Mini Euro Trip #9 - Part 1 - Lively Lisbon

Decorations all over the train station walls

Start of a 9 day vacation, the first four days of which were in Portugal. We flew into Lisbon (Lissabon / Lisboa) very early Saturday morning. So early in fact that we had to catch a (200kph!) cab to the airport in Munich as the underground was not running early enough to get us there in time! It meant that we were tired, but we were also excited and we had a full day ahead of us after landing in Lisbon at 8am local time!

I am going to dispense with the normal hotel descriptions as these blogs will be long enough, but I must mention our amazing Concierge man in the Lisbon hotel. He was a gorgeous little Portuguese man who upon meeting us immediately wanted to engage in lengthy conversations - about Australia, about Germany, about Australians, about Germans, and then threw in his dislike for the French! At one point we even had a long conversation about Game of Thrones! We just loved this man and we were almost sad to say goodbye at the end of the four days. But I digress.













So, we made our way into the centre of town (after massive warnings from our hotel man about pick pockets) and just did some general looking around before taking our first tram ride up through the Alfama area. We then navigated the back streets by foot until we found the Castelo De São Jorge, which originated in the 11th Century. We had a lot of fun running around the old remains of the castle walls, both from the courtyard below, and on top of the walls.



















 Tram up through Alfama

 The view from inside the Castle grounds

 We both enjoyed climbing the walls!





















We could hear a peacock but could not find one for ages. Suddenly we looked up...

view from one of the castle towers

Spot Michael on the wall!

We also thoroughly enjoyed being in the sunshine. Well, I did (this Aussie girl misses the Brisbane sun!). Michael had left the sunscreen in the suitcase at the hotel and by early afternoon, he was starting to feel a bit toasted. So we left the castle and took a pit stop just outside the castle gates at a little cafe called Nata. Here they pretty much only sold drinks and Pastéis de Nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts. I mentioned in my pre-blog that we did enjoy several of these.... this was only our first taste! And boy were they good!

unique signs...

Rather than taking a tram back down into town, we decided to walk, and stumbled across Sé Catedral, a beautiful old cathedral still in the Alfama area.

Finally making our way on foot out of the Alfama area into the centre of town (Baixa), we found the Praça do Comércio which was the central square on the waterfront. By this time however, Michael was becoming quite crisp, so we wandered back towards the town centre and took shelter in a lunch venue. Michael decided to order his first Paella and I had the local Salted Cod which was served battered, covered in a scrambled egg and sautéed onion mix and surrounded by potato crisps! Was weird, yet yummy!

It was about this time that Michael also noticed that I was becoming a little on the red side myself so we headed back to the hotel for a siesta.... as you do in Portugal and Spain! After a kip and a shower, we returned to the city in search of some interesting sights and a small snack. After such a huge lunch we were not in a rush to eat again. In hindsight, this was the first indicator that I was sick. I can always eat dinner, even after a huge lunch!

We ventured up towards the Chiado and Bairro Alto areas by foot as the line for the Elevador Santa Justa was super busy (a giant elevator for transporting people from the central Baixa area of town up to Chiada on the cliff above). I was given a tip to just 'wander' around the streets of Lisbon, not to fear getting lost. We did this several times over the four days and just loved wandering the streets, seeing their little surprises with each turn. Walking from Chiado up towards Bairro Alto, we found some beautiful buildings. Lisbon is a city that blends old and new, and while some is very run down, some is old but maintained, and it appears that the people of Lisbon are keen to hang on to their history and culture, including their beautiful decorated tile-covered buildings.






At the top, we found a park with a view out over all of Lisbon, and across the valley to the Castelo De São Jorge where we had been earlier in the day. From here we watched the sun starting to set before taking the funicular down to town centre again.

It was here that all the beauty and glimmer of Lisbon came crashing down. Now, it had been a long day. By this time I had been already awake and running around for 17 hours, I was sunburnt, and as I have mentioned, was starting to feel quite sick. Walking down the streets of Lisbon, strange and scary men started approaching us .... to offer us drugs. All different varieties of course, we could have had our pick! I am not kidding when I say that we were offered drugs 11 times that evening. One man was brazen enough to approach our table as we were eating some dessert (another custard tart.... so what?!?). Unfortunately, I was really really crabby by this time, and my not so nice English language skills came out as I told this man where to go. Unfortunately, had I not been tired, I would not have taken the bait, but I did get into an argument with this man. But he was ruining my special custard tart moment. Sorry, but no-one comes between me and my pastry! I was also angry because the waiter did nothing, except tell me off afterwards for speaking back to the man. He did nothing to shoo this horrible drug dealer away from his dining facility or patrons. Needless to say, I finished my tart quickly and we headed home, running away from more dealers as we went!





