Lisbon

It's obvious with the many monuments near the Tagus River that Lisbon was active during the Age of Exploration. The Belem Tower, for example, celebrated these discoveries. We also visited the Moorish Citadel and Black Horse Square.

With our new friends Mommy and Daddy Aguilar from Toronto, Bobot or Albert in the middle, and Chris to the far right.

We drove along the scenic Portuguese Riviera past Estoril. We stopped by Cascais for lunch.
We had Portuguese roasted chicken with piri piri sauce which was tender and tasty. We strolled up and down the streets and along the fishing port.

Our last stop of the excursion was in pretty Sintra. The Portuguese noble families are known to stay there; artists go there to find inspiration. We visited the 15th century Royal Palace with its beautifully tiled walls, fancy furniture and large kitchen with opened, cone-topped chimneys. It is the oldest medieval palace in Europe. We even had time to purchase trinkets and have our favorite carte dor French ice cream.

Alfonso, a guy who worked at the cafe, left work to buy a vintage port wine to trade for Emma's Dodger hat. He was so excited about the Dodgers, I wouldn't doubt he's the biggest Dodger fan in Europe! My cousin made his day.

The first night in Lisbon Tina found our own Fado show to see as recommended by TripAdvisor. We were wary at first because the prices were higher than we were first told. The taxis also weren't sure where to send us. We walked through a dim, narrow street to get to Mesa de Frades Restaurante. Just as we had experienced in Coimbra, the Portuguese food was delicious and the sangria was tasty. We had appetizers of olives, sautéed mushrooms, pickled quail, pies cod and great bean cakes. The asparagus and tomato soups were nice. And I had beef tenderloin covered with gravy and a side of tiny quail egg over medium.

We didn't know what to expect with Fado but we were blown away by the emotion in the guitar music and the singing. I had no idea what the performers were singing about but you can feel their sorrow. They looked and sounded like they really expressed their pain through music.

We found our experience in Lisbon enjoyable. Everyone was very friendly and good costumer service actually existed whether it was at the souvenir shops or the fancy stores. Len purchased a clutch for her cousin at Louis Vuitton, where she also lost her phone, but she didn't let that ruin our good time. Having the best natas at Pasteis de Belem helped a little too..

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