Lisbon, Sintra and Porto

We found our way to the old part of Lisbon where we had an apartment booked.  We think we may have actually been the first guests as our host was anxious that we liked it (and there were a few minor teething problems like the TV not being tuned to the cable but that was soon fixed).  I bought the wrong pods for the coffee machine and Agnes kindly gave me an entire box of her own supply for our use.

The famous Santa Justa lift.  The queue for a ride went around the block so we skipped it!

We were becoming accustomed to suspicious looking characters approaching Matt and offering to sell him hashish (I TOLD him the beard made him look like a dodgy character) but this was the first time we'd been offered coke - and I don't mean of the soft drink variety!  Even without the Colombian Marching Powder we did a fair amount of walking.  Unusually we didn't like the food markets in Lisbon, it was too obviously a tourist set up and the restaurant stands were selling less traditional food and more fusion and modern interpretations.

One of our few failures was missing out on getting into Belem Tower. Still beautiful from the outside we had the perfect excuse to sit and look at the ocean while enjoying a freshly squeezed pineapple juice.  Although the tourist guidebooks recommend trying the pastis de nata from Belem patisserie our inside information was to skip the queue and just buy anywhere, they're all good when fresh and warm! 



We also took a bus right round the city quite unintentionally - still, we found our way to the local flea markets which were enormous.  Every kind of junk you never knew you needed.  And if you lost your mobile yesterday you could probably buy it back there tomorrow.

We couldn't leave town without taking the time to visit another world heritage area.  Sintra is easily visited by public transport although the train does not run as frequently as our Lonely Planet guide said that it would.  Another fascinating spot to visit and we took advantage of the bus that did a loop around the major sites.

The walk around the Castle of the Moors offers some amazing views of the other buildings in Sintra and is worth the exertion.  Just another mountain to walk up and down before dinner time.

Porto was only a short train ride away up the coast from Lisbon.  For parts of it we could have been traveling through Australia as the landscape is dry, there are plenty of sheep, and gum trees predominate!  We had selected our hotel on the basis of its price and the promise of a bar fridge.  The decor was a bit of a surprise.

At least it had a bar-fridge!

Matt tried to convince them he was
the natural heir to the port empire.

We had thought Lisbon was hilly but those of Porto were even bigger.  So we decided to take the easy way of getting around multiple sites and bought tickets for the hop on/hop off bus which also included a river cruise and a port tasting.

Failing to get hold of the keys to the cellar
he found a micro-brewery!

view from the river

view of our lunch being cooked.  Real street food!

Sadly, our time in Europe was drawing to an end and we carefully packed our bags for our late evening flight to Bristol.  Easy Jet was an easy flight but getting through immigration into the UK really was as dreadful, intrusive, and chaotic as every horror story I've ever heard about it.  Next up, we visit some castles

Baleal Surf Camp

Our kind friends Bettina and Warren invited us to spend a few days with them in their new home in Baleal so we caught the early morning train from Faro to Lisbon where we met up at the airport.  Baleal is the north end of Peniche, just over an hour from Lisbon.  We were all looking forward to enjoying some swimming and surfing.  Warren couldn't be held back but for the rest of us, the sub arctic temperatures* meant we enjoyed long walks on the beach rather than the waves! 

Sometimes, not so much...

Sometimes the view from the train
from Faro to Lisbon looked familiar

Hotel on the island

A walk over the short causeway out to windswept Baleal Island saw us picking out desirable summer homes and admiring the boys who were cliff-jumping.  Our admiration had something to do with the way they scrambled back up the cliff for another go!

The beach from the island

Rabbit for two

The next day we went to Obidos where we had a lovely lunch followed by a wander around the walls and a poke around the shops.  Obidos is another little fortified city that was great for a day out as it's not so enormous that you leave exhausted and overwhelmed!

On the walls of Obidos

Just one little push...

Our wonderful hosts

Obidos Church with its interesting reliefs

It was really lovely to have a few days of taking it easy and we very much appreciate Bettina and Warren's kind hospitality, fantastic cooking, and unlimited coffee! 

Our next step saw us back in Lisbon to explore the capital.


*I may or may not be exaggerating for dramatic effect.

Faro, far from fun.

It was like the opening scenes from a movie where you just knew something terrible and nameless is going to occur soon.

From a cloudless blue sky the sun beat down upon the deserted streets.  The shops were all closed with strong shutters down and the cafe chairs were chained to the tables.

A plastic shopping bag skittered across the alley in a sudden gust of wind and the tourists huddled in the shade jumped sharply at the unexpected noise.

Faro on Sunday.  The Lonely Planet claims this city is under-rated.  I don't think so.

OK, I confess, we did have some nice meals (and quite a few Portugese Custard Tarts), it was just there was NOTHING to do on Saturday afternoon or Sunday once you'd spent half an hour walking around the old town.  Scratch this one off your itinerary.

Granada and Ahambra. A highlight of our entire trip.

We arrived in Granada still uncertain if we had managed to purchase tickets to visit the Alhambra.  We’d tried several tourist offices and on-line services which were all sold-out; eventually we’d purchased a morning tour on-line.  Only the message from the website was “thanks for your purchase, you should receive the tickets for your visit within 48 hours” and it was less than that until our visit was due to take place.  We knew that if we didn’t get on the tour we could queue up for the tickets which are released ‘on the day’ – but advice received from several sources was to start lining up by 6:30am (if not earlier) and you know we’re not that good at mornings.  It was with great relief I saw them pop up on my phone as I connected to the free wi-fi in our hotel.

