Portugal, part 2

Continuing on...

Once I made it down the hill from Pena Palace, I caught a bus (fortunately!) to the Moorish Castle ruins.  It was 95 degrees outside, and full sun.

The castle is over 1000 years old, and was taken over from the Moors by the Christians in 1147.  A lot of what stands today has been restored, but that doesn't bother me... it was still fun to see!  

One of the first things I noticed was all the stairs...fortunately, the views at the top made the sweat and fatigue worth it.  [Later in the day, while waiting for the train back to Lisbon, I was talking to an Asian guy who had also visited the castle.  He was dressed in sneakers and exercise clothes, and told me I was definitely not dressed appropriately for the day's activities!]  

Almost the same picture as above, but I was a little higher so I could also see Pena Palace in the distance.

The National Palace, the oldest surviving royal palace in Portugal.

I ate several ice creams while waiting for the train, then did some more exploring back in Lisbon for the afternoon.  It was still melt-like-a-popcicle weather so I was super grateful the city has these trolley lifts to get up steep hills.  At first it seemed like the lazy option, but the hill was long, so by the time I reached the top I was thinking the Portuguese were quite smart.  The trolley dropped us off at a great look-out of the city.

The rest of my walk was downhill, enjoying the neighborhood called Bairro Alto.  The first stop was Sao Roque, a Jesuit church from the 16th century.  Two interesting things about this church are 1) one of the side 'chapels' was actually from Rome.  It was disassembled and shipped here; the columns and altar are made of lapis lazuli.  2) the ceiling is completely flat, but painted as if it were an elaborate design.  Kind of funny looking, especially with the flash bouncing off the wood boards.

Because things are on such a steep hill, you can usually see quite a bit of the city from anywhere.  In this one particular area, there was an elevator to bring people down to 'street level' (just one block over.)  The alternative was walking down a bunch of steps.  

Near the elevator is Convento de Carmo.  A little history--Lisbon had a huge earthquake in 1755 that destroyed a good part of the city.  They decided to leave the Gothic arches of this church standing as a reminder of that event, so it's just a shell of a church.  I also saw the National Guard building, with a soldier outside.

At the bottom of the hill, I found a little cafe to buy pastel de nata, a famous little pastry in Portugal with custard in the middle.  I was not disappointed. Then I stood around for a while on Praca de Figueira (a town square) waiting for a trolley that was supposed to pass by every 20 minutes and do a loop around the old neighborhood.  But I waited and waited and waited...  I saw a few trolleys pass by, but not the one I wanted, so eventually I went back to my hotel and laid on the bed in the air conditioned room and watched TV in silence.  It was awesome.

The next morning I headed back into Lisbon for a walk around the neighborhood, Baixa.  First, I took a minute to check out the book sale they have set up in the metro station.  I thought this was a great way to promote reading, and I bought a little board book for Tiago in Portuguese.  

 I started in Praca do Rossio (another town square.)  Here's the National Theater, with the historic train station to the left.  I passed it by the first time I was looking for it, because I thought it just seemed like a pretty building.

A lot of the buildings I saw supported my "run-down but charming" take on Lisbon.  This building, for example, had broken glass on the majority of windows.  But all over the city I saw beautiful tiled walls, bright colors, and interesting shaped doors and windows.

 

After the earthquake, a lot of the town was reconstructed, military style.  There were straight roads and organized city blocks, and only certain buildings were permitted to be reconstructed.  Several churches didn't make the cut, but the church of St. Nicola was rebuilt, albeit with the side of the church blending into the rest of the street's buildings.

 This large arch is reminiscent of Paris' Arch de Triumph, with explorer Vasco de Gama on top.  The square it opens up to is Praca do Comercio.  There wasn't much there, except pretty yellow buildings.  Also, you can see below the black and white designs on the cobblestone street--very typical around Lisbon.

On my walk to a different train station, I passed along the Rio Tejo, which seems like it should be the ocean, but it's not.  Just a large opening of a river that flows from the Atlantic, through Portugal and into Spain.  Looks kind of like San Francisco...

