Portugal Sightseeing

I wasn't sure how we would take to Lisbon as our first impressions after getting off the train were of a dirty and poor city, due mostly to the homeless man urinating in front of us. I'll just put it down to a tourist experience.

We have enjoyed our two weeks here in Lisbon and have managed to do plenty of relaxing as well as sightseeing. We were lucky enough to get tickets to a 3-day Rock Festival near Sesimbra in Portugal that showcased a number of International acts such as Prince, Stereophonics, Vampire Weekend and Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) just to name a few. Of course one of our favourite acts was Prince. It was truly another amazing experience.

Prince at Super Bock, Super Rock Festival

As for sightseeing, we took a day trip out to Belem; it is referred to as the historical heart of Portugal. The entire area of Belem is closely associated with the Portuguese Age of Discovery. The natural harbour made it an ideal launching point for the exploratory voyages which turned Portugal into a major economic force. In 1755, Lisbon and the surrounding region including the Belem area, suffered through a devastating earthquake. As fate would have it, much of Belem was spared.

We visited the Tower of Belem which was not for the claustrophobic. The narrow staircases up and down only wide enough for people going up or down, not both ways and the dungeons below where you had to crouch as the ceiling was not high enough to stand. Overall, even though it was a fort, it did look magical and fairytale like when you climbed up to the very top of the tower and could see views of Lisbon and the castle.

Tower of Belem

The Oceanarium was also a great day out. I think we have seen a lot of fish on our journey through Europe, however, this Aquarium would have to be one of the better ones. The Oceanarium is primarily a giant tank that you walk around on 2 floors with many smaller tanks on the sides. There are then open areas that have different climates within - of note is an area where the penguins swim around. We also got to see a weird Ocean Sunfish (that I've never seen before), some Puffins and an Otter. After, this we exited and went for a ride on yet (another) cable car - this one was pretty boring - we got to see the site from Expo '98 - which was mainly just ugly eyesores and views of the River Tagus and the Vasco Da Gama Bridge.

 

Ocean Sunfish at Oceanarium

In the evening we ventured out to the streets in Bairro Alto as that's what the culture is like here. You basically find a bar, which is easy as hell, order a drink - which is usually a Mojito (a very potent one at best) and then consume it out on the street. After about 4 of these and feeling a little bit intoxicated, we moved onto a reggae bar where we met a few locals - Marco, Christian and Rodriguez and continued to learn about Lisbon's culture whilst drinking Lisbon's beer of choice Super Bock. It tastes much like VB I'm afraid to say. We woke with strong headaches the next afternoon.

After wasting another day with a hangover, we decided to make it up by eating and visiting the Santa Justa Elevator. We all know what a huge fan David is of Portuguese chicken, so lucky for us, we scoped out apparently the best and most juiciest chicken in Lisbon (we beg to differ, Petersham chicken shops in Sydney give them a run for their money). After the feast at the Bonjardim restaurant we headed home to have an early night so we could appreciate the next day.

Santa Justa Elevator Shaft

After having a quiet night in and being able to sleep in (again, seems to be a recurring theme, these days) we set off on another day trip to Cacilhas and Costa da Caparica. We took a ferry to Cacilhas which lasted about 15 minutes and then took a 35 minute bus ride to the coast of Costa da Caparica. This beach reminded us a bit of places in Queensland. Although there was not much there, there seemed to be a lot of people on the beach and in the water. Nice enough beach but I much preferred Cascais.

Costa da Caparica

Following on from this, the next day we spent sightseeing Sintra, Pena Palace, Cape Roca and Cascais.

 Cascais