Isabel's July Portugal Trip Report with Photos
Aug 21st, 2006, 05:08 AM
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 5 Thursday – On route to Obidos, we stopped at both the UNESCO monasteries, Bathala and Alcobaca. I’m never one to pass up a UNESCO site. When planning a trip one of the first things I do is check what UNESCO sites are in the area. For central Portugal there are six, the towns of Evora and Sintra, plus four monasteries, these two, one in Tomar and the one in Belem (plus the Tower in Belem). On our way to Coimbra, we had planned to stop in Tomar to visit that one, but since we had the three other UNESCO monasteries on our agenda for this trip, we decided to skip it (which was a good decision I think, for as much as I love old monasteries, three in one trip are enough). Bathala and Alcobaca are similar but both were worthwhile. Bathala is right on the main road so no charming surroundings but at least it was easy to find. First impression is that this is one BIG church. It’s massive both inside and out. And one certainly has to be impressed with the incredible amount of intricate stonework. It was almost too “fussy” for my taste. Alcobaca is also easy to find, but slightly off the road, so there’s a square in front of it, cafes and shops beside it. Both had easy free parking. Alcobaca is also massive, with lots of intricate stone carving, but you can’t get as good a view of it in it’s entirety. But the cloisters, which are the main feature of these monasteries, was prettier. And there were more interior areas to explore – huge rooms where the monks ate, slept, etc. I’m a real cloister fanatic, so I took a few hundred photos.
We arrived in Obidos, our destination for the next two nights, by mid afternoon. I had almost expected to not like Obidos as I had heard how very “touristy” it is. But we absolutely loved Obidos. Yes there are quite a few shops catering to the tourist trade but the town is beautiful, on a hill, completely surrounded by walls, with a castle at one end. The white houses with blue and yellow trim are mostly in great shape, but there are certainly plenty that are inhabited by “real people”, it’s not just a tourist destination. And we were really lucky to have arrived during their Medieval Festival, a several day event which includes music, food, crafts, animals, and everyone dressing up in medieval clothing. It really added a lot to the whole experience of the town. For example we were sitting at an outdoor café having lunch and sangria and a couple of guys dressed as knights starting fencing. Then a parade of people came by, dressed in medieval garb, playing medieval instruments. All very festive. For a small admission fee you could go inside the castle grounds where more crafts and lots more food booths were set up. It was a giant medieval party with a fantastic backdrop of castle and walls. We went both nights that we were in Obidos, had great dinners of shish-ka-bobs, soup, bread, more Sangria. Once it got dark and the lights came on it was even more atmospheric. Obidos and it’s medieval fair was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.
We arrived in Obidos, our destination for the next two nights, by mid afternoon. I had almost expected to not like Obidos as I had heard how very “touristy” it is. But we absolutely loved Obidos. Yes there are quite a few shops catering to the tourist trade but the town is beautiful, on a hill, completely surrounded by walls, with a castle at one end. The white houses with blue and yellow trim are mostly in great shape, but there are certainly plenty that are inhabited by “real people”, it’s not just a tourist destination. And we were really lucky to have arrived during their Medieval Festival, a several day event which includes music, food, crafts, animals, and everyone dressing up in medieval clothing. It really added a lot to the whole experience of the town. For example we were sitting at an outdoor café having lunch and sangria and a couple of guys dressed as knights starting fencing. Then a parade of people came by, dressed in medieval garb, playing medieval instruments. All very festive. For a small admission fee you could go inside the castle grounds where more crafts and lots more food booths were set up. It was a giant medieval party with a fantastic backdrop of castle and walls. We went both nights that we were in Obidos, had great dinners of shish-ka-bobs, soup, bread, more Sangria. Once it got dark and the lights came on it was even more atmospheric. Obidos and it’s medieval fair was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.
Aug 21st, 2006, 09:18 AM
#23
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,260
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I was in Obidos with Mrs G and wolfy the last day of Medieval festival. It's exactly like Isabel described it. I think it should be more happenings like that, including Lisbon.
As far as the photo report is concerned, the least I can say is that I commented many times while watching the pictures: "I've never noticed that place xxx was so beautiful". The same effect was produced with Baileys report.
As far as the photo report is concerned, the least I can say is that I commented many times while watching the pictures: "I've never noticed that place xxx was so beautiful". The same effect was produced with Baileys report.
