A Half Pike Across the Pond: Blue skies in Lisbon!

We knew before Christmas, we were going to have some pretty serious post holiday blues! The best way to get over holiday blues is of course to start planning another holiday or have another holiday already booked... so we booked a weekend break to Lisbon with Laura and Ben!!

A few fun facts about Lisbon (per wikipedia):

It is the largest city in Portugal and 11th most populous in the EU
It is the oldest city in Western Europe - predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by centuries
Only capital city on the Atlantic Ocean on continental Europe
It enjoys the warmest winters in Europe! (i.e. a great place to go after snow and freezing temps in Prague and Berlin)

We began our trip on Friday and got in at a fairly decent time for dinner. Londoners eat pretty late... but the Portuguese eat even later than that. We wandered around the hotel and came across a local spot to try. Jeff and I both jumped on the specialities of Lisbon.. salted cod and stuff squid.

Here is a picture of the stuffed squid... it was okay but I have decided if never have Portuguese food again, I can be okay with that! haha

After dinner we wandered out to this pub that is known for their decor. There were a few different rooms in this pub, and this room was lined with little dolls while others were decorated with model airplanes and had pool tables.

Laura and Ben had a top ten book and we used that as a guide to other places to go.

This bar was listed as having good jazz. Turns out the name had changed but it still had jazz and a good atmosphere!

The next morning we took the tram down to Belem. Our first stop was to the Jeronimos Monastery. It was designed in Portuguese late-Gothic style and is listed by UNSECO in 1983 along with the Tower.

Part of the wings now houses the Maritime Museum and the National Archaeology Museum.

Here is a cool panorama from inside... One from the ground

One from from Level 2

It was a beautiful building...from hallways to the detail in every corner of the monastery

View from inside the cathedral

While our first go at the local cuisine was not very successful, we were assured that the Portuguese tarts are to die for..... So we went to their birth place, Pasteis de Belem and all 4 of us agreed they were pretty awesome!

This is in front of the Belem Palace. Hard to tell from the picture, but these guards are holding swords not guns. Interesting to see how traditions are so different from country to country.

Walking over to the Tower we stumbled across this great view....

These pictures really highlight the beautiful BLUE sky!!!

We don't realize how much we miss the sun until we go some somewhere sunny

Inside they had preserved a lot of the original tower

And it had great views of the harbor and looking back over the city

I was playing with the camera here...

but it highlights the narrow hallways used to keep guard over the city.

Fun and different angles with the camera

There wasn't a bad view in any direction!

From the ground the tower doesn't look that tall.....

But once you are up at the top... everything looks so small!

Here is the UNSECO sign

After climbing all over the tower we ventured back toward Lisbon and stopped by the Padrao dos Descombrimentos memorial. The memorial is a tribute to the Portuguese discovers, including Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama.

In the courtyard, there was a man selling small pints of beer for 1 euro!!!!

It was to good to pass up :)

The memorial was across from the Monastery. The fountain was not going in the morning so it was nice to see it in the afternoon with the monastery in the background.

It was only fitting we take the tram back toward Lisbon :)

Fun fact : Lisbon has 7 major hills in the city. So we were feeling a little lazy and looking for the funicular to take us back up the hill to the hotel.

In an effort to find the funicular, we stumbled across this cute little wine tasting store. The man was really nice and offering directions and then invited us into the store for a tasting.

He gave some great background into the different wine regions of Portugal and explained more about the famous green wine. We ended up getting a bottle to take back to the hotel terrace

Fado is a popular dinner and dance in the Portuguese history. We got recommendations from the hotel and ended up at one for dinner. We were a little late to the first part of the show, but we made it in time for the last song. The dancers came out into the crowd and grabbed people to come on stage with them.....

And we were lucky enough to be some of them! We took a selfie on stage and

Laura took one of us from the table. Good experience!

The next day, Sunday, we headed toward the northern part of the city.

Our first stop was the Castelo de S. Jorge.

The guys were really studying that map to get us there!

More awesome views of the city

The castle was built in the mid-11th Century, suffered major damage in an earthquake in 1755 and was rediscovered in late 1930s. Unlike most European castles it was not meant to be a residence. Here is a picture of the ruins of the former palace.

There were beautiful peacocks on the grounds and they had entertainment with castle games, such as sword fighting and target practice with arrows

Views from the tower

In the castle they also had areas reserved for archeological ruins highlighting 3 different periods in Lisbon's history.

We waited ages for this picture! haha

The yellow trams are considered to be a staple in Lisbon

The Lisbon Cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and according to my trip research is listed a must see in the city.

Walking around the city, we noticed that many of the buildings had tiles both on the inside and outside. The tiles are more unique to Portugal (as opposed to Italy or Spain), as they are used to decorate whole facades of houses or churches and have more of a poetic intervention in the architectural form. Influences vary from Islamic tradition to Dutch markets. Here is a picture of a house that was covered in tiles.

We also saw quite a bit of graffiti around the city. Here was a pretty cool display on the side of a building on the way to lunch... you can also see the big cruise ship in the background!