Spring Break 2024-Andalucia Spain (Lisbon) March 30

 Last night I had trouble falling asleep, so when I woke up and it was only 8:30, I went back to sleep.  I woke up around 10:00 feeling much more refreshed!  I had unpacked last night, so I showered and left, heading to Belém Tower.   I was hoping to find a pick-up spot for my Lisboa card there.  I took the bus, when I got to the bus stop, the stops on the chart did not match those on my phone.  I wondered if it was the other side of the street, but there was no bus stop/shelter there.  I then asked a man who did not speak English, but I showed my phone, saying the bus and destination.  He led me across the street and told me "aqui" which means here, I repeated and he said "si".  Then a teenager joined me at the spot, he was also taking the bus, and when the bus approached, he went out to the street and hailed it.  So I was on my way!   I got off at the right spot and walked to the destination.  

Luckily, there was a Lisboa card desk there, but the employee wouldn't be there until 2:00, so I had to wait.  I walked around.  The tower was originally built in the 16th century to defend Lisbon from enemy ships.  It is built at the entrance to the Tagus River.  In the 17th century, it began use as a customs control point.  It also served early on to mark the beginning of voyages for sailors and their last sight of land. It was also a state prison before becoming a customs port.  After being used as a customs port, it was a telegraph station and later a lighthouse.  It is considered to be one of the best examples of Manuelino style architecture with distinctive Moorish features such as ornately decorated turrets.

Buildings covered in tile

A man replacing the sidewalk cobblestones

I just like this building

There's the tower!

a model of the tower

The tower is at the edge of the ocean, so it was windy and chilly.  I was wearing a t-shirt, capris, and sandals, glad that I had taken my jacket as well.  I went to a little cafe nearby over the water and ordered a sandwich to eat on the deck.  Eventually it was 2:00, so I went to get my card and they gave me an entrance ticket to Belém as that was covered by the ticket.  Then to get in line for the hour long wait to get in.  Once I got in there, I appreciated that they only let a certain number of people in at a time, but it was a long wait.  Especially with the person behind me who did not understand personal space and was often standing next to and slightly ahead of me instead of behind me and her husband standing too close behind me--that was annoying.   The high tide mark showed at a level above where we were waiting in line.  

going over the drawbridge

the view from the cannon window

ready for the shot, sir!

main floor courtyard

Going in you proceed over the drawbridge and out onto the main terrace.  There were cannons placed in front of windows along all of the walls.  Then up to the first floor of the tower-called the Governor's Room.  It has an octogonal outlet of the system they were using to capture and store rainwater.  It was primarily used for customs inspections and the collecting of taxes.  

Above the main terrace area, outside the tower proper

bad selfie--windy and chilly

corner towers

the tower

looking down on the first floor courtyard

part of system to capture and save rainwater

a "secret" passage

Then up a narrow spiral staircase (total of 93 steps) to the 2nd floor King's Room.  There still exists a recessed fireplace built into the wall that suggests palatial comfort.  It leads to a a loggia, from which you can watch ships arriving and setting sail as well as three bay windows.  This room has a groin-vaulted ceiling.

conversation seating on loggia

loggia

ceiling of loggia

groin-vaulted ceiling of King's room

fireplace

Next the 3rd floor Audience Room with several windows, including benches by the windows called conversation seats.  There is also a fireplace in this room as well.  Same ceiling as the King's Room.

And finally, the fourth floor chapel.  It is the most architecturally complex of the rooms due to the ribbed vaulted ceiling that springs from corbels.  There are many stone carvings referring to the power of King Manuel.

Nature motifs in carving

Then I walked back out and headed back to the bus stop.  The area around the Tower was planted with specific trees and plants and has many walking paths as well. 

