Lisbon and Sintra: From Pinhao, we jumped on the train and headed south. We expected to have some lovely views of the coast on the way but the only views we had were usually scrubby trees by the train tracks. Minus the view, the train ride was easy and we made it to Lisbon without issue. After three days in Lisbon, I can only use one word to describe it…confusing. In most cities, we arrive and we figure out the public transportation system with a quick look at the train and/or bus map. Not so in Lisbon. Lisbon has a metro, bus, tram (2 different kinds), taxis and Uber (our lifesaver!). The maps make no sense and the trains don’t seem to go anywhere useful for a tourist. We asked one of the Uber drivers about the public transportation and he said, “Oh, you will never figure it out. We can’t even figure it out most of the time. “ At least that made us feel a little better! The first day we started out in an amazing cemetery. The proprietor would not let me take pictures but I snuck a few quick shots with my phone. They do not do it justice. Bill even went so far as to say it was better than the all tile cemetery we had seen in Guadeloupe! After the cemetery, we walked over to the Museum of Tile. I am sure you are thinking, ‘how interesting can tile be?’ because that is what Bill and I both thought as well. The answer is….tile is AMAZING! The museum was housed in an old abbey which was stunning. Those nuns must have been a bored group of ladies because there was tile on every surface. We passed by a room where several craftsman were working on refurbishing tiles and there were thousands upon thousands of boxes of tiles lined up in the room. It must take a great amount of patience to do their job. We then grabbed a taxi and asked him to take us to the Lisbon Cathedral. Unfortunately, there were at least three cruise ships in port and tourists were everywhere. We realize that we are also tourists but we really dislike tourists! I am voting that there be a worldwide referendum that states, “If you are going to take selfies or a picture of your family with your phone, you have exactly to the count of three to take the picture. You also only get one shot to get it right!” I even got to where I would stop, wait, then start counting to give them the hint! There was a 10 year old who was in charge of taking his family picture and when I started counting, he hit the button and turned and smiled at me. One child educated, millions more to go until the great conversion takes hold! Let’s face it…all of us survived the family picture in front of the Washington Monument that took two weeks to develop and then no one in the picture except the 4 year old had a head….No harm done! Due to all the people, our cab driver just dropped us off in the middle of the melee and we were nowhere close to the cathedral. A lot of people were in line for something so I jumped in line figuring it must be something good to do. Luckily, it was! We bought tickets and went to St. George’’s castle which were ruins of a castle started by the Moors and finished by the Portugeuse. We then made our way downhill toward the water and saw some stunning architecture and finally located the Lisbon Cathedral. The coolest cathedral we saw was one that had been destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. It had been turned into an archeological museum which was very unique. After a crushing day, we hobbled back to the hotel and gave our feet a rest. The next day, we slept in a bit and then made our way to the part of the city called Belem. This area had several cool monuments and huge tower. We also visited the Jeronimo Monastery but after the brilliance of the Abbey, it was a little lackluster. Our final tour in Lisbon was an old power plant that had been closed down in the 1980s. It was a beautiful building and the mechanics of it all were amazing. The next day we jumped in our trusty Uber and headed out to Sintra. Sintra was the playground of the rich and famous back in the day and there were castles on every hill. We went to the Palace of Sintra, Pena Palace, Palace of Monserrat and Regulaira. All the castles were unique but we both loved Regulaira the best because it kind of felt like Disneyland and would have been a great place to grow up. Sintra was also uphill in every direction so we are sore all over! We made it to Spain late last night via a prop plane that I swear Howard Hughes built so I am glad to have landed in one piece! Looking forward to our time in Spain for a week! Ratings for Southern Portugal (Lisbon and Sintra) Overall: 6 Points of interest: 7.5 Ease of communication: 9 Ease of transportation: 3 (Thank goodness for Uber!) Friendly people: 7 Food: 9 Cost of living: 9 Weather: 10 (however, hilariously….we left the Caribbean to escape hurricanes and Portugal is expecting one tomorrow!) Bill’s favorite thing: The Tile Museum and the Power Plant Sally’s favorite thing: The Tile Museum
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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