Aug 22nd, 2006, 07:08 AM
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
lobo - glad you liked the photos. Wasn't Obidos Festival great. I usually prefer to see places in their "natural" state - without festivals, so I can see what they are like most of the time. But in this case I really think the festival added so much. Plus it was just fun.
wombat - that's a great idea, maybe I can convince the Portugal tourist office to at least give me a discount on my next trip.
Here's the next couple of days - and finially arriving in Lisbon.
Day 6 Friday - After a morning walking around the Obidos town walls we drove up to Nazare. Approaching the town there was tons of new development. Looked like many beachfront areas in the US. It was clearly not going to be the “quaint fishing village” the guidebooks talked about. We decided to go straight for the upper town, Sitio. Even this was pretty built up although there were a lot of local older women (in multiple skirts) sitting in front of their houses/apartments with signs offering rooms for rent. And there was a fabulous view, of the lower town and the coastline. There’s a large square, with a large church, lined with your usual beachy tourist crap. We admired the view, bought some figs from one of the multi-skirted old women, and went back to Obidos without bothering to go into the lower beach town. We spent the rest of the day and evening in Obidos, enjoying the town, the medieval fair and the sangria.
Day 7 Saturday – Our plan had been to stop in Sintra for the day, but we decided the warnings about difficulty driving and parking there might be true so we put that off for a day trip from Lisbon later in the week and headed straight for the Lisbon airport to drop the car. The airport, and especially the rental car area was much more crowded than it had been on Sunday morning (at almost the same time) when we picked up the car. We hopped on the airport bus (in front of the arrivals hall, says “hotel shuttle” on the side, and “Bus 91” on the front). Tickets from the driver are €3 and entitle you to use the trams and buses in Lisbon for the rest of the day. It took about 20 minutes, made about 5-6 stops before we got off in Praça dos Restauradores. Our hotel turned out to be about a one minute walk from there, one block east on Rua das Portas de Santo Antão. As it was only about 10:30 (the drive from Obidos took less than an hour) our room wasn’t ready but they have a locked room for luggage so we left it and went out to explore Lisbon.
After walking around the Baixa we caught Tram 28 (since it was free for us today with our airport bus ticket) and road it all the way to one end, then all the way back to the other end. It was lots of fun, and I highly recommend it for the fun value, plus it is a good way to get from place to place if you don’t want to walk up and down all those hills, but you don’t really see all that much, so in that sense it’s not the same as for example, getting on a sightseeing bus. In fact when we got off we had no clue where we were, we thought we were deep in the Alfama, way behind the castle, when in fact we were a two minute walk from Praça da Figueira. We had a siesta then planned on taking Tram 28 to Basilica da Estrela but each time we got to a tram stop, and there was no tram in sight we decided to walk to the next one, and ended up walking all the way there. Don’t really recommend this as the walk was rather boring, but the basilica is nice and the garden across the street from it was quite nice. We took Tram 28 back to the Chiado. We checked out the Armazens do Chiado which I had heard was a good way to get from down in the Baixa up to the Chiado. It’s a 6 story mall with a ground floor entrance in the Baixa and a 5th floor entrance in the Chiado. Turns out that the top floor has a food court with a couple of not-too-bad restaurants with fantastic views. So we ate dinner there. There’s also a rest room with great view which turned out to come in handy several times in the next few days.
Day 8 Sunday – We spent the whole day in the Alfama, exploring first the castle, then walking all over the Alfama. First stop after the castle was Miradouro de Santa Luzia. It’s under construction, looks like it will be nice when done but not at the moment. An even better view is about a block away at the belvedere of Largo das Portas do Sol. There’s also a small café here. We loved it all but a highlight of the day was Igreja da São Vicente de Fora. The church itself was not particularly interesting to me but you can pay a small fee to see the cloisters and climb the tower to the roof. There are supposedly a million tiles here and I believe it. First are the tiled cloisters, then inside all the walls are tiled, then on the second floor is a museum area with many tiled panels (probably 10 feet wide and 4 or so feet high) which illustrate the fables of La Fontaine. You can then climb up to the roof, which has really marvelous views of the Alfama, the river, the whole city. Back downstairs there’s a cute little café with very decent inexpensive lunch. After that we just got lost walking all over the Alfama. There are tons of stairs and steep streets, but it was worth it.
wombat - that's a great idea, maybe I can convince the Portugal tourist office to at least give me a discount on my next trip.
Here's the next couple of days - and finially arriving in Lisbon.
