Written by Kim
Our last stop on our Europe trip was Lisbon. We added the stop because our flight home was on TAP Portugal and they offer significant discounts if you “layover” at least one night in either Porto or Lisbon. We chose to stay 3 nights in Lisbon to explore another city. We really enjoyed our stop. We were lucky to learn on Facebook that my cousin, Jim’s daughter, Sophie was in Lisbon. We were able to catch-up with Sophie and her boyfriend, Rob, which was a treat.
We stayed in the Baixa neighborhood at the Hotel Santa Justa which I would highly recommend. We got an upgraded room and a few other perks like a bottle of wine and fancy soaps for our Hotel.com gold status which was nice. The Baixa is the liveliest and most central neighborhood in Lisbon and pretty flat in comparison to the rest of the city. It is a short walk to the
The first night we went to dinner in a small local restaurant a little off the Main Street near our hotel. The food was delicious
We started our walking tour at Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, the highest point in the city, that overlooks the entire city. The Ponte 25 de Abril bridge over the Tagus river connecting Lisbon to Almada, Portugal, looks quite similar to the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco. It was built by the same company, US Steel, and completed in 1966. Right near the bridge is The Cristo Rei is one of the most iconic monuments in Lisbon. The statue of Christ stands high above the southern banks of the Tejo Estuary, and depicts Christ with arms raised, blessing the city. Cristo Rei dates from the 1950s, and its construction represents Portugal’s religious gratitude for avoiding the horrors of World War Two.
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world the and the second-oldest European capital city, after Athens, predating other modern European capitals by centuries. It was established by pre-Celtic tribes initially and later Phoenicians, Julius Caesar made it a municipality. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was ruled by a series of Germanic tribes. Later it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. It became the capital of Portugal in 1255. Today there are still neighborhoods that represent the many historical influences. In 1755 there was a major earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the 85% city and killed 40-50,000 people. The Baixa area where we stayed was rebuilt by the Marquis of Pombal after the Great Earthquake of 1755.
Our tour took us to see various art throughout the city
The Estado Novo was the communist state that was installed in 1933. The Estado Novo, greatly inspired by conservative and autocratic ideologies, developed by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, who was president from 1932 until illness forced him out of office in 1968. The Carnation Revolution, also known as the 25 April, was a military coup of left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Nova regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon,producing major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Potugal. It resulted in the transition to democracy. Much of the art throughout the city depicts the revolution.
A specialty all over Lisbon, pasteis de nata are the famous Portuguese egg tart pastries. They have a flaky crust with a custard filling and are best enjoyed topped with a dusting of powdered sugar & cinnamon! We tried several different ones. Yum!
Sintra is a charming Portuguese town situated within the cooling hills of the Serra de Sintra. Hidden among its majestic pine forest, you will discover whimsical palaces, extravagant villas and the ruins of a 10th-century Moorish castle. We took a day trip to Sintra and the palace. It was a small group tour of 8 in a van. There were 4 older annoying retirees from Monroe, NJ and 2 Italians with us so the tour guide did a bi lingual tour in both English and Italian. It amazes me how well Europeans speak multiple languages. The Americans reminded Alex we never want to get too old and too American – they were so annoying. I felt like we were in the movie “Cocoon”. The one woman thought she could speak multiple languages and would go up to people speaking a different language but problem was she basically could say hello. The other woman reminded me of Marie & Frank, Rays’s parents on Everyone loves Raymond. It was a long day and we missed touring with our friends after this experience.
We visited Cabo da Roca which is in Sintra Cascais National Park. It is the westernmost point of mainland Europe. Rugged cliffs meet the Atlantic Ocean in this place of natural beauty, where sea, land, wind, and forest come together to create a unique atmosphere. It is directly across the ocean from Delaware in the US. It was a beautiful coastline and reminded me a bit of Halifax.
We really enjoyed the food in Portugal but realized we are spoiled Americans not used to picking bones out of fish so our last lunch was a fish kebab we knew would be deboned. Lol. The sangria was yummy!
Well…..this concludes our European adventure. Thanks for coming along. I posted a recap a week ago if you haven’t seen it check it out. it gives you some of our stats including the 280,000 + steps walked. We started our trip in Warsaw one of our favorite stops, saw lots of friends in Belgium in the middle of our trip, and ended in Lisbon another favorite. It was a fantastic trip. We are so lucky. Now we are hoping to spend some time in Myrtle with trips to see family over the holidays. We are just starting to think about where we will go in January to escape the cold. Usually we hit Florida but might venture to Cancun too. More to come.
Until then….
