LIsbon Portugal

Michael and I had the opportunity to take a trip to Lisbon for 5 days. My folks were loving enough to take care of the children, which allowed for our first couples vacation since before Harrison was born. Michael was presenting at a Play conference, which gave us the reason to go.

We stayed at the Hotel Zenit Lisboa, which provided a nice location for sightseeing and the conference. We met 2 of MIchael's colleagues and their spouses there including David and Leslie Kuschner and Jim and Karen Johnson and their son Clayton.

The first night we had dinner with David and Leslie at Cervejaria Ribadouro, which was a wonderful seafood restaurant. We found the waiters brought bread, cheese, and butter to the table, which if one was from the US they might think it is complementary, but it is not. FYI It is not expensive, but the restaurant is not going to tell you this information. We shared a large platter of a crab legs, lobster, prawns, crawfish, clams, etc for us to share. No side dishes just a little rice and Lots of protein.

The first morning Leslie and I were able to explore, have breakfast, and do a little shopping before lunch when we met up with our hubbies. We went into a pastry shop for breakfast and turned around inside to see this pigeon standing right behind us eating a pastry off the floor and nobody did anything about it. It made us laugh.

These funny ladies were in one of the shop windows. I don't think the shop lady liked having me take a photo of it.

The first afternoon we went to Belem to see the Monument to the Explorers (Christopher Columbus) and the Belem Tower on the Tagus River. Unfortunately Leslie was pick pocketed on a crowded bus, but at least it was only a pair of $2.50 reading glasses.
The is a photo of the Monestary, but we did not actually go into it.



Take note of the bridge...it is supposed to be designed to look like the Golden Gate bridge and lo and behold it does.



The conference had a traditional Portuguese dinner for those attending the conference and their spouses. They had chicken, sausages, pork, and sardines grilled outside. Inside there was salad, rice, and a large assortment of desserts. FOr entertainment there were 4 different groups playing music which allowed for LOTS of dancing all evening...7:30pm until midnight. Late night. Even MICHAEL got up to dance with me for several songs. Jim Johnson is quite the dancer as he spent a lot of time on the dance floor. This was a wonderful evening!




Friday morning Leslie and I had the opportunity to see Michael and David present at the conference. We were going to bring little signs that said "GO Michael and GO David", but we ran out of time. They only had 20 minutes each to talk, so it went quick. It was very interesting to listen to the discussion of Play, the history of play, ideas for how to get it better incorporated into the classroom.



In the afternoon we headed to Alfama to look at Tile stores and walk up to the castle. Leslie and I enjoyed the shopping much more than the men did. Leslie really appreciated having me around as I enjoyed shopping as much as she does not to mention shopping is not her husband's favorite activity.






Dinner was Portuguese again...Bar Grand' Elias. We ate with the Kuschners, Johnsons, and 2 other people from the conference. A woman from UK and a man from Brussels. 4 of us had spaghetti, but we were pretty sure it was veal. Not a great meal, but interesting. Leslie and I decided we did not need portuguese food on Saturday.

Saturday there was no conference, so we decided to go to Sintra. lt was about a 40 minute train ride.

Upon arrival we quickly found out that it was a little bit colder in Sintra. That would have been good information to know before we left. Leslie and I were in charge of planning the excursion. We picked the Pena Palace. We started walking and soon realized that it was a little bit further than initially thought.



Please take note of the lovely Portugal Sweatshirts in the following photos. All 4 of us purchased them to keep somewhat warm.



We got lucky and were able to catch a bus for the last 1/2 mile to the top. I'm pretty sure we walked about 2 miles when we caught the bus. The Pena Palace was a summer house for the Queen and King in the late 1800s until 1910 when they fled due to a revolt. It was beautiful.










I almost forgot...David and Leslie went on a tour of the city the day before we arrived, which provided them with a bus pass for 24 hours. Well...they turned out to be magic bus passes and they worked all week. It made us all giggle.

That night we had dinner with the Johnsons and the Kuschners again at a lovely Italian restaurant, Mezzaluna. The food was amazing!

Everyone left the next day. It was such a wonderful vacation! Michael traveled extremely well. It was really nice to make some new friends, but it is too bad David and Leslie live in Cincinnati.