Europe, Sept, 2010 - Portugal

Europe, Sept, 2010 - Portugal

From Cáceres the night train took us to Lisbon, where we awoke a few miles east of the city along the broad estuary of the Rio Tejo.  Our hotel, the Amazonas (the H on the map), was in the Barrio Alto, a modern area a few miles north east of the historic city center, the Baixi, or lower city.   Fortunately it was half way between a subway stop and a mall, where we found a laundry and got our clothes washed.

The subway took us to the city center, now a pedestrian mall.

This was the Barrio Baixi, rebuilt after the earthquake and tsunami of 1755 which destroyed most of the lower city.  A few blocks away is the Elevador da Gloria, (below) a funicular that links downtown to the Bairro Alto district, on a cliff above.

 From the top we had a great view of the city.  On the hilltop you can see the profile of the Castelo Sãn Jorge.

And the Praça dos Restauradores, commemorating the restoration of Portuguese independence in 1640 after 60 years of Spanish rule.

 From the top, we walked down again to Praça da Figueira, the Square of the Fig Tree.  We saw the statue of King Joao I, but no fig trees.

 

But we found the trolley stop and took a trolley up the hill to the castle. 

 

The trolley let us out at a terrace with a great view of the eastern part of the city. 

  

Higher up, we entered the castle, originally built by the Romans in the 6^th century, and modified by the Visigoths, Moors, and the Christian King Afonso Henriques who captured it in 1147.  

 

 

At the entrance is a statue of King Afonso Henriques, founder of the Portuguese nation (and presumably, Alejandra’s ancestor)

An attractive (and expensive) restaurant now occupies Afonso’s palace.

Crossing the moat to the entrance to the main portion of the castle.

The towers and walls are most of what remains.

But the view is great.  Below is the river front Terreiro do Paço or "the palace's square" where the royal palace stood before the earthquake, and in the distance is the 25^th of April bridge, named after the 1974 coup that let to the end of the Portuguese dictatorship and to democracy.

Lisbon’s other historic district is Belem, port of departure for the Portuguese explorers of the age of discovery, west of the city center in the area of the bridge.  We took a trolley to visit it one evening.  Below is Jeronimos Monastery, built in 1502.  Vasco da Gama's tomb is inside.

The western wing of the monastery is now a maritime museum, unfortunately closed when we visited.

And south of the gardens, along the river front is the Discoveries Monument, built in 1960 to commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator.

 Leaving Lisbon, we took the bus south, over the bridge, heading toward Faro.

 

The landscape south of Lisbon is typical Mediterranean, low hills covered with shrubs and small trees, and the occasional olive or citrus grove, or vineyard; much like parts of Southern California or Central Chile. 

Faro, in the far south is a favorite vacation spot for the English, with attractive beaches, abundant golf courses and resorts.  Our hotel turned out not to be in Faro as it seemed to be listed by Expedia, but some 17 km. away.  Careful reading would have prevented the error, but that didn’t help when we got off the bus.  After looking unsuccessfully for a local hotel (all expensive and full) we took a bus and then a taxi to our Hotel, the Ria Plaza Resort, in the middle of nowhere. 

Hotel, pool, restaurant, bar, tennis, golf: pleasant but not especially Portuguese. Understandably popular with British vacationers.  We lunched on club sandwiches and beer and enjoyed the rest from frenzied tourism.

 And the next afternoon returned by taxi to the bus station in Faro, and took our bus west, across the Guadiana River into Spain and on to Seville.

Next:  Andalucía

Europe, Sept. 2010 - Madrid and Cáceres

This photo was taken on our next to last full day in Europe; we flew out at 7:30 AM two days later, ready to be home again after a month of hotels, restaurants, sore feet and…  a wonderful vacation.

We arrived in Madrid on September 3, roughly 24 hours after leaving home, and took a taxi to our hotel (H on the map) three blocks from the Puerta del Sol, the center of Madrid.  The Palace is to the left, and the Prado is at the lower right.

This is the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol, presently decorated by this huge movie ad, which is reportedly so profitable that renovation of the underlying building is progressing at a very leisurely pace.

