Castelo de S Jorge, Al farma 10 June 2016

Today was my last full day in Lisbon and I still hadn't been to the Castle that we could see from the apartment.  Castelo de S Jorge - a moorish castle overlooking the historic centre of Lisbon and the river Tagus.

Ann and Revel had already been there but Revel kindly steered me up and down the hills.  Down through Bairro Alto and up the other side to an area of narrow lanes and sidewalk restaurants.

June is a time of celebration in Portugal and there were signs all over of a big party the previous night. Today was a public holiday - Portugal day and later in the morning there was quite a big military parade through the city.

I think this is a giant piñata ...

In case you need one ...

I did the castle on my own (with a thousand other tourists).  The view was worth the slog up the hill.

I really enjoy the spaces of the moorish castles, they understood how to build for the climate they lived in - spacious, unfussy, trees and cool.

Inside the castle are huge courtyards - I'm partial to a good courtyard.

And up on the walls - the magnificant views...

Peacocks, quite fitting in these spaces.

Meeting up with Revel afterward we had a look round the other side of the hill.

Then headed down to Alfama, the oldest part of Lisbon which was originally outside of the city walls and home to the poorest residents.  There is a tramline but it was spilling over with tourists so the only way to explore was on foot.

We stopped for lunch at a pop up restaurant, in a gym!  I have to say, one of the strangest locations to have lunch and the meal itself, one of the strangest I've eaten.  Quite tasty but like biltong (jerky, for the non South Africans) and potato chips.  

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It was the Larde - no idea what it was though.

Then just meandering back through the city, checking out the sights.

Wall art from different ages.

Aren't these steps gorgeous?

The central plaza, after the military parade. Praça do Comércio.  

Heading for the Metro we stopped to watch these fantastic dancers.

I was very happy to climb onto the Metro at Biaxa-Chiado - another underground station with a completely unique look.

Adeus Lisbon, you're beautiful.

Cacilhas, Portugal 9 June 2016

Across the river Tagus from Lisbon is the small picturesque village of Cacilhas.  The taxi driver who took me the long way round on my arrival in Lisbon recommended this as the best place for seafood. On another sunny morning we headed down to the Ferry Terminal at Cais do Sodr'a.

To catch one of the small orange and white cacilheiros -  the ferry that connects Lisbon and Cacilhas.
It wasn't an expensive journey, I can't recall how much but not more than a couple of euros.  Always fun to be on a boat!

There was a breeze on the other side of the river, so much cooler than Lisbon.  We walked around a bit to get the feel of the place.  Two completely different vessels here.

There are lots of restaurants very close to the ferry terminal and there is aggressive selling by the waiters to get you into their restaurant.  The thing is, the closer to the water, the more expensive the menu and you end up paying double for the same thing. Just an aside - always check your bill - in probably 5 out of 6 instances we were either overcharged, undercharged, items were omitted or added and quite often, but not always, the tip is included in the total.  It became a bit of a joke to "spot the mistake".   Nobody took offence.

We ended up at a very friendly place up the hill a bit.

This was the day for sardines... (and the ubiquitous boiled potatoes).  Very tasty but full of tiny bones.

After lunch we looked around the village - don't you love this donkey sculpture?

Then back across the river.

Some more street life - how cute are these kids - outdoor culture lessons.

This seemed to be a parking lot for the emergency vehicles - quite an appropriate spot.

A determined tree ..

Pavement art ...

Cascais, Portugal 6 June 2016

On a sunny, hot, beautiful day we set off fairly early to spend the day at the beach.  Up to go down and through the early morning fresh, but not for long, streets of Lisbon.  The trams weren't even running yet.

The city was just getting going.  The streets are so narrow that when a delivery is happening, you just wait until it's done, with the obligatory posturing of course.

Always interesting sights around corners, enticing you on to the next one.

Does this remind you of the Karoo?

The different train stations have dramatically different designs and always feature tiles.

We hopped onto a train heading 19 miles out of town to Cascais, alongside Estoril and part of the Portuguese Riviera.

Though it's on the Atlantic coast, the town has a distinctive Mediterranean feel about it.  The sunshine helps.

The sea was like a pond and we actually went swimming!  Though the water was cold, after the initial shock, it was wonderful. The beach had filled up in the time we were there and the range of sizes, shapes and ages was extraordinary.

After drying off we went up to the restaurant overlooking the beach for lunch - what a view.  Paella and white wine, idyllic.

I hadn't notice the paving before!  Under certain conditions it could make you quite seasick.

By this stage it was really hot and we headed back to the station with the intention of hopping off at Estoril to have a look around but the heat was stifling so we just bought ice creams and waited for the next train back to Lisbon.

The sign to look out for when your feet are really sore and there is a very big hill to climb on the way home - the Metro.

There are many buildings in really bad repair around the city and this has to be one of the worst - but people live here!