Day 2 dawned and I felt a lot better having had a nice long sleep. After breakfast we jumped straight on a tram taking us out to the township of Belém for the day. Belém had been one of those 'must do' places according to quite a few friends. As the tram pulled up to the stop, we passed a shop that had a massive line outside, going halfway down the block. We knew instantly what this was for. Several travel blog websites had said that if you get to Belém, you simply had to visit Pastéis de Belém. This pastry shop is world famous for its custard tarts, the recipe having been handed down by the monks, and no one in Portugal can reproduce tarts like them. But seeing as it was only 10am in the morning, we decided to try and fit in a few sights before we stopped for tarts!

First stop was Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jeronimo Monastery) which was a beautiful old structure, complete with a breathtaking church. As we reached the inside courtyard of the monastery, we were delighted by the sound of music - it was in fact a high school band playing. Inside the open air courtyard of a Monastery, you can imagine the acoustics were just wonderful. Sadly though, we walked in on their last song which was a shame.


































After the Monastery, we started a walking journey out to the waterfront to visit a few monuments. The first of which was the Padrão dos Descobrimentos - Monument to the Discoveries. This was simply incredible. There are times in life where you see images of something, and vow to one day see it, and then upon viewing it with ones own eyes, it is an overwhelming experience. No images will ever do this monument justice in my opinion. It was the sheer scale and size of this sculpture, and its immaculate condition (built 1960 to commemorate the Portuguese Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries) that wowed me. I have since looked back at the photos and still cannot convey how amazing it was.

We also walked onwards to the Tower of Belém, which we toured the inside of, and climbed up to the top of the tower. Downstairs though was the surprise. Once used as a prison and artillery storage, the basement of the tower was very small, with an incredibly low ceiling. So low that even I had to duck - that's saying something.

At about this time, we realised just how much our tummies were rumbling, and we had actually walked quite a long way. Back to the centre of Belém and the main cafes, we settled down for a quick bakery lunch before queuing up for those yummy custard tarts! Thankfully the queue didn't take long to move, and soon we were walking back to the park in search of a shady bench where we could devour our 6 'still warm' pastries! Yes, 6! You could buy them individually or you could get this cute box set of 6. It was a no-brainer really! Settling on our bench, we carefully dusted each tart with cinnamon and icing sugar (they provided handy little sachets of each) and started digging in. Oh my! By the end of the 6, we were quite full, but very very happy! And talk about sticky fingers. We had to wash our hands in the big fountain in the centre of the park.

The next stop was the Berardo Museum (Museu Colecção Berardo) which had one exhibit upstairs devoted to a huge collection of works from 1900 to 1960. This included works from Picasso, Warhol and Leichtenstein. For those who know me well, this was a bit of a fan fest. Particularly Warhol! Downstairs there were other exhibits but none that appealed to me like the upstairs one. Michael did find one sculpture that he really loved - he called it the 'Subma-whale', a cross between a submarine and a whale.

By this time it was about 5pm, and we were exhausted. Upon return to our hotel, we showered and made the effort to go out for dinner, but when we couldn't find any open restaurants (Sunday night) in our local area, we found a supermarket and settled for a hotel bed picnic! Then an early night to prepare for the next big day.






Day 3 was a little different. When we visit a country, we try to see as much as we possibly can outside. I occasionally like to visit museums but don't like to waste too much time inside when there is so much to see and do in the fresh air! But today, we couldn't help ourselves. We went to Lisbon's Oceanarium! Now I shan't bore you with loads of fish photos/stories, but I will admit that Michael and I were able to spend over 4 hours in this place. Huge fans of a good aquarium, we often find ourselves searching for something that lives up to our expectations. The standard I must say is set pretty high, after visiting the Osaka Aquarium in Japan in 2010. This Oceanarium in Lisbon has got to be the closest we have come to equalling that standard.

I will give some short descriptions and a few fish photos but I promise to leave it at that. Honest.


This guy was called Vasco!








Fact #1 - The oceanarium consisted of a massive central tank, with two stories of other exhibits rotating around the central tank.


Fact #2 - While Osaka had more varieties and a larger collection, the information that accompanied the Lisbon collection was very extensive. The Audioguide was brilliant.

Story #1 - Michael and I were standing in front of the first window of the main tank, just marvelling at the beauty and basking in the blue glow when we couldn't help but eavesdrop of a German couple chatting. We did have a chuckle because they were pointing at a stingray and talking about Steve Irwin's death. We didn't laugh because of their conversation content, but because we could understand the whole conversation - "Ja, Steve Irwin! Er ist gestorben!..."









Story #2 - My favourite tank of the whole visit was the Sea Otters. I love these guys and happily go to any zoo/aquarium that has them. They are just so much fun to watch. But even I learnt some new information this time. While watching them playing in the water, I couldn't help but notice as they floated on their backs, they were eating, but kept reaching under one arm and producing more food as they finished the previous mouthful. Then they would do a tumble turn and more food would come out. Listening to the audioguide, I learnt that they have a flap of skin (pocket) under their left arm, in which they store food while they are ducking and diving, then can reach into and eat when they are gliding on their backs. At this particular aquarium though, they had their own interesting story.

