Hotel Apartamento Vivamarinha Cascais

... had been designed for a World Expo in 1998. They whole area looks as beautifully fresh and scrubbed as if it was yesterday.

Our first stop was the Vasco de Gama mall. We walked all 3 floors and I had a great time buying a cute baby overall outfit for Carter and a few fresh pregnancy items for Adie. What fun to have them to shop for! We had bought some souvenir items yesterday in Obidos but these were a bit more personal. I ...

... the river Tajo, which is an important river in Portugal and Spain. That in and of itself made me happy--I love being near large bodies of water! Belen has three main tourist attractions: The Monument of Discovery (of America), the Tower of Belen, and St. Jeronimos Monastery. St. Jeronimos Monastery by far takes the cake out of those three. It was absolutely gorgeous as you'll see in the pictures. Also in this area is a famous pastry ...

... 19th century it incorporates some of the Islamic designs inspired by the Moors. As you can probably see from the photographs it is stunningly beautiful. And then...what does one do on one's last night in Lisbon? Did someone say 'go to an Irish pub to watch the football'? I even tried a stout made by Super Bock which is a Portuguese brewer. It wasn't too bad but the salted cod and mild weather aren't ...

Some more photos: view of downtown Lisbon from the plane, Praça do Comércio's main portal to the main "shopping" street of downtown Lisbon, a view of the porticoes encomassing the same square; a typical street in Lisbon with "azulejos"-covered façades. Apparently, it was cheap to cover homes with terracotta-glazed tiles (azulejos, pronounced "azuleshos"), as a means of insulation from sun and humidity, as well as decoration ...

... it. It really was amazing. But more amazing, and probably the most exciting point of the day, was coming out of that back room and hearing the organ music playing. I had seen the organ on the way in but couldn't stay to look because we were in a hurry to see the Nativity, but when we came out someone was playing it and parts of the choir was gathered around it practicing. As secular as I am, spiritual music is really some of the most beautiful there is. I was really sad to leave ...

... but very beautiful - emerald sea, bright green foliage under the clear blue sky... except when the seagulls are flocking over your head. Dangerous animals these seagulls, I even got shot once, when they wanted to prevent me from taking a particular path. I could swear it was on purpose. The island was nice to visit, but if you do not intend to be on its beach, soon you have explored it completely and have to kill time before the boat returns - just in time to pack ...

... chance. The escalator climbs slowly out of the depths and the city is slowly revealed to you in a classicly grand style. It is said you only get one chance to make a first impression, but somehow we got two first impressions here - both well beyond our expectations. It was fortunate that we were in such a positive mood as the contributor to Lonely Planet had used the definition of north that a nameless female acquaintance once profferred ("north is ...

... but the views along the coastline are beautiful. It helps that there is a great handicraft market nearby. We purchase the majority of our souvenirs here. Continuing to Cascais, we park beside the Igreja da Assunção. Parking is free on weekends, but later when we return and find we have been blocked in by a wedding party. We stroll along the shore to the town centre. Everything is incredibly picturesque. The weather is perfect, in ...

The hostel I was staying at in Lisbon was about a 30 minute train ride out of Lisbon itself. The directions I had for the hostel weren't the best but I managed to stagger across the hostel eventually. What a fabulous location! The hostel was right on the coast and was within walking distance along an esplanade to a number of different beaches. By the time I got to the hostel it was nearly 5pm so I just walked along the esplanade for awhile and had dinner at a cafe. The ...

2005-05-16 Azores (Dave) We decided to rent a car with another couple, Paul and Christa. We were first off the boat and walked 1 km into town. The rental office was closed and we asked a cabbie when it would open. The cabbie claimed it would be closed for the whole day because it was a national holiday but he offered to drive us around for EU50 each (EU200 total). No way! Kim asked a local merchant and he said the ...