Lisbon and Northern Portugal

Lisbon, like many European cities, is full of plazas, pedestrian streets and old churches. But what's a little different in Lisbon is the Moorish influence in the architecture and neighborhood. So lots of tile work with intricate designs, symmetrical patters, etc. Mom and I meandered through the narrowest winding streets in the Alfama area, relaxed with some fantastic Portuguese pastries at an outdoor cafe and window shopped throughout the city.

But, Lisbon is a big city, and one day is enough and we were there for 3, so I was done.
I did buy some great shoes.
I learned that Obrigada/o is thank you in Portuguese.

Northern Portugal was beautiful. Very green and mountainous. We took a day long river cruise through the Port wine growing region in Porto and saw Europe's oldest university in Coimbra.
We were staying in some luxurious hotels, with swimming pools and hair dryers (thanks mom!) until I saw the room rate and then it was back to the Lonely Planet. Actually we stayed in some very quaint guest houses that included breakfast. I think even mom was impressed. Breakfast wasn't usually a feast. But the Portuguese must really love their baked goods b/c most mornings we would have freshly baked pastries and bread. Except once, we must have had some day old bread b/c I look up and mom is chasing her pat of butter around the bread with her knife. The coffee is hit or miss. And actually I haven't written about this b/c I think I'm blocking it out. But most of the world thinks that Nescafe is coffee. Not many people understand the beast that lurks within coffee drinkers and how we need beans not granules or powder. Now, I'm by no means undermining Nescafe b/c I realize that some people are fiendish about it. But I swear I have had enough Nescafe to last a lifetime, so I'm always on the look out for the real stuff. A few times in Jordan I ordered a Turkish coffee, but I used my teeth as a sieve and that kinda sucked.