The morning when I woke up for my flight, I questioned myself would I still go? Lots of signs like it was not mean to be, my friends visa took forever to print, she had to return twice to Portugal embassy and spent the whole Friday waiting for the visa to visit Portugal, raining cats and dogs in my beloved lowland for days already, too many things made me thinking, should I go ? I never have had this kind of feeling before………but off we go.
Our driver picked us up in time and took us to our tiny apartment in the middle of Lisbon city, the weather was really to cry on, raining and grey, a bit chilly… It really was making me grumpy, after homemade lunch, we decided to battle the rain and take the day card (€6.40) and took the tram to Belem, one of the famous places in Lisbon.
Belem
This place so easy to reach, with tram 15e, you will be here in about 25 minutes, a very beautiful place, once you entered this neighborhood you will see the queues Infront of the bakeries, I still don’t get the hyve about this sweet pastry, well, I queued anyway 😊 .
This party like a egg tart from Hongkong, realty sweet but tasty, I have tried couple of them to make certain if I like it or not ( ormaybe I was just too hungry?).
Belem is really tourist oriented, modern and with cute Portuguese president residence (got my colour, Pink), but we walked our way to the huge JeronimosMonastery, an UNESCO heritage , built by Saint Jerome, many decades ago, own by the states nowadays, plenty of mesmerizing site you need to visit on this site, like the chapel , so amazing.
Just Infront of the monastery, we bumped to Monument of Discoveries, a modern looking statue built in 1960, dedicated to Portugal power and spirit, many ancients ago, you must heard the name like Vasco da Gama and his buddies, anyway overlooking you will see the long bridge, with Cristo Rey statue protect the river and the bridge, really astounding , I wish I could made a bigger picture.
I wish i could made a bigger pic of Cristo
Moving forward to the famous Belem Castle with queues of tourist, I just not be bother to go in, really beautiful from the outside though,
We took some gelatos and walked back to the tram and stop for some beers and sourdough bread with cheese and cold cut and an interesting soup, taste like chicken soup with pasta.
Back to Lisbon city we went for a very late birthday celebration Portuguese way, with fresh seafood platter and risotto with Octopus and bottle of Portuguese wine, really tastyand cheap.
Sintra
The fairy tales sintra is one of the UNESCO site, on the top of the hill , fairy tale castle and really stunning garden, the way to the castle full with beautiful sites, from hilly side to an amazing coast, we made a stop at Lagoa, so amazing warm sea water and beautiful site, I wish it wasn’t rain like crazy.
I would have a wee swim, before this stop we decided to stop at Quinta da regaleira, a fairy tales palace with stunning gardens, I was in big awe.
Moving forward to our next stop Cabo da Roca, oh my God, I am so in love, I am a sucker to light house, this site so amazing….
I wish it was a sunny day instead of raining like hell, on a foggy road we continued to our main goal to visit Park and national palace of Pena. This beautiful palace got me goose bumps , I am not easily impressed, but this site so beautiful, cheerful and I cant stop hoping my prince will be waiting for me on the top of this palace, hence I kept climbing even thought my lung almost exploded and my knees both hating me deeply. I wish the fog gone away, it was really windy, cold and wet, but, I was glad I made it here, totally worth my sacrifice., We walked and climbed and prayed, but the rain won , we decided to return to Lisbon.
Back in Lisbon, we went for a overrated dinner at a traditional food court, really expensive and didn’t even taste well.
Pic: grilled octopus on mash potatoes bed
Pic: Pork cheek on sweet potatoes mash
Tired and grumpy we walked back to our on the top of the hill apartment, climbed another 4 flight of stairs, I took shower and called it a night.
The Next morning, after a brekky we moved to other accomodation , another 5 flight of stairs, holy crap, I started to hate this place, we decided to take it easy and took the famous tram 28 to discover the city, well, I don’t know what the hype is about,and after a 45 minutes queuing we finally managed to get in to this tram, well, if you bored and nothing to do, yes, this tram must be for you, I felt asleep and didn’t really enjoy it, but at least we made new friends, from Indo land, who showed us a place where we can eat some good home made noodle……
Pic: The famous tram 28
The climb to the castle
Pic: cheese bacalao with nice Port at the Castle entrance
The castle entrance
Pic : the famous tram 28
Fatima
Sanctuary Fatima, really popular since the summer of 1917 the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three young shepherds in what is now the town of Fátima in Portugal’s Centro Region. The place where they saw her has become an immense sanctuary and one of Christianity’s most important pilgrimage sites. There are two basilicas, a square where thousands of devotees can congregate and an itinerary of locations that hold a special meaning to the apparitions, its kind an experience to stand here as a catholic, like when you are standing in Vatican. A beautiful Baroque Church and the soberness made me really happy, and it worth the 1,5 bus ride and 3 hours waiting for the bus, maybe if rain would stop for a bit, we will enjoy this place more.
Some pilgrims
Candle on my prayers
Inside the church
I ‘ve been to many places, but Lisbon not a place where I am going to come back.
Comments