A big congratulations to Al who managed to back the winner of this years Melbourne Cup, with Americain taking out the big race.
Unfortunately my horses didn't gain a place :( Oh well, Al's money is my money etc etc... I think that's the way it goes when I don't win :)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Lisbon - Overseas trip part 3
From Madrid we travelled to Lisbon, Portugal where we would stay for 6 days. The point of the trip was really for a work conference, but we made sure plenty of sight seeing was included.
The weather was perfect, being in the mid to high 20s degrees. The first thing I can say about Lisbon was that everywhere I turned there was a photo opportunity. The coloured and tiled buildings were stunning. I wondered whether tiled buildings in Melbourne would have lasted the test of time (i.e. not being vandalised) like they had in Lisbon. The majority of people in Lisbon were tanned and thin. Al even started to get attracted to the grannies which was quite concerning. Initially I was confused about the weight of the portugese there, given the sweet food which included a lot of pastry. It wasnt long until I realised why they were thin however....there are many hills! Every pathway was coble stoned which helped set the scene of this old town.
Of course I have to mention the famous Portugese custard tarts. All of the raving and positive reviews are 100% accurate. I think the selling point to these tarts is the crisp pastry contrasting against the soft, mooshy custard. We managed to locate the famous Bakery in Belem which sells a range of baked goods along with Super Bock portugese beer. I mean....can you beat a bakery that not only sells the most beautiful tarts but really nice beer to wash it down with. Whilst in Balem we went to visit the Tor de Belem which is a military, castle like tower used back in the day to look out for incoming ships. It was one of the very few structures to survive the earthquake that hit Lisbon in 1755 in which the city collapsed. We also saw the Jeronimo which is an extremely old monastery. We tried to visit the Sao Jorge castle but got lost along the way among the little laneways. We did manage to stumble across a little outside cafe lookout which sold beer so we decided to stop there for a while and simply admire the castle from afar.
On the last night of our stay we managed to get into an old style Lisbon restaurant who had three Fado singers on that night. This was definitely a highlight for us. The food was fantastic, the singing was touching and emotive and the company (new friends we met over there) really enjoyable. Whilst walking along the cafe/restaurant district, known as, Alto Barrio, it was unique to see the tables out on the street located under laundry hung out by those living above the restaurants. Nothing like eating some paella with some jeans drying over your head :p
Our trip to Lisbon really was memorable and Im so glad I got the opportunity to go (thanks to work :) ). I would highly recommend a visit to this fantastic city!
The weather was perfect, being in the mid to high 20s degrees. The first thing I can say about Lisbon was that everywhere I turned there was a photo opportunity. The coloured and tiled buildings were stunning. I wondered whether tiled buildings in Melbourne would have lasted the test of time (i.e. not being vandalised) like they had in Lisbon. The majority of people in Lisbon were tanned and thin. Al even started to get attracted to the grannies which was quite concerning. Initially I was confused about the weight of the portugese there, given the sweet food which included a lot of pastry. It wasnt long until I realised why they were thin however....there are many hills! Every pathway was coble stoned which helped set the scene of this old town.
Of course I have to mention the famous Portugese custard tarts. All of the raving and positive reviews are 100% accurate. I think the selling point to these tarts is the crisp pastry contrasting against the soft, mooshy custard. We managed to locate the famous Bakery in Belem which sells a range of baked goods along with Super Bock portugese beer. I mean....can you beat a bakery that not only sells the most beautiful tarts but really nice beer to wash it down with. Whilst in Balem we went to visit the Tor de Belem which is a military, castle like tower used back in the day to look out for incoming ships. It was one of the very few structures to survive the earthquake that hit Lisbon in 1755 in which the city collapsed. We also saw the Jeronimo which is an extremely old monastery. We tried to visit the Sao Jorge castle but got lost along the way among the little laneways. We did manage to stumble across a little outside cafe lookout which sold beer so we decided to stop there for a while and simply admire the castle from afar.
On the last night of our stay we managed to get into an old style Lisbon restaurant who had three Fado singers on that night. This was definitely a highlight for us. The food was fantastic, the singing was touching and emotive and the company (new friends we met over there) really enjoyable. Whilst walking along the cafe/restaurant district, known as, Alto Barrio, it was unique to see the tables out on the street located under laundry hung out by those living above the restaurants. Nothing like eating some paella with some jeans drying over your head :p
Our trip to Lisbon really was memorable and Im so glad I got the opportunity to go (thanks to work :) ). I would highly recommend a visit to this fantastic city!
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