Así, Así, Así Gana el Madrid

Location: Madrid

I was originally going to write these as separate posts, but since they are obviously related I have decided to just combine them. The short version is that I have now gone to two Real Madrid fútbol games.

The first was a long time ago...all the way back in September. I was living with the host family then, and by chance we had 4 Swiss girls come and stay with us. (Side note: Life can be so cruel!)

They were here in town only for a couple of weeks, and since they were Europeans (or just not Americans) they were really into fútbol. And since Real Madrid is so famous they were really motivated to go. Fortunately they were kind enough to let me tag along.

The tickets wound up costing 35€ each, which were for the nosebleeds in what was widely anticipated to be a terrible game. I say "terrible" because the opponent was the lowest rank team in the division. But we'll come back to that.

This is what the stadium looks like at night.
The area outside was insanely packed. The stadium itself can seat 80,000 people, and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had they been at full capacity.
This was our view during the match. We actually didn't feel that far up to me, probably because the stadium itself is so steep.
And just to prove I wasn't making it all up about the Swiss girls, here they are. They were the equivalent of seniors in high school and were in town on a school exchange to brush up on their Spanish. They could all speak better than me, which was particularly frustrating because it was their 5th language! I swear they could all be professional translators. They had a great time teaching me naughty words in other languages.
Some of the fans seemed absolutely crazy. Take this guy who was 2 rows ahead of us; after every goal he apparently felt the need to remove his shirt and swirl it around while yelling and humping the air. It was quite the spectacle.
Occasionally when Real Madrid did something really good, the crowd would start a cheer which went "así, así, así gana el Madrid". I wasn't able to get it on film so I snagged this one from youtube so you could experience it too. I think it's the equivalent of us doing the wave...pretty cool stuff.

This was the final score. Yes you're reading it right...7 to 1. It didn't even look like Real Madrid was trying, so turns out the other team was indeed crap. And it also meant a lot of dry humping for our friend above. The girls were having a great time yelling obscenities at him in German whenever he started his thing.

So that was my first experience at a Real Madrid game.

"First", you say? Well yes, I wound up going to another game some months later. And this one literally fell into my lap.

It all started when I was sitting at my desk. One of my coworkers came over and said he had something big and asked what I was up to the following night. I said I didn't have any plans, to which he smiled and said "well then I have some good news for you".

Apparently my company has season box seats which they use for high-end clients, but since there was nothing planned for this particular game our manager had two extra tickets. Everyone else in the office was occupied (one of the few advantages I can think of having coworkers with children), so one of the tickets was for me if I wanted it.

Of course I wanted it. This was my first experience with box seats for any sport. I'm not sure how it's done elsewhere, but this was pretty cool.

First, we skipped the lines and went through a VIP entrance and shown our room. It was fairly intimate and could seat about 12. This is what our room and view looked like. There were <10 people in the box that night, and as you can see they were kind enough to lay out snack food for us.
This was our personal server for the evening, complete with a cute little skirt and high heels. My apologies for it being a bit blurry; I didn't use a flash because I was attempting to be covert. About every 10 minutes she brought a different tray of food and passed it around. This particular one was cured ham; my coworker assured me it was absolutely top notch (I believe him because the Spanish are crazy about their ham qualities).
By half time we had already made the transition from beers to rum & cokes. For the break everyone emptied into a common room where they had buffet lines with more food for all the folks in the box seats. This was also the first time we saw the servers in the other boxes; I found them to be some of the best looking in Madrid. It's probably better for everyone involved that we didn't have them in our box; nothing good could have come from that.
After a few more drinks it became obvious the game was a blow out, so I went over and chit-chatted with our server. She probably found having an American hit on her funny, but I'd like to think it was an opportunity to hone my Spanish skills.

Clearly not a bad way to spend an evening. I assure you that smile is real.
After that my coworker and I stopped by an Irish pub near the stadium and had a few pints before heading home. "La vida es dura" (life is hard) as they say here. It certainly was that night!

