Albergaria Valbom Cascais

... locally famous comfort food of cod-fish in a custard-type baked casserole topped with ripe olives dotting the surface. We also shared a green salad with tuna, boiled eggs, tomatoes and onion -- rather like a modified salad nicoise. Dan wanted to try one more patisserie on our way back to the hotel and chose Nationale Patisserie d'Lisbon that had been in business since 1829. We brought 3 pastries back to the hotel and just finished ...

... telling me how much they like it there, and now I know why! I went with two girls who are in the same program as me, one of which I hadn't met before! Luckily we all got along and we had a good time.

So, we arrived Friday morning and spent the first day in Lisbon. Since Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, I was expecting a big, busy capital city. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found quite the opposite! My first ...

... food: some shells, langostinas, gambas and some other strange sea creatures, and I'm staring at the cliffs. There's more to do here, though: you can visit the lighthouse or buy an 'I've-been-here' diploma, but I refuse to make such an effort and just watch the sunset instead.

The whole region of the Cabo da Rocha is either ...

... couldn't be more convenient, we had checked it out during our visit here last Spring and were satisfied at that time. Our apartment entrance is between two pastry shops (not fair) and we are surrounded by small restaurants and bars. There are two very nice markets within a three minute walk and one of the main stops for trolleys and buses is a one minute walk away. Our flat is very nice - here is a first - we only have ...

... tile depictions of the 12 months of the year and also the 12 zodiac signs. There were busts of Portuguese kings and explorers and some saints and even a couple Greek gods, I'm pretty sure. One of my favorite parts was the tile representations of the arts - Geometry, Poetry, Astronomy, Music, etc etc. They were depicted according to the King's opinion of the arts: beautiful or horrible depending on how much the King liked or disliked each particular art. Clearly Poetry was the ...

... fashion, we spent our jetlagged Tuesday napping under the olive trees by the hotel pool and sipping white wine from the Douro region. Ah, ferias! Lisbon is on the Tejo river which begins in Spain and flows through Portugal out to the Atlantic Ocean. This river was a major source of export and import during Portugal's years of exploration - spices etc, arrived from the different colonies in Africa, South America, India making Portugal a very rich city ...

... for. (Entry 5e) It was 9.30 am at this point. And that was a good move as there were only about 5 other tourists there at that time. The castle is very well preserved - I guess that Portugal put some of the EU money it received into preserving its historical sites. Anyway the castle is a good example of a very fortified site - lots of steep stairs and battlements - but ...

... of passionate fans around and military boys to control the crowds. Spent a bit of time with Jorge's lovely friends, walking around Cascais and soaking up the smell of the sea, sunsets on the beach (as going back to Merano I had to make the most of them!). Unfortunately I brought the cold weather with me and all I had were my summer clothes from Australia as I hadn't ...

... clean sheets, high pressure showers, and best of all an ice machine. We waited and waited for our host to show up, but no Neill. We walked a country mile to a supermarket to get some booze, and as usual, bought way too much. Back at the hotel, we noticed on CNN that 40 percent of the flights routed through Heathrow had been cancelled due to a bunch of *********s who think that blowing up a plane is going to get them a bunch of ...

... the people walk down the street. I had seen that in Porto too. Love it. So I didn't see much of Lisbon today, but did walk around the downtown part around the Baixa area. Lots of street in a sort of grid pattern, some pedestrianized with cafes and table and unbrellas in the street. Hasn't been very warm since I got to Lisbon yesterday. Not even 25C. But still nice. The north was warmer, but I think it's ...