to the Azores!

This is the first half of my lisbon story. I spent a lot of the week just wandering around and looking at things. The first two days I went to castles. Sao Jorge in Lisbon, and the Moorish castle in Sintra. After that, i was exhausted of walking. But Lisbon is a great city. Filled with artists, food, history, statues, fashion (good or bad..), small shops, and tourists. Oh and cheap wine. Always cheap wine!

This is the hostel cat, Jo. She was very friendly and slept on my lap more than one night. She reminded me of louis.

The first real day I was in Lisbon I went around the town with a German guy. We went to Sao Jorge castle, and this is it.

This is a view out from the castle. The castle is perched on a high hill, as most castles are, and looks out over lisbon and the river.

View of the river, the rio tejo.

The confusion of lisbon houses. It looks easy to navigate, right? I like all the different colors.

On the walk back from the castle, the German and I stopped at this wine shop, and they had some very old wines. There was one from 1985 for 80 euros! and there were some older for even more.

We then went up to the top of this building that was essentially a big elevator and a platform on the top that sold snacks and beer. But it had a nice view. This is Rossio square.

This is a view of the Sao Jorge castle over the city.

The next day, I went to Sintra. And I walked the whole way from the train station to the castle top. It was all uphill and probably 4 miles. No wonder im done with stairs and castles! My legs were shaking after I finally made it back down to the train station.

This is a decorative door on the way up to the castle.

Also on the way.

Most of the walk was through some sort of forest. It felt like I had gone back a century or two.

Outside the castle. These are some of the original moorish walls that were not rebuilt. The original parts of the castle were built in the 9th century, and then later restored and used in the 14th.

Inside the castle. There were many trees, probably grown up over the years of neglect. But it made for a wonderful atmosphere.

And here is the castle, hanging on the the side of the rock.

On the walk back down the hill...

And a romantic moorish fountain.

The next two nights i pretty much lounged around with the hostel worker, Maria, and we made some food and had great conversations with other people there. And we watched some CSI. good times!

I went to Jerez de la Frontera as a day trip from Sevilla. I picked the wrong day. I wanted to go see the royal equestrian school, and taste some sherry. But the school wasnt open, not even to wander around in, and all the sherry tasting places were closed. All i got were a few pictures, overcharged for some tapas, locked in a park (see a trend?), and dirt in my eyes.

Im sure it would have been a grand town if i had seen the horses, then got to taste sherry in the ´noon!

Here was a giant man statue by the bus station.

Here were the only horses I saw... the first on the main street, the second in the alcazar.

This was the catherdral in Jerez, next to the alcazar. and following is a typical street in Jerez.

I did see what had to have been the biggest wine TREE?? ever

And, on the way out, i had to laugh... did you ever wonder how they got concrete to the top of a building?

So, that was my day in Jerez. I should have gone to tarifa for sure. Or picked a different day. but i didnt have an alarm clock. How have i made it this far? I woke up at 7 today to catch a bus with no alarm.. and from seville i woke up at like... 5:45 to get my bus to lagos. yes i AM crazy. and hardcore. maybe. just a little.

Here is the first. The Cathedral. And some stuff around there.

So, on the way to the cathedral, very nice colorful buildings.

One of the large doors to the cathedral.

Through the courtyard.

The main door in.

A window above the door.

The woman in front of the door.

In the first rooms I went in was like a museum more or less. With artifacts and paintings and such.

Then, I found a stained glass of the same women!

Brian, remember the organ in the Mezquita? This place topped even that. It had like, dueling organs. facing each other. all the way to the ceiling. amazing!

Another stained glass.

The main attraction of this church was the tomb of Christopher Columbus! really! Here it is....

And on the way out... the door knob. I guess its hardly a KNOB.

This was a little of the Alcazar. I didnt go in because the line was around the block.

And Okay, I decided that Seville is the most badass city in spain. This is the door to the Alcazar. Tell me thats not sweet.

Then me meandering around the other day... some sights.

And finally, at the days end, this was my dinner! It had whole shrimps in it. Legs, eyes, little unhappy faces. But it was good.