Pensao Pica Pau Estoril

... 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 ...

Well, this blog is late in coming, but that's a good thing in that it means I'm keeping busy and not sitting around my apartment bored and lonely! Before I start it, though, I just want to let you know I've added a picture to the blog about Jalama and the one about my apartment.

So, a couple of weekends ago, we had a long weekend and I went to Lisbon and Sintra (a small town outside of Lisbon). Wow, did I like it!! Everyone here ...

... wide enough to walk 3 abreast] and stopped for lunch after buying treasures; and wedding gift for our niece Tamara. It is a village 1000's of years old and still houses people in the same walled village that has been well preserved and enjoys now a steady stream of tourists. I really enjoyed the castle in Obidos. You can walk the outer original castle wall -which was a neat perspective to take. You can do this in the castle in Lisbon but in Obidos it ...

We had mixed feelings about today. We are anxious for the next part of our journey, but also a little sad to leave Lisbon. We really enjoyed our time here. We had the morning to do some last minute stops - the coffee shop, internet café, hardware store and to Valentino's for lunch. On the way back to the flat - one last shot of Ginjinha. After we got our shots I ran across the street to pick up another piece of Venetian glass to replace the one that I had dropped on the tiles ...

... called the Hostel Lemon and its colors all bright yellow, green and blue. It includes breakfast and I am by far the oldest one there. I spent the day wandering the streets of Lisbon. Peeking in every alley and doorway I could. The photos reflect that exploration. I saw the Panteao Nacional, the Castelos st Jorges and a variety of other religious looking buildings. I´ve ...

... and have a drink. In my sleep-inebriated state I actually believed them and said I would go, but then one of them was like "Honey go back to sleep" and they all hugged me and left. I got up early to get breakfast and catch up my writing, but I didn't get much writing done. The number of people who somehow knew it was my birthday when I had only told a select few... yikes. Gabriel and I exchanged congratulations (it was Mexico's Independence Day) and of course the public announcement ...

... the guy next to me clearly was not interested in making conversation... maybe i smelt bad. Upon arrival, i discovered it was my great uncle´s 62nd bday, so off we went to dinner... which was was pleasant. The best bit of the day was the walk from the house to the beach and sitting on the deck chairs watching the stars, the moon´s reflection on the sea and counting the shooting stars... i saw 3! but didn´t make a wish, i´m never quick enough!

... valwinden van uit de bergen heeft het anker zich goed gehouden en als we opstaan is de zon al aanwezig. Vanaf deze zaterdag wordt het zomer verklaren we plechtig als we heerlijk in de kuip aan het ontbijten zijn. Ons terras heeft uitzicht over de oceaan, aan stuurboord het strand en aan bakboord het plaatsje Cascais. Het is een uur varen voor we in de monding van de Taag zijn en we moeten nog een tij-stopmaken omdat de uitstroom van de Taag nog even doorgaat. We laten het anker op 6.0 ...

... of all the boats that pass and watched the sun drop for the last time while we concentrated on the radar screen and the veritable ship highway we now transited. Further north, the traffic backed off, the radar no longer resembled the Matrix and we were able to relax a little. Later that night the shore lights of Ibiza appeared and with them came that strange sensation of the proximity of life just across the darkness. At sea, we were isolated in our little microcosm and this was our ...

... saw his name roll up in the opening credits, I knew I wouldn't like it. It wasn't terrible, just different. It was mostly black and white, and every now and then there would be some color. Just strange. Not recommended if you haven't seen it yet. That was it for my exciting day. Tomorrow I am going to sleep in a little, check out a church and a castle near by, and probably pack up for my early morning flight on Friday. That's all for now, until next time.