Two Days in Lisbon, Portugal!!!!

Hi Guys,

I'm sorry I haven't written in such a long time, it's just that I was away on a trip for half-term (a one week holiday from my school).

On the first day we woke up in our London flat at 5:00 am!  Then we took a run/walk to the bus and took the bus to the airport.  We were going to Lisbon, Portugal.

When we got to Lisbon, we visited a grand square that led out onto a rocky beach.  On the beach I found two stranded Portuguese Man o'wars.  It was fascinating!  Then we walked to our hotel, which was called Pensao Ninho das Aguias which means the Eagle's Nest in Portuguese -- called that because it is so high up.  After climbing up two spiral staircases, I saw two blue small parrots in a cage who made a large amount of noise as they greeted us.

Then we went to see a castle that was near our hotel.  It was HUGE!  We walked up and down and up and down stairs to explore it.

Isabel and Ben on the Castello Sao Jorge, Lisbon

When we were done we walked to the tile museum.  There we saw loads and loads of tiles.  We also saw how tiles were made.

Portuguese Azuelejo, 15th century

Then we went out to eat.  We got a lot of fish and some sausage.  With it we also had french fries and boiled potatoes.  For dessert I had a chocolate mousse.  It was delicious!


The next day we went to several pastry shops and got rolls and pastries for breakfast.  Then we went to a famous square -- Rossio -- with an interesting wavy pattern of cobblestones.  My mom says to add that this kind of design is characteristic of Lisbon streets.  At the time she said it looked like an earthquake which is kind of interesting since Lisbon famously had an earthquake in 1750.

Ben and Isabel in Lisbon's square, Rossio

Then we took a walk to some church ruins from that famous earthquake and saw a great view of the city from the top of a funicular.  Later on we went to a museum and looked at some paintings.

Isabel in front of Monastery de Sao Jerolamo in Belem (a fine example of Manueline architecture)

We continued on to the town of Belem where there was a monks monastery and a castle nearby and a beach. We also saw a monument to famous sailors who sailed in the discovery age. Finally we took the tram home (a type of transportation that goes on tracks). And we had dinner out on a high deck at our hotel.  We had bread with sardines and salami. For dessert we had chocolate salami! It was EXCELLENT!!   That day we went to11 shops!

Isabel at the Sea Fortress in the Tagus River, Belem Portugal