Anyway, I took a wonderful trip to Lisbon, Portugal last weekend! This was the last planned trip with my program, ISA. Unfortunately, it'll be the last time our whole group of 30 or so travels together.
We left from Sevilla on Friday morning and took about a 6-hour bus ride to Portugal. Friday, we started with a visit to the Castle of São Jorge. It is a medieval, Moorish castle that sits atop the highest hill in the historic center of Lisbon. Then, we visited the Alfama district, the oldest district in Lisbon. The district used to be inhabited by mostly fisherman because of its proximity to the river Tagus, so it is still known to this day as the neighborhood of the poor. It didn't look like it to me! In 1755, there was a huge earthquake in Lisbon and the Alfama district is one of the only parts of the city still standing from before that time. Then that night, we had dinner at a traditional Portuguese restaurant!
Alfama District
Mini Golden Gate Bridge and a replica of the "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Brazil
Castle of San Jorge
Portuguese peacocks!
View from the top of the castle
Castle of San Jorge
Saturday, we visited the Belém neighborhood, which included the Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Tower, and pastéis de Belém. The Monastery of Saint Jerome was a monastery built for the Jerónimos monks commissioned by Manuel I. The Tower of Belém is a structure on the Tagus River that was built to commemorate Vasco de Gama's expedition to India. Right near the Tower there was a famous pastry shop where we all tried pastéis de Belém. They were sooooooo good. I would go back to Portugal just for the pastries and coffee.
Jerónimos Monastery
Martín and his girls
In our free time Saturday afternoon, some of my friends and I decided to visit Sintra, a town right outside Lisbon, to visit the Palácio Nacional de Pena. The castle was on top of a mountain, so we took a bus up. It reminded me a lot of when we were in Ireland because the bus drivers are a little reckless and you're pretty much five feet away from driving off a cliff at all times.. The castle was amazing! It really looked like it could've been in a Disney movie. I liked this palace even more than Versailles in France because it was still completely furnished and you could imagine real people living there (tiny people-the furniture was so small!).
On Sunday, we visited the city of Évora with ISA. This city has roots that date back to Roman times. It became the residence of Portuguese kings in 15th century when it reached its Golden Age.
Portuguese people in comparison to Spanish people are much different. It's kind of strange because Portuguese people would so much rather speak English to you than Spanish, even if they know both. One of our tour guides was explaining that Portuguese people sometimes feel isolated from the rest of Europe because Spain's border totally cuts them off. For example, the Portuguese will sometimes say that they're traveling to "Europe," just because they imagine themselves being already in Europe. I also found that Portuguese people are very proper and calm in comparison to lively, expressive Spaniards. It's so interesting how two countries that border one another can feel worlds apart.
Next up-Amsterdam!
