All posts tagged: Lisbon

A Pictorial Tour, Part two.

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Here are the second batch of photos from our trip, again in no particular order.   A commemoration and a tribute to the sacrifices made! The Abbey, Mont St. Michel. Almost expect a ‘Quidditch’ game to appear overhead!! Lisbon. The Baixo district was the only flat part, surrounded by hills. The very spectacular Sagrada Familia, probably the best building I’ve ever had the pleasure to enter. Pintxos, San Sebastian. Chateau Chambord, Loire Valley. The Loire is full of Chateaux great and small…this is the greatest! Kids fun in Honfleur, Normandy. Opera Garnier, Paris. Haunt of the Phantom of the Opera! Arguably the most famous church in Europe, the majestic Notre Dame, Paris. Amboise Chateau, Loire Valley. Perched high above the river and town, protecting all. Tuk-tuk’s in Lisbon Jeff Koon installation at the Guggenheim, Bilbao. Veules-des-Roses, Normandy Place de la Bourse, on the cover of all Bordeaux brochures. Santillana del Mar, Spain. Most restaurants featured fixed price menu’s similar to this one. The Cathedral at Bayeux, Normandy Etretat, again! The tragic, haunting silence of Oradour-sur-Glane Plaza de …

A Pictorial Tour, part one!

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On our recent trip to Spain, Portugal and France we took an obscene number of photo’s which took forever to edit once we got home. After natural selection got rid of about 700 of them, we were left with about 1400 images of varying degrees of quality and/or interest. Here, in no particular order are a few of our favourites. La Boqueria market, Barcelona. The best thing about La Ramblas, a wonderful, diverse marketplace. Chateau Chenonceau, Loire Valley. The valley is full of Chateau’s and this is as stunning as they come. Amboise Chateau. Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial. A moving tribute to the brutality of war. Paris. Still the best city we have visited, could spend months here and not get bored. Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. Truly the best museum experience ever! L’Abbey Fontevraud, Loire Valley. Atmospheric, moody, haunting…and the best meal of our trip. Livrarian Lello & Irmao, Porto. How good is this bookshop? More tourist attraction than viable business…they should charge admission, just don’t tell them! Juno Beach, Normandy. B&W suits the somber …

Lisbon to Porto via Sintra

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Today we actually go to Sintra, as we have to leave beautiful Lisbon, and head north 300km to the second largest city in Portugal, Porto…home of Port. Before heading off we have breakfast next door at a smashing little cafe, full of brick-a-brack on the walls, and the best croissants in town. I wish we had something similar back home, it would kill it. Lisbon has been wonderful, and deserves a longer stay, but time is afoot, and we need to push on. It’s going to be a busy day! Sintra is another heritage site, Unesco have been busy handing these awards out, and has numerous sites worthy of our attention, but time constraints mean we can only visit two, and in an abridged version at that. Without too much trouble we find a carpark in town, and head off by foot to our first pit stop, Quinta da Regaleira, which is just down the road. It is home to a smallish palace, and the most amazing gardens, filled with wonder and surprise. Everywhere you …

Sunshine in Lisbon

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After the rain and drizzle of yesterday it was good to wake up to sunshine this morning, and what better way to start it than with a run?! Anyway, Rachael ran to the bridge and back, and I may not have made it that far!! The plan today was to go to the nearby town of Sintra, which necessitated an early start, but then I changed my mind! The thought of driving out of town, then back in was giving me the heebie geebies, so I gently suggested we put our plans off till tomorrow….and sorry ’bout the sleep in. So, breakfast time. Obligatory croissants & coffee, then off for more exploring. Lisbon is built on seven hills, and when I say hills, I mean HILLS! Everywhere is up, that is of course till you reach the top, then everything is down!! We seem to like walking instead of taking public transport, for some strange reason, but today we threw reason out the door. Call us crazy, but we ventured into new territory folks, and …

Our first full day in Lisbon

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The plan was to get up early and go for a run along the Tagus River. However having endured the previous nights dinner torture and not getting home until 1am the plan was quickly shelved and we enjoyed a well needed sleep in and a late brekky.    The weather was looking ominous today but this was not to deter us from seeing the sights of Lisbon. First stop, Castelo De Sao Jorge, a steady climb from our apartment to the top of the hill. Along the way you can stop to view the city of Lisbon from platforms called Miradouras.     Once at the Castelo we had a wonderful panoramic view of Lisbon and Hugh duly captured the scene with his photographic eye. The strongly fortified citadel dates from medieval period of Portuguese history, and is one of the main tourist sites of Lisbon, overlooking Lisbon from all sides. A very imposing structure!    With the temperature slowly dropping and the clouds moving in, the drizzle that had accompanied us for most of the …

On to Lisbon via Evora

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Up and at ’em pretty early today as we have a fair way to go, about 330km in all. It was nice to stay in a hotel for a change, and our choice in Caceres, Casa Don Fernando, was great.  And cheap, Only €64! The same quality hotel anywhere in Victoria would be at least twice that. Caceres is a beautiful town, and highly recommended to anyone travelling through Spain.  Our first stop today is at another World Heritage site, the Medieval Roman town of Evora.    Yep, more cobblestones, stone walls and ancient temples.  Oh, and this place has a very special chapel, ‘Capela dos Ossos’…the Chapel of Bones! I’d read about this place ages ago, and was really excited to see it, so you could imagine my disappointment when we got to the information desk and discovered it was closed between 12.45 – 2.30pm, and it was now 12.47!!! Nothing for it but to hang around for a couple of hours, so we thought a reconnaissance of the area would help pass the …