Saturday market in Lisbon old town

Had a wonderful ride on the old traditional yellow trams, tram 28, through little narrow streets, some with hair pin turns and steep gradients....and these plucky little trams keep on going....keep on going... a fun ride that saved our feet with all the uphill hard work done for us.  A nice gentle meander back down to the port past cathedrals, churches and castle walls. A great little local market made me wish we weren't backpacking.....lots of treasures!

Sintra, World Heritage Site

Escape to the country...... 40 minutes by local train to Sintra and the Park and Palace of Pena. Set in 85acres of stunning gardens, trails, an aboretum and more palaces than you can shake a  stick at (8 plus various other historic structures) you could spend days here. We visited Pena Palace, started in the 12th century as a monestary, devastated by an earthquake in the17th century and then acquired by King Ferdinand in the 18th century and frou-froued up in Portuguese romantic style.  It's. Incredible, a  blend of over the top new fairytale, blended with Moorish influence and traditional blue and white Portuguese tile. Lovely to see the soft green spring colours and be amidst nature after the buildings and terracotta colours of Lisbon's roof tiles.  

Just click on the photo to enlarge and see in detail :) 

 

Lisbon

Arrived early and found our way through the convoluted Metro ticket system and dumped our bags off at the hotel.  Straight back onto the Metro to the old town and historical area. Gorgeous weather so we sat by the water and watched the world go by.  There was a local taxi protest today with all the taxi's hooting horns and voicing strong opposition to Uber taxi's being allowed to operate.  Wandered through the Barrio Alto, had to stop in little local workers cafes for 'pastel de nata' Lisbon's famous custard treat and tried fish specialities. Lisbon feels a bit down at heel, shabby but standing strong, only day one here but want to know more. The yellow trams and cable cars are great.

Farewell Barcelona

Our last day in Barcelona was a drizzly day so set about doing travel housekeeping, printing boarding passes and sorting a Sim card . Have loved our short stay in Barcelona, welcoming locals, clean streets, although I did wonder what happened to all the pigeons, stunning old and new architecture,. Barcelona felt chic, smart and buzzing with energy.   Early train to the airport and we were getting our metro tickets sorted and the local guy offered us two clips on his ticket!

Monserrat

Wonderful day trip to Montserrat. Just over one hour by train and then you hop on a little rack railway train that takes you to the monastery perched on the side of the mountains. You can then take a fanicula up to the very top and hike or mountain bike down. It's amazingly beautiful. We hit mist at the top so couldn't hike down but in full summer this would be great. Back down to the monastery to hear beautiful singing and then dancing in the plaza.  A great contrast to the hustle and bustle of Barcelona city. I loved seeing the suburbs from the train and the little backyard allotments with short stumpy grapevines and old knarled olive trees and little stone huts with terracotta roof tiles.  Now siesta time with a sangria and the best macarons in Barcelona.....really getting into holiday mode now.

Barceloooona!

Wonderful to be in Barcelona, the sun is out and after flying for over 24 hours to get here we put our walking shoes on and set out to stretch our legs. We put some miles on our sneakers for sure!  We set out early before all the tour buses arrived and it was worth it to not feel hemmed in by hundreds of people.

The sping weather is lovely, crisp first thing which is good for walking and by the time it is really hot its time to find a place for a relaxing lunch.

Good to see major security across the city although the police with the machine guns look far too young .....Im sure they are well trained :)

Walking down La Ramblas with the sun shining, the myriad of accents heard, the lively fresh food market.....feels great to be strating our holiday at last.

 We  are off  again.....

 We have just spent two and a  half years in the gorgeous Bay of Islands, New Zealand. This is a beautiful place, we hiked and swam and explored so many beaches and bays,,,we are going to miss it and all the wonderful people we met along the way, especially team Hospice!.  

 However the Camino Portugal is calling and we have packed our back packs for another adventure.

We leave on 24th April and head to Barcelona, Lisbon and then Porto.  So its mature backpacking, taking things slowly and  enjoying nature :)
Watch this space for updates on our adventures.