On our third day in Portugal we decided to venture into the city of Lisbon. After having a nice breakfast and some coffee at a little cafe in Cascais we hopped on a train and headed into downtown Lisbon. Again it was another gorgeous day, thus the train ride along the coast was pretty fantastic. Off in the distance we could see loads of sail boats, fishing boats and barges.
We rode the train to the last stop at Cais do Sodre where we some how translated the signs and the ticket machine to make our way onto the metro. We got off the metro in Rossio Square. A somewhat quiet square compared to what we had seen previously in Belem but nonetheless beautiful. The square is surrounded by shops and cafes and a few street performers. At one end stands a statue of King Pedro IV and at the other the National Theatre D. Maria II and in the middle a enormous fountain. Of course we were parched from our long train ride so Kim and I found our way to Cafe Nicola for some Sagres beer. This was a great place to people watch. Men decked out in suits with slicked back hair trying to sell you fake Armani sunglasses while little girls just begged for money.
From Nicola we decided to head out to some of the monuments. We found our way to Rua Augusta, another street lined with shops. Rua Augusta is the main artery of what is known as the Pombaline Baixa (lower town), rows of perpendicular streets with uniform facades that were built after the earthquake of 1755. At the end of Rua Augusta sits an impressive monument, the Arco da Rua Augusta. This archway acts like a gateway into this privileged section of town. At its front lies a large open square, Terreiro do Paço, that reaches all the way to the waterfront. Here we also found the equestrian statue of King Jose I. We walked around here for a bit and took some great pictures while people watching.
From the square we began our trek up to the top of the hill to see a Romanesque Cathedral on our way to Castelo de S. Jorge (St. George's Castle). The castle is part of a larger fort known as Catelejo. It brings you back to medieval times in a sense with the design and layout of the grounds. While inside one walks among olive, lemon, lime and orange trees. The views atop this mountain were unbelievable. You could see practically all of Lisbon and beyond. We both got some great pictures here and as soon as either of us gets our hands on a USB we'll post them somewhere.
We left the castle and made our way back down into the city to find a place for dinner. Walking through narrow, winding alleys we found some great graffiti. Bells began to chime from one of the many churches and a small dog appeared out of no where to bark and howl at each chime. We finally made it back to the main square where we began and walked through heading for Baixa, where a local recommended we eat dinner. Well, let's just say our navigating skills were not successful. These streets can be tricky! We walked and walked and walked and walked. No restaurants. Eventually we started back on the right path back towards Baixa after making an entire loop. We didn't make it however as we stumbled across Chiado, another quarter, first. There we found a small cafe and had some dinner and drinks. After dinner we stopped at Haagen Das for some coffee and ice cream and then headed down what seems like 10 stories into the ground on an escalator to get back to the metro. We made it back to the house safe and sound this night but absolutely exhausted!
For our fourth day in Portugal we slept in. Can you believe it? Kim and I sleeping in? Who would have thought that either of us would need naps, etc.? Ha ha. Alex's girlfriend Rita came and picked us up to bring us to the beach at Guincho. We had an awesome lunch at this beach side restaurant and then walked to the top of the cliffs to get some great pictures and videos of the area and the surfers. It was an amazing site. The beach was beautiful. Of course we looked like total tourists as the only clothing either of us had that was still clean was long, dark pants and shirts. It was a bit windy so it didn't turn out that bad.
We also attempted to do laundry this day. Key word is attempted! On our first attempted our clothes were washed for out 20 minutes in only fabric softener. Woops! Once we thought we had figured out the washer our clothes washed for what seemed like an hour. Oh well, no one said this would be easy! We have clean clothes, although they are still not dry yet. We had to hang them outside as it is very uncommon for one to have a dryer.
The rest of the evening we spent in downtown Cascais walking along the streets and finding a few goodies to bring home with us. We also found a cool little restaurant to eat dinner at. After dinner we headed to an Irish pub for more drinks (and more drinks) to listen to some Irish music straight from Ireland. We were both pretty sloshed by the time we got back to the house. Of course we couldn't get in through the gate as the latch was some how broken and the key wouldn't work. I had to boost Kimbo up over the wall for her to let us in. It was an adventure, but a fun one at that!
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