Quinta Raposeiros Mafra

... into this dessert a few minutes ago.

With all this talk of food and pastries, you'd think we'd both be busting our britches but truth be known -- my jeans are fitting a bit looser and we both feel justified with the tremendous amount of distance and strenuous walking we have been doing -- up and down steep streets while gripping the cobblestone surfaces.

We haven't yet made our plans for tomorrow. The Fado Museum ...

... the restaurant totally satiated and well-fed.

After walking along around the harbor, snapping photos of fishing boats, we climbed back into Carla's comfortable Mercedes bus for the (sleepy) ride back to Lisbon. I am ashamed to say we were short on Euros so did not give her the hefty tip that she had earned but I do present her to any others thinking of visiting this neck of the woods that there is no better guide. She is knowledgeable, full of ...

... In Lisbon, this translates to a beautiful walking surface. They have all their sidewalks and pedestrian areas laid with small, glossy stones--sometimes they make a pattern, sometimes they're just all white. That was really cool and different from any other place I've been.

So, as I was saying, I discovered all this about the feel of Lisbon on our way to the area called Belen. For a large portion of our walk, we were walking ...

... from the U.S. on board. I would say most of this is due to the logistics involved in getting a Visa for Brazil as well as the vaccine and health card needed for re-entry to some countries (Panama and Costa Rica included). We had requested late seating only to find out that late seating was at 10:30 p.m. - so we asked for early - which they told us would be 8 p.m. and that was fine with us - so when we got our SeaPass card we noticed dining was 6:30 - so we inquired and ...

... the things she is saying but lots of fun. Lisbon is beautiful!!! It's All Saints Holiday so most of Lisbon is closed. The plus is that there is virtually no traffic. Drive round the city before being dropped off to catch one of the famous little trolley cars. They go up each side of the city. Maybe called a funicular? Something like that. The carriage we go up the hill in was built in 1905. Terrific. Get to the top and the first set ...

... direction and, sure enough, the horses came down the street bearing both riders and their instruments. No galloping, unfortunately, but all in all quite an impressive performance. Those had to have been some very well-trained horses. We didn't last long after that; it had already been more than ten minutes and we had to hurry to catch the next church before Mass. Two of the girls in our group didn't come to the bus after the parade; we waited almost 20 minutes and then had to leave ...

... buses for that day to the next town I needed to visit, so I would have to spend the night in Alcobaça. On a closer inspection it turned out that it was not easy at all to find a place to sleep there. That is completely beyond my understanding, as I have found plenty of hostels in much smaller towns with no really big attractives with ease, so according to my logic there should be some in this reasonably-sized town with a grand monument just elected a Portuguese ...

As aulas começaram ontem, estava tão cansada que não consegui atualizar o travelog. Em mais uma dessas casualidades não tão boas, a apresentação do meu trabalho que deveria ser hoje acabou sendo ontem. Não tinha levado o arquivo então não foi lá grandes coisas. Mas pelo menos estou livre dessa obrigação. Segue uma foto da entrada da universidade e do teto do instituto, que ...

... the spot after being soaked for the entire afternoon. After dinner we headed back to the villa and passed out. Saturday morning was an early morning because we decided we wanted to go to Fatima for the morning and then drive to other towns in the afternoon. All of us except Grace went. She opted to hang out in Ericeira. The drive to Fatima took about 3 hours and when we got there we visited the big cathedral and read all about the holy ...

... writing, and listening to music. Once we landed in Lisbon Reece and I could not believe how warm it was. Compared to the United Kingdom, Lisbon felt like a tropical island. It took us about an hour and a half to find our hostel. Yeah we walked and walked and turned down a wrong street or two or eleventeen and walked some more...all with our entire life on our backs, just one of those things that makes backpacking what it is. Upon ...