One of the balconies from the outside of the tower

the loggia

more nature motifs

the drawbridge works, also where hot oil is poured 
down from if the enemies get that far

Walking out over the drawbridge

Where the secret passage led to

Not my family, but they wouldn't leave and I wanted a pic
before I left

The grounds surounding the Tower

I had to walk quite a ways to get to the correct bus to go to the Castle.  When I got on the bus, many people got in at the same time.  I was standing, squeezed in against a window in a wheelchair space.  At the next stop, there was an even larger crowd.  The driver told everyone standing in the aisle to move toward the back of the bus.  I was hemmed into a tiny place by two strollers.  At the next stop, we squeezed a few more passengers on but then couldn't fit anymore and had to leave them for the next bus.  

Reminds me of what a religious city this is

These pics are what used to be a church and are now a
maritime museum

I got off at the correct station despite the sign on the bus not telling what stop was next and some of the stops not being labeled.  Then walked up some very steep streets to reach the Castelo de São Jorge (Castle of St. George) on the highest point in the city. It was a strategic point for many groups over the years because of the vantage point and because of a steep drop off on one side of the hill that kept enemies from invading on that side.  Inside the gate are gardens and terraces that are being restored.  As I was walking around, there were horrible cries--the peacocks that live there.

The entrance to the castle

gardens

From the grounds

An old wall?

an archological site

abandoned doorway

The peacocks

I was reading in one area that as each new group/religion invaded and took over the castle and the city, the old residents just moved to the outskirts of the city as the new residents filled in the central area--it was just expected and was what made the city grow outward.  They are still working on excavating the grounds of the castle.  They have found areas from the Iron Age inhabitants, the Moors (Muslims), and the Catholics.  There were a few more minor settlements as well.

Old drawings of the castle and city over time with 
different groups in charge

Some old tile from the museum of pottery, coins, and cooking vessels.
Evidently there was a law back then that the metal of the coin had to be
equal in value to what was being purchased which led to a lot of coins 
being cut up into pieces.

More of the grounds near the archological site

Lots of castle walls to walk on

The current archeological site, looking at the areas that many of the past inhabitants lived.

After the castle, I walked around the small streets nearby and found a square with a shop selling sandwiches.  So I bought some cod rolls and pastries with an orange sauce and some meat inside as well as some lemonade to eat out in the square.  It started to sprinkle as I found a bench to sit on.  A peacock came up to me, wanting food, but I had to keep shooing it away since I knew that people food is not good for wild animals for many reasons.  Eventually a crowd formed taking pictures and laughing everytime I shooed him away!  Eventually I was done without getting pecked at and decided to walk back to my hostel instead of taking the bus since it was only a few miles.  

"My" peacock

a street artist playing an adapted steel pan

an elementary school

When I got to my hostel, I realized that my flight was at 7:30 and I had to be there early and use my Lisboa card to take the bus (which was scheduled to take over an hour).  Packed up all I could.  Yikes, set my alarm for 4:00, hope I wake up in time!  And get at least some sleep.

Spring Break 2024-Andalusia, Spain (Lisbon), March 28/29

Picture of a canal from my layover in Amsterdam

 This year I am going to, I think, the last two European countries that I have not been to.  
Spain and Portugal.  Only one full day in Portugal, however.  Spring break is only 10 days long.  I typically prefer to visit one city and do day trips, but this trip I will be staying for two nights in several cities:  Lisbon, Seville, Malaga, Granada, and then one night in Madrid.  I had originally thought of Morroco, since the only African country I've been to is Egypt and that always seems less Africa and more Middle East.  But there were wildfires.  Then I thought of Greece (oops, one more European country), but they had entire islands flood, so that was out.

So anyway, I left school right after my students did to go home, drop off my things, wash my breakfast and lunch dishes, and feed the birds before grabbing my already packed bags and heading to the airport.  City bus and light rail.  My international flight was at 7:25 pm and three hours early is 4:25 pm.  And it takes 1/2 an hour to get there.  A colleague at school told me as I was leaving that he has just brought his bags to school before and left from school.  The light rail station is nearby and you can arrive two hours early for a 5:30 domestic flight.  I'll keep that in mind.

