Our first day in Lisbon we visited most of the major sights. First we walked through the hilly city to the Castelo de Sao Jorge and then headed over to the Cathedral of Lisbon. The Cathedral had an eery dark feeling to it. It definitely puts the fear of God in your soul. After that, we took a bus to another side of the city and stumbled upon the Monument to the Discoverers and then the Tower of Belem to look out into the Atlantic Ocean and see a panoramic view of Lisbon. We then headed over to the Monastery of Lisbon and checked out the Basilica as well as some other open areas of the Monastery. Located inside of the Basilica is the body of Vasco de Gama, who is known as the first explorer to sail around the southern tip of Africa to get to India. That was pretty remarkable to see the burial place of one of the most famous explorers in history. After that we checked out a few other museums, one of which was of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. It literally smelled like a rotting corpse in there due to the real mummies being preserved in the museum. After this we got some dinner and retired back in our hostel for the next day in Portugal.

The next morning we woke up for a day trip to Sintra, which is a small town about an hour away from Lisbon by train. We then took a bus from the train station in the main part of the city up to the mountainous forest area of Sintra. Just try to imagine a huge bus trying to maneuver its way up a windy and narrow road in the mountains while trying to avoid oncoming traffic. Let me say this, bus drivers in Europe are absolutely crazy. We first stopped at the old Moorish Castle. Remember that the Muslims used to have complete control of the Iberian Peninsula for 7 centuries. It is amazing how back in the 8th century these people were able to build magnificent structures around a dangerous and rocky mountainous terrain. It was just phenomenal walking though the castle. In the ticket booth of the castle was a vending machine, and inside of it was Pepsi Twist. I thought to myself, Pepsi Twist hasn't been available in the United States since the early 2000's, I had to buy myself one and it was delicious. After walking through the castle, we made our way up the mountain some more to visit the highest point on the mountain and the Pena National Palace. It was so ornate with hundreds of different rooms. At times I imagined what it would be like to live in a palace as the king of a nation. Later we made our way down the mountain and roamed around the city of Sintra before returning to Lisbon for the night.

When we returned to Lisbon for dinner, we sat down at a traditional Portuguese restaurant for an authentic Fado (Fate in Portuguese) concert and dinner. Fado is a certain style of music which contains a singer, a Portuguese guitar player, and a classical guitar player. We each payed around 25 euros for a meal and a traditional Fado show. It was a very authentic experience. We were crammed into a small little restaurant while the waitresses served us food in the midst of traditional Portuguese music. The music was great, the singers were great, and the food was great. Overall, it was just the perfect way to end our trip to Portugal.

I really enjoyed my trip to Portugal. It isn't as touristy as Rome or Madrid and had a more authentic European feel to it. The month of October has been busy as far as travels go, but I never know when I'll be able to come back to Europe so I have to make the most of it. I can't believe it has already been almost 2 months in Europe. I am so grateful to be experiencing this. You can see pictures of my Portugal trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/djruemenapp.