Day 6 Friday - After a morning walking around the Obidos town walls we drove up to Nazare. Approaching the town there was tons of new development. Looked like many beachfront areas in the US. It was clearly not going to be the “quaint fishing village” the guidebooks talked about. We decided to go straight for the upper town, Sitio. Even this was pretty built up although there were a lot of local older women (in multiple skirts) sitting in front of their houses/apartments with signs offering rooms for rent. And there was a fabulous view, of the lower town and the coastline. There’s a large square, with a large church, lined with your usual beachy tourist crap. We admired the view, bought some figs from one of the multi-skirted old women, and went back to Obidos without bothering to go into the lower beach town. We spent the rest of the day and evening in Obidos, enjoying the town, the medieval fair and the sangria.
Day 7 Saturday – Our plan had been to stop in Sintra for the day, but we decided the warnings about difficulty driving and parking there might be true so we put that off for a day trip from Lisbon later in the week and headed straight for the Lisbon airport to drop the car. The airport, and especially the rental car area was much more crowded than it had been on Sunday morning (at almost the same time) when we picked up the car. We hopped on the airport bus (in front of the arrivals hall, says “hotel shuttle” on the side, and “Bus 91” on the front). Tickets from the driver are €3 and entitle you to use the trams and buses in Lisbon for the rest of the day. It took about 20 minutes, made about 5-6 stops before we got off in Praça dos Restauradores. Our hotel turned out to be about a one minute walk from there, one block east on Rua das Portas de Santo Antão. As it was only about 10:30 (the drive from Obidos took less than an hour) our room wasn’t ready but they have a locked room for luggage so we left it and went out to explore Lisbon.
After walking around the Baixa we caught Tram 28 (since it was free for us today with our airport bus ticket) and road it all the way to one end, then all the way back to the other end. It was lots of fun, and I highly recommend it for the fun value, plus it is a good way to get from place to place if you don’t want to walk up and down all those hills, but you don’t really see all that much, so in that sense it’s not the same as for example, getting on a sightseeing bus. In fact when we got off we had no clue where we were, we thought we were deep in the Alfama, way behind the castle, when in fact we were a two minute walk from Praça da Figueira. We had a siesta then planned on taking Tram 28 to Basilica da Estrela but each time we got to a tram stop, and there was no tram in sight we decided to walk to the next one, and ended up walking all the way there. Don’t really recommend this as the walk was rather boring, but the basilica is nice and the garden across the street from it was quite nice. We took Tram 28 back to the Chiado. We checked out the Armazens do Chiado which I had heard was a good way to get from down in the Baixa up to the Chiado. It’s a 6 story mall with a ground floor entrance in the Baixa and a 5th floor entrance in the Chiado. Turns out that the top floor has a food court with a couple of not-too-bad restaurants with fantastic views. So we ate dinner there. There’s also a rest room with great view which turned out to come in handy several times in the next few days.
Day 8 Sunday – We spent the whole day in the Alfama, exploring first the castle, then walking all over the Alfama. First stop after the castle was Miradouro de Santa Luzia. It’s under construction, looks like it will be nice when done but not at the moment. An even better view is about a block away at the belvedere of Largo das Portas do Sol. There’s also a small café here. We loved it all but a highlight of the day was Igreja da São Vicente de Fora. The church itself was not particularly interesting to me but you can pay a small fee to see the cloisters and climb the tower to the roof. There are supposedly a million tiles here and I believe it. First are the tiled cloisters, then inside all the walls are tiled, then on the second floor is a museum area with many tiled panels (probably 10 feet wide and 4 or so feet high) which illustrate the fables of La Fontaine. You can then climb up to the roof, which has really marvelous views of the Alfama, the river, the whole city. Back downstairs there’s a cute little café with very decent inexpensive lunch. After that we just got lost walking all over the Alfama. There are tons of stairs and steep streets, but it was worth it.
Aug 24th, 2006, 04:11 AM
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Obviously it's taking me forever to write this, but I promised some friends who are planning a trip that I would. These next two days include our LIsbon Dining club experience.
