Our Next Big Adventure

 Wednesday in Portugal - hump day, midway through vacation.  The day when multiples started beginning to feel the Portugal plague set in.  Sniffles, cough, over feeling of blah and sleepiness.  But, none-the-less, there is no rest for the weary when there are places to go and sights to see.  Onward and upward - literally in this case, as we stand at the Lisbon train station with our first destination, St. George Castle, visible at the top of the distant hill.

Our group is smaller today as the UK contingent decided to head back to Cascais for a 1/2 day horseback riding adventure.  They are all top-notch riders, so it wasn't something the rest of us novices could share with them. 

Maybe it was the vaious maladies that waylaid us, maybe it was the lack of internet access to ferrat out the details, maybe it was the lack of touristy "Castle this way" arrow signs, maybe it was the construction which had us changing directions constantly, or maybe it simply that I was reading the map starting from the wrong train station, but it seemed to take us forever to get to that castle.

It was actually a morning of almost total inefficiency and ineffectiveness for us, but we did improve after lunch!

Once at St. George, I can't say that we were massively impressed by this 14th-century architecture after having just explored the Moorish Castle the day before, but we were impressed by the views of Lisbon afforded us from the various plazas.  And of course, we make our own fun....

 Someone was lucky having this view outside their window, although the view was certainly different as Lisbon was largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1755).

One of the great panoramic views from the castle....

I was glad I stopped to take that picture because those who were quicker getting down the steps found out if was a deadend and had to come all the way back up. 

After lunch during which we regrouped and purchased tram tickets, we became much more effective!  First stop, the Coach Museum with quite a collection of very beautiful and ornate coaches...

From there, we took a short walk towards Jeronimo's Monastery, stopping to admire this bird's perch atop this monument.

The Monastery was huge and beautiful. 

 We visited the church...

 ...but not the cloisters.

Then, a longer walk along the water's edge towards the Tower of Belem, sighting more birds who like to use historical monuments as perches.

 To amuse us along the way, the girls tried their hop along game.  Bella first...

...nope didn't make it.  Maggie next...

 ...and she made it with a little balancing help from papa.

Confidence up, she goes for the next pole...

 ...and...epic fail....

Luckily, saved by dad, cos that would have hurt!

And finally, we see the Tower of Belem, which originally served military purposes but had other functions including that of a customs house and a prison, over the years. 

 I tried to get some group shots of family, but chaos ensued once everyone went inside.  Communication lines were broken, so some ended up here...

 ...while others were up there...

...but now they were up there!

Oy vey!

It was a beautiful time of day to visit the Tower, as the hints of sunset were beginning.  It was nice to just sit for a moment and soak up the atmosphere.