Portugal - Lisbon

We arrived in Lisbon on 30 Dec with no where to stay for the next couple of nights. We trudged around and tried a few places, all full and saying there was no chance we would find a hostel so close to new years (we had been trying to find one for a couple of weeks online). But luckily we tried one that had said it was busy online, but happened to have two free beds in a dorm. It was such a great find. The location couldn't be better, its really clean, new, cosy, friendly and has all the perks like good kitchen, dvd room, lounge and dining room. The owners are really nice too and make an effort to get to know everyone. Very cool place. We ended up cancelling our other booked accomodation for 1 and 2 Jan and stayed here for 5 days.

Lisbon is cool too. We stayed on one of the main streets near a big square and the waterfront so there was always a lot going on. All the roads except the major ones are paved with cobblestones, and all the footpaths too. There is a lot of dog shit here though..

Tiling the outside of buildings is popular here to a cool effect. Some of the tiled buildings are really old but even some of the newer ones are still using the tradition. There was a huge earthquake and tsunami in Portugal in 1755 and a lot of the building (and people) got wiped out. As a result most of Lisbon was built in the same period. The public transport is great in the city with train, underground train, lightrail and cool old trams. There are a lot of african peopl living here, I guess Portugal is not far from Africa so a good place to emigrate to.

We are still yet to sample a meal bought at a cafe or restaurant here in Portugal. It was off to the supermarket for us straight away and we have cooked nice meals at a fraction of the price of eating out. We want to eat out though! and hope to treat ourselves soon. We found our old friends from Macau here in abundance - the local delicacy of egg tarts.

For one of our first activities in Lisbon we went to Castelo de Sao Jorge. It is set on a hill overlooking Lisbon and has great views over the whole city from all directions. It was built in the 5th century and has now been restored. You can walk around the grounds, castle and battlements.

New Years eve day we went out on the metro to this great museum. Being sunday there were quite a few museums for free and this was our first choice and a really good one we thought. It was called the Museu Gulbenkian and is the personal collection of a oil tycoon. There was egyptian figures, jewellery and coins, Greek and Roman busts and coins. Persian and Turkish rugs, illuminated manuscripts, tiles, ceramics and velvet hangings. Chinese ceramics and wood crafts. Portugese and French furniture and clocks. And then fantastic European art. Our highlight was an exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints. This was one of the best museums we have seen, such variety.

There was a new years eve party here at the hostel. They provided beer and nibbles. We hung out for most of the night with these two american girls from our dorm. We played darts, drank lots and picked at food. Just before midnight we went down to the square where there was a big concert and fireworks. There were thousands of people there, we couldn't get near where we could see the stage. At 12.00 everyone around us popped champagne and we got soaked, it was funny. The fireworks were really good.

After everyone heading back up the street, and I mean everyone. The crowd had to get through under an arch which was about 10m wide. You were just swept along. There was no choice. If you had of fallen you would have been trampled. The reason we left then was that one of the girls couldn't handle crowds, so this next experience didn't help...

Most people from the hostel came back and we hung out for another few hours. New years day was quiet, we watched movies and went for a nice big walk in the afternoon.

One of the highlights of Lisbon is said to be the winding streets of the Alfamo district. It was cool, just not quite as impressive after wandering so many old streets around Spain. We went through it on the way to a flea market one morning. Lisbon can be hard to navigate, as its on loads of hills, and the maps dont quite read how the roads look in real life. As a result we headed off in the wrong direction. We eventually found our way to the market, but the walking around was the most fun bit of the morning.

After a bit of lunch (cheese, meat, olives, bread, and a drop of port) we headed out to the suburb of Belem. Belem was very pretty, we walked along the river, and had a bit of a sit in the park. We looked around an old monastry, and bought some of the local egg tarts ( they're just so good ).

For our last day in Lisbon we went out on the train to a small town called Sintra. Sintra is a hilly wooded area, with lots of historic palaces, and an old moorish castle. theres a local tousist bus that you can pay for then get on and off when you like. this was great as it was pretty hilly, and we wouldnt have wanted to walk that much. We went up to the castle (but not in) and then walked back down through tree covered paths. we then went over to a house/palace built by an opera set designer. It was quite incredible, with ornate mosaics, intricate wooden ceilings, and excessive carved stonework.

The gardens were quite ... strange. Kind of like a fairy tale. They were huge. All built on the side of a hill, with winding paths, and themed areas. There were lots of carved stone towers, and walls. We stumbled upon a tunnel going in behind a fountain, and when we followed it (through pitch black) we came out halfway down a 30m initiation well. You walk down a nine tired spiral staircase. It is amazing to look up and down. There was another smaller one of these wells also. It was so fun to explore these gardens.