The train took me along the 'coast' to Cascais, a little fishing town with a beach!  For me, any summer vacation is completed by a nice beach.  Although I would have loved to spend the whole day soaking up the sun, it was unfortunately kind of cloudy.  It was warm enough to lay out and read a book, but I also spent some time walking around the town, eating on the pier and enjoying ice cream.

Of course the sun came out in full force once I'd returned to Lisbon, but c'est la vie.  I spent the afternoon in the Alfama neighborhood, which was by far the most distinct area of Lisbon.  From Rick Steves' book, "the colorful sailors' quarter dates back to the age of Visigoth occupation from the 6th to 8th centures A.D.  This was a bustling district during the Moorish period, and eventually became the home of Lisbon's fishermen and mariners.  The Alfama's tangled street plan is one of the few features of Lisbon to survive the 1755 earthquake.  It helps make the neighborhood a clbbled playground of Old World color."  Today, it's mostly immigrant laborers that live in the area; laundry is hanging out many windows; and people spill out onto the stairs that wind through the labyrinth on a hill.  I definitely got my exercise for the day!

 

The hill was so steep going downhill that I practically slid down.  Apparently my sandals have no traction!  Lesson learned.  One bus ride back to the hotel, and I was able to spend the evening watching a Russian prison documentary.  Not sure why I find that kind of stuff so interesting.

I didn't have much left on my itinerary for the last day, so I decided to indulge myself a bit in things that are hard (impossible) to do with three kids in tow.  First, I found a massage place recommended on trip advisor.  I've never had a Thai massage before, but thought I'd give it a try.  It was definitely interesting, although I don't think I'll do it again.  

It started out strange when the lady asked me to undress and then lay down.  I've had enough massages in my life to know that's the point the masseuse usually steps out of the room to give some privacy.  But instead, she just stood there and kept chatting.  Through some awkward questioning, I got her to bring me an extra towel to maintain some sense of decency.  Pretty soon, even that little bit of decency was thrown out the window.  The Thai massage was unusual because it's done on a mat on the floor, with the masseuse running around the mat doing different contortion type moves.  A lot of it was relaxing, and we'll call the rest an interesting experience.  This picture makes the place seem really ghetto, but it wasn't bad.

Then I was walking to my next destination when I saw an empty salon. I poked my head in and found out a manicure was only 6 bucks.  Yes, please!  The lady did a super clean job, and it lasted 5 days without chipping.

Pampering over, I saw 'the pink street', which I read about on the internet as one of the most unique roads in the world.  Apparently it used to be a red light district, but after cleaning things up they painted the road to make it an appealing destination.  Of course when I got there it was blocked off because they'd just painted it, but it was pretty nonetheless.

I think when it comes to meals, people feel awkward about traveling alone.  But a good book and people watching keep me very entertained.  

After that, I was off to the airport, with plenty of time to spare.  Fortunately there was a lot of good shopping in the airport (and without inflated prices!) so I did some kids-free clothing shopping and came home with a few new outfits.

So overall: the trip was a huge success.  Every night I skyped with Hyrum, and we'd end up talking about all the cute things the kids did during the day.  I missed them, and of course only remembered the good things. It was a bit of a rude awakening to come home and listen to all the crying, but it was nice to see the three kiddos again.  (Although truth be told, Tiago wasn't nearly as excited to see me as I thought he would be!)  Hyrum survived just fine, although he only left the house with the kids twice in 4 days.  Sometimes it's just easier to stay at home.

I asked him how he thought the stay-at-home parent work compared with his Army work.  He said it's a lot more difficult, but a lot more fun and enjoyable. I thought that was a good summary.  It is a tough business to be home all day with little babies.  (Especially in this phase where they all love to cry at the same time!)  But it's enjoyable; Tiago loves to bring me book after book and sit on my lap just long enough to hear 2 or 3 pages.  And the girls are starting to smile and giggle every time someone gives them a little attention.  They still occasionally fall asleep in my arms and melt into my chest in a happy slumber.  I'd rather be at home with them than anywhere else... except for the occasional weekend getaway.  It was wonderful.