Lisbon, part VI - Castelo de Sao Jorge

Castelo de Sao Jorge was on the cards today - well, I was only in Lisbon for about three days anyway.

The Castelo can trace its earliest roots back to 6th century BC, but as far as I can tell the main structure today was built by the Moors in the 10th century, and named after St George, the Sao Jorge who killed the dragon. There are some rather unusual legends surrounding the patron saint and the idea of the devil, but since this isn't a dissertation I'll leave the finer print to google and wikipedia. (The consensus is that no one does libraries and bookstores, let alone second hand book shoppes, any more.)

This is how I like Lisbon - its cobbled, sloping streets, pastel-coloured houses and blue skies.

Off to catch another tram

Another miradouro.

And the entrance to the Castelo.

They used these to shoot arrows.

A medieval well.

See how different the photo looks when the skies are cloudy?

The panorama from this particular miradouro is somewhat less impressive

This was a cat that followed me all around the Castelo. I think it rather liked me.

Lisbon, part V - the Miradouros

Lisbon, like Rome, is a city built upon 7 hills. At various locations in the city there are vantage points, or as the Portuguese call them, miradouros. I'd looked up some of them on google maps and tripsdvisor and wikitravel, but at the end I just ended up sitting out various tram routes with my
Viva viagem (7 colinas) card and going where I wanted, and getting off whenever I saw a new miradouro. As far as travel goes this is not a bad of getting about and around. The miradouros, with their view of the Pacific and most of all the red-tiled rooftops and white buildings.

Fun fact - the word 'colinas' apparently means hills, ergo the 7 colinas travelcard.

This was my itinerary for that day.

→walk from the hostel to Chiado, then get on tram 28 (get off at Portas Sol)

3. St. George's Castle (Castelo de Sao Jorge) (5 euros, located on the highest of Lisbon’s 7 hills) (visit Miradouro de Santa Luzia nearby and Lisbon Cathedral [entrance fee 3.50], oldest building in the city)

4. Miradouro da Senhora do Monte (tram 28 uphill, get off at Graca)

→Take 28 tram back to Chiado, walk 4 minutes to Baixa-Chiado station and go to:

5. Santa Justa elevator (Metro: Baixa-Chiado Station)

And as we always do, another photo entry.

The Jeronimos Monastery - ciao ciao!

 Some lovely lavender trees.

And here we are, off to catch the tram again.

On the tram

This is what your average miradouro looks like.

This was probably my favourite miradouro view, the perfect blend of buildings, the sea and the skies.

Again, my favourite miradouro

Lisbon, part IV - Jerónimos Monastery

I can say with all honesty that the Jerónimos Monastery was one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever been to in Europe.

It's also known as the Hieronymites Monastery, and I came here to visit the grave of Vasco da Gama, and also because it was an amazing work of Gothic architecture. Its location was superb, too - right beside the Pacific.

It was incredibly hot that day, so it was nice to escape into the tranquil of the monastery. And if one thinks about it, that's what religion is for, isn't it - a place to anchor your weary heart of body, a sanctuary.

Tickets didn't come cheap at 10 EUR, but I thought it was worth it.

This entry will be photos galore.

The outer facade of the Monastery

The grand Entrance

This was yet another of those ridiculously photogenic places where I went crazy with my camera and took hundreds of amazing photos. Unfortunately I can't put all of them here, but maybe I'll do another 'More Photos' blog entry because I do have heaps of them. At the very least, they would make nice desktop images.

The tomb of the great explorer

And then one last glimpse of the beautiful Monastery before going back to the hostel. You can see that the sun's much lower in the sky now, and the skies are much darker.