Portugal
I can’t believe that it’s November already.
Last Friday morning we left for Lisbon. We rented a little four-door car - it was cozy with five people and our backpacks. We drove through the countryside, lots of green rolling hills and farms, old stonewalls, cows and bulls. It rained for an hour or so. It was fun to go on a little road trip and see Portugal. We parked our car in a parking garage when we got to Lisbon. The bridge going across the Rio Tejo was cool, its big and red and looks like the Golden Gate bridge. The first hostel we looked at was nice and only 10 euros a person per night so we decided to stay there.
We wandered around the city and took a street elevator and planned out what we wanted to see and do at the patio at the top of the elevator. We saw the downtown, some plazas and a church. Lisbon is full of really colorful old buildings and the sidewalks and plazas are all little white tiles with designs painted all over the tiles. The streetcars are cool too. It was rainy and a little cold. We went to our first pastry shop, they are really good.
On Saturday we went to the old Arab quarter, Alfama, which is a bunch of narrow old streets in a hilly part of the city. We got lost looking for the weekly flea market there. We eventually found it and shopped around for a while. I got an old Telepizza pin, a red shirt that says “Bombeiros” (firefighters), and some old postcards. It was a good flea market.
We bought rolls, turkey, cheese and yoghurt at a grocery store and had a picnic in a park on top of a hill. It was chilly and really windy. Then we went to the São Jorge castle, which overlooks the city. There are some cannons and an old castle that we wandered around. Great views of the city and the river too. We then took a streetcar to a neighborhood called Belém that is a ways down the river. There’s a huge monastery there, Monesterio de São Jerónimo, an old tower on the river and a famous pastry shop we had heard about. The pastry shop was huge, it probably sat at least 200 people and we still had to wait for a table. Everyone gets the pudding cakes there so we tried those, with some powdered sugar and cinnamon on top, so delicious. It rained on us pretty hard as we walked back to the streetcar.
We went back to the hostel and then went downtown to shop and eat at a restaurant that had tanks full of huge crabs and lobsters that we saw the first day. The seafood in Lisbon is cheap and really good. We feasted on bread with tuna and sardine pâté, a plate of grilled salmon with steamed vegetables, and some rice dishes with salmon, crab legs, prawns, lobster tail, mussels, oysters and a couple bottles of wine. It tasted as good as it sounds. We were given bibs and tools to crack the crab legs and pluck out the meat. We also split two desserts, black forest cake and vanilla ice cream with berries. It was a ton of fresh seafood and ended up costing only 15 euros a person (including drinks and dessert!). We were at the restaurant for almost three hours, we closed it down.
On Sunday we went to Sintra in the mountains nearby. It was a nice short drive. The mountains were really foggy, we were up in the clouds. It was chilly and very wet. We parked our car in the town and hiked up the mountain to the national palace and gardens at the top. The hike was longer than we expected (over an hour), but it was worth it. At the top we ran into three other students from Sevilla who also went to Lisbon for the weekend. We saw the palace that the royal family used; it’s a big museum now. There is probably an awesome view from the palace but all we could see was dense clouds.
We took the bus down the mountain which was a crazy ride. The road is really windy and narrow and everyone got tossed around. We had a picnic lunch in town and drove west towards the beach to catch the sunset near Cabo de Roca. The waves were huge and there was a guy trying, unsuccessfully, to surf. It was a cloudy orange sunset.
We drove back to Lisbon, hung out in the hostel for a bit and then went to Bairro Alto, the neighborhood on a hillside in the city that is full of bars and clubs. We went to a jazz club, ate, had some wine and then went to a Mexican bar for nachos and margaritas. We had to climb a lot of stairs to get there.
On Monday we got into our car and drove to the Oceanario (aquarium) on the river. It was built for the World Expo that was held in Lisbon in 1998. It’s the largest aquarium in Europe and it’s inside a very strange-looking building on the water. It looks like an oil station out in the ocean. There was one huge tank full of all kinds of fish and sharks and one giant manta ray that had about a six-foot wingspan and was really fast. I got some pictures of it but they are a little blurry because the thing was swimming so fast. There was a scuba diver in there too feeding some of the fish. There were other areas recreating the Indian, Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The coolest things we saw were the penguins, some sea otters, fluorescent coral, a fish that looked like a leafy seaweed plant, sand-colored flat fish (really weird looking fish with very effective camouflage), and bioluminescent fish (even though I couldn’t actually see them – it was just a dark tank with green lights flashing all around).
When we left the aquarium we drove across a really long bridge and headed south on a little highway along the coast. It was a long, windy drive. We got to Lagos, a beach town on the southern coast of Portugal around 8 pm. We got some food for dinner at a little grocery store and cooked in the kitchen of our hostel. It was a great place that a bunch of people stayed at for a few days in September. We walked around Lagos on Tuesday morning and saw the harbor and some of the beaches. There are tons of rocks and cliffs that form little coves and grottoes along the coast. Then we drove west to Sagres, a town in the southwestern corner of Portugal. It’s the westernmost point of Europe and was the edge of the known world until Columbus discovered the Americas. There’s a huge fortress on the coast and some very impressive cliffs. The waves were big too, it was cool to watch them pound the rocks over and over and create lots of foam.
We got back to Sevilla around 6 pm. There was a big soccer match in Sevilla, Betis beat Chelsea 1-0. Betis hadn’t won in a while and Chelsea is one of the best teams in Europe so it was exciting. We had no class on Monday and Tuesday was All Saints Day so we had a really long weekend. It’s nice to be back in Sevilla, its familiar and its nice to hear Spanish again.
So just two days of class this week and then I’m off to Copenhagen on Friday.
