enough to accommodate my legs. And the Molton Brown bath gel is unbelievably relaxing - although I'm not in too much need of relaxing since I had a whole row to myself on the flight over. Turned out I was having dinner with one of our lawyers. We drove into the Old Town, with steep narrow roads and too many parked cars. ... read more