Fun in Lisbon - Part 3

We decided to give Saturday morning the prime tourist activity slot. In the morning we had planned to take the bus down to the seaside and see some of the most impressive attractions, most notably, the Belem tower, the Jeronimos Monastery, and the Monument to the Discoveries. There was also a pastry shop that every book and person raved about that we were determined to make it to, which served famous custard cakes. So we woke on Saturday morning ready to tackle the city. Then we heard pitter, patter, pitter, patter....

You have got to be kidding me! We had picked Lisbon because it was hailed as the sunniest European city. Keri and I were both thinking that escaping overcast, rainy, foggy London and Heidelberg in February would be great regardless of where we went, but even better if we escaped to sunshine. Hence our decision to go to Lisbon! We opened the blinds to see that it was indeed overcast, rainy, and foggy. Besides the architecture we could have been in London based on what we were seeing.

We picked up our jaw and our attitude and set off. Thankfully Charles had thrown the umbrella in for me at the last minute. We hadn't even boarded the train when I told Keri that I had to get some new shoes. I had only packed cute little red shoes that are super comfortable but not going to do the trick in the rain. It was actually a good downpour by now. I wanted to look for some cheap boots that I could tuck my jeans into so that they wouldn't drag and get wet. She agreed that would be good so we went in a few shoe shops there in the main square. After culturally be ignorant and not realising that there was a bucket that we were suppose to put umbrellas in at the front of the shop (don't worry we were quickly corrected by the only unfriendly Portuguese person the entire trip), we found a really cute pair of black boots for €10 which we thought was a steal. I am fortunate enough to have small enough feet that I was able to buy boots from the kid's section so I got them cheaper. They do say 'rock music' on the back but we decided to overlook that for the price and necessity of the moment!

We then caught the train, red shoes in plastic bag and boots on, and headed towards Belem. The train ride was uneventful. We managed to get off right in front of the little pastry shop and went in for a treat, hoping that maybe the rain would stop while we were in there. These little pastries were super yummy. We then decided that the rain was not going to stop so we decided to venture out anyway. We walked to all of the monuments in a complete downpour. The sights were pretty but we were absolutely drenched. We were laughing at the beginning but at the end we were downright miserable and cold. We decided that we would catch the train back to city centre and look for some cheap clothes to buy, since we had both packed so lightly that we didn't have any spare options. (Ed Note: At 5:30 the night before leaving we found out that Jack had lice, which after inspecting everyone turned into Theo having lice too! - therefore, I spent the entire night shampooing all five of us (yes Addie's bald head too!) and doing loads, and I mean loads of laundry. We were up to 4 am doing laundry so my packing was a little haphazard.)

We then spent about two hours shopping in Lisbon. This was not part of the itinerary but we had so much fun. We found great bargains and realised that Lisbon was a very affordable European city. Keri ended up buying a new winter coat for €10 since here other one was absolutely soaked and I found new jeans (since I had only packed one pair - although the bottoms were dry from my new boots!) for €10. We then were carrying loads of plastic bags with our original clothes in them. We decided that we would head back to our hotel and try to hangout our wet clothes to dry before venturing off to the castle. Oh, and I should let you know that it is now about two o'clock and SUNNY! If we had only reversed our itinerary, oh well! Live and Learn. We have loads of memories and some fun clothes to show for it!


Erin just starting to get wet (cute boots though!)

















Discovery Monument





















Keri and a very useful umbrella

















Belem Tower (A World Heritage Site)
















Evidence of our wetness

















And a video show the lovely weather




Keri and her new coat:

Addie 'crawling'

Addie is a mover. At twelve months she is officially moving. She is not a traditional crawler, no she is a 'shuffler'. She has a very unique style where she throws her legs one way and shuffles and then throws her legs the other way and shuffles. She has even gotten faster since this video was taken. It is super cute.

The interesting thing is that her mother was never a crawler too - maybe it is hereditary. I will leave it to my mom to comment on whether this was my technique or whether she has her own patent on this one. For your viewing pleasure:

Fun in Lisbon - Part 2

It was about 6 pm when we started walking towards the Fado District - Alfama. We were told that most Fado places serve dinner and you eat as you watch the Fado music. This sounded good to us, but then we were told that most started at 11 pm. That didn't sound great to us. We decided that we would walk towards the Fado district and see what we could find. Along the way we found loads of cute little pottery and tile shops. Lisbon is known for their painted tiles. Many of the buildings had fronts and trimming that were made of beautiful hand painted tiles. Keri and I went inside many of these shops and had fun admiring all the beautiful things.

