Click on the any of the following links to view the history of Portugal, Lisbon or Porto.

History of Portugal

History of Lisbon

History of Porto

Day 01

Depart 4:15 pm on non-stop British Airways flight to London - Feb. 01

View of the San Francisco Skyline from Chuck's Apartment as he leaves for his British Airways flight.

British Airlines	Flying over North Side of San Francisco	Flying over the Bay Area!

Day 02

London to Lisbon - Arriving at 6:10 p.m. and a transfer to the Hotel Vintage Lisboa - Feb. 02

Mink is Best for a Bed Spread	Beautiful Street	And two balconies to view the Street!

Day 03

Continental breakfast and City Sightseeing in Lisbon - Feb. 03

The Marquess of Pombal Square is an important roundabout in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is located between the Avenida da Liberdade (Liberty Avenue) and the Eduardo VII Park in the former parish of Coração de Jesus and in the quarter of Santo António. The square is the radiating point for various important avenues: Liberdade, Duque de Loulé and Fontes Pereira de Melo, as well as the streets Braamcamp and Joaquim António de Aguiar. Its name is a reference to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal, 1st Count of Oeiras, the mighty prime-minister who ruled Portugal from 1750 to 1777. In the middle of the roundabout there is a large column dedicated to him, built between 1917 and 1934 and created by Adães Bermudes, António Couto and Francisco Santos. A bronze statue of the Marquess is on the top, with a lion - symbol of power - by his side. The Marquess is shown looking towards the Baixa Pombalina, the area of Lisbon that was rebuilt under his direction after the disastrous 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

The Campo Pequeno Bullring is the bull ring of Lisbon, Portugal. It is located in the Campo Pequeno Square, by the Avenida da República. After a profound renovation, it re-opened as a multi-event venue in 2006, designed to be used for various events apart from bull fighting. It hosts a range of live acts and has seen many famous bands perform there. It includes an underground shopping centre, restaurants and a parking lot. Lisbon's bullring was built between 1890 and 1892 under the supervision of Portuguese architect António José Dias da Silva. His design was inspired by the bullring of Madrid, by Emilio Rodriguez Ayuso, later demolished. The style is the neo-Mudéjar, a Romantic style inspired by the old Arab architecture from Iberia. Lisbon's new bull ring replaced an old one, located in the Campo de Santana.

The Águas Livres Aqueduct - "Aqueduct of the Free Waters", is a historic aqueduct in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering. The main course of the aqueduct covers 18 km, but the whole network of canals extends through nearly 58 km. but isn't used any more.

Everyone told me this was an exact copy of the Golden Gate Bridge. I said I don't think so, ours is Art Deco! The Vasco da Gama Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge flanked by viaducts and rangeviews that spans the Tagus River in Parque das Nações in Lisbon, capital of Portugal. It is the longest bridge in Europe (including viaducts), with a total length of 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi), including 0.8 kilometres (0.50 mi) for the main bridge, 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) in viaducts, and 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) in dedicated access roads. Its purpose is to alleviate the congestion on Lisbon's other bridge (25 de Abril Bridge), and to join previously unconnected motorways radiating from Lisbon.

Belém Tower or the Tower of St Vincent is a fortified tower located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Jerónimos Monastery) because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defense system at the mouth of the Tagus river and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

Day 04

Ten Hour Day trip to Obidos, Sitio, Nezare and Fatima - Feb 04 - 76th Birthday

Obidos

The name "Óbidos" probably derives from the Latin term oppidum, meaning "citadel", or "fortified city". The municipality had its origin in an early Roman settlement near the foothills of an elevated escarpment.

Alcobaça - Alcobaça Monastery

The Alcobaça Monastery is one of the first foundations of the Cistercian Order in Portugal. It was founded in 1153 as a gift to Bernard of Clairvaux, shortly before his death, from the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, to commemorate his victory over the Moors at Santarém in March 1147. The foundation of the monastery was part of the strategy by Afonso Henriques to consolidate his authority in the new kingdom and promote the colonisation of areas recently taken from Moorish hands during the Reconquista. A Prince was in love with a woman from another province. His father the King, refused his request to marry her as her brothers would become part of the royal family. The Princess had three of his children and eventually at around 57, was murdered. When the King died and the Prince became King he went to the grave and held his hand on it and married her! But none of her children or relatives every were part of the royal family.

