The last phase of our Portuguese odyssey began from Salema on Sunday morning. We decided to check out the nearby Sagres fortress, which was built in the 15th century by Henry the Navigator as home to his school to train Portuguese sailors as they branched out and explored across the globe. Navigators such as DaGama, Cabral, De Albuquerque, Dias and Magellan were trained there to explore the coast of Africa and elsewhere. This was the beginning of a powerful Portuguese age during the 15th and 16th centuries. OK, now that Mike has gotten his history nerd moment in, it's time to continue!
The drive from Sagres/Salema to Lisbon was about 3 hours and Mike did well to not display his excellent driving skills again (see the aforementioned post on Mike running into a curb and blowing the front right tire!). We arrived in the late afternoon and were stunned by the beatiful sight of the April 25th Bridge and the magnificent Christ the King statue as we entered town. We checked into our hotel right in the central Rossio section of town, which is a vibrant area with bustling restaurants and shops. Our room overlooked the Praca Dom Pedro IV plaza and had an amazing view of the plaza and the east end of town facing the hilltop castle of Sao Jorge. We spent the evening familiarizing ourselves with the area, window shopping, and finding a nice place for dinner.
The next day (Monday) we decided to do our traditional hop-on, hop-off bus to explore the entire city and area more efficiently. This is a great way to see most of the main attractions around larger urban areas. We caught the bus at the Praca da Figueira and set forth to see most of Lisbon's primary landmarks including the Monastary of dos Jeronimos, the Tower of Belem, and the Monument of the Discoveries (see pictures!). The tour took about 1 1/2 hours to complete and we felt that we had experienced a pretty good overview of the city. After the bus tour, we decided to once again, participate in the traditional Portutuese lunch consisting primarily of sangria. The Praca da Figueira had all types of little shopping booths and mini bars/restaurants for locals and tourists, and yet somehow we found the booth in which they were serving both red and white sangria :-) After returning to the room to escape the afternoon heat and to rest/recharge, we completed the evening by going out to eat at a nearby restaurant in an alley down the street. Katie had a nice traditional fish platter and Mike had Portuguese codfish while listening to a local artist playing guitar as background music to cap our dining experience. After dinner, we took MANY stairs and walked up the western hill in town to the top of Mirandouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara and experienced an amazing nighttime view of Lisbon (see pictures). What an incredible experience!
Tuesday we had an early breakfast and headed to the Castelo of Sao Jorge before it got too hot (most days were in the 90's). Because the temperature was already in the 80's at 10am and due to the fact the castle is basically straight up a huge hill, we took a taxi. We were lucky enough to be one of the first into the castle and didn't have to fight the crowds on a warm day. The castle provided amazing views of the town (see pictures) and was definitely a highlight for us that day! After exiting the castle, we did some shopping at the local shops which lined the streets as we walked downhill toward the eventual return to our hotel. Along the way, we might have stopped for another traditional Portuguese lunch! That evening we dined at a delicious place called restaurante Bastardo. Mike had to eat there just because of the name. To finish the evening we found a nice little place with delicious gelato. Lisbon was a wonderful city and we were both surprised by how much we enjoyed it there!
Wednesday we packed up after breakfast and took a ride to the airport to catch a flight to London, which will begin our two day travel adventure home.
We thoroughly enjoyed Portugal and appreciate you all for following our adventures on this site. But now it's time to head home and see our dogs and friends. Thank you for coming along with us and until next time, adeus!!
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