We went by one Fado restaurant that was advertising Fado starting at 9 pm. This sounded great to Keri and I who were starving at this point. We continuing browsing in stores and then wandered back to that restaurant at 9 pm on the dot. They welcomed us and and one other couple in. Obviously, they were serving food early to attract the tourist crowd, but we didn't care at this point. We ordered our food and had a lovely dinner. Then around 10ish the Fado performers came out. It was three guys playing guitar (two normal looking guitars and one funny looking one that we later learned was a 'Portuguese guitar' - go figure! (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_guitar for what I am talking about). Then a Fado singer came out and walked around and sang. The music was absolutely beautiful to listen to. I suppose it would have been even more beautiful if we had been able to make out the words, although I think it might have been depressing.

Anyway Keri and I really enjoyed it and the Fado singers took a particular interest in our table (maybe because we were the only ones that were taking videos and pictures!). Keri and I got really embarrassed because it felt like the singers were paying so much attention to us that they were flirting - which both of us had no interest in - not too mention no practice for the past twelve years! Anyway, they were really nice and at the end the guy told us that the picture we took was not to be put on facebook but rather kept only for us. Sorry Fado singer, but I am sharing it with my blogging friends! See below.

The other funny memory of this night was that there was a Chinese couple sitting next to us (I promise there were some natives there!). Anyway one of the Fado singers came over to try to sell their cd. Well it was apparent to Keri and I from the very beginning that the lady was trying to sell their cd but it wasn't to the Chinese couple. It was quite awkward because for the first couple of minutes the Chinese man thought the cd was a gift. Keri and I were cringing in pain. Finally they got it down that the cd was for sale and it seemed that they were too embarrassed to say no so they did go ahead and buy.

Pictures and videos follow (you can see the Chinese couple be seated during this video):



Fado Guitarists:
















Keri and her flan (we haven't had flan this good since Ana was in Cambridge!):

Fun in Lisbon - Part 1

This past weekend, I had the great pleasure of going to Lisbon with my dear friend Keri. She is living in Germany this year and we managed to sneak away together for the weekend. The majority of this post (and the ones to follow - I am planning to do my trip in installments) is going to be about how much fun we had, but before I continue, I must give my kudos to Charles. He was such a servant looking after the kids and allowing me to go. I am very grateful for his willingness to do this. Thanks husband!

So before I digress again, did I mention that we had a blast?? Well, we did.

It has been a really long time since I have gone on a trip with just a girl friend. I had forgotten how much fun two girls can have, as well as mischief.

Well to begin with Keri and I picked Lisbon because we both thought that sunny and warm would be good in February. We met on Friday afternoon in the airport. I had flown in from London and had gotten in one hour before her flight from Frankfurt was scheduled. All went well hooking up at the airport and it wasn't long before we were on the bus to the city centre. Keri had picked the hostel/hotel and was a bit nervous about whether it would be satisfactory. Well she didn't need to be nervous because it was brilliant. The decoration was good, the people friendly, the breakfast nice (and free!), and the room clean - less I forget that we had a great view out of our window of the castle and main square in Lisbon which was a great bonus.

We then ventured out for dinner. I had done minimal preparing for this trip, but I was able to secure two Lisbon tour books from a library in London before leaving. While waiting for Keri in the airport I read about 'fado' music. From this book, I learned that fado is is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. However, in reality fado is simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain structure. Fado musicians perform while people eat dinner throughout Lisbon which, mind you, is almost always after nine at night. Well, the guide book talked about how much fun and 'truly' Portuguese fado music and these dinners were so we decided that we should give it a try. So we started out with map in hand walking in the direction of the fado district...

Dilemma

If you get downstairs and everything looks fine but the whole way down the stairs you hear, 'Mommy is coming. Quick. Quick. Mommy is coming. Quick. Quick. Mommy is coming,' in two very frantic and guilty voices, do you let it go or investigate? Hmmmmm . . . The first of many of these for these two brothers I am sure.