We only visited one museum in Portugal, which was a photography museum housed in an old prison. While we were disappointed in the low number of photos actually displayed, we enjoyed the architecture and the display of cameras.
We had several fun dining experiences in Porto, including eating dinner at this riverfront restaurant (the girls especially liked the playground next door), having lunch at a commune-style vegetarian restaurant and picnicking twice at a park overlooking the city.
Of course, no trip to Porto would be complete without a visit to the port wine cellars. The grapes are grown in the interior of the country, then brandy is added to stop the fermentation process. The fortified wine is then brought to Porto, hence the name Port, where it ages in oak vats (these giant ones at Graham’s hold 71,000 liters each!) Of course, we learn slowly, so we needed to tour several of the port cellars and try many ports to feel properly educated. Our favorite was the private tour we received at Graham’s followed by a fantastic view while tasting.
Not only do the wine cellars provide great entertainment and liquid nourishment, but their signs add some sparkle to photos after dark.
After another mad dash to the train station (we would have missed it if not for a very nice lady that led us to a taxi and interpreted for us), we hopped on a high-speed train and headed north to Porto. We stayed in the historic city center and spent much of the three days exploring the ancient alleys and churches, some of which were quite ornate with gold from Brazil. It was an especially colorful city as laundry was hung from windows everywhere.
On our last day in Lisbon, I took the girls to the Lisbon Oceanarium, which is Europe’s largest aquarium. It was built on a pier over water and is impressive both inside and out. Our favorite fish was this giant sunfish that can grow up to 11 feet long and 2,200 pounds. We met Jimmy in the afternoon and headed to the coastal town of Cascais in search of the Mouth of Hell, an ocean blowhole. Unfortunately, it was low tide so there was no blowing. Fortunately, there was a yummy bakery nearby, where we filled our bellies enough to allow us the time to find the perfect seafood restaurant for dinner.
We spent a day in downtown Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Since my sense of direction isn’t as good as Jimmy’s, I stopped by a tourist office to plot out a plan of where to visit instead of just aimlessly wandering. We started with going up 105 feet in an elevator built in 1900 that connects the lower part of town with the higher. We had OJ’s at the cafe at the top with the view above. We then visited those ruins, which are of a 14th century church damaged during the earthquake of 1755 and now house a small archaeological museum. After a sushi lunch, we visited Castelo de Sao Jorge, which was completely rebuilt in 1938. The highlight there was the camera obscura, where we were taken on a panoramic tour of the city while standing in a darkened room under a periscope.
The bus ride to Sintra was quite an adventure as we zoomed up the hills narrowly missing cars around every corner. After much debate (and a few tantrums), we found a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the main palace for lunch. Afterwards, we visited the 8th century Moorish Castle and the Palace of Pena from 1850. Both offered great views of the area and lots of sunshine.