The unlucky ones sans tickets.  Probably all on line looking for guided tours with spare tix. 

Our hotel was in a charming old building built in the traditional manner around a courtyard (now roofed over).  We had aircon, a mini-bar, a bathtub in the bathroom, and if we didn’t love the two single beds pushed together and called a double, well we’ve had that in hotels that cost a lot more that €40 per night!  And I’m sure (after my previous post on Madrid) you don’t need me to say our next task was wandering the streets of the old town and eating tapas!  Granada is very civilised – one drink = one free tapa.  Some we enjoyed more than others.

Yum Yum Hummus

Cold Tomato Soup

Pate with gorgonzola or anchovies?

Olives and something. 
What?  Matt wonders...

Churros, by the way, are highly over-rated.  I'd really rather have a nice fresh cinnamon doughnut (Matt is shaking his head in horror.  I had to tell him beer is also over-rated).

The next morning we caught a taxi up the hill and joined our tour group to see one of the world’s most beautiful historical sites.  We started with the Generalife Gardens (pronounced Heneral-leafy) and Summer Palace.  We don’t often join guided tours, preferring to be able to linger over interesting spots and hurry through those which don’t catch our fancy, still you do learn a lot that you don’t find out only from reading or audio-guides.  The guide was very good and despite the enormous crowds managed to pace the trip well.  The gardens are astonishingly verdant.  Originally gravity fed from the mountains and now reticulated and recirculated water irrigates the greenery and feeds the fountains.  We learned that the Muslim fountains are the rounded bubbly ones while the Christian ones are the square ones with jets.

Generalife Gardens.  Beautiful landscaping.

Just outside the wall the landscaping and water features continue.

Next we made our way through some of the public areas and admired hotels which were way beyond our budget before we came to the palace of Charles V.  It doesn’t quite fit with the Arabic design of the other buildings and in fact was never inhabited.  It is of interest mainly because the outside is square and the inside is round.  The acoustics are very good and it is used in summer for concerts.

Not a doorknocker, just a decoration.

The high point of our visit was next as we toured the Nasrid Palaces.  Demand is so high that you are issued a time with your ticket and if you miss your slot, you miss out.  They do have around 6000 people a day to get through without too many bottlenecks.  On approach the complex looks very plain and simple.  This, our guide explained, is a result of a fundamental difference between the Christian and Muslim architecture of the time.  While Christians displayed their wealth and greatness in public (even while private areas might be comparatively plain and simple) the Muslims were not publicly ostentatious.  Their wealth was only on display on the inside, where only invited guests and family could enjoy it.  Even when entering a building the entrance was designed so you went through a zig-zag or offset doors so its glory was only revealed when you were really inside and couldn’t be glimpsed by outsiders.

The first palace, Mexuar Palace, was disfigured by the addition of a baroque chapel.  It's since been removed but you can still see the crowns of Phillip IV on the walls.  The ceiling is still beautiful.

The second palace Comares, or Myrtle Places. including the Hall of the Ambassadors.  The roof of the courtroom was just stunning.  This was the Sultan's official residence.

I forget how many stars there were on the ceiling. 
Count them and tell me?

The mirror pool reflects the palace, representing
the temporary nature of our existence on
this plane.

The final palace was saw was the Palace of the Lions which included the Lion Fountain, possibly a gift from the local Jewish community.

detail of the walls

They used to be in glorious technicolour

The lions of Judah or the twelve tribes of Israel?  No one today knows the meaning of the fountain.

We then walked around the complex seeing the internal gardens and the one remaining original stained glass window.  

Probably not broken because it was very difficult to see!  This was a ceiling light.

The final part of our visit was Alcazaba, the oldest part of the site, the fort.

Remains of the barracks

ongoing excavations

View from Alcazabar to the Cathederal

Matt checks out the engineering of the ancients.

After a much needed siesta we ventured out again to find a few more tapas and maybe a glass of cava or sangria.  The first stop, one mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide and website, we didn’t rate highly at all.   Our favourite stop as we made our way uphill through the narrow and steep laneways was a tiny bar where the owner told us he loved kangaroos, and, like deer they were good eating!  The hummus with Moroccan bread there was possibly my favourite dish of the night (pictured above after the first paragraph or so - after several serves of jamon and manchengo, pate, olives and a cat food salad). 
 

The Alhambra - photo actually from the mosque not the church.

The lanes as we continued up were mostly accessible only to pedestrians and possibly mountain goats and we eventually we ended up opposite the Alhambra at St Nicholas’s Church where Friday evening festivities were underway.  Along with stalls selling the usual tat were some wonderful performers and we took time out to watch the flamenco dancing, accompanied by a ululating singer and drummer, as well as a guitarist.  The energy the performers invested in their routine had the crowd mesmerised – until it came time to pass the hat.  A bit unfair that so many people watched and so few put in any Euros.

 
Over the road at the mosque there was another fiesta, this time the performance was more formal with CDs for sale and seats available for some.  A sign as you entered the grounds requested visitors dress modestly, luckily my skirt and sleeveless top were judged modest enough!  We enjoyed both performances and thought we were privileged to visit an area where different faiths can co-exist so harmoniously.   

Walking back down the street in the late evening twilight we had time for just one or two more tapa before retiring.