Europe Day 2: 10/16/2008

Breakfast: coffee at Pasteleria Suica located on a corner of the square. There were 3 different prices for the various coffee drinks listed, only which some of them were easily translated: sitting inside, standing, and sitting outside. We went inside to order and decided to stand because there was plenty of room. After we struggled to order in Portugese, the lady motioned that we could go outside so we took our coffee and pastries out to the square and sat in the sun. Our waiter spoke a little English and so he was able to tell us to catch the bus right there in the square to Castelo Sao Jorge at the top of the hill.
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon checking out the castle. The views were beautiful and Dad even bought a CD of a man playing Fado style music in the castle courtyard. We stopped for lunch at a café beneath the castle. Once again we were suckered into the salty pastries and the cheese but we decided this would be the last time that happened! We then walked down from the castle, stopping along the way to check out the views of the water from various places along the route. Portugal is much hillier than I thought and it actually reminds me a lot of San Francisco in that way. They even have a mini Golden Gate Bridge called the 25th of April bridge because that is the Portugese Independence Day and the same designer who did the GG did this bridge! They also have these trams/trolley cars that are just like cable cars or the muni trolleys on Market Street in San Francisco. We went back to the hotel to rest a little before dinner and then took a trolley up a HUGE hill to this nice neighborhood where we found a place to eat. We walked around a little and noticed that it was a much more upscale area just from the stores and the restaurant fronts.

Pictures of the castle, views from the castle, and the streets of Lisbon!