Day 9 Monday. We explored the other side of the city – the Barrio Alto and Chiado. We did the usual things – the Convento do Carmo, Igreja de São Roque, Elevador Santa Justa, and some not so usual things – the Museu da Farmácia and the Museu d’Agua. Actually at those last two places we were the only people there. The Pharmacy Museum especially we thought was very well done, with displays about the history of medications not just in Portugal but worldwide. The Museu d’Agua wasn’t much, but it’s under a nice little park, and just down the street from Pastelaria São Roque which is an absolutely beautiful little café with incredibly cheap delicious food. My husband had a huge bowl of soup and I had a wonderful flakey pastry thing filled with sausage and a large fruit cup and the whole thing came to less than €4! This is close to another famous look-out, Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcântara, which was closed due to construction. It’s right at the top of the Gloria Elevador which is also closed due to the construction of the Rossio train station. Oh well. I think you get about the same view from the Santa Justa Elevador which is newly re-opened. Even if you don’t ride the elevator, you can get to it from the new walkway from the Convento do Carmo, and you can then climb the spiral stairs to the tiny café at the top and the fantastic views. The rest of the afternoon my husband and I split up, he went to Cervejaria da Trindade – the oldest beer hall in Lisbon and I checked out the sales in the stores.
In the evening we took the metro to Parque das Nacoes. The Lisbon metro is great – efficient, clean, some really nice stations, TV screens to watch while waiting for the train, and as with so much in Portugal – inexpensive. Compared to NYC’s subway, Lisbon’s metro is heaven. Parque das Nacoes was pretty dead on a Monday evening. Tons of restaurants but most were almost empty. The gondola was running but the tower was closed. There is a nice huge mall so I did some more shopping. And the top floor of the mall has a food area with a big outdoor terrace with nice view of the river, the bridge, etc. We ate at a Brazilian restaurant. The food was OK but the view was great.
Day 10 Tuesday – Woke up to clouds! Hey no fair, I go to southern Europe so I’ll be assured of sunshine. But I guess 9 straight days of sun isn’t too bad, and at least it was significantly cooler. We spent the morning walking up Avenida da Liberdade to Parque Eduardo VII. Maybe it was the grey sky but I was not impressed. And my husband was downright un-impressed. Kept saying it was a waste of space. As major city parks go it really was a dud, just a big grassy center with some hedges, and some treed areas on both sides. There’s a small pond with a bunch of geese, a little conservatory, etc. Because it runs slightly uphill you do have a view from the top of the park all the way to the river, but as Lisbon views go this was not that great. Oh well, not everything can be fabulous. We next headed to the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, which turned out to be a longer walk than I thought, especially since it was now raining. And we got there to find it was closed for the day because they were filming something inside! OK, so far this hasn’t been the best day. But it got much better.
After a siesta back at the hotel (took the metro back) we caught Tram 15 to Belem. We got off right under the Pont de 25 Abril where I had read there began a foot path to Belem. It took a bit of doing but we found a side street that led down towards the water from the busy street the tram ran on. But then there was another busy street with train tracks in the middle. We found a pedestrian overpass which took us to the water and the “path” – more of a promenade really, with trees and grass on one side and the water on the other. Quite pleasant half hour walk. Belem’s sights are wonderful, but they are somewhat spread out. First we came to the Monument to Discoveries, then another 15 minute walk past little harbors full of sailboats to The Torre de Belém which is way at the end of town but well worth it as it is a gorgeous building with a beautiful setting. It’s then at least a 15 minute walk back to the center of town. So of course after all that walking we needed some sustenance. Fortunately the Pastis de Belem was handy. I was surprised at how large it was, there are at least five dining rooms, all full. And yes, they are just as yummy as everyone says they are. Now we could tackle the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. As with the other UNESCO monasteries, this one is massive and intricate at the same time. After a bit more exploring it was time for the next major highlight of our trip – the Lisbon Dining Club.
If you are still reading this report you must be interested in Portugal and so by now should have found the thread(s) “Things to do in and around Lisbon” featuring Matt from England and Lobo Mau. (Matt really is from England but Lobo is not a wolf nor is he bad). These two guys host get togethers whenever some Fodorites are in town. On this particular date Fodorite Nikki, and her friend Mindy and her two kids were there and we all met up for dinner at Pateo da Memorias and a Fado performance. Matt has already posted a report on the Lisbon Dining Club thread so I won’t repeat it, but the whole experience – meeting everyone, the dinner, the Fado performance – all amounted to another highlight of our trip. The restaurant is small, the interior designed to look like an Alfama patio where traditionally people gather to eat dinner with all the neighbors. So the setting was great, the food was OK (had better other places in Lisbon, but as this was “traditional” Portuguese food it was interesting to experience it). The Fado performers knew Matt and Joao and basically performed just for us, and between songs chatted with us (in Portuguese, Matt and Lobo translated) about her adult son who lives in Massachusetts (Nikki, Mindy and I all live in Mass). There are several photos on my website, including some of Matt who never appears in his own photos.
