AfricaEurope2007

We have enjoyed the 6 days in Lisbon ; nice people, plenty to see, good food. We get by with English, but people always try to help us if we are stuck.
The country´s main exports are cork and marble, which isn´t much to sustain an economy, so tourism is important here , the visitors seem to mostly be Brazilian, Spanish and German.
Yesterday we did a 12 hour tour to areas north of Lisbon and saw . . Obidos, a small castle village preserved the way it was 500 years ago ; two monasteries that are UNESCO rated, one is the longest in Portugal, and the other the highest, both built in the 1200`s ; a beach resort Nazare which was once a nice fishing village but now looks like Maroochydore ; and, a centre of Catholic pilgrimage called Fatima, designed like the Vatican, which has a supermarket for all kinds of religious paraphernalia the size of a Coles supermarket.
The tour leader had to do her talks in spanish, portugese, french and english , a long day for her as well.
Today we went to a suburb along the river called Belem, and saw two distinctive maritime monuments and a superb museum with 40 coaches from the 17C and 18C as used by the monarchy in this country.
Our hotel room fronts onto a nice mall with cafes etc., but also with the noise until late, of the diners, and then even later of the street people. The weather here and Morocco has been superb , not below 23 Deg C, so we haven´t used any of the warm clothes so far.
Tomorrow we go to St Malo in NW France by EasyJet, TGV and regional French rail , another experience to experience.
Not getting any news from the real world, which makes for a nice break.
Goodbye to this blue net cafe.
Rob & Ailsa

One last thing about Morocco, our tour had the usual tour director and driver, but we also had a Moroccan national guide to ensure we got the correct political and religious stories, and a drivers assistant to help with security of the bus ; a bit more than happens in Europe.
Our trip to Lisbon involved flight and airport announcements in Arabic, Spanish, Portugese and poor english ; so poor that we missed the advice to move our watches forward 2 hours in Madrid, and we nearly missed the connecting flight. Getting around Madrid airport is like a visit to Ikea.
Lisbon is a great tourist place. Nice cafes and restaurants, and the people are friendly. We´re near the city centre, and its all cobbled streets and laneways. They also specialise in beautiful ceramic tiling on the walls of buildings. There are great little yellow tourist trams in the inner city areas, and a couple of hilly districts with lanes and alleyways that go everywhere , washing on the verandahs, small cafes etc. This inet cafe is playing reggae music, and surrounded by Fitzroy-type shops in one-way streets. Best food is from a pasteleria, like a French pastisserie, and we have drunk Mateus rose for the first time since our student days. Its easier to get a drink here as well
Have also had day trips by train along the coast to some of their beach resorts, and to a place like the Dandenongs called Sintra, that has a 12C palace and 10C moorish castle on top of a hill. A good metro and regional rail system.
We have spent time with our younger son Leon here. He is in the middle of his round-the-world trip, and we had dinner here on his birthday , great catch up.
Its great not having a mobile phone, watching TV or reading a newspaper.
Rob & Ailsa