Changed course a little to go from the Baltics to the other side of the continent, Portugal is my second-to-last country before leaving Europe. Majority of my time in Portugal was spent in Lisbon, where land meets sea and Europe meets Africa. Approaching the end of this segment of the trip, I have allowed myself for some introspection on things I experienced in the past four months.
At times I hope I could have traveled slower. But to take advantage of the Schengen Borders Agreement, I had to make decisions whether to stay at one place longer or to move on to see other places that I wanted to see. Throughout the past four months there have always been constant readjustments and spontaneous decision-making. Overall, if I were to do this trip again, I would probably have given Couchsurfing a try to meet some locals. And would have put more efforts into learning basic phrases of the local languages – But there are so many so it is not easy to keep up!
Castle of the Moors, a hilltop medieval castle built by the Moors (from North Africa) in the 8th and 9th centuries.
@Sintra
25 de Abril Bridge, a suspension bridge connecting Lisbon and Almada. Because of its shape and coloring, it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. 25 de Abril Bridge was built by the American Bridge Company, which built the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate Bridge.
@Lisbon
Christ the King, a Jesus monument overlooking Lisbon located in Almada. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Prior to WWII, the bishops made a vow stating that if Portugal was spared from the war, a monument would be built over Lisbon. Portugal did not enter the war thus, this monument was built.
@Almada
Looking up the Initiation Well and its spiral stairway at Quinta da Regaleira.
@Sintra
Santa Justa lift.
@Lisbon
My 1st time seeing a medical emergency on a flight.
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Ever since I came to Europe in March, I have only taken a handful of flights. Because of the proximity of the European countries, I have been getting around mostly by buses and trains. But this time I was crossing Europe from Lithuania to Portugal, so a flight made more sense: I was to fly from Vilnius to Lisbon, stopping over at Amsterdam.
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As my Air Baltic flight was moving on the runway about to take off, I heard the lady sitting across the aisle from me panicking and trying to talk (in Dutch I suppose) to her daughter, probably in her 20s, sitting next to her. Her daughter’s face was completely pale with her eyes closed, not responding. The mom then started crying and screaming in English, “She is not breathing! Stop the flight!”. The flight attendants were able to flag the situation to have the pilot turn the plane around before it took off. Very soon the plane was back at the gate and medical team came onboard to escort the daughter and mom off the plane.
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When she was walked off the plane with assistance, she was awake so I guess she was okay. The flight took off half an hour later and I was able to catch my next flight to Lisbon at Amsterdam as scheduled.
@Vilnius
Castle of the Moors, a hilltop medieval castle built by the Moors (from North Africa) in the 8th and 9th centuries.
@Sintra
Castle of the Moors, a hilltop medieval castle built by the Moors (from North Africa) in the 8th and 9th centuries.
@Sintra
Castle of the Moors, a hilltop medieval castle built by the Moors (from North Africa) in the 8th and 9th centuries.
@Sintra
Walking some stone steps at Quinta da Regaleira.
@Sintra
Looking down the Initiation Well and its spiral stairway at Quinta da Regaleira.
@Sintra
11-hour overnight train ride from Lisbon Portugal to Madrid Spain. I could have flown but haven’t taken overnight train in Europe so I decided to give it a try – Interesting experience, but not very desirable seating arrangement: Seats facing each other. A guy next to me and a girl across, both in their 20s. I believe she is Australian, and he is probably Portuguese who speaks perfect English. None of us knew each other – We all got on the train at different stations; I thought it would just be a “peaceful” train ride where all of us would simply sleep through the night. Man was I wrong! This was just how the story started.
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Because of how the four seats were set up, there was not much leg room. After all 3 of us boarded at different times, there was still a vacant seat and we were trying to get comfortable. She started sitting side way putting her feet onto the vacant seat, while he did the same putting his feet on the same seat. Half an hour into the ride they started getting (overly) comfortable and had their legs over each other’s on the vacant seat. Then an hour passed and he decided to sit next to her on the vacant seat – Meanwhile, here I was, trying to get some sleep, while occasionally waking up to watch the “story” developed (well, I was sitting right there, pretty much “forced” to watch whatever was going on). A couple of hours later, they were already sleeping on each other’s laps and shoulders, occasionally whispering and kissing. I wondered, “Is that how guys pick up girls these days, on a train!?”
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Who said an 11-hour overnight train ride is boring? It can be entertaining if you just look around! For me, it was like watching a very long movie to see how the story unfolded. Imagine watching all 3 Lord of the Rings movies in one sitting, and when the credits for The Return of the King are showing, the train is still moving!
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There was only one thing missing: Popcorn.
@Lisbon
Portuguese custard tarts.
@Lisbon
Castle of the Moors. Since I came to Europe I have already broken two pairs of hiking shoes (not sure how that happened as my previous ones lasted for almost a decade). In preparation for the next segment of my backpacking journey, I decided to throw the rest of my fashion sense out of the way and go sandals 🙂
@Sintra
Fado singing at a fado bar.
@Lisbon
Can’t leave Lisbon without taking a tram.
@Lisbon
View from Sao Jorge Castle. Both the Christ Rei statue 25 de Abril Bridge can be seen – It is like putting Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco into one picture!
@Lisbon
View from Sao Jorge Castle. Both the Christ Rei statue 25 de Abril Bridge can be seen – It is like putting Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco into one picture!
@Lisbon
Santa Justa lift.
@Lisbon
Monument of the Discoveries, representing a romanticized idealization of the Portuguese exploration.
@Lisbon
Monument of the Discoveries, representing a romanticized idealization of the Portuguese exploration.
@Lisbon
25 de Abril Bridge, a suspension bridge connecting Lisbon and Almada. Because of its shape and coloring, it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. 25 de Abril Bridge was built by the American Bridge Company, which built the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate Bridge.
@Lisbon
25 de Abril Bridge, a suspension bridge connecting Lisbon and Almada. Because of its shape and coloring, it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. 25 de Abril Bridge was built by the American Bridge Company, which built the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate Bridge.
@Lisbon
Christ the King, a Jesus monument overlooking Lisbon located in Almada. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Prior to WWII, the bishops made a vow stating that if Portugal was spared from the war, a monument would be built over Lisbon. Portugal did not enter the war thus, this monument was built.
@Almada
neighborhood.
Green wine isn’t really green in color, but green as in “young”.
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Green wine is bottled quickly without spending time in tanks aging.
@Lisbon
Jeronimos Monastery.
@Lisbon
Alfama district, the only part of the city that survived the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
@Lisbon
