The first stop on this 3 week trip is Lisbon. We were lucky enough to be invited to stay at the Four Seasons Ritz hotel and the Sales Director, Joao met us upon arrival and showed us this beautiful hotel. We were exhausted after the long travel day so we decided to grab a quick dinner near the hotel and landed on a little Italian place with great reviews and boy were we glad, some of the best pizza we have had. Early night because tomorrow we are going hard to see Lisbon!
Day 2 we had an amazing breakfast in the Veranda restaurant at the hotel and then off to site see. We started off at Castillo San Jorge, Since the 12th century, the castle has variously served as a royal palace, a military barracks, home of the Torre do Tombo National Archive, and now as a national monument and museum. W then caught the famous Tram 28 that winds through old Lisbon and got to see much of the city. For lunch we went to Time Out Market which is a huge hall of all kinds of food, we had soft shell crab and garlic roasted shrimp, yum! The desert that Lisbon is famous for is the custard tart and oh boy are they good! We finished off our site seeing the the Tower Belém that was completed in 1519 and served as the gateway to the city, we were unable to go inside as the waves were too high. Out last stop was the Padrão dos Descobrimentos which is the monument to the navigators which was built in 1960 and a quick stroll along the Tagus river next to the bridge that looks very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge. A quick nap and then we ere excited to spend our evening the Mesa de Frades which is the most famous Fado restaurant. The doors open at 8:30 and we were feed great food and lots of wine..the music did not even begin until 10:30 and then a serious of various mandolin players and singers proceeded to play until we left at 1:00am. It was crowded and late but overall an amazing experience. Tomorrow we are off to Santa and the coast towards Nazare.
As always, fantastic pictures of a fantastic time in Lisbon! Wow!