Busy Day in Lisbon

Thursday morning I had plans to see as much as I could of the city.  This was the poster child of "Matt Price Tourist Day" - busy and timed to perfection.  I wanted to wake up early to get breakfast and figure out where to get the double decker tour bus tickets to get on the first bus.  Unfortunately, I woke up a little later than planned so I was unable to figure out where to buy the bus tickets, but I knew the big roundabout was a bus stop so I headed over there first.  Luckily, this was the only bus stop you could buy tickets at and I hopped on either the first or second bus of the morning with a great seat on the top deck in the warm sun.  I headed west over to the Belem area first to see the Tower and the Monastery. 

My first hop off point was at the Belem Tower and after 5 minutes inside the Tower I thought I had seen it all.  I walked through the main floor and down into the basement where the prison used to be which had 4 foot ceilings and when I came back up the stairs the only place I could go was the entrance/exit where I came in.  I could see people up in the tower but I was afraid I bought the wrong ticket.  After another lap and more frustrated I gave in and decided to leave and that's when I saw the staircase up the tower!  Luckily, I did not have to pay more and I just did not see the staircase when I entered.  The tower went up to 4 or 5 different levels all with different purpose rooms and amazing views. 

Captions - Top - pic from outside the Tower

Middle - Pic of the tower from the deck platform
Bottom - Pic of the deck platform from the top of the Tower

After exploring the tower I walked over to the huge "Monument to the Discoveries" to catch the view from the top of the tower. This was built in 1996 and was very cheap because I said I was a student :-).

Captions: Top - Monument
Top Middle - View of the Jeronimos Monastery
Bottom Middle - View of the river and the quasi 'Golden Gate' bridge and Cristo Rei on the right
Bottom - Detailed sidewalk in front of the Monument

Then, I headed over to the Jeronimos Monastery which was rather impressive and worth the 30-45 minute wait to buy a ticket to enter.  The cloister was incredible and I could not believe the detail in all of the walls and sculptures.  Also, the tombs of Vasco da Gama and Luis de Camoes were also kept here and I was quite surprised how close you could get to them as they were not blocked off at all. The Nave was spectacular with huge ceilings and looked amazing with the afternoon sun shining in through the stained glass windows.  

Captions - Top - View from the upper balcony / choir area
Top Middle - Cloister
Bottom Middle - Check out the detail
Bottom - Vasco de Gama's Tomb

After the Monastery I had to find the bus stop and I saw the bus coming and knew I could not make it to the next stop but luckily the driver let me on so I did not waste a second!  I took the bus to the city center to switch to the other bus which I again did to perfection and this took me to the new town area and the Parque das Nacoes where Lisbon held the World Fair in 1998.  I headed over to ride the cable cars which tour the coast from the Aquarium to the Vasco de Gama Tower and it gave some pretty stellar views of the area.

After this I decided it was time to be a kid for a little while and visit the Aquarium.  It wasn't all that big but was very neat and had this enormous fish in the middle tank. Check it out.

After the Aquarium my friend and his girlfriend picked me up and took me out to Sintra and Cascais.  Two beautiful (Sintra the better one) areas in the mountains along the Atlantic coast just 20 minutes west of the city center.  Sintra was gorgeous.  If I ever go back to Lisbon I will definitely spend 2-3 days there to visit the Palace, Castle, and some of the other buildings as well as eating food at small, local eateries while watching the sunset over the mountains.  The town itself had very small, cobbled, winding streets and I loved it.  We stopped at a specific patisserie to eat the Sintra specialties.  Of course they were delicious. 

Captions - Top - Delicious Sintra specialty pastries

Middle - View of the town

Bottom - View from outside the town, see the Palace in the top right?!

On the way back to the car I saw a shop that was giving JJJJ shots for a Euro so I went and bought one for each of us because I had yet to try it yet.  It is a cherry liquor that is served in a chocolate shot glass and you are supposed to take a sip then throw the whole thing in your mouth and I must say it is a delicious combination. 

We then drove around Sintra and the roads reminded me like I was back in Scotland again.

Caption: Yes, that's a road, climbing the mountain. 

They then took me to the most western point on continental Europe and watched the sunset over the ocean.  Too bad it was so windy it was cold but it was still a break-taking view. 

Captions: Top - Standing by the Western-most point of Continental Europe Monument

Middle - Lighthouse right on the coast

Bottom - Sunset over the Atlantic