Portugal Part 2

    When we arrived in the old walls of Èvora, we were excited to see that this town was really small and quaint. Our hotel was really old and had the sweetest lady running it. We walked in to the center of town where there was a bonfire in the middle of a plaza with people warming themselves around it (how random to find in the center of town!) and then models of Christmas trees made out of different materials. It was definitely a little different that what I would have expected. Èvora is famous for its cork so I bought a bracelet from one of the shops made of cork. We had some drinks at a local bar and then went to a restaurant that was recommended by the lady in the hotel and had tapas style food. The next day (Christmas Eve), we got up early to go to a very exciting place... the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones!). This was extremely cool. It was built by some monks out of over 100 bodies. It was creepy being surrounded by so many skulls and bones in what was supposed to be a holy place. After the Chapel of Bones we walked around town seeing an outdoor market and some Roman Temple Ruins, and then headed out to Sevilla.

      When my family and I arrived in my city of Sevilla, we dropped off all our bags (which by this point included Craig's bag too) and went through hell finding parking, but then went to go eat at 100 Mondatidos. This is basically the only “fast food” restaurant in town where they make you mini-sandwiches for cheap. We went to the grocery store to get food for the next few days and then returned to my apartment to eat some of our Èvoran cheese and bread we had bought at the market and then went out for a walk at night around the city center and along the river. On Christmas Day, we walked around the neighborhood of Santa Cruz and then had some typical Spanish tapas. We went to visit Plaza de España which my family loved and then back to my apartment to start our Christmas dinner or pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes. After dinner, we went to this place called La Carboneria where they preform free flamenco dancing as you drink and watch. It was impressive how many people were out on Christmas night, but I guess here in Spain, Christmas Eve is more important to them. The next day we went to the Alameda neighborhood for lunch at my favorite restaurant and then to the cathedral of Sevilla which is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world. It had some pretty impressive views at the top.

Christmas Trees in Evora

Mom reading us history about Evora

Yummmm

Chapel of Bones

Chapel of Bones

Roman Ruins in Evora

Dad at La Carbonera on Christmas (Sevilla)

Christmas

View from our hotel in Lagoa, Portugal

Sunset in Algar Seco

Algar Seco

Craig exploring Algar Seco

Salema

Cape Sagres

Cape Sagres

      After our stay in Sevilla, we left Spain to drive along the south of Portugal in the area called the Algarve region. We stopped first in Tavira where we ate lunch. The lunch consisted of a Portuguese specialty of scrambled eggs, onions, potatoes, and cod. I liked it, but I don't think the rest of the family enjoyed it that much. We then went to Salema where we walked along the beach of the Mediterranean Sea and there were big rocks to climb on and it was beautiful. It was a very quiet town. We enjoyed the drive through the Algarve and then arrived at our RESORT in Lagoa. It was a 5 minute walk from the cliffs of the sea with an amazing view. This was actually our cheapest hotel and we were in a big apartment resort. It wasn't even that cold outside considering it was the end of December! After seeing the lookout by our resort, we went on a wild goose chase trying to find this pretty place I saw on a brochure at the resort. We ended up finding it. It was called the Algar Seco and it was soooo beautiful. We watched the sunset over the Mediterranean and hiked a little bit down in the coves made by the water. We grabbed some pizza and headed back to our room for the evening. The next day we went to Cape Sagres, which is the most southwestern tip of Europe. It was also very beautiful, and we also saw octopus pots there which my Mom really wanted to see. They are pots that octopus go into to hide, but then fisherman reel them in. We had lunch at a really good restaurant and then went back to Lisbon where we went out to eat and said our goodbyes, because the next morning my family left very early and then I took a bus back to Sevilla. It was a great trip and it was fun to experience a new country! 

