Up and out no time for breakfast today, like I eat that early anyway, but the Hubby did suffer everso!!!! we wanted to get up the hill and to the Castelo de Sao Jorge (St. George's Castle) as it turns out St. George protects Lisbon. We counted at least 10 cats on the castle grounds lazily sleeping amongst the flowers. The views from the top of the castle are spectacular and with the day being so clear we could see for miles. The castle was first built by the Romans, they do get everywhere!, then the Moors added on to it, with North Africa being so close the Moors traveled all over Spain and Portugal - lets not forget Gibraltar!!!! Also at the Castle we saw peacocks. Me being afraid of heights did manage to climb up the stairs to get on the walkway that is around the castle walls, but due to the fact it was very high I quickly descended the stairs, Hubby however did walk around up there. After we were done at the castle we stopped in a snack bar for a light snack which of course consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich on rustic bread! (ham and cheese being the national sandwich! - that's a joke!!!!)
After our lunch we headed down the cobblestone hill and stopped in at the Se Catedral de Lisboa (The Cathedral of Lisbon). it was stunning inside and even had a room full of jewels, they called it the treasury, we went through to a courtyard that is currently being excavated and they have discovered what appears to be a Roman town with Roman road and buildings. Very interesting indeed! After that we continued down to the bottom of the hill where we purchased tickets for the Hop on Hop off bus tour, this tour also included the street cars that climb the cobblestone hill!, We found the bus we needed and headed off to Belem where there is a beautiful fortress, a homage to the navigators of the ancient world, St. Jerome's Monastery and the famous Pasties de Belem bakery...mmmm yummy!!! If anyone gets the chance you MUST have a Pasties de Belem there are no words to describe how delicious these little custard tarts taste. The Pasties are served warm and with powdered sugar. Hubby, who is not usually one for deserts, announced we would return tomorrow for another tasty treat - I did not argue that point! We also took in a museum exhibit about the pirates of the Mediterranean! We then jumped back on the bus and got on a cable car and took a tour of the hills of Lisbon. The streets are very narrow and although most people drove really small cars and smart cars all the Taxis were Mercedes Benz station wagons, really strange! We saw things that we would never have seen if we were on foot! After we were done on the cable car we found out that it was already 7:30 at night and we walked back up the hill to our hotel, the hill was steep but not as bad as you may think! we dropped off our cameras and headed out to find dinner. Dinner was delicious and we walked around and took in the views of the city after dinner and then decided that it was time to get back to the hotel as tomorrow was out last day in the city!
til next post.....
No comments:
Post a Comment