November 13-23, 2023

We barely had time to return from Morocco, unpack, do the laundry, repack and fly off to Lisbon- a city Morris visited years ago and one I had never been to although it has been on that never ending bucket list for a few years. We had been told that Lisbon was a very nice place to visit and that there was plenty to see. We were also told that the city is very hilly. That is an understatement- our walking App showed, besides walking between 10000-16000 steps daily we were also climbing 7-16 flights daily. This is because you cannot avoid the many staircases leading from one street to another in the old part of Lisbon. If you aren't in decent shape Lisbon is a great place to go to get into shape! 

We stayed mostly in the area of Santa Maria Maior and got acquainted with some of the city.

Can you see how steep the road is!

There is even an elevator (above)- about 100 years old, which goes up about 6 stories and certainly saves climbing stairs. Besides which, there is a great view of the city from the top.

Pedestrian streets with plenty of nice shops and outdoor restaurants.

On Day 2, we took a streetcar, way more modern than ours, and went to Belém to see the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos built in the 15th C. It is a beautiful monastery with courtyards, beautiful arches and gargoyles. After that we strolled down to the water via a big park and looked at the impressive marine monument.

No way we were leaving without sampling the famous Portuguese custard tarts which are readily available to us in Toronto, and honestly, ours are just as good!

On the way back from Belém we walked past the famous Pink Street where there are lots of restaurants and shops. We also climbed lots of staircases and just when we thought we had reached the top, we discovered that just around the corner, there were way more steps to climb! Can you see how steep the staircases are?

It was nice to get back to our hotel- Palacio was Especiarias (Spice Palace) to rest before going out again.  The hotel was originally a palace belonging to a very wealthy family which had made its fortune dealing in spices between India, Portugal and Brazil. The same family still owns the property which was turned into a hotel many years ago. They tried to conserve as much as possible of the original building and only installed an elevator last year. It is one of the tiniest elevators I have ever seen and fits 3 people in a pinch!

Our room had a beautiful deep bathtub at one end which regrettably was not used by us- too busy doing the tourist thing. The ceilings were about 18-20 feet high and everything was very old fashioned but comfortable. There was a separate toilet, shower and sink in the bathroom and our room had a beautiful old sink at one end. The only complaint was that there was a tiny armoire which held almost nothing so we had to live out of our suitcases.

Breakfast was pretty spectacular. We had our choice of 3 rooms where we could have breakfast. There were also 3 rooms which held the breakfast foods- hot breakfast, cold- fruit, cheese, cereals, meats... and a dessert room. Imagine the temptation! And, of course, we had wonderful coffee and heated milk poured right at our table. As if that wasn't enough there was also a pianist playing in the music room and on alternate days a violinist played accompaniment. We felt very indulged!

There are so many nooks and crannies, hidden staircases- the grand ones originally for the proprietors and the smaller ones for the servants. We also discovered a room in the basement where musical performances are held and where we were invited to try some wonderful wine and cheese. The car was something we discovered wandering around!

We took a day trip to Sintra, a town about   away by train. It is one of the top attractions in Portugal and it is easy to see why. We visited the Pena Palace which was built in the 19th C in the Romanticism style of architecture. It had been the site of a monastery and acquired by King Ferdinand II in the 1800s. It has had  additions and now looks like a castle complete with battlements, watchtowers and even a drawbridge. It was painted in interesting colours- kind of a Disney version of a castle. 

We spent the rest of our time in Lisbon exploring the Castelo de Sao Jorge from the 10th C- no renovations in this place- but more interest in an archeological perspective. It does have great views of the city.

We took the famous #28 tram to explore parts of the city like the old cemetery where we wandered for a little while. We also took the subway which is so incredibly far below street level that there are a number of very long steep escalators to take to get to the subway. I would not like to have to climb stairs to get up or down!

We had lots of fish dinners in Lisbon-all pretty good. We were getting pretty skilled at deboning our fish but realized that the portions looked big but by the time the skin and bones are removed it isn't a big portion after all!

All in all, we really enjoyed our time in Portugal, the little we saw of it. The city is very charming, the streets were clean and the people were very friendly.   Their wine is very good as are their custard tarts!        

Our next stop was Barcelona, one of our very favourite cities for a variety of reasons, not the least being that our good friends Teresa and Jordi live there- lucky them! After having been to Barcelona numerous times I thought that we had seen all the sites but I was wrong! We revisited the Miro and Picasso museums to see the joint exhibitions of Miro and Picasso at each of the museums. They were so well curated and wonderful works of art were on display.

We also visited the Casa Vincens, a modernist building situated 250 metres from Jordi and Teresa's place. Over the years we had passed it many times but never visited. It was the first masterpiece of Antonio Gaudi and was built between 1883-1885 as a summer house for the Vincens family. The attention to detail is amazing and there is so much detail! The restoration was started in 2017 but I don't think it was open to the public until fairly recently. 

There isn't a square inch of undecorated wall or ceiling!

After visiting the Casa Vincens we walked to Sant Pau Recinte Modernista which is the world's largest Art Nouveau complex. This hospital complex was designed by Luis Domenech in the early 1900s and was in use as a functioning hospital until about fifteen years ago. This, in fact, was where Teresa had her first job as a nurse. The complex has many buildings, each dedicated to a branch of medicine- cardiology, radiology, physiotherapy etc. It is now set up as a museum and has displays of old instruments used in the hospital. There is a ward set up with beds- probably about 20 in one long room. The rooms have high ceilings and ae bright and airy with attention to beautiful detail. There are gardens between the buildings and even the basements were beautiful spaces.

I do not know how we had the energy after the Casa Vincens and the Sant Pau hospital and the hours of walking we did but we had a group of people to meet at the Sagrada Familia for a tour arranged by Jordi and Teresa as part of the festivities for out of towners who, like ourselves, had come to celebrate Jordi because of his retirement. There were colleagues who came from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, USA, different parts of Spain, Brazil and the two of us from Canada. I likely left some countries out!

You can see it in the distance!

Outside views of the Sagrada Familia designed by Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi in the late 1800s. At the time of his death in 1926 less than a quarter of the project was complete.

Interior views of the Sagrada Familia- The stained glass windows on the east side are all shades of green and blue- cool colours for the hot side of the building. Of course, the west side is in shades of oranges and reds to warm the interior when the sun is disappearing. What an incredible building- absolutely one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. 

The next few days spent in Barcelona included a symposium in Jordi's honour, small and large group dinners and enjoying, particularly for Morris, meeting up with former colleagues involved in liver disease.

A few buildings of interest. Barcelona is such a beautiful city. There is so much to see and do! By the way, we know a great tour guide!

Stay tuned for the next trip! Your guess is as good as mine!