A weekend in Portugal

After our first week in Cambridge, we headed down to Lisbon, Portugal to visit with Jeremy's high school friend, Beau, and his family. It turns out I took about 300 pictures in just that one weekend, so I did my best to narrow it down for sharing here. Here are the highlights!

We started our weekend with a trip down to London, since that's where our flight to Lisbon originated. We got there REALLY early, so we decided to take in a few sights.

The first stop was Baker Street, which you probably recognize for housing a particular detective named Sherlock Holmes. They are REALLY into Holmes here, beginning with the Tube station.

This was the McDonald's where Holmes and Watson often took their lunch.

We didn't actually tour the museum - we had a lot of stuff with us, there was a long line, and it looked to be incredibly cheesy from the outside. We did make good use of our time in the Sherlock Holmes shop, however.

And I loved the security for the museum, too cute!

Since Regent's Park was nearby and it was a nice day, we walked through the park to take in the scenery.

Then we headed to the airport, where we of course took our mandatory self-portrait.

We got into Portugal late that evening, and began our sightseeing whirlwind the next day. Beau and Valerie were awesome hosts, planning every detail from seeing all the best sights to making us a picnic lunch, and translating everything from historical information to dinner menus. I know we wouldn't have seen a fraction of the things we saw without them, plus it's super fun to have another couple along while sightseeing. Thanks again, you guys!!

Here is a picture of the Moores' house in Quejias.

The Tower of Belem

Jeremy trying to enter a dungeon. Clearly, the Portuguese did not expect to keep any Danes captive.

The dungeon

On top of the Tower

Sitting in a battle turret

Isn't it pretty?

Beau and Valerie with their beautiful daughter Avery

The Monument of Discoveries - those are all Portuguese explorers except the one in the striped shirt in the front.

Mosteiro dos Jeronimos

This is Vasco de Gama's grave. You might remember him from your history textbooks.

The Moores heading to our picnic spot. I don't think they even knew I took this one but it was too cute to pass up!

These pastries are native to the area of Belem in Lisbon and are absolutely scrumptious.

Jeremy swears Avery is lighter than his usual backpack.

The view of Lisbon from St. George's Castle

St. George's Castle

Eating at "Restaurante Tipico" - that's right, a typical restaurant. These were steaks that we grilled on our own marble slabs.

Gorgeous beach sunset

Yes, that was all on our first full day in Lisbon. The next day, we headed out to Sintra. Our guidebook said that a Spaniard said something to the effect of "If you have traveled the world without seeing Sintra, you have not gone anywhere." I hope these pictures can convey at least a little of how true that statement is. Absolutely gorgeous. I can see why the Kings and Queens of Portugal decided to make it their summer home. One note - it gets pretty windy up on the mountain, so please ignore the crazy hair in these pictures!

Before we went out to Sintra, we stopped at an area called the Boca del Infierno, or the mouth of hell. It is named this because of the way the waves crash on to the rocks. As you can see, we went on a fairly calm day, and even then I could tell I wouldn't want to swim there. I can imagine that this would be a very scary place during a storm!

Our first stop in Sintra was the Moorish Castle.

Can you believe these views?

The Castle served as protection for the Pena Palace. This was the summer home of the Kings and Queens. It really was colorful, almost like something out of a cartoon. The furnishings inside are beautiful as well, but they don't let you take pictures so you'll just have to believe me.

Jeremy and Beau at Pena Palace

The other really neat thing about the Palace was the grounds that they kept. They had plants from all sorts of territories that the Portuguese had explored, and somehow it all worked together into a beautiful and cohesive whole.

This swan was a little peeved that we didn't bring any food for him.

I just had to add in a shot of the fish at the grocery store. They sell them whole. Yes, those are eels.

After two full days of sightseeing, we were ready for some relaxation. Beau and Valerie are missionaries so they went to church, but since the service was in Portuguese, we didn't go. Instead we spent the morning relaxing on the beach. I figure the beach is one of God's wondrous works, right? :)

Apparently there is a large segment of the Portuguese population that feels the same way...

PS - this is a European beach, so I would recommend not zooming in the picture TOO closely, or you might see a few of God's less wondrous works...

All in all, we had an awesome time!!

Look forward to our next post which will tell you all about our adventures during our second week here.