Portugal: Part 1

 I was so lucky again this year to have my family come and visit me for Christmas. I can't imagine what being alone on Christmas would have been like, but thankfully I didn't have to experience that this year. On December 19, I took a really long bus ride from Sevilla to Lisbon, Portugal. I arrived midday and immediately checked in to our hotel and took a nap. When I got up, my family still hadn't arrived so I went to go meet up with this guy that I met through a friend that is Portuguese and lives in Lisbon. He gave me a quick tour of the city and I got to see some of the great views by night. Finally my family arrived after (of course) having gone through a loss of luggage ordeal. Last year, my entire family lost their luggage, but this year it was only Craig. We went to restaurant alley to have a light dinner and some drinks before retiring for the night. The next day we went out to explore the city of Lisbon. We set our sights on getting to the top of the hill to the São Jorge Castle for some great views and just wandered in that general direction before arriving at the castle. There were many great spots for pictures on the way up the hill. Once we made it to the top, our next goal was to find this specific trolley that Rick Steves recommended that would circle around the town. This was a much more difficult goal that we had thought, but we finally found the trolley and took it for a spin. Lisbon has a lot of trolleys around the city and it is something that is a kind of symbol of Lisbon. We had lunch near the Elevador de Santa Justa where we all had fried cod, which was ok. We walked off our lunch by climbing another hill that was above our apartment to have more views of the city. At the top of the hill we went by a wooden church called São Roque and then went to one of the first beer halls of Lisbon. Inside there were a lot of art. It was called Cervejaria Trindade. It was nice to have a beer from Portugal before returning to our hotel for the evening to then go to the grocery store and cook some food since our hotel apartment had a kitchen. The next day we head out early on the tram to Belem, which is a neighborhood of Lisbon. It is said to be the area of Lisbon that wasn't affected by the earthquake many years ago that destroyed most of Lisbon. Oddly enough, it seemed to be in much better shape than the rest of Lisbon, which was rebuilt after the earthquake. Belem's buildings were the oldest, but appeared the newest. In Belem, we went first to the National Coach Museum where the Queen of Portugal kept all of her old coaches from back in the day. It was really fascinating and we all enjoyed it. We also went in to the Monastery of Jeronimos which was really beautiful with the Manueline architecture. We sat along the Rio Tejo by the Monument to the Discoveries and enjoyed the sun and the water for a while before ending our trip in Belem with the Belem Tower and some kebabs. Back in the city center, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for some beers before going on another wild goose chase to find a place where they had fado music (typical music from Portugal). Fado music is usually performed with dinner and is pretty expensive and starts kind of late. After miraculously finding the place by jumping on random buses and asking people and me interpreting their Portuguese (even though I do not know any Portuguese, it is kind of similar to Spanish, although the pronunciation is very different), we decided that we didn't want to spend all that money and wait a few more hours to eat, so we went to a nearby place that had character and was delicious.

The next day we went to Sintra, which is only 30 minutes from Lisbon, but really is a whole different kind of place entirely. Sintra was a small, peaceful town tucked away in the tops of the mountains surrounded by a lot of forest and beautiful nature. We drove up to the top where there were lots of rocks that I wanted to rock climb (haha) and we stopped at the Castelo dos Mouros where we went on a hike though these ancient Moorish ruins. It was so cool because we were up in the fog looking town on the little town and everything was green and pretty. I think it was all of the kids favorite part of the trip honestly. After the ruins, we drove by the fairy tale Pena Palace and then went in to town for some pizza. We also tried the local specialty that was little chocolate cups with cherry liquer inside called Chocolate Ginjinha.

Craig in front of a mural we found in Lisbon

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Me and my bros!

Elevador do Santa Justa

My mom just had to get her picture with Santa!

Another view of Lisbon, Portugal

Beer at the oldest beer hall in Lisbon

Eating dinner in our apartment hotel in Lisbon

The National Coach Museum in Belem

My parents in front of the Monastery in Belem

Brennen's strategic picture taking

Brennen in the Monastery

Chillin by the Rio Tejo

Lisbon, Portugal

Monument to the Discoveries

Plaza in Lisbon

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire!

Sintra, Portugal

Sintra, Portugal

Brennen in the Moorish Castle Ruins

Chocolate Ginjinha

Coimbra, Portugal

The market in Coimbra

This kind of cod was very popular... and smelly

Elevador do Mercado, Coimbra

View of Coimbra

University of Coimbra

Birds chillin on a wire

After lunch, we continued driving north until we arrived in Coimbra. It was pretty much evening when we got there and after checking in to our hotel we found this restaurant where we ate kind of tapas style and everything was delicious. After our meal, we went to this bar in the center where we got to watch free fado music. It was so fun! We all really enjoyed it and even bought the CD of the group. Fado music is traditionally sung by women, but in Coimbra it is sung by men. The next day we went for another walk and found the local marketplace which was interesting and then we went up the hill on the Elevador do Mercado to the top of the city where the university is. We went in to the library there which is really famous and old, and of course made my Mom really happy. Before heading out to Èvora, we went back in to town to eat at the same restaurant as the night before (it was just so good!).