Last Friday morning we left for Lisbon. We rented a little four-door car - it was cozy with five people and our backpacks. We drove through the countryside, lots of green rolling hills and farms, old stonewalls, cows and bulls. It rained for an hour or so. It was fun to go on a little road trip and see Portugal. We parked our car in a parking garage when we got to Lisbon. The bridge going across the Rio Tejo was cool, its big and red and looks like the Golden Gate bridge. The first hostel we looked at was nice and only 10 euros a person per night so we decided to stay there.
We wandered around the city and took a street elevator and planned out what we wanted to see and do at the patio at the top of the elevator. We saw the downtown, some plazas and a church. Lisbon is full of really colorful old buildings and the sidewalks and plazas are all little white tiles with designs painted all over the tiles. The streetcars are cool too. It was rainy and a little cold. We went to our first pastry shop, they are really good.
On Saturday we went to the old Arab quarter, Alfama, which is a bunch of narrow old streets in a hilly part of the city. We got lost looking for the weekly flea market there. We eventually found it and shopped around for a while. I got an old Telepizza pin, a red shirt that says “Bombeiros” (firefighters), and some old postcards. It was a good flea market.
We bought rolls, turkey, cheese and yoghurt at a grocery store and had a picnic in a park on top of a hill. It was chilly and really windy. Then we went to the São Jorge castle, which overlooks the city. There are some cannons and an old castle that we wandered around. Great views of the city and the river too. We then took a streetcar to a neighborhood called Belém that is a ways down the river. There’s a huge monastery there, Monesterio de São Jerónimo, an old tower on the river and a famous pastry shop we had heard about. The pastry shop was huge, it probably sat at least 200 people and we still had to wait for a table. Everyone gets the pudding cakes there so we tried those, with some powdered sugar and cinnamon on top, so delicious. It rained on us pretty hard as we walked back to the streetcar.
We went back to the hostel and then went downtown to shop and eat at a restaurant that had tanks full of huge crabs and lobsters that we saw the first day. The seafood in Lisbon is cheap and really good. We feasted on bread with tuna and sardine pâté, a plate of grilled salmon with steamed vegetables, and some rice dishes with salmon, crab legs, prawns, lobster tail, mussels, oysters and a couple bottles of wine. It tasted as good as it sounds. We were given bibs and tools to crack the crab legs and pluck out the meat. We also split two desserts, black forest cake and vanilla ice cream with berries. It was a ton of fresh seafood and ended up costing only 15 euros a person (including drinks and dessert!). We were at the restaurant for almost three hours, we closed it down.
On Sunday we went to Sintra in the mountains nearby. It was a nice short drive. The mountains were really foggy, we were up in the clouds. It was chilly and very wet. We parked our car in the town and hiked up the mountain to the national palace and gardens at the top. The hike was longer than we expected (over an hour), but it was worth it. At the top we ran into three other students from Sevilla who also went to Lisbon for the weekend. We saw the palace that the royal family used; it’s a big museum now. There is probably an awesome view from the palace but all we could see was dense clouds.
We took the bus down the mountain which was a crazy ride. The road is really windy and narrow and everyone got tossed around. We had a picnic lunch in town and drove west towards the beach to catch the sunset near Cabo de Roca. The waves were huge and there was a guy trying, unsuccessfully, to surf. It was a cloudy orange sunset.
We drove back to Lisbon, hung out in the hostel for a bit and then went to Bairro Alto, the neighborhood on a hillside in the city that is full of bars and clubs. We went to a jazz club, ate, had some wine and then went to a Mexican bar for nachos and margaritas. We had to climb a lot of stairs to get there.
On Monday we got into our car and drove to the Oceanario (aquarium) on the river. It was built for the World Expo that was held in Lisbon in 1998. It’s the largest aquarium in Europe and it’s inside a very strange-looking building on the water. It looks like an oil station out in the ocean. There was one huge tank full of all kinds of fish and sharks and one giant manta ray that had about a six-foot wingspan and was really fast. I got some pictures of it but they are a little blurry because the thing was swimming so fast. There was a scuba diver in there too feeding some of the fish. There were other areas recreating the Indian, Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The coolest things we saw were the penguins, some sea otters, fluorescent coral, a fish that looked like a leafy seaweed plant, sand-colored flat fish (really weird looking fish with very effective camouflage), and bioluminescent fish (even though I couldn’t actually see them – it was just a dark tank with green lights flashing all around).
When we left the aquarium we drove across a really long bridge and headed south on a little highway along the coast. It was a long, windy drive. We got to Lagos, a beach town on the southern coast of Portugal around 8 pm. We got some food for dinner at a little grocery store and cooked in the kitchen of our hostel. It was a great place that a bunch of people stayed at for a few days in September. We walked around Lagos on Tuesday morning and saw the harbor and some of the beaches. There are tons of rocks and cliffs that form little coves and grottoes along the coast. Then we drove west to Sagres, a town in the southwestern corner of Portugal. It’s the westernmost point of Europe and was the edge of the known world until Columbus discovered the Americas. There’s a huge fortress on the coast and some very impressive cliffs. The waves were big too, it was cool to watch them pound the rocks over and over and create lots of foam.
We got back to Sevilla around 6 pm. There was a big soccer match in Sevilla, Betis beat Chelsea 1-0. Betis hadn’t won in a while and Chelsea is one of the best teams in Europe so it was exciting. We had no class on Monday and Tuesday was All Saints Day so we had a really long weekend. It’s nice to be back in Sevilla, its familiar and its nice to hear Spanish again.
So just two days of class this week and then I’m off to Copenhagen on Friday.
posted by Sam at
9:38 AM
1 Comments:
it's fun to read and simultaneously look at the corresponding pictures.. you should post pics more often!
you took some REALLY good ones, too
By
Anonymous, at 6:56 PM, November 02, 2005
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