Day 9 Monday. We explored the other side of the city – the Barrio Alto and Chiado. We did the usual things – the Convento do Carmo, Igreja de São Roque, Elevador Santa Justa, and some not so usual things – the Museu da Farmácia and the Museu d’Agua. Actually at those last two places we were the only people there. The Pharmacy Museum especially we thought was very well done, with displays about the history of medications not just in Portugal but worldwide. The Museu d’Agua wasn’t much, but it’s under a nice little park, and just down the street from Pastelaria São Roque which is an absolutely beautiful little café with incredibly cheap delicious food. My husband had a huge bowl of soup and I had a wonderful flakey pastry thing filled with sausage and a large fruit cup and the whole thing came to less than €4! This is close to another famous look-out, Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcântara, which was closed due to construction. It’s right at the top of the Gloria Elevador which is also closed due to the construction of the Rossio train station. Oh well. I think you get about the same view from the Santa Justa Elevador which is newly re-opened. Even if you don’t ride the elevator, you can get to it from the new walkway from the Convento do Carmo, and you can then climb the spiral stairs to the tiny café at the top and the fantastic views. The rest of the afternoon my husband and I split up, he went to Cervejaria da Trindade – the oldest beer hall in Lisbon and I checked out the sales in the stores.
In the evening we took the metro to Parque das Nacoes. The Lisbon metro is great – efficient, clean, some really nice stations, TV screens to watch while waiting for the train, and as with so much in Portugal – inexpensive. Compared to NYC’s subway, Lisbon’s metro is heaven. Parque das Nacoes was pretty dead on a Monday evening. Tons of restaurants but most were almost empty. The gondola was running but the tower was closed. There is a nice huge mall so I did some more shopping. And the top floor of the mall has a food area with a big outdoor terrace with nice view of the river, the bridge, etc. We ate at a Brazilian restaurant. The food was OK but the view was great.
Day 10 Tuesday – Woke up to clouds! Hey no fair, I go to southern Europe so I’ll be assured of sunshine. But I guess 9 straight days of sun isn’t too bad, and at least it was significantly cooler. We spent the morning walking up Avenida da Liberdade to Parque Eduardo VII. Maybe it was the grey sky but I was not impressed. And my husband was downright un-impressed. Kept saying it was a waste of space. As major city parks go it really was a dud, just a big grassy center with some hedges, and some treed areas on both sides. There’s a small pond with a bunch of geese, a little conservatory, etc. Because it runs slightly uphill you do have a view from the top of the park all the way to the river, but as Lisbon views go this was not that great. Oh well, not everything can be fabulous. We next headed to the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, which turned out to be a longer walk than I thought, especially since it was now raining. And we got there to find it was closed for the day because they were filming something inside! OK, so far this hasn’t been the best day. But it got much better.
After a siesta back at the hotel (took the metro back) we caught Tram 15 to Belem. We got off right under the Pont de 25 Abril where I had read there began a foot path to Belem. It took a bit of doing but we found a side street that led down towards the water from the busy street the tram ran on. But then there was another busy street with train tracks in the middle. We found a pedestrian overpass which took us to the water and the “path” – more of a promenade really, with trees and grass on one side and the water on the other. Quite pleasant half hour walk. Belem’s sights are wonderful, but they are somewhat spread out. First we came to the Monument to Discoveries, then another 15 minute walk past little harbors full of sailboats to The Torre de Belém which is way at the end of town but well worth it as it is a gorgeous building with a beautiful setting. It’s then at least a 15 minute walk back to the center of town. So of course after all that walking we needed some sustenance. Fortunately the Pastis de Belem was handy. I was surprised at how large it was, there are at least five dining rooms, all full. And yes, they are just as yummy as everyone says they are. Now we could tackle the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. As with the other UNESCO monasteries, this one is massive and intricate at the same time. After a bit more exploring it was time for the next major highlight of our trip – the Lisbon Dining Club.
If you are still reading this report you must be interested in Portugal and so by now should have found the thread(s) “Things to do in and around Lisbon” featuring Matt from England and Lobo Mau. (Matt really is from England but Lobo is not a wolf nor is he bad). These two guys host get togethers whenever some Fodorites are in town. On this particular date Fodorite Nikki, and her friend Mindy and her two kids were there and we all met up for dinner at Pateo da Memorias and a Fado performance. Matt has already posted a report on the Lisbon Dining Club thread so I won’t repeat it, but the whole experience – meeting everyone, the dinner, the Fado performance – all amounted to another highlight of our trip. The restaurant is small, the interior designed to look like an Alfama patio where traditionally people gather to eat dinner with all the neighbors. So the setting was great, the food was OK (had better other places in Lisbon, but as this was “traditional” Portuguese food it was interesting to experience it). The Fado performers knew Matt and Joao and basically performed just for us, and between songs chatted with us (in Portuguese, Matt and Lobo translated) about her adult son who lives in Massachusetts (Nikki, Mindy and I all live in Mass). There are several photos on my website, including some of Matt who never appears in his own photos.
