Lisboa

Or Lisbon, as we call it in English. We rolled into Lisbon with no expectations. As the last city on our itinerary, it was the one I hadn't quite gotten around to reading up on. Coming in on the bus it seemed vast and crowded and a bit grimy. The cab ride to our Airbnb flat was long and winding, through terrible traffic. The cab driver explained that there was a subway strike and traffic was worse than usual. Lisbon did not make a good first impression. But at last we arrived in Bairro Alto—the upper city—on a narrow little street and our charming little 2nd floor flat.

We walked down to a nearby plaza with a splendid view of the city and suddenly it all looked much better.

The next day we took the Elavador de Gloria, a funicular, at the end of our street, down the short, but very steep hill to the main part of the city and began to explore Lisbon.

I couldn't help but compare Lisbon to Madrid, with its expansive plazas and all the statues on pedestals, but the two cities are quite different. Madrid sparkles. Madrid is proud and grand. Lisbon seems a little shabby and tired, but also filled with a rather romantic and old-fashioned kind of charm. It grew on me.
Two things I loved:
The sidewalks...

And the tiled buildings.

The neighborhood where we stayed is very old and the narrow streets are filled with bars and restaurants. At night they fill with people and music that goes until 2 or 3 in the morning.

 

There was even more to like about Lisbon, which is another post for another day.

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The Algarve, continued

On one of our Algarve days we took a drive a bit inland to the small city of Silves. I had read that it was a pretty little town with an interesting Moorish Castle ruin, so we went to see what we could see. It is a very old city that has been inhabited by the Romans, the Visigoths, and the Moors before becoming part of Portugal. The old Moorish castle sits high on a hill and is visible for miles. In the town you see remnants of old walls that have been built over and around.

We poked around the town, finding the local market, and stopping for a cold drink at a lovely plaza. I ordered "fresh lemon juice" which I supposed would be lemonade. It was, in fact, a tall glass, half filled with unadulterated lemon juice and ice. The waitress also brought me a bottle of water and two little packets of sugar. These, she explained were to add to the juice if I found it too strong as it was. It was a very tart lemonade even with these additions!

Waiting for us outside the castle walls was this statue of Sancho I of Portugal, who, with his band of Crusaders, defeated the Moors and claimed the city and fortress for Portugal in 1189.

There is not a lot to see inside the fortress, except for some excavation of the palace that was destroyed. But you can walk the surrounding wall and look out over the countryside and get a good view of the palace ruins.

 

We wandered through a nice local art exhibit in a small chapel. There were a group of school children at the exhibit, sprawled on the floor, creating their own versions of the art in the exhibit. Pretty cute.

 

We browsed the shops, including this shop filled with Portugese cork products.

I was amazed by the variety of things made from cork—coats, jackets, shoes, hats, handbags, lamps, belts, wallets—as well as the predictable coasters and table mats and bottle stoppers. After we left the shop Ray pointed out to me that I had actually taken a photo of the "no photography" sign. Oops. I didn't notice it. As we were driving out of Silves we saw a place where cork was being harvested, with big stacks of slabs of the bark from the cork oak trees.

It was a lovely, leisurely day. When we got back to the hotel we sat out on the terrace and drank wine and visited with a nice American couple from Chicago and watched the stars come out over the ocean. The next morning we packed up and headed for Lisbon.

 

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The Algarve

It is 4:30 in the morning. I have been awake since 3:30. My head hurts and I can't sleep. Jet lag. Over the past three weeks my brain and body somehow adjusted rather easily to a 9 hour time shift between Oregon and Spain. Now back, in Oregon, the shift back isn't going as smoothly. So, here I am, awake at this ungodly hour and it seems like a good time to try to figure out why I was unable to post more than one chimney photo to my blog in the last week of our trip. I left off in Sevilla, which now seems ages ago, so what came next...

The Algarve. Portugal's south coast.

Little white villages, climbing up beachside cliffs. The Algarve is all about kicking back, eating great fresh fish, walking on the beach, looking at the stars and exploring. It was a good change of pace from cities, museums and palaces.

