Lisbon- Capital of Portugal: Part 1

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We took our oldest daughter on the train to Lisbon for a day trip last week. What an adventure it was! The first thing that of course was absolutely hysterical to her was the fact that if you had to use the restroom at the train station, you had to pay!

What made it even more comical was that once you put the money in the machine, you only had about 2 seconds to get through the gate before it closed. So funny... We really laughed about that.

Then we had to catch a taxi, which was a new experience for us. In Lisbon, you have to wait in a line for the taxis to come. There are all sorts of rules about taxis, but thankfully my dad prepared us ahead of time. Our first stop was going to be the Castle of St. Jorge. So, as I tried not to laugh at how funny it sounded, I had to tell the driver "To the castle!!!"

This castle was built about 1000 years ago and as you can see, people were much shorter back then... All the doorways and stairs are so small! I imagined the king and other royalty walking through the property...

We spent a few hours at the castle, and then we decided to surprise our "little bean" and take her to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch!

Oh my goodness, the food was absolutely devine! We savored every single bite and it tasted exactly as it would in the U.S.

We started with an appetizer sampler of chicken wings, potato skins, spring rolls, and cheese sticks, and the our daughter decided on the "crazy mac & cheese" which had big pieces of grilled chicken in it and some garlic bread. My husband and I shared the barbecue chicken and ribs. Mmmm- I can almost still taste it!

After lunch, we tried to get onto the elevator to see the upper part of the city, but it was really crowded with tourists that day.

Here are a few scenes from Lisbon:

I will share more about our trip to Lisbon in my next post!

The Church in the Forest

Hidden deep in a forest in the mountains, there is a beautiful sanctuary that draws thousands upon thousands of vistors from all over the world. It is called Bom Jesus do Monte. It is quite the drive to get there from my parents' house, but it is so well worth it!

You can easily spend several hours here, visiting the church, and walking down the steps that have the stations of the cross.

There is also a water generated elevator that brings you from the bottom to the top of the mountain in 3 minutes. It was built in the early 1800's and it is really interesting to see how it functions.

There are beautiful gardens and a hidden lake in the forest, way up high into the mountain.

The view is amazing up there, and it is so peaceful!

But of course, the highlight for our children was the fact that inside the church was the preserved remains of a woman. At this moment, who she was is a mystery to me so I will have to research it when we return home the the States. But my kids were thrilled at the fact that they were able to see an actual dead person- so strange...

Can you see her there, in that box above? I thought it was pretty gross, but oh well- we don't have those sorts of things in the U.S. so we might as well enjoy it, right?

Fun at the Beach

Portugal is a country known for its role in the fishing industry. Seafood, particularly sardines, have been a number one export of Portugal for many years. There are many beautiful beaches in Portugal, and we are blessed to have access to one of them, just 15 minutes away from my parents' summer home.

Where we live in the U.S.A. the beaches are very calm and the water is almost hot in the summer- like taking a bath! It is the complete oposite here in Portugal- the water is from the Atlantic Ocean, and it is VERY cold and extremely rough. Many people drown here each year because of the under currents and rough water.

We don't allow the kids to go very far off the shore at all here. My dad kept a watchful eye on our two younger ones, always looking to see when the waves are coming up. Because of the wind, a lot of seafoam develops along the shore.

Our oldest was almost blown away with the beach umbrella!

The picture above was taken at a different beach called Furadouro. We went there for lunch and then the kids played in the sand, dipped their feet in the freezing water, and collected stones. There are almost no shells at the beach, but there are all sorts of beautiful, smooth little stones.

The shore at this beach had many large rocks that you could climb onto.

See the waves crashing behind my husband? It just amazes me, how powerful the oceans are and what a wonderful example of God's power and beauty....

Ancient Roman Ruins

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I have to be honest and say that when I found out we were going to go to the ancient Roman ruins of Conimbriga, I was giddy with excitement, and my children thought that surely I have lost my mind.

Conimbriga is the location of Roman ruins dating back to the time before Jesus Christ! This was the field trip of a lifetime for us and I wanted to make sure we took full advantage of all it had to offer. The picture above is the remains of the home of the ruler of this area, and his home was 47,000 square feet in size! He lived there with his wife and children, who at one point were captured by enemies.

The pictures really do not do this place justice...

The Romans were a very advanced civilization and it shows in their arquitecture and by the fact that they had indoor plumbing and central heating!

A large aquaduct was used to carry water to the city, which had a population well into the thousands. Romans spent hours each day bathing and caring for their skin, which is why there were so many baths here, both public and private ones.

At this point, only 15% of the area has been excavated, so as we looked out into the land infront of us, it was amazing to imagine how great this city once was.

The mosaic tile work was beautiful and I could not believe how detailed it was! Someone spent a long time working on them...

There is also a museum on site, where you can see all the beautiful artifacts found here, including pottery, columns, busts, tools, and tombstones.

The large tombstone to the left of my oldest daughter was quite interesting to me. It belonged to a freed slave.

We left Conimbriga with so much information, and amazed at the beauty and history uncovered here. This was such an exciting field trip, especially because we will be studying ancient civilizations this year. How many kids can say they have actually seen the remains of an ancient civilization!

Little Portugal

While visiting the city of Coimbra, we took the kids to a fun place called "Little Portugal". Little Portugal has all kinds of famous Portuguese landmarks, houses, and churches. But what makes this place special is that all of the buildings are sized for children!

The buildings are so cute, and the details are amazing! Some of the buildings are just big enough for a child to walk into, but others are smaller and require crawling to get in the door.

Some of our favorite buildings were the replicas of various monasteries and castles.

The kids had a blast exploring and they really thought it would be great to have all these miniature buildings in the own backyard!