First day in Lisbon

We arrived in Lisbon early in the morning and made our way to our hotel to leave our cases. We were staying just off the main artery which is full of top name shops. Early on Sunday, it was quiet. Here you can see the pavements and the Main Street to the right, empty on a Sunday morning.
















































There were cafés and some impressive buildings along the main street as well as top end shops, Armani, Gucci and the like.










The lamp posts have ships on the top of them.













We found a finicula and so went for a ride to see what was at the top. We found a park, the hospital area and plenty of upmarket houses.


















































The 'memorial' has many stone slabs around the base, some are 'In memoriam' slabs, but many are 'thank you' to staff at the hospitals.















In the afternoon, we walked towards the Marquess of Pombal square. The Marquess, who was the first prime minister of Portugal, stands on a hill over looking the city and the Tagus river.





















- Pat and John on tour

Pat and John on tour

Madrid to Lisbon

We took the TrenHotel from Madrid to Lisbon. This leaves Madrid at 21.50 and arrives in Lisbon at 07.30 (or 08.30 if your don't remember that Lisbon runs on GMT).

It was quite a small train of about 4 carriages numbered 531, 8 and 9 and the bar car. (We later realised that 531 was bookings in carriages 5, 3 and 1)

We had booked 'Gran Class' which means that we had proper beds to sleep in and our own shower room. This really is the smallest shower room that you could imagine, but it does the job.

We had read our tickets carefully, so we knew that we would not have dinner on the train included in our ticket, as we had on the previous two occasions that we had used the service (Paris to Madrid and Barcelona to Milan). We had therefore eaten before we got onto the train, but walked down to the bar for a glass of wine. A Norwegian couple were there discovering what was available to eat. Here they are at the train bar.





Now picture the Portuguese version of Manuel from Fawlty Towers showing them what is available: a piece of cod or some meat. 'Manuel' was explaining that it was cod 'a la planca' (on the hot plate) or in the micronde (microwave). They settled for cod. On the the hot plate and then asked for a glass of wine. Wine only came in bottles, so that had to be it. We managed to get a half bottle of white, but other than that, it was a full bottle of red or beer.We were chatting to the Norwegians for a while and then to some Canadians from Toronto.

Here we are in our compartment.





Our train arrived on time and when we got off, we understood some of the noises in the night. Out train was now about 12 carriages long, so we had obviously been merged with other trains during the night


- Pat and John on tour

Tolado

We spent 2 nights in Tolado which is 30 minutes from Madrid on the fast train line.

Tolado is an old walled city on the River Tagus which wraps around it, making it almost an island. Tolado has a history of more that 2000 years and has Roman, Visigoth, Christian, Jewish and Muslim influences. It was once the home of the Spanish court.

We stayed at the Parador hotel, which is on a hill overlooking the city. The Parador hotels are nearly all in historic buildings and are owned by the Spanish government. They have large and comfortable bedrooms and our room had a big terrace.







The terrace of the Tolado Parador has the best view of Tolado:


The only problem is that the entrances to the city are not near the hotel and there are no buses up the hill, so taxis are needed.

One of the most dominant buildings from the terrace is the Alcázar which dates back to the 3rd century when it was a roman palace.



It has been rebuilt several times, the last being after the Spanish civil war. It is now a library which is open to the public and from which there are good views.







The magnificent cathedral is the second building that dominates the skyline. It is huge.





To enter the city, you need to cross one of the bridges. Some of these are very old and are now pedestrian only. The signs of the defences are still visible. This is the Puente Saint Martin which was built in the 14th century.





Another old bridge is the Puente de Alcántara.



The entrance through the city walls.




We enjoyed walking around the narrow streets and along the edge of the river.












A highlight was a visit to the Cathedral. We tried to get in on several occasions, but it was closed. We even followed a group of priests round the outside, thinking that they must know the way in, but they disappeared into a bar! However, on Saturday we were lucky. We arrived outside the cathedral where we saw a crowd waiting and then a parade coming towards us. The tall 'man' is the painter El Greco, there are many of this works in the cathedral.










We found the now open entrance and went in. It is one of the most beautiful churches we have seen and has many treasures, including a number of El Grecos and works of other artists.















The cloisters




A 13th century crown






The town square is close to the cathedral. The taxi rank is there, so we had to learn its almost unpronounceable name, Zocodover. The first syllable is the most difficult with no English equivalent.

This is the square





Some night scenes








Pat and John on tour

Along the Grand Via

Our aim on Wednesday was to walk along the Grand Via as far as Atocha, admiring the buildings and visiting gardens along the way.

Firstly, we found a good place for breakfast - croissant, fresh orange juice, tea and coffee - it's not easy in Madrid, but we found a spot.

These are some of the buildings we saw along the busy street. This lovely canopy hides a McDonalds sign.
















An almost hidden church










































The Bank of Spain








Detail form a large roundabouts: Cibeles and Neptune .




















The Botanical Gardens










The Retiro gardens are close to the Botanical Gardens and to Atocha railway station. A memorial to those who died in the Atocha bombings in 2004 is there and on the tenth anniversary of the bombings (the day before we were there), relatives and friends left white flowers in the trees as well as photos and notes.. The memorial has many trees like the one in the photo and I suspect that there is one tree for each of the 191 victims.










Panorama of the memorial









In the evening we went out to find tapas, but went via the Plaza Santa Domingo and the Cathedral.





















We found an old indoor market that had been transformed into a series of tapas bars.






















Pat and John on