I do realise I say this a lot, but we really like Lisbon, and are now wishing we didn't have to rush through Portugal so much. 
Were staying at Home Hostel which has been great, free breakfast and laundry service. We have had nearly everything we own washed and folded. The hostel has also been really friendly and has a good common room with DVD´s...
We actually arrived at the hostel at 8am, but couldn´t check in until 2pm. They stored our bags and we slept in the common room for a bit. We then headed out to the nearest cafe for breakfast, where we met a really nice Portuguese waiter, who told us not to try and speak Portuguese unless you actually know what your saying, as the locals hate Spanish. English is widely spoken here. We were sitting by the window and got a bit of a show
, we say an old man dressed in something like a nightie or woman's dress, wander along the street and randomly pick up rocks and throw them into shop windows, putting a huge crack into a pharmacy window opposite us. We then saw on the opposite side of the road, a shop keeper drop a basket of peaches on the footpath. The rolled all over the road, and they were madly picking them up before any more cars came. All very amusing after a long bus ride with little sleep!
After organising some train tickets, coffee at the hostel with Lucie and a siesta, we headed out into Lisbon town for some shopping and a guided tour of the city. After walking up the big hill to where it was supposed to start from and waiting, we realised that for what ever reason the tour guided hadn't shown up. We went for a bit of a walk before returning to the hostel to cook some dinner.
I was difficult to get out of bed on Sat but we finally managed to get up for the free breaky. After our showers we headed to the train station to go to a nearby town called Sintra. This is a very picturesque town with a number of palaces, one of which is heritage listed, a moorish castle and lots of beautiful old buildings. After lunch in a park and a coffee and a pastry, we visited the Regaleira Palace and Gardens. These were sensational, the palace itself, dare i say it, was just another palace, but the gardens were great. There were a number of towers, tunnels, caves and a chapel, amongst the gardens.
We ended up having to rush back to the train and Lisbon as we were meeting Lucie, a french girl at the hostel for dinner. After finding a few places that we wanted to eat at were closed, we found a nice little Portuguese restaurant to eat at.
After breakfast on Sunday we headed to a district called Belem. The main reason for heading down here was that there are a number of galleries and museums which had free admission on Sundays. We saw a number of displays including old horse coaches, jewels, ceramics, vases and a modern art gallery. But in the end we were a bit over it, more galleries and museums! We wandered back through the park and along the river before stopping for traditional Portuguese custard tarts and coffee.
After our siesta we took the train up to another park, Eduardo VII, for the afternoon. This was nice and relaxed. We ate dinner back at the hostel and watched a DVD, In Bruges, which was cool, as we recognised a lot of the outdoor scenes, including the dog in the window in one of the first scenes of the movie!
After checking out of the hostel we went back to a touristy cafe area for pastry and a spot of shopping. We also spent a bit of the day taking in the Lisbon city area as we had really only gone through there to go to other districts. We walked a fair bit before returning to the hostel for coffee and dinner, our train to Madrid departs at about 10pm.
Were staying at Home Hostel which has been great, free breakfast and laundry service. We have had nearly everything we own washed and folded. The hostel has also been really friendly and has a good common room with DVD´s...
We actually arrived at the hostel at 8am, but couldn´t check in until 2pm. They stored our bags and we slept in the common room for a bit. We then headed out to the nearest cafe for breakfast, where we met a really nice Portuguese waiter, who told us not to try and speak Portuguese unless you actually know what your saying, as the locals hate Spanish. English is widely spoken here. We were sitting by the window and got a bit of a show
, we say an old man dressed in something like a nightie or woman's dress, wander along the street and randomly pick up rocks and throw them into shop windows, putting a huge crack into a pharmacy window opposite us. We then saw on the opposite side of the road, a shop keeper drop a basket of peaches on the footpath. The rolled all over the road, and they were madly picking them up before any more cars came. All very amusing after a long bus ride with little sleep!After organising some train tickets, coffee at the hostel with Lucie and a siesta, we headed out into Lisbon town for some shopping and a guided tour of the city. After walking up the big hill to where it was supposed to start from and waiting, we realised that for what ever reason the tour guided hadn't shown up. We went for a bit of a walk before returning to the hostel to cook some dinner.
I was difficult to get out of bed on Sat but we finally managed to get up for the free breaky. After our showers we headed to the train station to go to a nearby town called Sintra. This is a very picturesque town with a number of palaces, one of which is heritage listed, a moorish castle and lots of beautiful old buildings. After lunch in a park and a coffee and a pastry, we visited the Regaleira Palace and Gardens. These were sensational, the palace itself, dare i say it, was just another palace, but the gardens were great. There were a number of towers, tunnels, caves and a chapel, amongst the gardens.
We ended up having to rush back to the train and Lisbon as we were meeting Lucie, a french girl at the hostel for dinner. After finding a few places that we wanted to eat at were closed, we found a nice little Portuguese restaurant to eat at.
After breakfast on Sunday we headed to a district called Belem. The main reason for heading down here was that there are a number of galleries and museums which had free admission on Sundays. We saw a number of displays including old horse coaches, jewels, ceramics, vases and a modern art gallery. But in the end we were a bit over it, more galleries and museums! We wandered back through the park and along the river before stopping for traditional Portuguese custard tarts and coffee.
After our siesta we took the train up to another park, Eduardo VII, for the afternoon. This was nice and relaxed. We ate dinner back at the hostel and watched a DVD, In Bruges, which was cool, as we recognised a lot of the outdoor scenes, including the dog in the window in one of the first scenes of the movie!
After checking out of the hostel we went back to a touristy cafe area for pastry and a spot of shopping. We also spent a bit of the day taking in the Lisbon city area as we had really only gone through there to go to other districts. We walked a fair bit before returning to the hostel for coffee and dinner, our train to Madrid departs at about 10pm.
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