I'm Moving!

Thank you Blogger!  Hello Wordpress.

I'm working on a new website, so soon, you will read about my trip this summer to Portugal, more Spain travel tips and more.  See you soon!

I'm the Barber of Seville!

I had reserved a car to drive from Lisbon to Seville.  The drive wasn't too far, maybe 4 hours or so, but the car was going to cost 600 euros to rent, plus another 600 euro charge for the one-way trip.  I found a last minute deal online to fly for just one hour and 250 euros,  Sweet.  I'll take that.

I booked a Viator tour that would take us first to Maria Luisa Park where there was a beautiful tile monument from 1913 dedicated to Migul de Cervantes. 

Tiles in Maria Luisa Park depicting scenes from the works of Cervantes.

After that we headed to a dinner flamenco show.  Flamenco is a genuine southern Spanish art form. It exists in three forms: el cante (the song), el baile (the dance), and la guitarra (the guitar playing). Gypsies are often credited with the "invention" of flamenco, but it also was influenced by the Arabs, the Jews, and the local Andalusians.

 

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Lisbon!

Lisbon is a big, but beautiful city.  We began the day by going to the Berardo Museum

Little ducky family

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). This monument depicts 33 of the famous explorers including: Magellan (the first person to navigate the globe) and Vasco da Gama (discoverer of the sea route to India) and St. Francis Xavier.

Berardo Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Big Chagall tapestry

Jerónimos Monastery The monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the Portuguese Late Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sintra & The Moorish Castle

The next day we took the train to Lisbon and headed out to Sintra, another USESCO World Heritage Site, due to its abundance of 19th century Romantic architectural monuments. 

We didn't have a real plan for Sntra.  We just started walking in the direction of the Moorish Castle, and before we knew it, we had hiked all the way up to the top of the hill.

The Castle of the Moors was constructed around the 8th century during the time of Muslim Iberia or al-Andalus as it was also called.  This time was the peak occupation of the Muslims in Spain and Portugal between 711 and 1492.  In 1147, the castle was surrendered voluntarily to Christian forces.

Which way is the way back down?  It must have taken 45 minutes just to walk back down the hill. 

Moorish Castle from the bottom of the hill.