The Tour Officially Begins

Today was our first day of the Gate 1 Travel Tour of Lisbon.  We began our rainy day in the city of Sintra to visit the Sintra National Palace about 40 minutes from our hotel.  Pedro was our local tour guide and was masterful in getting us through the palace very efficiently and allowing us some time to explore some of the local shops.  I did end up buying one bottle of Port to take on our journey.

I will be uploading images to my Smug Mug account througout the week.  The blog doesn't agree with the size of some of the files.

https://dpoteau.smugmug.com/Portugal-Spain-2015 (Copy link to view photos)

After leaving Sintra we headed to Cascais which is along the Estoril Coast. 

We stopped for lunch at Cervjaria Luzmar and had the shellfish rice that our tour guide Ivan recommended.  It was a wonderful meal that warmed up both up. With the rain and cooler temperatures, we were a little chilled.

Shellfish Rice - cooked in a clay pot and brought hot to your table

After lunch the rain picked up as we entered into the Jeronimos Monastery; this amazing structure is considered the most prominent achievement of the Manueline style of architecture (Portuguese late-Gothic). 

Our day ended with images of the treasured16th century Belem Tower and the city's most prominent monument and the Monument of Discoveries, built in honor of Henry the Navigator, instrumental in the success of Portuguese explorations during the 5th century. Standing over 171 feet tall, the monument, shaped like a ship's prow, stands majestically at the marina in Belem, starting point for many of Portugal's explorers and where Vasco da Gama embarked on his voyage to India.

For dinner we took a cab to the city center and went to the Museu da Cervja (Museum of Beer) for dinner.  Pedro recommended the lamb, which Beki had (see below)

Roasted lamb with rice, potatoes and greens with garlic.

I had a casserole dish that had bread (similar to stuffing) with garlic, egg, clams, mussels and shrimp.  While it might not look very appealing on the plate it was wonderful.  

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and enjoyed a nice glass of port wine at the hotel bar before retiring for the evening.  We start our day early tomorrow boarding our bus at 8:00 a.m. to make our way to Seville, Spain.