Después de La Pascua

After a daytrip to Madrid and Toledo, a week in Lisboa, Portugal and Easter weekend in Granada, I´ve collected lots of pictures and stories to share. The picture to the left is a view of the ancient city of Toledo, a historically important city during the rule of the Muslim caliphate in Spain, where Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together. Kaela and I rode a sweet little Zoco-tren along the outskirts of the city...a mode of transportation that reminded me a lot of the train rides at the Milwaukee County Zoo-but on a much bigger scale! We also toured two of the last three remaining synagogues in Spain, located in Toledo. The other, which I have already visited, is located in Córdoba. After a day in Toledo, we spent the night before our flight to Portugal in a roomy two-bedroom hostel in Madrid.

Arriving in Portugal was a bit odd, as there was no type of security to pass through and I didn´t even have to show my passport! I suppose traveling from Spain is much different than arriving from the United States but it was still an intersting experience. The picture on the right is a view at the top of a long lawn, looking down into the city center. You can also see the Castle of Sao Jorge at the top of the hill on the left-hand side and the river Tagus below, that flows into the Atlantic. The city was really vibrant and more touristy than I was expecting, but the people there were friendly and helpful. We went out for a traditional Portuguese dinner the first night and probably spent more time trying to translate the menu and attemping to order than actually eating. Our waiter helped us with the language barrier by bringing out a platter of fresh (raw) fish to demonstrate was was available for dinner that night! And when half the table ordered chicken for dinner, we were informed that there was only one available and that we would have to order something else...I guess I never really thought that restaurants would run out of something like chicken but it does make sense that fish would be their most popular dish, as they are situated right on the water.

Lisboa consists of several different barrios that offer unique sights and experiences. My favorite place we visited during the week was the barrio closest to our hostel, called Alfama. This is the oldest disctrict of Lisboa and derives from the Arabic word Al-hamma, meaning fountains or baths. Here we hiked up the steep and twisty streets to visit a street market, admired the National Pantheon (an overpowering building that was situated almost directly above our hostel location) and several historical churches. The Castle of Sao Jorge is also in the Alfama and we had a fun time taking in the amazing view from the towers and pretending to fire the cannons from the castle walls. The Alfama was also where we went out for dinner to a restaurant that offered Fado, a traditional emotionally-charged musical performance in Portugal that consists of a singer/singers and guitar accompaniment. It was quiet an experience, as our waitress, hostess and even the guy who had to make a fish-run to replenish the kitchen performed-and were all phenomenal singers.

We also toured Sintra, a beautiful city only about 30 minutes from Lisboa by train. Although we accidently hopped on the wrong train (due to poor communication at the ticket window) we were eventually pointed in the right direction by the ticket-checker on the train going the wrong way (who, by the way, had to write notes on the backs of our tickets explaining that we wanted to get to Sintra and to allow the punched tickets to be valid for our second attempt navigating the railway). We finally arrived in Sintra after noon. Despite our rough start, we had plenty of time to tour the Palacio de Pena as well as the Muslim Castle that was "probably" built in the 8th century, according to the not-very-informative sign posted near the entrance. The castle walls reminded me a bit of the Great Wall of China images I have seen, but on a much smaller scale! Scaling them were a challenge but the view made it all worth while.

My favorite stop in Portugal was our daytrip to Belém, a small city just outside of downtown Lisboa. It has the famous Torre de Belém that we encountered on just about every postcard we saw, as well as their famous pastries...yum! This was also an important site for the famous Portugal explorers such as Prince Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama. It was a perfect day for sight-seeing from the tops of these monuments and for sitting in the grassy park (something I really miss here in Spain) for lunch. Riding back to our hostel in an old streetcar was also fun, although not as spacious or smooth as the public bus system. Since we took our pastries to go, we had a little treat from Belém that evening after dinner. Now I´m looking into the cost of ordering and shipping these treats back home...for future reference :) All in all, the trip to Portugal was stressful at times, due to an unexpected visit to the U.S. Embassy and transportation bloopers, but Kaela and I still had a great time touring such a diverse and world-influenced city.

I´ve posted a few pictures from my weekend in Granada during Semana Santa on the upper right. The procession I saw on Saturday began at the doors of the Alhambra and made its way throughout the city, ending up at the Catedral. I enjoyed the processions on Sunday because they represented the resurrection of Jesus and there was also an amazing float of Mary that contained over 100 lit candles. The traditional wardrobes worn by the processioners are a bit repulsive because they simbolize something much different in the United States but it was really neat to see such an elaborate display of a religious celebration within the very city I live in now.

That´s it for now...check below for more pictures from my trip to Portugal. Ciao!