Day 3 already? Day 1 and 2 ran together into just a really long day.
The hotel breakfast buffet was good. I skipped the beans and sausages but had eggs and bread and fresh fruit and some pretend coffee (not that great).
We headed out for the day at 8:30am. Drove around Lisbon to some tourist sites… A park, A monastery, a statue.. Had to either buy something or pay to use the bathroom at one place (only about 50 cents). They boasted the sexiest toilet paper on earth but we were skeptical.
We went the an old part of town with very narrow streets and walkways. Mom had a cherry liqueur. I had a sip but 10am is a bit to early to set my throat and stomach on fire so I didn’t get one for myself. Pilar (our guide for the entire trip) treated us to a custard pastry this morning after we toured the Monastery, so good and not super sweet.
Then we went to Sintra – a little town in the mountains. We had lunch at an outside cafe and wandered around the shops, steep hills and cobble stone streets. Like St. Augustine (Florida) in the mountains with much narrower streets.
The we got on a smaller bus to go to the top of the mountain to see the palace. Not many stairs but steep inclines and beautiful views of Lisbon. Our tour guide for the day, Alex, told us it was so clear we could see the bridge in Lisbon. I couldn’t see it but I believe her. Turns out the bridge is a copy of the golden gate bridge and there is a copy of the Christ from Rio on the other side of the river.
After the castle we walked downhill through the Romantic Gardens. Our garden tour guide, Bernado, told us so many things about the gardens – he was a great guide. They were beautiful.
While we waited for our bus the group compared fit bits and decided we had walked about 5 1/2 miles so far.
Then on to an excellent dinner with a Fado (type of music) show after the appetizer. Dinner was so good. Cream of carrot soup, Fish and cabbage cooked in a way I have never tasted and dessert. Mom didn’t like the wine and no one was sitting next to me so I had 2 bottles of wine to myself. I didn’t really like it either so I only had a couple of small glasses (had to try both the red and the white to be sure I didn’t like them).
Back to the hotel by 8:45pm.
I am tired – these retired people are making me look bad. I am the youngest one in the group and even the ones with walking sticks aren’t really bothered by the sloping hills. We don’t have hills in Florida so my muscles are confused! Mom and I massaged our calves so we can walk tomorrow without lots of pain.
#VickieTravelz
My mother and I are taking a trip called the Back Roads of Iberia: Spanish Paradores & Portuguese Pousadas. These are our daily adventures – written for our family while we were traveling – April / May 2016.