Crinkly's Portugal trip day 3: Day trip to Sintra (2/11/19)

View from our bathroom window. You cant tell but thats the redeemer statue in the far off distance.

Crinkly on the train as we head to Sintra

Crinkly feels good to stretch his legs after the quick train ride to the coast and are finally at our destination.

Crinkly admiring one of the many beautiful buildings in the city as we walk around.

Had breakfast in the hostel again real fast then headed to the main train station to take a train out to Sintra near the coast. We didnt know our metro cards could be used for these trains as well so we waited in line and missed the train we were wanting to take due to the long line at the kiosks (not a big deal I think it set us back like 30-40 mins). Topped off our cards and then got on the next train out to Sintra. As we left town there was this amazingly huge aqueduct that I failed to get a picture of but was extremely impressive looking and wish I had.

I believe we are on the right path

A little map of where we are exploring.

One of the many times where even though most people are in jackets, I was sweating my butt off in a t shirt. Felt nice to chill in the shade a little bit cooling off.

Crinkly wants to go grab a drink at the cafe so I guess that is what we will do.

Crinkly has breached the first wall

Crinkly enjoying the view along the outer wall of the castle

Crinkly looking out at the smaller castle in the distnance.

Crinkly enjoying the break and the view with a new friend

This was a cool castle/house on a hill across the way from the hill we were climbing. Assuming it is a part of the Palace grounds but not sure. 

Steph enjoying the view out from our little cafe outlook before we continue our journey up to the castle

Finally get into the town and get a map and then get our bearings from the train station as well as learning when we need to be back based on the departing train time tables to make sure we make it back tonight. Start walking through town and make our way up the steep hill to check out the moorish castle. As we get close, probably to the first outer wall, there is a little coffee shop where we grab a little snack and a beer to enjoy the day and relax before going into the castle and exploring some moor :). Costs 8 euro to enter the castle but once you do, there are tons of views from the castle walls of the coast, the internal land, and the city below (with all its large mansions and tracts of land). The other cool thing about the castle is that they have all kinds of different flags at different heights so that you can get great flag pictures, which I do enjoy very much. When looking down/around the area as previously mentioned, there are tons of beautiful buildings/homes scattered everywhere.

Crinkly sees a mountain to climb so he says, lets go!

Views of flags. Hope yall dont get tired of these :)

One of the homes down in Sintra.

Whitewashed Portuguese flag with Crinkly enjoying a view out the window. 

Crinkly pausing on the hike up to enjoy the view and to appreciate all the flags flapping on this beautiful breezy day.

Looking down on the castle and the city from the highest point. Crinkly is liking the view.

One of the flags by the binoculars flapping in the wind with some other flags in the background.

Steph is looking out to the sea whereas I am looking at the stacked flags going up the hill.

A look down from one end of the castle back upon itself. People who staffed this guy back in the days must have had killer calves.

Flag flying high on a beautiful day from inside one of the parapets along the wall.

This part of the castle had more little nooks and crannies to explore compared to the rest which was mostly just steep walls.

Crinkly enjoying a seat in one of the castle's parapets along the wall.

Crinkly wanted a group photo from atop the castle

Another impressive castle that is across the way from the moorish castle. This is the National palace of Pena, another popular sight that we didnt have time to go see.

A view down from the castle

Crinkly checking out the cistern at the castle.

Crinkly wanted one last view of the house in the distance as we continued our descent.

After the castle exploration, we walk back down a different way into the city and come to the terrace bar which has a great view of the city for some beers and a quick bite to eat. As the sun begins to get low, we make our way down through the streets and back to the train station to catch a ride back to town. When we get in, as we walk back to the hostel, we get some ginja shots (these sweet/sour cherry ish shots that have little stalls set up around town that people just walk in, pay a euro or 2 and get these shots and hang out for a bit. After those, we eat at Jeannines which is not too far from the hostel and was a recommendation from the people at the hostel. Was delicious food, nice cozy atmosphere with good prices and tasty wine for a reasonable price (good thing about a lot of these restaurants, they have carafes of house wine with is decent and a good price point). After dinner, we buy a bottle of local wine from a liquor store around the corner from our hostel for like 3E and then drink in the room as we pack and get ready for the adventure to begin.

Crinkly enjoying some refreshments after the hike up and down the hill.

Not sure what this is but walked by it as we walked back to the train station and thought it was beautiful.

They had escalators built into the public space to help people with the hills. Was pretty cool to see.

Crinkly's Portugal trip day 2: Exploring Lisbon (2/10/19)

Go into the kitchen area and have breakfast (typical European hostel breakfast food - meat, cheese, bread, some fruit, coffee, tea, etc.) then decide to start walking towards the coast through the Alfama region. Stop at a few miradours on the way to take in the sights (one of the perks of such a hilly city/country, there are many spots that have fantastic views). Come across a big church and walk in, not realizing it is Sunday, so of course there is a mass happening which was cool to see but didnt want to over stay my welcome so head out and check out the catacombs? (building next to the church) that is full of these blue tile scenes built into the walls.

Some full building wall art we saw as we started our walk for the day. 

Love the colored bricks and the buildings we saw as we walked around town. So beautiful.

One of the many vistas we saw on our walk. City just builds around nature.

Church having mass

Straight ahead is the heavily tiled area of the church. To the right is the church itself.

Beautiful tile art.

Crinkly wanted to pose with his favorite part of the art wall.

