Lisbon is big, HUGE! Once again, I found it difficult to pull myself out of bed and only got up at around 815am. The first thing was to embark on the walking tour. Initially, we wanted to join a PAID walking tour but after countless experiences, I gave up. It´s like you pay and the guide most probably just bring you to a place and dump you there for 20 minutes or so and you move on. Yes, you get to hear stories and know what´s going on but that´s provided you listen really hard. So I told myself, unless it´s free, I will skip it! haha..
National Pantheon
Down the streets of Lovely Lisboa...
Inside the Pantheon. Houses the tomb of Henry, the Navigator. He was the one who brought riches to Portugal since he discovered numerous sea routes.. :)
So ended up, the Singaporean girl followed me and we took the tram 28 to the starting point of the walking tour that Lonely Planet recommended. We went to the National Pantheon, a church which apparently I forgot about the name, the Castello Sao Jorge, Alfama streets, Gateway of the Sun and had lunch at this restaurant street along Praça Rossio. It was good to just walk around and see what´s going on in Lisboa but I can´t tell much stories. Anyway, after traveling to so many cities, I am getting sick and tired of buying all those brochures. They are expensive and heavy and adds on to the weight of my bag! haha..
But I know you guys want stories. So let me talk about National Pantheon. It´s actually a building designed by a famous architect in Portugal but he died halfway during the construction. Someone else had to continue with the project and halfway through, they were doubtful if the building could support the dome top. Eventually, they had to add on another two towers to make sure the base was able to support the top. It´s actually a National Monument.
Stunning views from the Pantheon. :)
Views from the Sun's Gateway. The area near to Alfama, with narrow streets etc. 
It's amazing why this Coconut tree can grow amidst those buildings. :)
It's amazing why this Coconut tree can grow amidst those buildings. :)
Janice & me.
Then to Castello Sao Jorge. Obviously, it used to be a castle or rather a fortress for the royalties. It has a really strong foundation and the castle walls are DAMN THICK. There are a million watchtowers and climbing them is tiring enough. haha..But anyway, it´s good exercise for me I guess...
The thing about Portugal is it´s always full of up and down slopes.CRAZY! When I was in Porto, I actually saw kids cycling upslope with bicycles that had no gear. But they did it with ease. I guess they are used to it. I still remember when I cycled to Mt. Faber with CC once but I couldn´t pull myself up Mt. Faber even though I was riding a mountain bike. Maybe it´s because my bike is old and lousy? haha...
View from Castello Sao Jorge. Lovely! :)
The thick walls. :)
View from Castello Sao Jorge.
Streets down Alfama.
We finished the tour later than we thought we would. Lunch was good. I ate typical Portuguese food. It was rice with steak and the steak had cheese and ham melted on it. FABULOUS! It was cheap too. Just a mere 4,40 EUR! You can never get a meal for this price anywhere in Europe or Scandinavian.
Rice with steak and melted cheese and ham right on top! FAB FAB!
Janice ordered Cod Fish.
As I wanted to go to Belem, we split ways after lunch. Janice had already been to Belem the previous afternoon while I was in Oriente. So she headed to Oriente and me to Belem. It was a bit rush for me honestly. I had to catch the bus back to Porto at 7p.m and it was almost 3 when we finished lunch. That means I only had 2.5 hours to go to Belem and back. On the tram, I met this really nice and cute young Portuguese boy. I wasn't sure where to alight to get to Belem so I seeked help from this old couple who looked like they could understand English. God knows I was so wrong and this boy was carrying his Mathematics textbook and sitting right across. He offered to help as he spoke fluent English and he was really nice. He was alighting at the same stop as I was so he told me that he will inform me once we are there. Apparently he´s in his final year in high school and if he passes his exams, he will go into University. I think to be able to attend university in Portugal is a big thing because the Portuguese are not as well-educated as we assume they are.I am impressed by his command of the language but he thinks I speak better English haha.. So I told him that´s because English is my first language in Singapore. Anyway, I thank him for his help and wish him all the best for his EXAMS!
