Best Western Hotel Lutecia Lisbon

It is hard to believe that it is already Thursday! We had to make the most of today (not as though we haven't everyday so far!) so started on the early-ish side by a trip to our favorite pastrt shop for coffee with hot milk and a split croissant. Not the best pasterrie that I've had so far so Jones-ing for something special before I would feel ready to really start the day!!

Dan stayed at the first coffee shop with The Financial ...

... that everyone told me I had to go to. Two of the three of us are now huge fans of the Pasteis de Nata (Cream Pastries): flaky crust, slightly warm cream filling, topped with powder sugar and cinnamon. Mmm. . .

The second day we headed to Sintra, where all the rich people used to have their houses. We spent the large majority of the day at the former house of Luigi Maninim, which is called Quinta da Regaleira. I forget why he was ...

... was probably pretty dangerous. All of us got wet though, because the waves always came up way higher than you anticipated, I was the first victim. I also managed to put down my purse in what I thought was a safe spot, was wrong, and had to chase it before it drifted off. No damage done. It was really fun, and great to run around in the sand. This beach is also a surf beach, and there was an ambulance parking spot, not very appealing if you ask me... Surfing is ...

... their home though, those I'll show mates and family when I get back as they are private). After that we'd go to the seaside bar that Angelo works at, it's right on the beach opens out so you can see a great arc of beach illuminated by the moon.

Olgar cooked amazing meals: pork, chicken (one of their cockerals that had reached his time to move onto the table), burgers and courgette fried with garlic and mayo on top. Lots and lots of garlic and ...

... Pasteis de Belem pastry shop where we sampled, what the locals claim to be, the best Pasteis in town.  We then cruised by the famous Padrao Dos Descobrimento, which is a monument to Henry the Navigator and the Age of Discovery and the Torre de Belem, which is an old fortification built to protect Lisbon's harbor from pirates!  We then loaded the van onto a barge and crossed the Tejo River.  The crossing only took 7 minutes, but provided an excellent ...

... spectacular by any means. I did have an interesting conversation with one of the girls in my room. We both had laundry hanging from our beds and speculated about the seeming lack of such on the part of other travelers which we had encountered. Two weeks in Blighty and I was always the only one in the hostel room with clothes hanging from my bed and chairs. This Mexican girl said she had experienced the same thing.

... just in time to watch Portugal play Mexico at a rowdy cafe and seek out some shade. We stayed at the best camping ground that night - it had a pool, which was a bit of a luxury and we certainly made use of it as it was so hot! We spent the next morning checking out Evora's sights and stumbled across some kind of raucous kid's festival in the middle of town which provided entertainment as we had our morning espressos. Around lunchtime we headed towards the Spanish ...

... II. The statue portrays Jesus Christ inviting all of mankind to come to him through love. Overall, the monument represents the love and acceptance of Christ by the Portuguese, and the four arches supporting the statue symbolize the four points of the compass to remind the people of the universal sovereignty of Christ. Although the Statue of Cristo Rei in Lisbon looks very similar to the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (but smaller ...

... stone and the delicate flowers was stunning. After that I continued to wander until I found the ruins of the Castel de Sao Jorge. This was once a Moorish strong hold but now is a public garden. It offers amazing views of the city, couples were everywhere. I felt so alone. This is when going it alone is not so much fun anymore. Just think of all the photo opportunities. Then I saw a man peeing on the castle, the moment was over. I spent ...