Another example of the color/pattern of the buildings around town.

A cool little tunnel in the Alfama area having comic drawings of sorts showing the local history. Was really cool.

Their history involves naked ladies running through battle fields apparently.

Another cool wall mural Crinkly wanted to enjoy for a little bit.

A view of the fort and part of lisboa. 

Golden gate type bridge and a far view of their redeemer statue to the left

Crinkly enjoying the view after a hike up the hill

Close up of the bridge sitting atop the city.

Little bit closer view of the redeemer statue that was sitting across the river from where we were. 

These lookouts had tiled pictures of the views as you walked around the landing.

Graffiti all down this pathway showing a different form of street art from the murals seen previously. 

Another view from one of the look outs we went to

Poem inscribed on a wall we came across walking randomly through town.

More beautiful buildings

One of the many small cute streets could walk down in the town.

Both buildings incredibly beautiful; as anti-organized religion as I am, I love visiting houses of worship as they are usually full of beautiful art, amazing architecture, and awe-inspiring sights. Walk by the Castelo de Sao Jorge, an impressive looking moorish castle with a daunting line for entry. We decide not to wait in line and instead walk around the area and eventually make our way to the heart of Alfama where we walk through the small picturesque alleys full of wall art, steps, quaint vibes, and the too frequent examples of dog shit laying in the path. The city doesnt have much green space so I guess it makes sense that dogs would have to shit in the streets/alleys but why people dont pick it up, I do not know; is incredibly unfortunate as you want to keep your eyes up to enjoy the area's beauty but you have to keep looking down to make sure you dont step in shit. Get to the coast and walk a bit before stopping at Beliosos to grab lunch. It is a small healthy eating cafe with a large assortment of options; we get some smoothies, a dense peanut butter and chocolate cake? (it was more of a tart or square), and a beet hummus - all of which were delicious.

Crinkly enjoying some lunch 

Crinkly found the museum of beer as we walked around the main area along the water.

Crinkly visiting some of his international beer friends.

And many other international friends to say hello to.

Beer and soccer, no better combination says Crinkly

Crinkly is getting hungry so soon after eating lunch. 

Crinkly enjoying the large quad and the statue in center of it.

If this is the first series you are following, then you will soon learn I love watching flags flap in the wind. If you already know this, well example #1039

Crinkly admiring the beautiful facade and entrance to the city

As we eat we try and figure out what to do with the rest of our day; turns out there was a Benfica game happening in a few hours (Benfica is in the Primeira Liga of Portugal, turns out they were playing Nacional to take over first place) so I buy tickets online (over priced I come to find out later but meh, love attending futbol matches when I travel) and then we head over to check out the Ribeiro Market which was closed for renovations but there was the Time Out market right next to it so we go in there instead. This place is amazing!!! It is this giant food court with long communal tables throughout and enough options that you could eat 3 meals there for a week and still not exhaust all of them; everyone hanging out, having a good time, great scene/atmosphere. We grab some wine and some pasteis (one of nata and another that had a HEAVY cinnamon characteristic - I like cinnamon, but this was borderline overpowering hahaha).

Crinkly ready for some more to eat. This place was awesome and had people everywhere.

Crinkly's spoils of war in the market

Walking to the metro and Crinkly is trying to stay dry

Feeling right at home. Kinda unfortunate it wasnt open as I would have liked to go in and check it out.

Stumbled upon the Lisboa DT bar. Feel like many cities have one of these and always a good sign of great beer to be had.

After enjoying those treats, we head to the metro (starting to sprinkle a bit) and make our way up to the stadium for the game. As we were traveling underground, rain picked up and was raining at a decent strength so I get a little wet (didnt have my rain jacket with me) as we make our way to the stadium. As we walk, there are people wearing red all over the place (people clearly love their home team) and we walk through an underpass which has giant wall murals on each side, both are well made. Our seats were literally the first row right behind the visitor bench which were not covered and were a little obstructed but not bad; for me it was too close to really enjoy the game. As we wait for the game to start we go up to get a beer, turns out the stadium has a zero alcohol policy so the beers were all non-alcoholic which was horrible; their non-alcoholic beer tasted like carbed wort so it was jut incredibly sweet and not good at all. Game starts and rain picks up so we go up to the top of the stairs and watch from up there. Meet a local supporter who spends the rest of the game talking to us about this, that, and the other. As we are talking, Benfica just goes on a scoring rampage and ends the game 10-0 (more like an american football score hahaha).

Crinkly enjoying the wall art in the tunnel on the way to the stadium.

Crinkly wanted to feel part of the team.

Murica! I mean Benfica! 

Me and Crinkly enjoying the pregame festivities before its time to begin

Listen to the stadium go!

Even in this giant blowout game, people were staying until the final whistle which was an impressive sight. Rail back all the way to Alfama region to try and check out a Fado bar. Decide to go into Fado on the corner which had 4 singers, all with different and decent voices and 2 guitarists (one acoustic, one lute looking guitar). They take turns singing about 2 songs in the middle of the bar, food was meh, house wine was good and decent price. After a few sets, we close out and rail back to our area and walk to the hostel. I try a different shower which was much better (better pressure, aimed right, good call :) ) and then we get some sleep.

Beautiful buildings at night. See what I am saying.

Random staircase leading up to a restaurant with some cool wall art.

Had to get a closer look. Wall art is everywhere here.