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I was going to post some pictures which I took in the Alfama quarter, but never really got the time. Well, while waiting in Cat’s bar to go to eat, I finished to process for most of the interesting ones. You can see them  in Castelo de Sao Jorge and Alfama album.

view of Lisbon form miradouro in Alfama

entrance to Praca do Comercio

Well, this is the last evening in Lisbon, as tomorrow at 10am I have a plane to catch back to Madrid.

All in all I must say I was very pleased with Lisbon – lovely city, I think I would come again, at one point – and continue to explore Portugal. The only thing which is harsh is the fact the most of the streets are pretty sttep – one day spent walking is very harsh on my untrained legs Next city I pick will NOT pride itself on being built on seven hills.

I had the luck to catch a lovely weather – sunny yet not unbearably warm – and so I could visit all the places I really wanted to see, while at the same time I also got lost a few times on narrow streets in Bairro Alto, Alfama, Chiado…

columns near praca do comercio

the building that is blue

I am a bit dissapointed that I did not check the night life, but I am too tired in the evenings to motivate myself to go to a club. Maybe Madrid will fill in this missing area…

And now, going to pack. Oh, and the pictures from the last 2 days will appear on the blog, I promise. Soon….

Nemo sighted at the Oceanographic in Lisbon

Today being Sunday I wanted to do something easy, and relaxing. So I went to the Oceanographic in Lisbon. You can see what interesting creatures I found beside Nemo.As tomorrow a new week begins, I hope these photos will lighten the day

Thought it might be an interesting idea to save some of the photos I took in Portugal in a black and white version.

You can see all the ‘experiments’ in Portugal in black and white album.

A lot of the subjects I photographed – old cobbled streets, trams that look very old, buildings that seem to be from the 1800’s – lend themselves vey well to black and white photography. The conversion was done in Lightroom through split toning – not something very fancy. I hope you find the results pleasant.

Jeronimos monastery, UNESCO Heritage site

Yesterday I went to Belem, which is an area at the outskirts of Lisbon. The main attractions here are the Jeronimos monastery and it’s magnificent cloister and Belem tower. Both are UNESCO Heritage sites, and were definitelyworth the visit.

You can see all the pictures in Lisbon – Belem visit album.

The whole area is full of interesting things to see – there is also Lisbon lighthouse, the monument celebrating Portuguese voyages of discovery or the Marina museum (which I didn’t get to see as I was running out of time, and I hade more plans for the day).

And so I left back to central Lisbon, more precisely to Bairro Alto. This is one of the famous quarters of Lisbon. It is full of cafes, restaurants, pubs, clubs and….lots of empty abandoned buildings.

All in all though it is a very nice area to visit. Also found a small sushi takeaway shop, where I ate a small pack. Yummy! Earlier I stopped for a Guinnes in an Irish pub, so I had a nice lunch.

Later on, when I was ready to head back to the hostel, I found a small bar overlooking the city where a lot of locals came to enjoy the sunset. Was pretty nice. I stayed for about an hour and then went home as it was getting too cold for my liking. On the wat back I found an oriental buffet (all you can eat type) which I intend to pay a long visit

Fortifications overlooking Sintra

As I promised in the last post, the Sintra pictures were next. It took a bit longer than expected, as I had to download them directly from the camera.

But now you can enjoy them. If you want to skip directly to the photos, you can find them in Sintra, fairytale town.

The way to Sintra was mostly uneventful, although I deffinitelly started to hate the guide. Of course the train does not start from the station I thought it does, so I had to change at an intermediary station. And, as a bonus, the correct station was somewhat closer to where I’m staying.

Having said that, Sintra has something magical to it. It lies in a mountain area, is surrounded by forests, and every building seems to be taken from a children-tale book.

But the town itself, nice as it may be, was not the reason why I went to Sintra.

One of the reasons was the Moorish Castle – Castel dos Muros.

Now, in order to arrive there one is supposed to take a bus. I, however, ignored the distance and just started walking. Later on I realized that between Sintra and the castle are 5km. However the hike was pretty pleasant, so the only concern I had was the time spent walking instead of visiting.

The Moorish Castle – or better put the ruins (mainly walls and towers) – is an old medieval, and later Moor castle, that at fisrt seems deceptively small. Later on I nicknamed it The Great Wall of Sintra. The area surrounded by the wall is huge! However the views were breathtaking. Also the sheer size of the fortifications give a sense of greatness.

After the castle I went to Pena Palace. This 19th century building, which incorporated a 16th century monastery, was built as a retreat for the royal familly. The style is very colorful, and almost every room has some azulejos decoration.

Unfortunately photography was not allowed inside (I hate this), so I do not have the images to show how it looks inside. You can get a pretty good idea though from the outside pictures.

Back in Sintra, I finished the day with a visit to the central palace museum. Nice building, the main attraction is also the azulejos.

At around 6pm I took a train back to Lisbon – it takes about 30 minutes – and found a buffet restaurant in Comercio area. As I was somewhat starving, this was a good thing – I really tried everything!

You can see more photos from Sintra trip in the album Sintra, fairytale town.

I uploaded the first set of photos from Lisbon – enjoy them until I prepare the photos from Sintra

Lisbon seems like a very nice city, more relaxed than Madrid. However, arriving at 8am at the airport (after having the pleasure of sleeping only 4 hours), I was not in the mood to really appreciate it. Still, even the (long) walk to the hostel was pleasant.

And so I get to the first thing that strikes one when he gets to Lisbon: it really is a hilly city. While I did not particularly look for them, I do not think there are ANY streets completely level. And the metro network is not so extensive like in Madrid.

However, this has the benefit of creating unique views and photo opportunities.

The hostel where I am staying – Lisbon Chillout Hostel – while not particularly bad, is nothing impressive. I even have some grudges regarding the lack of space and the toilets which were probably designed by a japanese. I find it a real challenge not to bump into any walls or doors. However, it is located in a nice, central area, it’s resonably clean, so I am ok.

Returning to the interesting part – the Lisbon itself – I also went to the ocean. This is, at least symbolically, the place through which all the riches of Indies and the New World came to Portugal, and also all the visitors or merchants.

Now it is a nice place to stroll and enjoy the breeze. It is also close to the Comercio area, where you can find teh greatest concentration of shops, restaurants and other tourist traps. Having said that, this is also the area where I enjoyed my first pastel de nata (or more correctly pasteis de nata as I ate more than one). Delicious little cakes!

I still have a lot of places to see in Lisbon, and I will start my day by either going to Belem, or Barrio Alto… or castel de Sao Jorge. Ah, decisions, decisions….

Until I upload the photos from Sintra, you can enjoy the rest of the Lisbon album.