| Nov 21, 2005 - Goodbye to Lisbon
| (click to enlarge)
 |  | (click to enlarge)
 | | (click to enlarge)
 | | show all 4 | | Pena Palace in Sintra | | Moorish castle in Sintra | | Moorish castle | | |
| Today is my last morning in Lisbon. I have had a great time here but am ready to move on. I really liked my hotel here (Hostal Geres), it was in a great location and the owner was very nice. She gave me almost a 50% discount on my room! Working for Rick Steve's certainly has it's advantages. I am going to have to make sure I mention that more often when booking rooms. It's been raining non-stop the last few days, so I saw 3 movies this weekend. It's nice because the Portuguese don't dubb American films like they do in Spain, which made it nice for me. They also assign seats in the theater when you buy your ticket, which was a bit strange.
Friday I went to Sintra, about an hour northwest of Lisbon, where they have one of the coolest palaces I have ever visited. It was pretty small, esp. when compared to palaces like Versailles, but it was in a very cool style, almost Tim Burton-ish. It is perched waaaay up on a hilltop with amazing views all the way to Lisbon and the ocean, but the day I was there it was pretty gray and cloudy, so the view wasn't the greatest. There is also an old Moorish palace on another hilltop, which is in ruins, it reminded me of something out of Robin Hood. All overgrown with trees and covered with moss. It would have been the type of place I would have loved to explore and play in as a kid. I ended up walking the whole way up to both palaces, a very long, tiring uphill walk. Only afterwards did I discover that there was a trail through the woods that cut the journey in about half. I ended up taking the bus back down, pretty worn out. I then took another bus to 'Cabo del Roca', the most western point of Europe. It was very cold and windy and there wasn't much else there, so I was stuck for an hour and half until the next bus came. While waiting I met a couple of nice Japanese girls who barely spoke English and not a word of Portuguese. They were very happy when I translated what the bus driver was telling them and we ended up taking the train back to Lisbon together.
Saturday I met a really nice older couple who invited me to dinner with them. They didn't speak any English and my Portugese is VERY limited, but still it was nice to talk to them. I had been riding a trolley car a few days earlier, when I gave my seat up for an older woman who got in. She was very greatful, as it's pretty hard to stand up in those things as they go flying down the hills, barely missing parked cars and pedestrians. Saturday I was sitting in a cafe near my hotel, drinking a glass of wine when the same woman came up to me asking if I was alone. When I said yes, she insisted I join her and her husband for dinner at another table. I really wasn't hungry yet, having just wolfed down 2 pastel de nata's about 10 min. earlier, but couldn't say no when they insisted on buying me dinner. I guess what Deanie always said about good manners really is true. |
| |
| |
