Bec & Dave's Blog: Seafood, Sangria, Sunshine...

Our week in Portugal and Spain was fan-bloody-tastic!! One of the best trips we have done since we have been overseas. Our first stop was Lisbon, Portugal's capital. Hopping on a packed bus from the airport, we managed by a combination of luck and skill to get off at the right stop, pretty much right outside our hostel, which was located just off the lovely-named Avenida de Liberdade, smack bang in the middle of the city. So off to a good start. After dumping our stuff and changing into shorts (the weather was glorious) we headed out. As we were strolling, there seemed to us to be an unusually large number of football jersey-clad people about, so we decided to ask at the tourist office if there might be a game on. Turns out there was a World Cup qualifier that very night - Portugal v Denmark, and there were still tickets available!! For 10 euro!! So after snapping up a couple and stopping for coffee and a Portuguese custard tart each (the best pastries I've ever eaten in my life), we headed up to the Alfama district, the old part of Lisbon, crowned by the Castelo de Sao Jorge. 'Headed up' is no exaggeration, but we were rewarded with some great views. That night, we attended the game. Denmark ended up winning 3-2 in the last minute of injury time, so it was a very entertaining game with lots of world class players (but no Ronaldo, to my eternal disappointment).
Most of the following day was spent walking! After a bit of a sleep in, we took a massive walk down to the beautiful Belem district, via the waterfront and the Alcantara, where we were planning to have lunch but all the restaurants looked WAY too posh and expensive (I think all the Beamers parked outside gave us the clue.) Instead, we had a lovely seafood meal in Belem (for me - mixed grill for Dave), and later on visited the shop with the best Portuguese tarts in the city (so they say - we're not about to disagree though.)
Our last day in Portugal we took a day trip out to Cascais, a seaside town. We had been tossing up between Cascais and Sintra; we SO made the right decision! It was another gorgeous day, and Cascais was just glorious and beautiful. Among the sights to see were the Santa Marta lighthouse and the Boca de Inferno (Hell's Mouth). Back in Lisbon we had dinner up in Alfama and watched the sun set over the city.
Saturday we had an 8 hour bus ride to Seville in Spain. We arrived at 5; the sun was shining still and it was 32 degrees! Again, we had a lovely hostel in a great location. We headed out across the river to check out the bars, and found one with a great position overlooking the water. Later, we headed back across to check out Barrio de Santa Cruz, where we ate dinner at a few tapas bars.
The following day we mainly just spent walking around Seville. We had planned the cathedral because it is free on Sundays, but turns out it was closed because of an event on that night (the start of our bad luck with Seville's sights). But we had a lovely tapas lunch, and saw the bullring and the beautiful Plaza de Espana. That night, by a very happy coincidence, Garcy came to town!! So the three of us spent the evening drinking and eating yummy tapas at another great little bar by the water.
Our last full day in Seville we visited the cathedral and climbed the tower, then headed across to the Alcazar, only to get there and find that it is closed on Mondays! And we were leaving tomorrow morning! So we went souvenir shopping instead, before meeting up again with Garcy, and MY GOD, what a massive night that was. Great fun though, as he took us to a great little sandwich bar (a regular haunt for him in Seville), we went to yet another great tapas bar, and a free flamenco show.
The next day, both of us feeling more than a little sore and sorry, we headed back to ol' London Town.
What an amazing week!!! We are back at work now, but Friday we head to Munich for 4 days for Oktoberfest with Jarratt and Bec. Will update again soon, hope everyone is well!