Lisbon, Portugal

Getting to Lisbon was a bit of a challenge as our flight from London to Lisbon was cancelled and there were no flights on British Airways for two days. This meant we would not only miss the one day we had planned to be in Lisbon ahead of our Gate 1 tour, but we would also miss the 1st day of the tour. We ended up purchasing new tickets on Lufthansa Air for the following day. So, we stayed the night in London and then flew the next day to Lisbon by way of Frankfurt, Germany. 

Day 1

We arrived in Lisbon by late afternoon and met our transfer to the Hotel Lumen. Rui, our tour manager, met us in the lobby to give us our room keys and pointed us in the direction of a quick meal before the start of the 7pm Gate 1 orientation meeting. After meeting the rest of our travel mates at the orientation meeting, Laura & Christopher, Monica & Greg, and Jim & I took Ubers to Rossio Square to begin exploring.

We covered a lot of ground this evening by seeing Rossio Square, walking over to Pink Street, walking to Commerce Square, and riding the Santa Justa Lift for the beautiful nighttime views of the city.

Rossio Square fountain

Pink Street with Laura and Monica

Commerce Square with the statue of King Joseph I and the Rua Augusta Arch

The Santa Justa Lift

The view of Rossio Square from the Santa Justa Lift

Day 2

This morning Gate 1 provided a Lisbon city tour with the first stop being the Edward VII Park which affords views over the boxwood hedging down to Pombal Square with more of the city in the distance. We continued with the bus tour past some of the sights we had seen last night including Rossio and Commerce Squares. Then we headed to the Belem section of the city along the Tagus River. We had time for pictures at the Belem Tower and The Monument of Discoveries. After the city tour concluded, we crossed the road from the Monument of the Discoveries to the Jeronimos Monastery which was constructed in the early 1500s in the Gothic Manueline style of architecture. The tile work inside was exquisite!

Edward VII Park

In front of the Belem Tower along the Tagus River

The Monument of the Discoveries

In the Jeronimos Monastery

Once finished in the Belem neighborhood, we took an Uber with Laura and Christopher to the town of Sintra for more exploring. We started at the colorful Pena Palace which is considered an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Later we walked from Pena Palace to the Moorish Castle which was built during the 8th and 9th centuries. 

At the Pena Palace

The Moorish Castle in Sintra

From the Moorish Castle, we hired a TukTuk to take us to the Quinta de Regaleira, another castle, this one with elaborate gardens and an Initiation Well. After walking down the spiral staircase of the well and wandering through the elegant palace, we headed back into the town of Sintra for dinner.

Quinta de Regaleira

The Initiation Well at Quinta de Regaleira

Looking up from the bottom of the well

The grounds of Quinta de Regaleira

Dinner in Sintra

To cram even more into our already full day, we took an Uber back into Lisbon to the Saint George Castle. It was fun exploring this site built in the 1st century BC that has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors before its conquest by the Portuguese in 1147. 

Saint George Castle

Views from nearby the castle

Tram 28