I got to the airport and my online boarding pass on the Delta app said that my seat would be assigned.  So at the airport I waited in the line for checking in and was told that I should just go to the gate; they would assign my seat there.  So I went through security (only one problem--rookie mistake of leaving my phone in my back pocket which meant a pat down) and there was no agent at the gate.  When there was finally one there, I met her at the desk asking for my seat.  She said that she would get to it and would make an announcement for people that needed one.  Well, they finally called my name to come up after boarding had started.  I did run into a colleague from last year at my old school in the waiting area, so it was fun to catch up with her.  The seat they assigned me was 41H.  That was only over the wing--huge plane!  Luckily it was an aisle seat and it was convenient to the bathrooms and was the last row in that section, so I could recline as I wished and not feel guilty.  The downsides were the light from the bathroom shining every time someone opened the door when the rest of the plane was dark, the people crowding the aisle next to me while waiting for the bathroom, and the noise of the engines on the wings.  Overall, a pretty good seat and the legroom was more than I've had on some other planes.  I introduced myself to the person I was sitting next to and asked if she was the type of person that likes to talk or who prefers to be left alone (I figured that I would just find out right away instead of guessing).  She answered that she was an introvert, so she doesn't really like talking.  We did end up talking a few times--she was enroute to visit her boyfriend, who she originally met online, in Africa where he lives.  They've been toghether for 2 years and she is hoping that he will come to the US to live with her because she wants to go to culinary school in Texas, not live in Africa.  

I typically can't sleep in planes because I can only fall asleep laying down. But I was able to drift a bit during the night.  Not a full sleep, but better than nothing.  I also watched two movies--The Holdovers and Anatomy of a Fall. Both were interesting.  We were served two meals--dinner and breakfast.  The pilot said that if we needed a snack to go to the kitchen area at the rear of the plane.  The flight attendants also walked around several times with trays full of glasses of water if you wanted some.  I had a super long layover in Amsterdam--7 hours--so I was planning to be brave and go into the city to walk around.  I didn't want to sit in the airport for that long!    So I did!  When I went through immigration, they asked me where I was staying and I said that I had a long layover and was going into the city for a few hours.  He smiled and told me to enjoy myself.  I took the train into the city from the airport and wandered aimlessly.  At one point, I saw a large store full of vibrators and another store full of condoms, so I realized that I was in the red light district.  I walked until I was clear then found a cafe with seating along the canal and sat there.  One Dutch food are pancakes, or pannekoekens--sweet pancakes. so I had an apple cinnamon  one (they're huge).  And I had a beautiful view of the canal while I ate.  

leading to the Red Light district-unknown to me!

my lunch view!

where I ate

my pannakoeken lunch

cute shops

a pituresque church

the train station in Amsterdam

After that I wended my way back to the train station and took the train back to the airport.  After going through security again (only 15 minutes--this time it was the portable charger power bank from my suitcase that I put in my backpack--which is what you're supposed to do), I had to walk half an hour to my gate!  Then it was closed and a sign said to wait.  When I checked the sign later, they had changed the gate.  

We waited in the new gate; they began boarding on time, then said that there was a delay, then another, then another.  We finally took off just after 8:30 (instead of 4:55).  There were evidently two problems with the fuel part of the engine.  Anyway, we landed really late in Lisbon.  I still didn't have an address or good directions to where i was staying.  I asked the hostel hosts for directions using public transit and they gave me very vague and incomplete directions.  So I used Google Maps which got me to the right street.  I messaged the hosts with a flurry of Help Mes!  As I'm walking down the street around midnight with weird people out and a guy that seemed like he was following me.   Finally, turns out that they messaged the address with picture directions to get in the building and self check-in to my room, but the weak airport wifi didn't download it .  I found it when I was messaging them (on the Booking.com app), that there were pics to check in as well as the address and the code to get in the door.  Well, I found my room, mostly unpacked, brushed my teeth, double-checked tomorrow's tickets and wondered where to pick up my Lisboa pass.  Good night!