To Lisbon and Sintra

We had a 5:50 A.M. pick-up for this 2 day trip!  It meant we were up around 4:45 A.M.  The reason for the early pick-up was there were other pick-ups along the way so it was about an hour and a half before we left the Algarve.  It was a nice day and a pleasant way to see the countryside.  The toll highway we were on was virtually deserted.  It was Sunday and as well the people can’t afford the toll or the gas for a trip.

We passed through Lisbon and went onto Sintra – the summer residence of the royal family when Portugal had a monarchy.  We toured the palace.  Lois managed it even though the sign said there were 100 steps.  Lois counted the steps and got 118 so thought the sign should be changed! 

Sintra

 After lunch we drove on to the furthest point west in Europe and then to Cascais .  The latter had a nice cove and many fishing boats.

Cascais

  From there it was into our hotel in downtown Lisbon.  There had been protests in the core area the previous day but we saw none of that.  In the evening we had dinner at a Portuguese and Italian Restaurant where the waiters were from Nepal.

Yesterday we awoke to rain and it rained most of the day, sometimes quite hard.  We had a tour on the bus of Lisbon  and stopped a few spots like the cathedral where we could get off.  We had some time in the downtown area to wonder around but it was very wet, so not so pleasant.  Before heading back to the Algarve  we toured around The Area of Discovery.  In the 1400’s, Henry the Navigator, supported the Portuguese going out and discovering, the coast of Africa, the sea route to India and Brazil.  The Portuguese are quite proud of these accomplishments.

We had pastries at a famous Portuguese cafe that has been making them since 1837 - they make 25,000 a day!

Some of the 25,000

We arrived back at the at 8:45 P.M. quite tired!