Aug 26th, 2006, 04:14 AM
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nikki - I know what you mean about stretching out a trip- reading and writing trip reports, looking at pictures, they all help to "make it last longer" as you said, and ease the transition back to real life.
sher and marigross - thanks for the nice comments about the photos. mari - I also have sometimes decided to go somewhere after seeing photos of it. In fact even if I have a trip roughly planned - like knowing I'm going to Portugal, I plan the details - which towns, etc, ususally by looking at photos.
Anyway - here's the rest of it - Sintra and then our last day and the Tall Ships.
Day 11 Wednesday – We took the train to Sintra. Since the Rossio station is currently closed, we took the metro to the Sete Rios Station and the train from there. It still took less than an hour total. We walked about 10 minutes to the center of Sintra and then got the tourist bus (number 434) up to the top of town and the Pena Palace. After you buy your ticket and enter the gate, it’s another 10 minute uphill walk to the palace itself. For a fee there’s a little bus you can take. The Palace is huge, colorful and consists of pretty much every imaginable architectural style – Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance, Medieval, Manueline, Rococo, Far Eastern. A real fantasy castle. Disney supposedly got his castle inspiration from Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany but my guess is he must have at least seen pictures of this one. Neuschwanstein is subtle compared to this. And you are free to walk and climb (and photograph) all over the exterior. The interior is more heavily guarded and you more or less have to follow a set path and just look into the rooms. And great views from it of the Moorish Castle ruin partway down the hill, not to mention the surrounding countryside, all the way to Lisbon and to the Atlantic Ocean. The Moorish castle ruin is similar to many of the castles we visited before we got to Lisbon, but if you were not visiting any of the smaller towns and their castles it would be definitely worthwhile exploring. There are extensive gardens surround the palace – more forest than gardens actually, but include several tiny lakes with various varieties of swans and one of the largest goldfish I’ve ever seen.
Back in the center of Sintra we explored the town a bit. Very touristy – we found the most expensive restaurants and shops in Portugal here. But the town has some nice streets and buildings. The Palácio Nacional is closed on Wednesdays but we walked around the exterior. The Pena was the one we really wanted to see which is why we went on a Wednesday.
Back in Lisbon I checked out more sales in all the stores and we had dinner on Rua Agusta at Pastelaria Casa Brasileira (outside tables) – very good shisk-ka-bob with salad, rice, fries – all for €6! Including my husbands dish and a large pitcher of Sangria the total bill was only €20.
Day 12 Thursday – I had wanted to see “modern” Lisbon, and also wanted to see the aqueduct, which fortunately were close together. So we took a bus up to the Amoreiras high rise building complex – some really nice, very pink skyscrapers. Just past there is the Aqueduto das Águas Livres entrance. You can supposedly walk along it, but although we found parts of the aqueduct, we never found the “entrance” or anyplace where you could get onto it. We did find the Praça das Amoreiras which is a nice park with part of the aqueduct running along side it. We walked all the way back to the hotel, quite a ways, but got to see a bit of Lisbon that isn’t on the main tourist maps.
Next we had another fantastic, incredibly cheap Lisbon lunch. We went to the Confeitaria Nacional on Praça da Figueira which was considered to be one of Europe's most elegant pastry shops when it opened in 1829, and still serves some mouth-watering cakes. There is a dining room on the first floor and a self service dining room upstairs. For €5,50 we got soup, quiche, fresh fruit salad and chocolate cake. The cake alone would have been more than that in New York or Paris or anywhere else for that matter.