"One day, a tourist unfortunately dropped their camera into the water. The camera was rescued by one of the otters, but he helped himself to the batteries from the back of the camera. Apparently it was an incredibly tricky retrieval situation, trying to free the batteries from the Otter's 'Pocket'!"

The two otters in the Lisbon Oceanarium are called Micas and Maré.

Fact #3 - They only had one creepy Spider Crab - so I didn't freak out and run away.... as fast as I did in Japan!

Fact #4 - We found Nemo! And Dory!

Fact #5 - Flat fish are cool! They are born with an eye on both sides of their head, but as they reach maturity, one eye moves so that the side that faces upwards has two eyes, and the side lying against the sand has none!



 






Ok, facts and stories over, it was a cool aquarium with lots to see and do. We even got to see a special Turtle exhibit, and the main tank had some huge species in it!










Lunch (at 3pm!) was at a really nice Burger bar on the waterfront.














We had just enough time for a shower when we got back to the hotel before heading out for a Fado show. Fado is a music style specific not just to Portugal but to Lisbon. We sat an enjoyed a one hour show listening to the traditional story telling music and singing in the neighbourhood of Chiado.

After the show, we again 'got lost' in the streets of Chiado, looking for a nice place for dinner. We eventually found one and indulged in a plate of Portuguese cheese for our entrée. Michael had a Portuguese dish for his main, while I just had steak. This was due to allergy reasons and I was also not feeling well by this time. But we made it back to the hotel in good spirits and with very full tummies.

Day 4 was another special day as we were again getting to visit a different part of Portugal. We made it out of the hotel after another lengthy chat with our lovely hotel guy and joined a small tour group heading to Sintra for the day. Our tour guide Tiago took us in his little mini van, along with 3 others, up to the mountain area of Sintra. From a distance already we could see the famous palace atop its peak - Pena Palace. We headed there first, and it was excellent because we beat all the tourist crowds!

Pena itself was built in the 19th century, and consists of three distinctly different architecture styles. It can best be described as three different palaces smashed together. There is a yellow section that is in the Moorish (Moroccan) style, A red part that is more Neo Gothic (straight out of Germany we thought) and a blue bit in the middle that was the Portuguese Manuelian style. It was so unusual because it was built by King Don Fernando II who was a German prince married to a Portuguese Queen, thus such a mixture of Portuguese and Germanic styles.

At the entrance gate, you were greeted by several symbols. The top symbol was a hand, and underneath was 3 roses in a triangle formation. This meant that to pass through the gates, you had to 'Stop' and 'Clear your Mind'. It was believed that a person who did not do this once passed through the gates and was struck by lightning on the other side.

The view across to the ruins of an ancient Moorish castle

There were so many places to observe the palace from, but around one side in particular it was soooooo windy, but from this side you could see the remains of the original moorish Monastery walls.


























Once we got inside, we saw some beautifully furnished rooms including original furniture from the King and Queen's reign. We were also able to observe restorations occurring in one of the palace rooms. It was quite fascinating!

Once outside, we wandered back to our van through the gorgeous gardens of the Palace (every last tree and shrub imported from other lands). It was also a strange mix of English and French Garden style, ie a natural growth verses manicured precision laid garden beds. But it was at this time that we also realised how lucky we were to have arrived at the Palace so early. The tourists making their way up were now entering by the coach load.

Heading back down the mountain, we stopped in the main village of Sintra, under the Palace. Here there was another castle to view, but we were more concerned with lunch. Well, Michael was. By this stage, I was really sick and had spent the morning nursing an incredibly sore belly. I managed a soup for lunch while Michael enjoyed a 5 spiced meat dish. But it didn't stop me from enjoying another local delicacy - Ginja! This was cherry liqueur served in a chocolate cup - so naturally, you drank your shot then ate your cup!

Next stop on the tour was Cabo da Roca - the Western most point of Europe. We were very excited to stand at this point and look out across the Atlantic Ocean - until we nearly got blown over by the extreme winds! The best description of the landscape would be to say it looked a bit like driving along the Great Ocean Road, almost like stopping at the 12 Apostles, but with only 1 or two Apostles!

Michael tried to take heaps of photos. I headed back to the van to brush my hair!
















We then drove along the beautiful coastline until we reached Cascais which was a beachside town. As you do by the beach, we bought gelati and sat by the water! It was a lovely warm end to our tour.

On the way back into town with Tiago, I will admit I fell asleep and when I was woken up back in Lisbon, I realised just how sick I was. My tummy was in agony. At this stage we still had a few hours to spend in Lisbon until we boarded our overnight train to Madrid. So after collecting our suitcase from our hotel, we found a luggage locker at the central train station and went for a slow walk. Again, we 'got lost' in the streets, and despite the knife in my stomach, we had a lovely last few hours taking in the view and enjoying the cool breeze on our faces!

Just some things we saw on our walk.

So that was Lisbon! Needless to say that we got our train as planned and woke up the next morning as the train pulled into Madrid...