portugal: lisbon

portugal is a new country for me...i don't know why i've never visited previously, but hey, i'm here now...
i flew here straight from kyiv, which was nice...before departing ukraine, i arranged a shuttle to my hotel in lisbon...my flight arrived long after dark, which is something i have always hated...it was 15C, which is apparently warmer than a typical winter in lisbon, but felt especially warm to me, since i was coming from negative temperatures...
i checked in and went to sleep almost straightaway...

the next morning i woke up and though it was cloudy, it was still over 10C...i wore a tshirt and pants, then tied a jacket around my waist...i was less than 100 meters from my hotel the first time someone on the street stopped me to ask if i wasn't cold...apparently i looked a bit crazy in not wearing enough for 'winter'...i tried to explain that i was coming from ukraine, which is heaps colder, especially at this time of year...
my planning for this trip consisted only of the basic logistics...flights to and from lisbon, the airport shuttle to my hotel, and the hotel itself...i didn't have a guidebook, or any specific plans in the country...

i didn't know where i should go in the country, and what i should see...needless to say, my first objective was to find a guidebook...it took me a while, as i found stores with maps and magazines, but not actual bookstores...not surprisingly, the bookstore where i found my guidebook was on a big platz, visited primarily by tourists...
after buying the guidebook i decided to wander around this platz and watch people...while wandering around, someone came up to me and tried to start up a conversation...within about 15 seconds, he offered me drugs...he said he could get anything i wanted...hash from pakistan, coke, etc...he even quoted prices!! needless to say, my answer was no...is this normal?

one of the things for which portugal in general is noted is tiles...they're EVERYWHERE...on the exteriors and interiors of houses and business buildings...not just the tiles you see on a bathroom floors, but handpainted tiles...stunning, absolutely stunning...
during the day, i visited at least 5 churches...portugal is heavily catholic, so all the churches were gussied up for the holidays...in front of three of them were beggars...i'm not sure what makes one church more attractive to beggars than another? all of these churches were listed in the guidebook...some were more interesting than others...

i made my way up to castello sao jorge...it's up on a hill, overlooking a big part of the city...since the skies were grey, the views weren't as stunning as they could've been, but it was neat to see how far i could see...it was fun to figure out where i had already walked through town...it's also a great place to watch tourists/people...there were a few cafes and a couple churches nearby as well...
castello sao jorge was originally built in the 5th century, as a fort for the visigoths...later on, the moors built the castle in the fort, though they were eventually expelled by dom henriques, in 1147...portuguese kings lived in the castle until the 16th century, the whole structure was mostly destoyed by an earthquake in the 18th century...none of it has been renovated or repaired, so you only get to see what remains of the walls, towers, and stairs...

wandering around the grounds of the castle were several peacocks...too bad they didn't stand still long enough for me to get a decent photo...
i managed to get somewhat lost on the way back down into the city centre...ooops...narrow alleys, often connected by stairways, never going in straight lines, always get me all kinds of confused...i figured if i kept heading down the hill, eventually i would get to somewhere i recognized...that sortof proved to be true:)
i next found my way to the ruins of carmen...it used to be a monastary, but all that are left now are the walls...it's a bit eerie to see the walls still standing, with no roof...the earthquake of 1755 was also the destructor here, just as with the castello...there is a small museum in a room off the end of the monastary, they did put a roof back on here...

the next morning i wandered around until i found a cafe with egg tarts and ham and cheese croissants...not difficult to find, but i think i was up earlier than most people?
i walked all the way to belem, an area of the city known for two reasons in particular...the tower of belem, and a pasteleria with the famous portuguese egg tarts...it was a nice walk, even though it was foggy most of the time...i was only able to see one side of the big bridge, which reminded me of the golden gate bridge in san francisco, though they are probably not at all similar...it was probably a longer walk than most people want to do...i think 10km each way?

i saw the discoveries monument, and amused other tourists by setting up the time delay function on my camera, then posing for photos:)
from there i crossed the street and made my way to the mosteiro dos jeronimos...i got there at the end of mass, so i had to wait a bit to enter...i wonder what it's like to attend a church that is also a tourist destination...what is it like to be a participant in a service knowing that people are going in and out of the back of your sanctuary? i wasn't aware of it when i showed up, but entrance to the mosteiro is free on sundays...woo hoo:)...

the cloister area of the mosteiro was awesome...two floors...
for lunch i stopped in a pasteleria listed in the guidebook...the book said this particular pasteleria was a must see place, the egg tarts were particularly awesome here...they were indeed quite tasty...it was a lot bigger than i expected, there were heaps of people eating there...
after i walked back to the centre of lisbon, i treated myself to a hot chocolate from starbucks...i earned the calories, right?
at one point during all my walking of the day, i saw a bike going by me...riding the bike were 6 (yes, 6!!!) guys dressed as santa...AWESOME!!! i also saw an entire (rowing) crew wearing santa hats...i love seeing people so into the holidays:)

the next day was my day trip to sintra...
i woke up christmas morning, the weather was lovely...yahoooo...this was the first beautiful weather day i had in portugal...i decided to walk in a completely different direction, so i walked up avenue liberdad, instead of down...it's a big street...a split avenue with green space in the middle...there is a park at the top of the avenue, with a GIANT portuguese flag...since it was quite windy, the flag was stretched out properly...awesome...

i walked toward the roman aquaduct, i find it amazing it was still there...built so long ago, yet the engineering is so good, it's still standing!! that doesn't happen anymore...
then i walked back to the waterfront just in time for sunset...beautiful...i wasn't the only one watching, but it was still a very peaceful experience...the only bad part was how cold i started to feel, as soon as the sun went down...it got cold, fast...