We had no problems flying to Lisbon via Brussels. It seems once you are in Europe you stick to the green line all the way and immigration won't bother you. It was a warm evening when our taxi arrived at Carla's and we hollered up to her window. What a thrill to meet her again, in her own environment after so many years. It is so rewarding meeting people that we have met many years ago in NZ when they are at home in their country.
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| Walking tour in old town Lisbon |
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the World and it isn't difficult to see why so many explorers wanted to claim and settle here over the past few thousand years. We visited the Castle de São Jorge which overlooks the city and has a history dating back to the 6th century BC which includes a few centuries of occupation by Arabic people......I just can't imagine Carla's smiling face hidden by a burqa. The Portuguese had a period of master mariners and probably led the World in exploration for a while...think Vasco de Garma. They claimed Brazil but their exploits are also the answer to the mixture of people in the streets. Many Portuguese are very dark skinned because they have come home to their mother country to seek their fortune. Like so many countries, there is no gold at the end of the rainbow. We have seriously trodden the streets here in Portugal though and seen some wonderful sights. There is a museum for darn near everything here, I'm sure Blair visited the Electrical Museum. We missed that and most others but did see plenty of other "culture" stuff. A few pictures here to entice you.
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| Travelling can be thirsty work. |
After 4 nights in Lisbon we decided a change of scenery was required so took a 40 minute train ride north to Sintra. Well, if there wasn't enough old stuff in Lisbon then there certainly is in Sintra. It's everywhere. Castles and Palaces are to be found on the top of every high peak and then when that land ran out they have built a few more on the flatter land. We put in an epic 7 hour journey on foot and checked out a relatively brand new Palace, only 150 years old, a castle with history dating back to 5000 BC and then another crazy castle, summer house for the king type arrangement, put together at the turn of the last century. Portugal suffering at present with 17% unemployment must have had a few quid in the piggy bank back then. What we have seen has been fantastic. Friendly people all the way, narrow old town streets that make New Zealand look as though we are still in the kindergarten era, castles, forts, palaces and monasteries older than the start of our history. From the little corner that we have inhabited for a very short time, I think Portugal is a great place to visit.
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| Pena Palace |
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| Moorish Castle |
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