Month: February 2016

Lisbon to Estremoz

Today we rented a car and left Lisbon. The traffic was light and the countryside was beautiful. Tonight we are staying in our first Pousada in a castle originally built in the 13th century in the town of Estremoz.

After we got to the Pousada the fog and rain came in which made for some great pictures. That is the hotel

 

 

We had dinner at a restaurant called A Cadeia right next to the hotel. The building was built in the 1500s and was at one point the town jail.

 

I had grilled venison medallions served with a combination of grapes, asparagus, chestnuts and pomegrahnate.

 

Duke had pork and clams.

 

For desert we had a traditional local desert called water pudding.

Almost every meal on this trip has been great but this meal was exceptional

Lisbon – Day 4

Monday, February 8, 2016

Today we went back over to the Belém district where we went on Saturday. We visited the modern art museum, Museu Coleçâo Berardo.

 

 

 

Then we went back to Pastéis de Belém for coffee and their yummy warm custard tarts.

 

 

For dinner we went back to Funil where we ate our first night in Lisbon. We started with vegetable soup. Duke had Bacalhau Rice. And I had steak and potatoes in a garlic sauce with an egg on top. We had their chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet for desert.

 

 

Tomorrow we rent a car and leave Lisbon.

Lisbon – Day 3

Sunday, February 7, 2016

We did a lot of walking today. Both museums we visited were free because it is Sunday. First we walk about two miles over to the Museu Nacional du Azulejo. ( the Blue Tile Museum). We have seen blue tile in decoration all over Portugal. The museum started with the earliest tiles in the 1400s.

 

From there we walked down the waterfront and visited the Fado Museum. Fado is Portugal’s national music. The museum was great. It wet our appetites. We are going to try to make it to a Fado show tomorrow.
We took the metro back to our hotel On the way I got a better picture of a Lisbon tram.
For dinner we went to a Brazilian restaurant called Prazeres da Picanah. They serve Rodizio style. The pictures don’t do it justice but it was basically all you can eat meat and fried bananas and fried potatoes and fried pineapple. There was also a salad buffet but who wants to fill up on that. The meat was fantastic. As long as the block was green side up the food kept coming.

Lisbon – Day 2

Saturday, February 6, 2016

We started out today at the Mãe d’Água, the reservoir that opened in 1834 at the end of the old aqueduct system. It brought fresh water to Lisbon for the first time.

 

 

Then we went to Belém a district a couple of miles west of central Lisbon. Although Belém has a monastery that is Unesco World Heritage Listed our first priority was coffee and the custard tarts (pastéis de nata) that are supposed to be the best in Lisbon.

We explored the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos the UNESCO listed monastery and then walked to the Torre de Belém which is also UNESCO listed. It is right at the entrance to the harbor. The wind was really blowing.

 

 

After taking the bus back to our hotel and having a rest, we went to one of the restaurants in the bullring near our hotel for seafood for dinner

 

 

It was pouring rain when we walked to dinner. We walked a lot today. Although we are tired and in spite of what theses pictures might make you think, we are having a great time.

 

 

Lisbon

Friday, February 5, 2016

We started out our first day in Lisbon by figuring out how the Metro system works and buying us each a zapping card with €10 on it. Each ride cost €1.25 and you just put your card next to the reader as you are entering and leaving the metro.

When we leave Lisbon next Tuesday we will have a rental car. Duke wanted to go by the rental car place to ask some questions and to make sure he will fit in the car he has reserved. The agent was very helpful. He assured us the car would be plenty big but he was skeptical about Duke’s ability to drive a stick shift since we are American!

After taking care of business we went exploring in Central Lisbon. This square is right on the waterfront.

 

The bridge we came into town on is a Golden Gate look alike.

We took the number 28 tram to the north end of its route and the Estrela area. The trams remind me of the ones I used to ride when I was in Brisbane back in the 1960s. You can see a couple in the picture below.

 

 

After exploring a bit and walking through the park we had coffee and headed back to the hotel

For dinner we went to a tiny little restaurant. It only seated about 15 people but it was really fun and the food was delicious. We started with mussels.

Then Duke had steak and I had my new favorite food, octopus.

 

Desert was four little chocolate cups. Two had Madeira in them and two had Port. We enjoyed both the cups and the drinks!

Then we went to the Hot Clube de Portugal Jazz Club for their 10:30 show. They had a 10:30 show and a midnight show. So we were at the early show! It was full and there were about 35 people. I think it was the first jazz concert I’ve been to with an accordion. It was fun and I really enjoyed the show.