 

 

After taking a bus from Sevilla, we rented a car and set out to explore a bit of the Algarve on our own. Besides its beauty and quaint charm, the area has history. Driving out from Selema, where we were staying, to Sagres and Cape St. Vincent, we were headed to " the end of the world"— the southwestern point of the European continent. Back in the 1300's, for Europeans, this was the literal end of the known world and the point from which eventually the great Portugese explorers would venture out into the unknown. It was here that Prince Henry the Navigator established his school of navigation and dreamed of a sea route to the treasures of India. The drama of the cliffs and vast expanse of ocean can still stir the imagination as you stand at the Cape Vincent lighthouse and walk around the point at the Fortress at Sagres.

 

 

Well, my posting problem seems have been resolved. Perhaps it was simply an inadequate wifi connection in Portugal that was holding things up.

I have more to share—the rest of The Algarve and Lisbon—I have a fear that if I don't record all this while it is fresh in my mind I will forget it! This blog has become my travel journal, so it is actually mostly for myself that I am posting. If you don't mind reading and viewing my vacation photos, I am happy for your company. If you've tired of the whole thing I'll be back to fabric and such in a few days!

And now, coffee and breakfast. It is still way too early, but Ray, my fellow traveler, is awake as well, and has made coffee. We will stumble through the day and hope our inner clocks are rewinding...

 

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This is a test

This is a Potuguese chimney. I have many more photo so post, but I seem to be having a problem.

 

 

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Sevilla

"Sevilla" = what in the English language we call Seville. It has always seemed odd to me that in English we change the names of some cities and countries and not others. If I ruled the world we would only use the place names that the people living there use, regardless of our own language. Say-VEE-ya Is such a much more lovely sound than Suh-VIL, in my opinion. And it is such a lovely city, it deserves to be sung, if all things were equal.

Where to begin? So grand, so rich, so charming—Sevilla has my heart. First off, just look at these accommodations.

This was our Airbnb apartment, just a few blocks from the cathedral and almost everything we wanted to see and do. It was beautiful.

Here's the cathedral—the largest in Spain and very old and historic. It was built on the ruins of a mosque after the Moors were driven out. The bell tower was the minaret, with bells added.

We were not able to tour the cathedral itself, but climbed to the top of the bell tower and took a gazillions pictures from every level. It was stunning.

One morning we took a walking tour with our terrific guide Alfonso, and got a great feel for the spirit of the city.

Cervantes statue

Moorish influence in the architecture

This is the symbol of Sevilla. It is a kind of rebus that means "Sevilla has not forsaken me" and is attributed to King Alfonzo X, in thanks for Sevilla's loyalty. The character that looks like an 8 is a skein of wool.

 

On our own, we visited Plaza de Espana, a grand plaza that was built for the 1929 World Exposition.

And we saved a full afternoon for the Alcazar, the beautiful Moorish Palace and gardens. It is still used as a part time residence for the Spanish royalty and is closed to the public when they are in residence. We were lucky to be there at a time it was open. Incredibly beautiful and peaceful. If I were the queen I would live there all the time.

Ray lost in the labyrinth garden at the Alcazar.

I took so many photos in Sevilla, I hardly knew what to share here. It is a wonderful city. Put it on your list! It is a city of quiet, peaceful mornings and evenings filled with wine and music and glorious food. A rich past and a vibrant culture. People seem happy here! I think they have it figured out.

 

 

 

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The Alhambra

In Granada, this was the nighttime view from our window of the Alhambra, the ancient Islamic fortress just up the hill from us. I had ordered the tickets for our visit before we left home. There would be no chance we would miss seeing this.

The Alhambra was built sometime in the 14th century by the Moorish (Muslim) rulers of that part of Spain, as a fortified palace. The Moors were driven from Spain in 1492 and the Alhambra became a palace for the Spanish royalty. It was here that Columbus made his pitch to Ferdinand and Isabela, for his plan to find a new route to India. Today it is a well-preserved World Heritage Site.

It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. A real paradise. I won't give you a lot of description or history. The Alhambra is best experienced visually, and truly photos don't begin to tell the story. Just know this is but a small sample of architecture, details of floors, archways, tile, carving, walls, fountains, gardens...

 

Even surrounded, as we were, by hoards of visitors, the beauty, the sense of peace and the aura of history are quite overwhelming. It was a very special day.

 

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