Leaving Lisbon

(It's possible you've noticed by now that I'm also overly fond of alliterative titles. Again, apologies.)

We were only there two days, but we did and saw so much that it seemed much longer. After our action-packed first day, we tried to take day two a little slower, but wound up running around nearly as much. We started the day with a walking tour organized by our hotel, which took us all around the neighbourhood and showed us quite a few interesting and unique spots. 

After walking for three hours, we had lunch at a little Portuguese place recommended by our tour guide, where I accidentally ordered pork liver. It was actually pretty tasty, but my brain wouldn't let me get over the fact that it was liver, so I didn't quite finish it... I'm not sure why I can't get over that! I must need more practice. 

We were bagged after the walk, so we headed back to the hostel and did some planning and booking for the next few nights. And I may also have taken a nap. That's becoming a common theme in my days so far. I'm not sure if it's mild jet lag, or exertion, or the fact that I may be coming down with a bit of a cold, but I've been down for at least a little while every afternoon. 

After the planning session, and my nap, we struck out for tram number 28, aka "the most beautiful ride in the world". I was pretty underwhelmed until I realized I was looking in the wrong direction... There some incredible views to be had from the other side!

One of the views from the tram. 

Once we had completed "the most beautiful ride in the world" (and accidentally staying on too long so that we had to take the tram aways back into town), we visited the Castelo Sao Jorge. It's an old fortress dating to the 12th century, and it offers some truly gorgeous viewpoints of the city. The castle itself is pretty cool - you can walk around the walls almost completely, which was cool and also gave me some serious vertigo in a few places - but there is a total lack of the signage and information I'm used to in North American museums and exhibits, so it was a little confusing and less informative than I might have liked. Still totally worth it for the views though! 

Seriously stunning views from the Castelo. 

Cats all over the Castelo - there were at least ten. 

Views from inside the Castelo. 

The prettiest peacock. Just look at him! He's beautiful!

We're leaving Portugal today - I'm actually writing this from the bus out of the country! We've booked two nights in Seville next, followed by two nights in Granada, and then it's off to Morocco for about ten days. It's pretty busy, but there's do much we want to see and do it's best to keep moving!