Page 179 - Demo

Tuesday 26th September - Sintra - Lisboa Oceanario - SintraHot & Sunny. Chatted with Rui, our excellent friendly host and owner of Nova Sintra. Took some early morning photos of the castle overlooking the village. Everything here is peaceful and verdant, compared with the almost treeless Lisboa city and the drier Algarve. Drove through Lisboa, past the Benfica and Sporting Lisbon football clubs home stadium Estadio da Luz, and through to the waterfront to the north east of the city. Here is the Expo 98 site, an amazing collection of futuristic buildings, and home of the Oceanario - a world famous oceanarium. A huge tank packed with fish formed the centre of the building, with other displays representing all of the world%u2019s oceans branching off the main area. It was beautifully done, and it felt like you were in the tank with the fish. The Antarctic display even had real snow and ice - a nice cool area to escape from the heat outside! Caught the cable car the length of the Expo site to the towering Gravitarium - a tall futuristic tower overlooking the area, and had a nice lunch at a tapas bar, one of many virtually deserted restaurants along the waterfront. Caught the cable car back to our car and drove back to Sintra%u2019s historic district - now packed with hordes of tourists. Wandered the cobbled steep streets . Bought some roast chestnuts, had some coffee, ice cream, milkshakes, Vinho Verde wine, etc. Let Teia play in the local playground. Walked to the local library around the corner from the hotel to do some more blogging. That night we went out for a nice regional meal at a restaurant recommended by Rui, to celebrate our last night in Portugal.