At the tower of Belem, I met tons of Portuguese kids who are on school excursion. What´s so special about the tower of Belem? Well, that has got to do with this guy by the name of Vasco da Gama. He was the commander of the first ship to sail from Europe to India which means he was the one who discovered the sea route to India from Europe. That brought riches to Portugal and explains why the Portuguese were so rich back in the 15th century. I really wanted to find out more about all these stuff and obviously I need to go to the museums to get such information. But due to time constraint, I didn´t manage to. I guess I will just have to read up on it by myself. The tower of Belem represents the fortress of Portugal and it was built to commemorate Vasco da Gama´s successful expedition. I can only say though it´s not as high.not as popular.not as grand as Pisa tower or Eiffel tower, I like it still. The architecture is just amazing and the view from the tower was awesome.
Tower of Belem
Anyway, I met these 3 really nice and cool French guys at the top of the tower. Being alone, I had to seek help to get photos or do it with my self-timer as usual. One of them who likes photography I suppose (since he carried those really professional and big cameras) offered to help me. Then we started chatting and realise they are actually from France. Well, I could introduce myself and greet them with my broken French and they were quite impressed. haha.. I found it weird because I thought my French was pretty bad honestly. But still, as long as they understood me, it´s fine. So they gave me their number and said they will show me around in Paris for a day or two when I am there. COOL! On top of that, they were on their way to watch the Portugal Vs Czech game but too bad I couldn´t join them! I hurriedly went to the next monument which depicts a captain in front and his seamen behind. It´s amazingly nice I´d say. I really like it. I need to show you guys the photo some day. I can´t recall the name at this instance though. hehe...
Ponte 25 de Abril
Just one of the "trying-to-be-artistic" shots.
Look at the waters. How Clean and Green they are!
The sad thing is I didn´t manage to get into the Jeronimos Monastery because I was running out of time and I need to catch the soccer match too! haha.. I just took a few photos outside but I didn´t forget my beloved Portuguese egg tarts. They don´t call it egg tarts in Portugal. They call it custard. If you ever get to Portugal, you must try this at Belem. It looks and tastes COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the one you see in Singapore. I seriously feed myself with portuguese custard every single day when I was in Portugal. They are just too good to resist. :) In total, I ate freaking 5 custards during the 3 days when I was in Portugal. I wouldn´t say it´s a lot but it´s definitely not little. hahaha..
Symbol of hardwork and teamwork in getting a ship to sail! If you can see the commander standing in front of the ship!
Jeronimos Monastery - Just 5 minutes down the road, you will catch the famous Belem Egg Tarts with Cinnamon and Icing sugar. :) Tasty!
I headed back to the hostel, picked up my bag and headed to Oriente where I am supposed to catch the match with Janice at a bar at Oriente. GOSH. I miss the time by 1 minute and my transport card which lasts me for 24 hours expired! Ended up I had to wait to queue and buy a new ticket and by the time I reached Oriente, it was already 6.25 p.m. which means I was only left with 20 minutes of the game. Lazy to walk, I decide to just watch it at the first bar I chanced upon and the crowd was amazing. People were just gathering outside the bar at a metro station and cheering so loudly for Portugal. When Portugal netted another goal in the closing minutes, the crowd roared! After the game, I headed to the bus station and it was home sweet PORTO.
At the game!
Catch the crowd reaction's when Portugal scored!
On the journey, I didn´t sleep at all to my surprise. haha.. Guess what, I caught the sunset once again. It´s awesome. I remember I caught the sunset once when I was going to Liverpool airport from Manchester. The scene will forever be etched in my memory. But this time in Portugal, it´s completely different. In UK, the surroundings were roads and probably some trees but in Portugal, it was the SEA! I practically saw the sun ´hanging at the horizon´... It was gorgeous. I was hoping to get some nice photos but it didn´t turn out well.
From the Glaring Sun..
To the peaceful little red circle faraway,
And slowly, with the sky dimming
Till it goes beyond the horizon. Time Check: 9:30 p.m :)
Till it goes beyond the horizon. Time Check: 9:30 p.m :)
In the past whenever people ask me ´Do I prefer Sunrise or Sunset?´, I always went for Sunrise. I caught it a few times and I really love it. But now that I am in Europe and caught the sunset in Portugal, I will no longer go for sunrise. I love both equally. It is just beyond description in words honestly. With that, I ended my day in Portugal and next morning, I am supposed to wake up early to walk around the coast of Porto but sad to say, as I am blogging it a day later, I have to say I didn´t manage to. I was just too tired... hahaha..
Agios Portugal, Bonjour Marrakech!
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