 

  

The plaza and nearby pedestrian streets are full of elegant (and not so elegant) shops and are abundantly populated by fellow tourists and the accompanying pickpockets. We avoided one clumsy attempt, the only one on the trip.

Souvenirs are available.

The Plaza Mayor, lined with cafes, was our first stop after the Puerta del Sol. A little jet lagged, we slept through breakfast, but made up for it with a few tapas and a little wine.

Then, we walked down the Carrea San Jeronimo to this lovely fountian in the Plaza Canovas del Castillo….

…and from there to El Prado, where we saw the (depressing) El Grecos.  We soon adjourned to the fresh air and sunshine.

The first, and most impressive, of the many castles we visited was Madrid’s Palacio Real.  The rooms are lavish beyond description, financed with the incredible wealth Spain extracted from its American colonies.

Photos were not allowed inside, but Wikipedia provides us with some:

 

The throne room                                                   

The armory

The Almudena Cathedral, across the plaza from the palace.

After lunch we went to the Campo del Moro, the 19^th century gardens behind the palace where Muslim ruller Alí Be Yusuf camped with his army in 1109.

And where I was reminded that abundant wine with lunch is probably not a good idea if an afternoon of walking is planned.

And walking is what we did most in Madrid; to El Prado, to the palace, to the train station…  and it became obvious that I needed a better pair of walking shoes.

And we went dancing at a club for adultos mayores near our hotel.  Unfortunately, there are no pictures.  We also ate.  

And we spent most of a day buying train tickets.  We planned to take the train to Lisbon, but wanted to travel during the day and stop somewhere along the way. But where?  There was a potential stop at Cáceres, capital of Extramadra. We found an internet outlet in the train station and looked it up.  I seemed a good choice, a city of a little less that 100,000, founded by the Romans in 25 BC. Wikipedia said:  “The old town (Ciudad Monumental) still has its ancient walls; this part of town is also well known for its multitude of storks' nests. The walls contain a medieval town setting with no outward signs of modernity.” 

The Extremadura landscape was dry, treeless and brown, but gradually became forested with trees that looked like oaks and in some areas were planted in rows.  We thought they might be cork oaks, and soon received confirmation, as we saw trees from which the bark had been removed revealing a reddish inner bark.

 

                                                        

Plains of Extramadura 

Cork oaks

We arrived at our hotel in Cásares around noon, and headed up hill to the old city, where we had comida (AKA lunch, but the main meal of the day) on the plaza mayor (lower left). 

The plaza was full of open air restaurants, all offering a 10€ menú del dia, but restoration of the plaza floor was underway which limited the view.

 

 We ate at several, our first Spanish meals meant for Spaniards and not necessarily for tourists.  The restaurants were very popular, almost full on a weekday.  (Food from the trip gets its own blog, see Eating Iberian). 

 The food was simple and good, a first course of gazpacho, salad, pasta, etc., followed by a second course of fish, calamari, or pork in various forms, with bread, house wine and dessert.  Here I have a pork stew, which came with fired potatoes.

From the Plaza, we enter the city through the main gate.

And proceed thought narrow streets to the center.

Alejandra went inside the Iglesia de San Francisco Javier and climbed to the top, where she took a photo of this stork’s nest.

The plaque says:  “Palace of the Toledo Moctezumas. This building symbolizes the mixing of European and American Cultures.  It was rebuilt in the 16^th century by don Juan de Toledo Moctezuma (descendant of don Juan Cano de Saavedra, and Isabel de Moctezuma, daughter of the Aztec emperor) and doña Mariana de Carvajal and Toledo.”   Extremadura was the home of many of the conquistadores who conquered Mexico and Peru.

 

At the door of the Palacio Episcopal Alejandra met the caretaker.  Inside the doorway to the house on the left, occupied by a descendant of the Spanish nobility, we saw this patio. 

Twenty-first century Cáceres is also a pleasant city.  This parkway goes through the center of the business district.

 

From Cáceres, the only train to Lisbon left at 1:00 AM, but we arranged to spend half a night in our hotel, and left relatively rested.

Next:  Portugal