Hockley Heights Gazette

I'm not sure how you can condense a week in Portugal to a few lines in a weblog - but hopefully the pictures will fill in the gaps left by my brain! On Sunday we flew to Madrid and then on to Lisbon, it was a bit of a mad dash with some late connections etc, but we settled into the apartment around 6pm and were out celebrating Jackson's 14th birthday that night at a local restaurant (see pic). Monday we walked around town (see pic), with intermittent rain, and I bought a locally made suit for the new job. We made it up to the impressive Castelo de São Jorge and listened to a guitarist strumming in the courtyard (listen to mp3 of his work by clicking this link). We then taxied to the São Sebastio shopping centre (El Corte Ingles) to buy our week's groceries and such. Tuesday was clear and warm (as was the rest of the week), and before the family rose I went out for a walk (which I did most mornings). I found a great coffee shop and ended up bringing back 1kg of local coffee to keep us going here in the UK. We decided against the Lisboa Card and instead were determined to find our own way with public transport and keep a record of the costs to see if we could "beat" the card - we did! Today we took the metro to the zoo station (Jardim Zoológico) and then jumped across to Sete Rios train station and up to Sintra where we toured the National Palace and then followed Kym as she trudged us uphill for more than an hour to the wonderful Moorish Castle (see pic - it was worth it, Kym!) Wednesday we caught metro to Cais do Sodre then a ferry to Cacilhas across the water to the base of Christo Rei. A bus to the statue and a quick ride up an elevator to one of the best views in Lisbon. Then we taxied to the local train station and caught a train across the faux San Franscisco Bridge and then bus to Belem (see pic of us waiting for Belem bus with the famous Aqueduct of Free Waters in the background). We arrived in Belem (Portuguese for Bethlehem) and toured the magnificent Jerónimos Monastery which included the final resting place of Vasco de Gama. The pictures we took will never do justice to this huge and incredible church. Just across the road is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, an ascendable monument to Portugal's seafaring past. We eventually found our way back home after an exhausting and amazing day. I'm getting tired all over again just replaying the walking virtually so I will complete this amazing week's blog another day (Perdoar-me por favor)! Until then, happy Easter and best wishes to you all!