It was a rather eventful morning in the apartment on Avenue dos Estados Unidos da América, unfortunately! We woke up, had a little coffee and breakfast, and suddenly... Kern comes downstairs in a mask. He announces he is "Po Po for the Co Co." Yes. You read that right. He was positive for Covid. WHAT. THE. HECK. Are you kidding me? Covid ruins yet ANOTHER trip? One that we purposely moved to July (from February) since we were worried about Covid? I'm OVER this stupid pandemic!
We tried to make the best of it, of course. The remaining six of us decided to visit the Alfama neighborhood and the Castle of Saint George. Kern and Dorothy stayed behind, but we were worried about them all day. Thankfully, Lisbon is beautiful and can help take your mind off of the crazy pandemic world!
The Alfama neighborhood *might* be my favorite. It's very hilly so we waited for the 12E tram to take us up to the Castle of St. George at the top!
Only... it doesn't drop you directly off at the entrance so you still need to go up some fairly steep hills. Doesn't it feel like some of the buildings are just built on top of other buildings?
Hey look! Lisbon made two perfect doors for Todd and Grant! This makes Grant look *almost* as tall as Todd. SOON!
We paused to look at our directions up to the castle when I noticed this. Ok! Men only, of course because if women were to squat here, everyone could see everything!
We eventually got to the top and there was a long line to get in. I took the kids to get a snack (some Pastéis de Nata of course!) and by the time they were done, it was almost time to purchase our tickets into the castle. Look at this little cutie in this beautiful garden area! This terrace was really pretty, and had some awesome views.
Well isn't that a sight to behold!
Just a slightly different view, more into the city. All of the orange roofs remind me of Croatia.
This guy is one of the first things you see when you scan your ticket and enter the castle property. He is King Afonso Henriques of Portugal. He ruled from 1139 to 1185 and was actually the FIRST King of Portugal, having freed the land from the Moors in the Second Crusade.
On the property of the castle, you can visit the ruins of Royal Palace of the Alcáçova, which were constructed around 1305. Vasco de Gama was received by King Manuel I in this castle after his exploration and "discovery" of the sea route to India in the very late 1400s - however, the construction of the Ribeira Palace down in Commerce Square very early in the 1500s meant this palace no longer had a purpose so it fell into a state of disrepair. Of course, BOTH the Ribeira Palace and what remained of the Royal Palace of the Alcáçova were eventually destroyed by the 1755 earthquake, as was much of Lisbon.
While royalty hasn't lived in this palace for over 600 years, there are some very regal peacocks who strut around the gardens.
In fact, this guy started stalking Natalie and Lynne!
On the way in, we read that they are in a very protective phase right now, as many of them have younglings. So Lynne and Natalie tried to stay somewhat still and not startle the bird (while also trying to inch away from it!) Peacocks can be mean and this one is eyeballing my baby girl!
My cutie was able to escape the terrorist peacock so I took her picture in a defunct doorway at the Royal Palace of the Alcáçova.
Look out, Nat! That fish is going to eat your hand! That's actually restored fish fountain at the Royal Palace of the Alcáçova. Why does that fish have what look like human teeth??
There is a small museum that you can go into where they show examples of items they had found during the excavation of the castle and the former palace. Grant thought this donut looking item was very funny.
There was also a lot of really pretty tile work that they had found, as well as coins from the 11th century, animal bones from the 11th and 12th centuries and floor tiles from the 15th and 16th centuries.
I always think that I have some sort of sign on my forehead that says, "Please, talk to me." I was looking at this large jug (weirdly thinking about the Japanese art of Kintsugi) when an older guy came up to me and started telling me how most of this stuff was "worthless junk" which he followed up with a story about how this was an oil jug - but not one you would keep in your house. This jug was one they would use on boats (you can't see it here but there is a pointed bottom to this jug for placing it in a holder on the ships.) I think it's funny that he thought this was all worthless junk, because I was totally fascinated by it all. I think that there is value in that these items help us learn how people lived. This urn (which the placard says is actually a wine jug, not an oil jug as the gentleman told me) was from the 2nd century BC!
I haven't seen a hibiscus in years!
The kids stopped for some ice cream (and we listened to the not-so-soothing sounds of peacocks yelling at each other) before we headed over to the actual Castle of Saint George.
The Castle of Saint George is an active excavation site. You can't go in this particular area, but you can look from above and nearby at three different excavation sites. In the back left, there are remnants from the Palace of the Counts of Santiago, one of the last inhabited palaces left from the Royal Palace of the Alcáçova. This section was the ground floor of the east wing of the palace.
There are also archaeological remains from two other periods here. The first were various residential structures from the 7th through 3rd century BC (yes!) that were inhabited by people from the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and the other was a couple of rather large houses in a Moorish area from the 11th and 12th centuries which housed elite administrators.
After we toured the archaeological ruins, we went back to the castle to climb the towers and walls. Thankfully there isn't any water in this moat, otherwise the peacocks might be swimming in it!
KK, Lynne and Natalie decided to stay cool under the shady trees but the three of us decided to get sweaty and climb the walls.
There are some absolutely amazing views of the Alfama and the Baixa from the top of the tower!
Hello Lisbon!