For our last afternoon in Lisbon, I wanted to wander around the Alfama taking more photos so my husband sat at a café with a beer while I got lost (on purpose) in the Alfama for a few hours. And then, one more of the “highlights” of our trip. We were so lucky to be in Lisbon when the Tall Ships were there. This was the 50th Anniversary of the Tall Ships Race of 1956, with about 80 sailing ships of various nationalities which sailed from France to England to Portugal to Spain to Belgium. They were docked in the Alcântara Dockyard from July 20-23rd. The one thing that I had expected but didn’t really get in Lisbon was a sense of it’s connection with the water. Given the importance of the seafaring history I expected more of a presence of the sea, for although you can see the water from all over Lisbon, you don’t actually get very close to it expect in Belem, the rest of the city is somewhat cut off from it (by train tracks, busy highway, etc.). So this was great. It was history and water at the same time. Really colorful, great party atmosphere. Several of the ships were open to visitors, and even those that weren’t you could really get a good look at since they were docked. We spent several hours there and then continued on to Belem for sunset and more Pasteis de Belem. A really great way to end a really great trip.
sher and marigross - thanks for the nice comments about the photos. mari - I also have sometimes decided to go somewhere after seeing photos of it. In fact even if I have a trip roughly planned - like knowing I'm going to Portugal, I plan the details - which towns, etc, ususally by looking at photos.
Anyway - here's the rest of it - Sintra and then our last day and the Tall Ships.
Day 11 Wednesday – We took the train to Sintra. Since the Rossio station is currently closed, we took the metro to the Sete Rios Station and the train from there. It still took less than an hour total. We walked about 10 minutes to the center of Sintra and then got the tourist bus (number 434) up to the top of town and the Pena Palace. After you buy your ticket and enter the gate, it’s another 10 minute uphill walk to the palace itself. For a fee there’s a little bus you can take. The Palace is huge, colorful and consists of pretty much every imaginable architectural style – Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance, Medieval, Manueline, Rococo, Far Eastern. A real fantasy castle. Disney supposedly got his castle inspiration from Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany but my guess is he must have at least seen pictures of this one. Neuschwanstein is subtle compared to this. And you are free to walk and climb (and photograph) all over the exterior. The interior is more heavily guarded and you more or less have to follow a set path and just look into the rooms. And great views from it of the Moorish Castle ruin partway down the hill, not to mention the surrounding countryside, all the way to Lisbon and to the Atlantic Ocean. The Moorish castle ruin is similar to many of the castles we visited before we got to Lisbon, but if you were not visiting any of the smaller towns and their castles it would be definitely worthwhile exploring. There are extensive gardens surround the palace – more forest than gardens actually, but include several tiny lakes with various varieties of swans and one of the largest goldfish I’ve ever seen.
Back in the center of Sintra we explored the town a bit. Very touristy – we found the most expensive restaurants and shops in Portugal here. But the town has some nice streets and buildings. The Palácio Nacional is closed on Wednesdays but we walked around the exterior. The Pena was the one we really wanted to see which is why we went on a Wednesday.
Back in Lisbon I checked out more sales in all the stores and we had dinner on Rua Agusta at Pastelaria Casa Brasileira (outside tables) – very good shisk-ka-bob with salad, rice, fries – all for €6! Including my husbands dish and a large pitcher of Sangria the total bill was only €20.
Day 12 Thursday – I had wanted to see “modern” Lisbon, and also wanted to see the aqueduct, which fortunately were close together. So we took a bus up to the Amoreiras high rise building complex – some really nice, very pink skyscrapers. Just past there is the Aqueduto das Águas Livres entrance. You can supposedly walk along it, but although we found parts of the aqueduct, we never found the “entrance” or anyplace where you could get onto it. We did find the Praça das Amoreiras which is a nice park with part of the aqueduct running along side it. We walked all the way back to the hotel, quite a ways, but got to see a bit of Lisbon that isn’t on the main tourist maps.
Next we had another fantastic, incredibly cheap Lisbon lunch. We went to the Confeitaria Nacional on Praça da Figueira which was considered to be one of Europe's most elegant pastry shops when it opened in 1829, and still serves some mouth-watering cakes. There is a dining room on the first floor and a self service dining room upstairs. For €5,50 we got soup, quiche, fresh fruit salad and chocolate cake. The cake alone would have been more than that in New York or Paris or anywhere else for that matter.
