Lisbon, Portugal: Day 1 and 2

Hello everyone! For those that do not know, I am currently backpacking across Europe until November 7th. I am traveling with Kimbo. We left Tallahassee on Wednesday, October 17th at 11:15 am and eventually left the States via Philadelphia at 8:45 that evening. We arrived in Lisbon, Portugal the following morning at 8:30 am (Portugal time), which is 3:30 am U.S. time. It was a bit rough but as soon as we landed the adventure began.

We ventured off the plane and boarded a bus headed for the main terminal to check though the passport area and get our stamps before grabbing our giant backpacks at baggage claim. Then we hailed a cab and headed off towards downtown Lisbon to meet up with a family friend of Kim´s who we´re staying with. The cab ride was unbelievable. The traffic was horrible and if you think rush hour is bad in the States you haven´t seen anything until you´ve tried to get through the narrow streets of Lisbon! Not only do the cars drive so close you can literally touch them but they drive very fast. At one point before we got to Alex´s (Kim´s family friend) restaurant we turned on to this very narrow street and before you knew it we were traveling at 65 kmph barely missing pedestrians and the loads of cars just pulled up and parked on the sidewalks.

After meeting Alex, Kim and I decided to walk around the neighborhood while he had a business meeting. Luckily he offered us some amazing coffee to wake us up. We eventually piled into Alex´s Mercedes convertible (seems like everyone has a Mercedes here) and took off to Cascais, a small beach town about 25km west of Lisbon, to Alex´s house. These Europeans drive extremely fast!

We spent the rest of the day in downtown Cascais checking out all the little shops, the beach, the mall and all the other sites we could find. That evening we haded back to the house for dinner and lots of drinking with Alex and his girlfriend before heading to bed and preparing for the next morning.

Today we got up and went down into Cascais for coffee and pastries and then jumped on the train to head the Belem (town just outside of Lisbon). After a brief encounter of not fully paying attention to the train ticket we purchased we found our was to Belem. First, the weather has been nothing but beautiful, at list 75 degrees at the coolest during the days and roughly 65 at night. Absolutely gorgeous. I think we even got some slight sun burns today. Yep, I got a sunburn in Portugal! Who can say that!?

Our first site was the Monument to the Discoveries, right on the banks of the Tagus River(Pictures to come soon.) The monument celebrates the Portuguese who took part in the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, including Vasco de Gama, Henry the Navigator and Bartolomeu Dias.


From there we walked down the river a ways to Belem Tower. It was build in the early 16th century to commemorate the expedition of Vasco de Gama. The ornamental beauty of each carving atop each pedestal, the ornate floors and ceilings, the narrow winding staircase that rises all the way to the 5th floor all add to the amazing experience of this site. I got some awesome pictures of this place and will post them as soon as I can.

We walked around and hung out to rest in a park nearby before walking in the opposite direction to check out the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jeronimos Monastery). A pretty amazing site that boasts the tomb of Vasco de Gama among others. Beautiful architecture and ornamental religious figures adorn the walls. Another place I took some great pictures.

From the monastery we grabbed some lunch before heading back to the train to go into Lisbon to catch a ferry across the Tagus River to Calhas and Almada to see the Cristo Rei or Christ the King monument. Inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 92 feet tall statue of Christ stands atop a 264 foot tall base. We made it all the way to the top of the base to the observation deck by elevator to look over all of Lisbon. It was truly unbelievable. Again, more great pictures to come - FYI I left my usb at home. Doh!

We have only been here for two days and it has already been an incredible trip. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this trip has in store for us. Tomorrow it is back to tour around downtown Lisbon or possibly up to Sintra in the country to check out the palace. Whatever we do I know it will be great.

P.S. We´ve even met a few Americans over here!