More Lisbon, Portugal

We ended our time in Lisbon with a morning stroll, exceptional views and glorious sunshine:

 

A peacock mosaic on the side of a building:

Oranges growing on trees:

Perfect ending to our trip to Portugal.

Sintra, Portugal

We spent a very rainy and foggy day in Sintra, Portugal.  It's just a 40 minute train ride from Lisbon, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Look at my drowned rats!

This is the Pena Palace (picture taken from the web):

This was our up close and personal view of it:

The Moorish Castle....we didn't even bother going because the weather was so terrible, and it's all ruins and outside:

And the National Palace:

Other shots around town after the weather started to clear:

 Here is an album of all my shots that day:  Sintra Portugal

Belem District, Lisbon, Portugal

On Sunday, we headed 3 miles west of downtown Lisbon to the Belem district.  The grand buildings in Belem survived the 1755 earthquake.

We stopped first at the Monastery of St. Jerome.

We did a quick tour of the inside before mass started and were kicked out....

And headed to visit the Cloisters...

We love the architecture.  It was hard to stop taking pictures, or piling them all into this post.  There's an album at the end of the post with a ton more.

After visiting the cloister, we took a little stroll, found a playground for the girls, and then headed to lunch.

The girls and I shared a risotto like dish with muscles, clams, fish and shrimp.  My good eaters!! 

Grace and her shrimp head.....

 We continued our stroll after lunch, and found the Monument to Discovery, but could not find the underground passage to cross the street to get an up close look at it.  It was across at least 6 lanes of traffic and train tracks!  So we had to admire it from afar....

And then we found the Belem Tower.

We sat on the steps and soaked up the sun, while the girls ran from the waves and collected muscles washed in by the waves.

Are we in San Fran?

Adios sunny tower!

For the rest of our pictures from the sunny Belem district of Lisbon, click here:  Belem

Lisbon, Portugal

It is winter break time, according to Grace's school calendar, so we decided to take a short trip to Portugal.  We originally wanted to go somewhere warm, but we've had such a mild winter this year, it wasn't really that much warmer.   But it was still nice to get away and see a different slice of the world we have never been before or even dreamed of visiting.....

We arrived in Lisbon Saturday morning and headed to our apartment downtown.  After settling in, we took a walk ....

Praca do Comercio:  This square on the riverfront is nicknamed Palace Square, since it was the site of the Portugal's royal palace before the 1755 earthquake, but today it is ringed by government buildings.  The statue is King Jose I.

The arch is Lisbon's Arch of Triumph.

Up on the hill is Sao Jorge Castle.  Built in the 8th century by the Moors.

Trying out the local specialty, Ginjinhaa.  A cordial made from the sour cherry like ginja berry, sugar, cinnamon, and brandy.  In Portugal, when people are impressed by the taste of something, they compare it to ginja.  This is the oldest place in town to get the drink.  It was ok....

Snack Time

We rode the funicular up

For this view:

 For more pictures from our first day in Portugal, follow this link:  Lisbon, Portugal

Disney on Ice

We took the girls to see Disney on Ice with our friends The Neal's!

The girls dressed up as princesses to enjoy the show.....as were most of the little girls in attendance.

The show was in French, but it didn't make much of a difference.  It was really well done, and the girls enjoyed the show.  Matt and I were surprised to enjoy it, too.

A few shots from the different 'acts':

Tiana

Snow White

Rapunzel