El Sitio, Nazaré

Nazaré is a town and a municipality in subregion Oeste and Leiria District, in Portugal. It is one of the most popular seaside resorts in the Silver Coast/Costa de Prata, Portugal. We stopped at this restaurant and had a great Fish Luncheon. Eight of us were at one table, a couple from Boston, husband from Cape Verde and his wife from Angola! Another couple was from London, she from India and he from Shri Lanka. And also three women from northern Brazil. I was celebrating my 76th birthday so lots of wine with lunch!

Batalah Monastery

The Monastery of Batalha (Portuguese: Mosteiro da Batalha), literally the Monastery of the Battle, is a Dominican convent in the civil parish of Batalha, in the district of Leiria, in the Centro Region region of Portugal. Originally, and officially known, as the Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory (Portuguese: Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitória), it was erected in commemoration of the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota, and would serve as the burial church of the 15th-Century Aviz dynasty of Portuguese royals. It is one of the best and original examples of Late Gothic architecture in Portugal, intermingled with the Manueline style. As Capelas Imperfeitas (The Unfinished Chapels) remain as a testimony of the fact that the monastery was never actually finished. They form a separate octagonal structure tacked on the choir of the church (via a retrochoir) and only accessible from the outside. It was commissioned in 1437 by King Edward of Portugal ("Dom Duarte", d.1438) as a second royal mausoleum for himself and his descendants. But he and his queen Eleanor of Aragon are the only ones buried here (Eleanor died in exile in Toledo in 1445, her remains were only translated here in 1456).

Fátima Shrine

Our Lady of Fátima (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora de Fátima, formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fatima Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima European Portuguese: is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary based on apparitions reported to have been experienced by three shepherd children at Fátima. The three children were Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. A newer church was built on the hill opposite the Shrine of Fátima but I can never understand why they build such ugle new churches.

Hotel Vintage Birthday Gift

I came home from a long tour and there were two glasses of port, four deserts and strawberries. Here I am on the roof top cocktail lounge enjoying the view and having a long talk with the bartender.

Day 05

Continental breakfast and a morning massage, then an afternoon half day trip to Sintra and Estorial - Feb. 05

Massage and Green Tea

My travel agent Viviane gave me a massage as a gift and by this time I really needed it. I went to bed the night before and passed out. My massage was at 10:30 A.M. and I woke up and it was 11:00 A.M. I had slept almost 12 hours! How did this happen? The phone rang and asked when I was coming down? So off to the massage area and after they gave me a tray to take to my room with a snack and green tea.

Cascais

Cascais is a coastal town and a municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Lisbon. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. Nowadays, it is a popular vacation spot for both Portuguese and foreign tourists. It is located on the Estoril Coast (named after Estoril, a town in the municipality), in the Greater Lisbon subregion.

Sintra National Palace

Sintra is a resort town in the foothills of Portugal’s Sintra Mountains, near the capital of Lisbon. A longtime royal sanctuary, its forested terrain is studded with pastel-colored villas and palaces. The Moorish- and Manueline-style Sintra National Palace is distinguished by its dramatic twin chimneys and elaborate tilework. The hilltop 19th-century Pena National Palace is known for its whimsical design and sweeping views. The Sintra National Palace, also called Town Palace is located in the town of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It is a present-day historic house museum.

Sintra National Palace

Sintra National Palace Kitchen

The palace kitchen was something I had never seen before in my travels. There are two kitchens, each about 25 feet across and about five stories high in the shape of a funnel. At the top are several small windows and a hole for the smoke and heat to escape. In the middle are spits to roast such things as deer or pigs and they say the worst job in the palace is to sit for six or more hours turning the meat on the spit. Your arms give out and your face and front of your body burns with the heat. The black cabinet is used to heat dishes and keep food warm and the embers from the spit are put into the container at the bottom. The pots are huge and it is hard to think the kitchen staff cooking for several hundred royals every day, three times a day.