Playing in PortugalJul 17, 2012
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| I landed in Lisbon, Portugal in the early hours of July 18, 2012. Since my plane touched down I have been going nonstop. Seeing an entire country in 12 days is extremely hard work. I kept a written journal of my adventures. To save time, I will not be rewriting everything in this journal but I will be listing highlights here, by day. July 18, 2012: -Had my first pastel de nata -Watched the changing of the guards at museu arqueologico de Carmo -Visited Cristo Rei in -Tasted vino verde for my first time July 19, 2012: -Enjoyed the original pasteis de Belem. -Torre de Belem -Walked in the river Tejes -Went to see the docs -Jeronimos monastery -Realized every meal comes with rice and French fries July 20, 2012: -Experienced a bus strike, I also experienced one last year in Amsterdam. -Explored Alfama area - Had lunch (bacalau-cod with onions and peppers) with live Fado -had a passion fruit/strawberry frozen drink in Praca do Estrala while watching the ducks. I loved the little babies. -Climbed 150 stairs to enjoy the view from the top of the Basilica July 21, 2012: -Went to Evora (ev-ra) -Saw the roman ruins from the 1st century (1AD - 999 AD) -Bones chapel -Evora university -Azeitao, Portugal: went to one of the oldest wine cellars in Portugal, I tasted their Moscatel -Saw hundreds of grape, olive and cork farms July 22, 2012: -Rossio train station -Sintra, Portugal -National Palace -Pena palace -Moorish castle ruins (700 AD) -Cabo da Roca Europe's most western point. -Estoril, Portugal -Cascais, Portugal: this is where I tried a famous portugal sardine and black pork, both were delicious. July 23, 2012: - Rode train to Lagos, Portugal (about 4 hours) - Tried Fiovos de Ovos, a local dessert wrapped in colorful foil. It is strands of egg with caramel sauce, it sort of looks like a hay stack. -Praca de Luis Camoes July 24, 2012: -Grotto tour -Boat ride: I jumped into the Atlantic from the bow of the boat, it was freezing! -Saw several different beaches July 25, 2012: -Scuba Dive #1 - the current was unbelievable and made the dive incredibly difficult. My dive buddy lost his fin 2 times and even our dive master had a hard time becoming buoyant. -Scuba Dive #2 – Fantastic! I saw sea cucumber, brightly colored sea slugs, star fish, an octopus, thousands of fish, jellyfish, crabs, sea urchin, scorpion fish, and a huge 2 foot sea bass. Round 2 was so much better. The current in this area was minimal and the animal life was abundant! - Visited the Marina bar July 26, 2012: -Ate a fried egg sandwich for breakfast at a café that had The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Mr. Bojangles playing, This made me think of my dad and my childhood. -Went to the Bibliotec (Library) -Saw the Slave trade market that started in 1444 -San Anthony’s Cathedral -Took a bus to Sagres (End of the world) -Shared Cataplana for dinner (Clams, pork and veggies over rice) YUM! -Went to the cutest dessert shop I have ever seen. I had a very moist cake made with Carob. July 27, 2012: -Got up early to go to the beach (Batata beach). The water was so clear I could see the sand and rocks on the bottom where it was too deep for me to touch. Someone laying on the beach near my things was whistling the Andy Griffith theme song. -Went to the fish market, I saw shrimp bigger than my hand! -Took Train back to Lisboa (4 hours) -Spent our last night in the Rossio area of Lisbon -Had dinner at Casa de Aledenia -Bought some cork accessories -Watched the Olympic opening ceremony July 28, 2012: -Made my way back to the US |
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