MUCH of the castle went through a restoration process in the 20th century (late 1930s/early 1940s) because much of this area had been destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. While it's possible much of the castle didn't look like this, you can at least get a sense of how the past residents lived, and what they might have seen out of similar windows.
The visitors of the castle were very friendly but very hot and happy to have the shade of a tower.
More views from the restored walls of the Castle of Saint George.
Why hello down there!
This tree made me laugh. All by itself here, really.
Todd went ahead of us and climbed another section while we waited back to see if he noticed we were no longer with him!
Todd also took this picture of Grant where I was behind him and obviously not paying attention. Of course, Grant thought it was super creepy that it looked like I was putting a giant hand on the rock (even though that was his own hand!)
Ok, that's better. No creepy giant kid hands.
The Portuguese flag was flying high over the restored castle.
Did anyone know peacocks could fly? Because as we were leaving the castle, we spotted this fella who was VERY loud up here in this tall tree!
Naturally, just outside of the castle walls is a small statue of St. George. The castle was presented to the British Philippa of Lancaster by her husband King John I in 1387. St. George is the patron saint of England, hence why they dedicated the castle to him. (And they were, of course, Henry the Navigator's parents!)
We were hot and we were hungry, so we swung by a little tapas (surprise!) place for some pizza, snacks and beer.
The people next to us ordered some kind of flaming sausages. You apparently wait until you get the sausages to your liking and then you put out the flame. They would never allow this in America! This picture doesn't really do the flames justice!
Right next to our late lunch spot was a pretty tiled building. I love the tiles AND the windows! But why is the window on the bottom right so different from the three next to it??
I mean... well... I guess so.... (signed: BM hahahahaha!)
OOOOO buy me that!
We sort of accidentally stumbled upon the Miradouro de Santa Luzia on our way down to see the Lisbon Cathedral. It sits next to (duh) the Church of Santa Luzia where we saw this pretty tile work on the side of the building. This scene is a depiction of Alfonso Henriques capturing the Castle of Saint George in 1147.
The Church of Santa Luzia was originally built in the 12th century but was (shockingly) destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. It was rebuilt shortly after (and still stands today.)
But honestly, you really come to the Miradouro de Santa Luzia for the views!
There were beautiful trees and tile work all over the Miradouro!
My kiddos and Lynne particularly enjoyed the shade and the views.
He's pretty cute. 💕
The views are just amazing here - you can see the Church of Santo Estêvão to the right (closer to the water) and the larger National Pantheon peeking out over the buildings more to the left. That building is actually a mausoleum, housing some of the tombs of great Portuguese figures throughout history, such as navigators, poets, writers, politicians, Fado singers and even footballers. It used to be a church from the 1600s up until about 1916.
We got a kick out of the fact that someone lost two hats and a water bottle, perhaps when the breeze blew them off of the Miradouro de Santa Luzia!
Not far from the Miradouro de Santa Luzia is the Lisbon Cathedral. Unfortunately for us, it was closed when we visited on this particular day.
I think Kathleen was pretty excited about this find, too! We all though the wall of (fake) flowers was really lovely.
You might remember we visited Padua in northern Italy a few years back. When you think about St. Anthony, you really only think about his relationship with Italy since he died there - but he was actually born RIGHT HERE in Lisbon!
You can go down to the crypt where St. Anthony was actually born back in 1195. I totally joke that St. Anthony will be the first one to greet me at the pearly gates because I have lost so many things over the years, prayed to St. Anthony and then found each and every item I have ever lost! He's gonna be like, "Ah, it's you!" Ask Todd about losing his wedding ring for a solid couple of months back when Grant was a baby! We prayed to St. Anthony a lot and he eventually found it!
In 1982, even Pope John Paul II prayed right here in the same spot we were praying. Of course, he fervently prayed, but I only regular prayed.
The church itself was built in 1757, just after the big earthquake. You can see it literally sitting in the shadow of the Cathedral.
We were all tired and hot and ready to head back at this point, so we walked back to the Praça da Figueira. There were a lot of interesting things to see on the way! This is pretty much my travel motto.
Wait. Do you want to believe? Or do you really want to be live? What do you want to beli(e)ve in? Birds? Aliens? Birds that are aliens?
That's some Largo High School Packer tile right there. If you know, you know!
Pretty tiles on the façade of this building is so much better than dull, gray concrete.
We walked back to the Praça da Figueira via Rue da Madalena which sits sort of at the edge of the Alfama neighborhood.
I not only love the tile on this building, but also how the roof shingles frame the windows near the top of the building!
Back to the Praça da Figueira and our pal King John the first!
Tired feet heading back to the apartment on the metro after a long, hot day.
I got bit by something when I was in the apartment (maybe?) and it looked like this (or worse) for over a week! It was never very itchy, but it made my ankle swell.
Just kidding. You wanted to go to Sintra, but now you can't. Let's throw that on top of Kern's COVID diagnosis and that all just really stinks.
Well, the one good thing that happened was that the heat finally broke! We were able to open the windows to the apartment and enjoy some fresh air. When we got back, there was a note from Kern and Dorothy that they had deep cleaned the apartment and moved out, into a hotel. You guys. We have the best, most caring friends who seriously put all of US before themselves. It was such a kind gesture and was appreciated by all of us. We missed them though. The apartment just didn't feel the same without Kern's uproarious laughter and Dorothy's witty jokes!
One more day on our trip until we head home!
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