Cathedrals in downtown Lisbon
Azulejos everywhere! (tiles)
We rode through very tiny alley ways. Some of them we couldn't even get through by car. He told us the moors made them so they could make quick get aways down the allies.
This city is filled with purple trees called Jecarandas. They are not originally from Portugal, but were brought over from somewhere else.
We passed by the statue of Pombal the Economist who reconstructed Lisbon after the great earthquake and sunami of 1755.
This city is filled with bridges and aqueducts. It isn't a wonder because there are seven rivers that fill the city and one, the Rio Tejo, that flows right into the Atlantic Ocean.
Our best example of Fitz team work came when we visited the Cristo Rey a copy of the Cristo Rey that is in Brazil. Our guide told us there was an elevator that went all the way to the top. We took the elevator and then when we got to the top we realized that there were over 60 stairs to get to the view. Grandma got a little nervous. She said, "Don't they realize how old I am?" Rachel at the front and SG and me at the back we slowly made the climb. Grandma was a trouper and I think she even surprised herself. When we got to the gift shop right before getting to the top she asked the cashiers in Portuguese, "Do you know how old I am?" They both insisted she was 80..."noventa" she said, which means 90. They all looked at her with awe and gave her some water. We only had 16 more stairs to go and then we finally made it to the top of Cristo Rey that looked out over the entire city. "Vale la pena." Grandma said. It was definitely worth it. Grandma slowly made the climb down with her grandaughters surrounding her. At the bottom she said, "Vou a fazer chi chi." We looked at her puzzled. "I have to go wee wee." We laughed. We all learn a new Portuguese word just about every day!
We continued on our journey by visiting:
Gironimos Cathedral where Vasco de Gama (the great explorer that discovered the pathway to India) was burried as well as Luis Camoise the poet that was filled with gothic architecture, cloisters, scalloped arches and gargoils
We drove through a region called Belem Lumesco that had a lot of world heritage
We went to the edge of the river and saw Belem, which was a castle on the coast
There was a monument right next to it that I like to call the Explorer monument. It looks like a giant boat with tons of explorers. It was created in 1960. Prince Henry the navigator was at the front of the monument as well as others like Vasco de Gama.
Behind the huge monument was a giant map on the ground. We all took pictures of places where we wanted to go. SG wants to go to South America, and she will later this summer. Rachel wants to naturally go to Tibet! I want to visit India and then we all made our mark by putting our feet in Portugal.
It was only our second day in Portugal and the jet lag was starting to get to us. Our driver said he would drop us for lunch and then we would feel free to explore the huge Lisbon aquarium. Grandma looked at all of us, and we could see it all on our faces that we would barely make it to lunch. Rachel had already fallen asleep in the back. I asked if the driver could pick us up after lunch. Grandma said that we could see a very nice aquarium in Baltimore....ooops...:)
So we went to a restaurant called Paixada and ate Calderada to our hearts content. It is something we all grew up with and Grandma of course challenged the waiter and said, "I bet it won't be as good as mine." Which it wasn't and she told him so...I hope I have that much gumption when I am 90. But the food was still amazing. I have to stop accepting the food when they bring it to the table. We didn't order gambas (shrimp) and they just brought it to the table, but if you eat it, you buy it. It is not on the house. But who can resist all of this amazing sea food?! Grandma couldn't stop talking to the beautiful Portuguese waiter the entire time. He even had to say to her, "I could talk to you all day, but I must get back to work." He was lovely, he had spent time in Utah and new all about American proms and homecomings. I guess that is something that we are known for.
We went back after lunch and had the most marvelous siesta! It felt so good to sleep. All of us slept for over two hours! Then we awoke and decided that ice cream would be the perfect dinner! We went to a lovely cafe and had crema de nata (a portuguese treat) and gelado (ice cream) with tea. It was perfect! We walked around the streets of Lisbon arm and arm and just marveled at our wonderful day. We went back to the hotel and knitted, emailed and ended the day with an intense game of banana grams. As always I have a very unique way of spelling words, but as it turns out toat and ren are words! Who knew? Look them up! :)
Time for bed after a long day, tomorrow Sintra! More to come!
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