For our last afternoon in Lisbon, I wanted to wander around the Alfama taking more photos so my husband sat at a café with a beer while I got lost (on purpose) in the Alfama for a few hours. And then, one more of the “highlights” of our trip. We were so lucky to be in Lisbon when the Tall Ships were there. This was the 50th Anniversary of the Tall Ships Race of 1956, with about 80 sailing ships of various nationalities which sailed from France to England to Portugal to Spain to Belgium. They were docked in the Alcântara Dockyard from July 20-23rd. The one thing that I had expected but didn’t really get in Lisbon was a sense of it’s connection with the water. Given the importance of the seafaring history I expected more of a presence of the sea, for although you can see the water from all over Lisbon, you don’t actually get very close to it expect in Belem, the rest of the city is somewhat cut off from it (by train tracks, busy highway, etc.). So this was great. It was history and water at the same time. Really colorful, great party atmosphere. Several of the ships were open to visitors, and even those that weren’t you could really get a good look at since they were docked. We spent several hours there and then continued on to Belem for sunset and more Pasteis de Belem. A really great way to end a really great trip.
Aug 26th, 2006, 06:38 AM
#32
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Isabel,
We are going to Lisbon and the Alentejo in October. Thanks for so many great ideas; your report will come along with us. One question - what was the restaurant in Marvao with the terrace, if you remember?
Leslie
We are going to Lisbon and the Alentejo in October. Thanks for so many great ideas; your report will come along with us. One question - what was the restaurant in Marvao with the terrace, if you remember?
Leslie
Aug 26th, 2006, 06:43 AM
#33
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,312
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Isabel. I was saying to my husband that we must have had a whirlwind time in Lisbon as I didn't get a real sense of being so close to the water.
I thought it was just me.
So this time we hope to take a river tour. But of course, one always plans on doing so much. Where does the time go?
I am really going to take much better notes. All of you have inspired me.
Thanks you again for taking the time and attention to detail for a really wonderful report.
Sherry
I thought it was just me.
So this time we hope to take a river tour. But of course, one always plans on doing so much. Where does the time go?
I am really going to take much better notes. All of you have inspired me.
Thanks you again for taking the time and attention to detail for a really wonderful report.
Sherry
Aug 26th, 2006, 07:14 AM
#34
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,415
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As always, wonderful photos! I also enjoyed your photos from Copenhagen and Stockholm. Both Portugal and Scandanavia are places that we've considered visiting - hopefully for sooner rather than later.
Aug 26th, 2006, 11:16 AM
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
lmernal - I don't remember the name of the restaurant but it won't be hard to find, it's really the only one. You can see it if you are standing in front of the hotel - Albergaria El-Rei Dom Manuel, (which I recommed). Other than the hotel restaurant it's the only real restaurant we saw in town. May have been others but we walked all over town several times and didn't see any. The pousada might have one. The hotel's restaurant did look good, but we really wanted to sit outside. The restaurant wasn't fancy, it had plastic tables, but the food and the view were great.
Sherry - interesting that you had the same reaction about the water presence. I wondered if it was just me.
ms go - I definitly recommend both Portugal and Scandinavia, especially Stockholm. I'm hope this week to do some sort of report for the Scandinavia portion of my trip. Glad you liked the photos. Thanks
Sherry - interesting that you had the same reaction about the water presence. I wondered if it was just me.
ms go - I definitly recommend both Portugal and Scandinavia, especially Stockholm. I'm hope this week to do some sort of report for the Scandinavia portion of my trip. Glad you liked the photos. Thanks
Aug 27th, 2006, 08:57 AM
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,067
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
cigalechanta and Barb - thanks. Yea, I too love reading others trip reports, not just when I'm planning, but also to help reminise.
WT - I used a Konica Minolta A200 as my main camera for this trip, with an older Canon Elph S410 as "back-up". The Konica is new and I was not all that pleased with the results. I previously used a Nikon 5700 which I loved but which is having some "technical difficulty" so I got the Konica. I do like it's features, very user friendly, but the colors were off a lot, needed touching up in photoshop to look "normal". But other times they were fine, so I don't know. In many cases, the little old Canon took better shots. I'm seriously considering a Canon RebelXT DSLR if I can rationalize buying ANOTHER camera.
WT - I used a Konica Minolta A200 as my main camera for this trip, with an older Canon Elph S410 as "back-up". The Konica is new and I was not all that pleased with the results. I previously used a Nikon 5700 which I loved but which is having some "technical difficulty" so I got the Konica. I do like it's features, very user friendly, but the colors were off a lot, needed touching up in photoshop to look "normal". But other times they were fine, so I don't know. In many cases, the little old Canon took better shots. I'm seriously considering a Canon RebelXT DSLR if I can rationalize buying ANOTHER camera.
Aug 27th, 2006, 07:05 PM
#40
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes, the Canon RebelXT DSLR is the one I'm considering, as well. You certainly managed to get some fantastic shots with the cameras you used. I believe your artistry has more to do with the success of your photos than the equipment.
