Traveling Pak: Days 13-17, Portugal: Lisbon, Sintra and Spain: Seville

Nathan and I began our backpacking trip with a flight to Lisbon on a budget airline in Europe, Easyjet. I was surprised to find out that we were not assigned any seats. So, just like at the theatres in the US, people started lining up an hour before the flight at the terminal. And, just like at the theatres in the US, the actual flight time was about half an hour later than posted. Anyways, for the price we paid, it was damn good flight.

Lisbon (or Lisboa as they say)

Going into Lisbon from the airport on bus, the city looked bland and unexciting. But as we got closer to the center, the city became a lot more interesting looking. We first dropped off our bags at our trendy hostel. Walking around the city, I felt like we were in a little town. Nathan and I looked around, and became attracted towards a castle on top of a hill – Castelo de Sao Jorge, an icon of Portugal. But first, we went to what we were really here in Portugal for – the custard tarts, Portuguese style, Pasteis de Nata (Nathan learned how to say it before we arrived).

We promised to eat at least 3 of these per day: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Oh, and expect more pictures of these below.

After satisfying the urge for the pastries, we meandered up the hill towards the castle with no map. I mean, it was at the top of the hill so we figured we’d reach it just by going upwards. As we got higher and higher, the view of the city became more and more intriguing. The castle itself didn’t really spark much interest for me, but the views of the city were awesome and unbeatable. It felt like the Peak in Hong Kong.

Capital of Portugal, but it looked like a town to me.

After we left, we ate an Portuguese-Indian restaurant. Tasted like regular Indian food to me. That night, we joined the hostel pub crawl, which was in essence us following one of the guys who worked at the hostel up to a bar area on a hill which was fittingly called Barrio Alto (means higher area/district). We got some of the local beer called Super Bock, which was recommended by my girlfriend. Actually, none of the bars we went to served any other kind of beer. It was pretty damn good beer and not too heavy, a few notches above Busch Light in my invisible beer ratings book. We got to meet some of the people in our hostel, who were from all over. Sweet night.

Next day, we took a modern tram to Belem, an area which had a monastery and apparently the best custard tarts in Lisbon. We got some barbecue for lunch (ribs, of course for me), and resisted the urge to get the custard tarts and headed for the monastery first. We entered a free area first, the church part of the monastery, which was, well a church, albeit a damn nice one. Next we found out that the cloisters area required getting a ticket. 6 Euros for Adult, and Free for students. Everyone, remember to bring your student card to Europe. I went in by myself, did a quick stroll, and came back out. Time for some pasteis de nata.

Later that day, we randomly took a tram because Nathan wanted to just see what being on tram on hills was like. Turned out to be a fun experience and I felt like a little kid on a rollercoaster. Well, a tame rollercoaster. Night came soon after, and we got a bottle of wine (Nathan loves his wine), and we had a more chill night.

6 Euros to walk around in circle. Well, a square. Obviously I told Nathan not to waste his money.

Modern tram and Monastery all in one picture. And an ad for Coca Cola.

Told you these were coming. Crispy on the outside, and warm and custard-y in the inside.

Who knew public transportation could be fun?

Sintra

On the recommendation by fellow hostel-ers, Nathan and I took a day trip 45 minutes north by train to a town where the Monarchy used to take their summer holidays. We went to the remnants of an Islamic/Arabic castle on a hill (Castelo dos Mouros), the summer palace of a king (Palacio da Pena), and lastly a historically rich family’s mansion with a humongous garden (Quinta da Regaleira). A lot of hiking was done – the castle and palace were both on a hill. Very nature-y and tranquil area – well it’d have to be or else the kings and queens wouldn’t be going there to hang out I suppose.

Like I said, a lot of hiking was done.

The summer palace of a king - looked kinda like a fortress on the outside – but inside (couldn’t take photos) was a very homey place.

The mansion and its garden. The garden is much bigger than this photo shows and is like a small little wonderland in itself, with caves, watch towers, gardens, tennis courts etc. Felt like I was in an amusement park.

Seville

Nathan and I took an overnight bus from Lisbon to Seville, arriving at 4am in the morning. We sat in a park until the hostel opened – I watched Weeds on my computer to pass the time. Fun times. This is getting to be a long post so I’ll keep Seville to photos. Anyways, neither Nathan and I found Seville to be a terribly exciting city – with only Alcazar (ALLLLCAZAAAAR as I would say to Nathan), a humongous fortress/palace, and the cathedral of Seville being really notable.