Long weekend in Lisbon

For the second May bank holiday we went to Lisbon in Portugal. It wasn't one of our favourite cities - a bit run-down, lots of graffiti and cooler than we expected (unfortunately it turned out that London was hotter than Portugal that weekend!) but still nice to get away and see a new country.

MC getting eaten by a frog in the park.
The lovely wee town of Sintra, about 40 minutes from Lisbon.
Pena Palace in Sintra, very cool-looking castle on top of a mountain.
Turrets and countryside.
The palace again.


We walked up the hill to the Palace, this was probably one of John's "shortcuts".

Nice view once MC finally climbed to the top of the rocks.
Sintra with castle on the top of the hill.
Pastel de Nata (Portugese custard tarts) from the famous Antiga Confeitaria de Belem in Lisbon. Their recipe is 170 years old and apparently only known to three chefs at a time! So yummy!
The Monument to Discoveries (commemorating Portugese explorers like Magellan and Vasco da Gama) overlooking the River Tagus.
The impressive sprawling Jeronimos monastry in Belem.
Rossio square, Lisbon.
Umm I think you should put that guidebook away John?
One of Lisbon's famous rickety old trams in the Alfama district.
Narrow streets looking out onto the coast in Lisbon's Alfama district.
Up on the hill in Alfama with a view over Lisbon.

Only three weeks now till we leave for NZ, we have one night in KL and four nights in Langkawi on the way over and then a week and a half in NZ itself - will be sad to swap the glorious UK summer (!!) for a chilly winter but very excited to be heading home for a wee while and looking forward to Chris and Erins' wedding!