Day 3--Lisboa

 Saturday was devoted to seeing the sites in Lisboa and so we bought a 24-hour transportation card that allowed us to use the Metro, buses, and trams for €5.  Best decision of our lives.  Even with access to all public transit, we still walked for what felt like miles on our already sore and tired legs. We had a difficult time deciding what to go see because, as is common in most big tourist-oriented cities, everything costs money.  In the end, we decided to go see everything and then decide at each site if we felt like paying to see the inside in addition to the outside. 

We started our morning in the neighborhood of Alfama.  It is one of the oldest areas of Lisboa and is known as the heart of soul of the city.  To say the least, it was gorgeous.  We stopped in at several Cathedrals in the area to take a look, and they were breath-taking.  The Catholic faith may not specifically speak to me, but you walk into those churches and it is like heaven itself is there.  We also walked through Feira de Ladras (which means Thieves’ Market).  It is totally legal today but very interesting to walk through.  After that, we headed over to el Castelo do Sao Jorge (Castle of St. George).  We had seen it in the distance from the train station the day before, but we wanted to see if we could take a closer look.  Ultimately we didn’t get to see the castle up close, but we got to see some great views from the castle gate which was open to the public and in the surrounding area that we walked trying to find the castle. 

Church Number 1

Monasterio do Jeronimo

 Next we headed clear across town on a bus to the neighborhood of Belem where several important sites are located.  First we saw el Monasterio de Jeronimo (Geronimo’s Monistary) which is absolutely ginormous.  It was definitely impressive.  Then we headed towards the shore of el Tejo (the river) to see la Torre de Belem (Tower).  Honestly, we were not that impressed.  It was beautiful, but it wasn’t that tall.  I was more excited about being so close to the water!  There was also a pretty impressive bridge, reminiscent of the Golden Gate Bridge, and a tower/statue with some pretty impressive sculptures. 

Marissa, Masha and I with la Torre de Belem behind us

Giant monument/sculpture by the river

By this point, we were fairly exhausted and had to pull ourselves by our bootstraps to continue, but there was one more place we wanted to visit.  We headed back to the northeast on a bus/tram to see la Basilica Estrela (a Church) that was absolutely positively wonderful, probably the most impressive of the three we saw.  It was difficult to get good outside pictures because there were trees in the way, but both the outside and the inside were imposing/inspiring. 

Finally, two trams and two metro lines later we made it back to our hostel, tired and satisfied.  Marissa and I wanted one more meal somewhere, so we went online and tried to find a local Portuguese restaurant, but the closest one we found ended up being closed.  In the end, we “settled” for a Turkish kebab place, which was not settling at all because it was fan-freaking-tastic.  It is amazing how good food tastes after a long day of walking around! 

All in all, Portugal, Lisbon, and Sintra were AH-mazing! It was great to get to see another culture so close to the one we have been experiencing.  It was an eye-opening experience at how accustomed I have become to addressing people in Spanish and how difficult it can be to travel when you don’t know any of the language.  I had the hardest time remembering to say Thank you or Obrigadad (Portuguese thank you) instead of Gracias.  I wonder what it will be like once I return to the states!