Lisbon - City of Culture

Trip Start Feb 12, 2009
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14
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Trip End Jul 2009


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Flag of Portugal  , Estremadura,
Thursday, March 19, 2009

Lisbon was voted European Capital City of Culture in 2001. Yes, that was 8 years ago but our vote is that it's still a great place to visit with lots of things for tourists to enjoy. It still retains the character of an old maritime city (lots of monuments and museums) but they also have a lot of fun new attractions which were built for Expo 98. The aquarium was impressive and lived up to its reputation as the best in Europe. Fado is still a big part of Portugueseculture and we had the privilege of listening to some fantastic Fado musicians in a great intimate atmosphere at a neighborhood restaurant. We ate what is known as the "best" egg tarts in the world at 'Pasties de Belem'.....and
yes they were very good (better than dimsum egg tarts). We also made a day trip to Sintra which is a 45 minute train ride outside of Lisbon.

We also met some really cool people here. Liza and Curtis, another Canadian backpacking couple, gave us some great tips (thank you!) and Keiichi Ichikawa told us some fun stories from his travels biking around the world for the last 7 years (www.feel-the-earth.com).

Overall, we give Portugal a big 2 thumbs up!!



Sakura's Highlights

- Aquarium - I learned a lot!

- Belem Egg Tarts

- Fado performance - I'm now a big fan of Vania Conder!

- Castle in Sintra....the 1.5 hr hike up the mountain was worth seeing the view!


Christophe's Highlights:

- Standing room only fado show

- Aquarium with the Sun Fish

- Margot the Brazilian pension lady

- Dinner with the Kei - the travelling cyclist

Next stop: Sagres, Portugal for some surf time!
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