Nothing Rhymes with "Segovia"!

Location: Segovia, Spain

The last day trip I took before Christmas vacation was to Segovia, located roughly 60 miles Northeast and an hour´s drive outside of Madrid (or 30 minute train ride in my case). It's a small town with about 50,000 people.

It has 3 main historical sites: its aqueduct, cathedral, and alcázar.

Aqueduct
This is probably the most recognized and famous symbol of Segovia. It was built by the Romans (and contains the arches for which they are so famous) approximately 2,000 years ago.

This picturesque part is located in the old city center. In total, the aqueduct extends for 20 miles and connects to a nearby spring. And at its highest part stands 100 feet tall. All together, there are 167 arches (from what I read...I didn´t count).After climbing a lot of stairs, this is the view of the city from a ledge near the top of the aqueduct.
Cathedral
A little further into town is the cathedral. Located in the Plaza Mayor, it was constructed in the early 1500s and is considered to be Europe's last great Gothic cathedral. It was ordered to be built by the king after the town's original cathedral was destroyed a local mob, apparently in a revolt against the same king.As is typical with Spanish cathedrals, the ceilings are enormously tall and every spare piece of space (walls, columns, ceilings, etc) are intricately decorated.This is one of the main altars on the inside.

And another made of gold.

I unfortunately was not there at night to take this in person, but it is a particularly gorgeous shot of the cathedral when lit.

Alcázar
It is believed to have been built in the early 1100s as an Arab fort, but it was gradually expanded once the city was conquered by the Christians. Throughout the Middle Ages it remained one of the favorite residences of the Monarchs and a key fortress for the region.

It is located at the complete edge of town on a cliff's edge overlooking the valley below. And by having such as location, one can only enter through the small front entrance or attempt to scale the cliffs.

Although the Alcázar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then.

A shot of the main entrance, including its small arch bridge.And a close up of the turrets.
Of course no castle would be complete without an armory, and no armory would be complete without a full-fledged horseback knight.

I tried challenging him to a duel, but he ignored me.There were all kinds of rooms on the inside including a chapel, living quarters, waiting rooms, dining rooms, etc. My favorite was the "Hall of Monarchs" which included porcelain replicas of various kings seated around the entire room. You can see them below the ceiling.As mentioned, the building at one point housed an artillery school. They had an entire wing with early teaching materials, much of which was engineering-related. This picture for instance should look instantly recognizable for anyone who has taken intro Physics ("a cannon shoots a ball at x angle and x velocity...where does it land and what is its angle of impact"?)After that, the only part of the castle left was the tower, with a sole small spiral staircase in and out. It was actually quite tricky to have one person coming up with another going down; lets just say we had to get friendly.Fortunately the view was well worth the awkward rubbing with strangers. As a point of reference, the cathedral is the tall structure on the left-hand side.And this is the view of the valley which surrounds the Alcázar.

This was taken after exiting the building and a few minutes walk away. I liked it because it shows how steep and extensive the outer retaining walls are. Again, the cathedral is to the left.And this was taken from the same spot, looking back the other way over the valley. The Alcázar's turrets are visible on the right.
While I was enjoying the view from the top of the tower, I noticed there were walking paths in the valley below, and since there was time I figured I'd go find them.

This actually turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. It was the tail end of Fall at the time, so the leaves were still turning color and falling. This was the path on the way down from town.And the walking path which looped around the outer ring of the city.Along the way, there were views like this.

And this.As I mentioned before, the Alcázar sits on a cliff, which is really visible from the valley. A great shot of the entire castle.
I liked this area so much I wound up spending my last few hours wandering around the outer ring. And there was almost no one down there; I literally saw less than 5 people total.

This last shot was taken right around sunset while I was waiting to catch the bus.

In short, Segovia turned out to be one of my favorite experiences at the time and was a real surprise, especially the part about wandering outside the city. It was the first time I had more fun being lost than sticking to the major sites, which I feel is a good lesson to remember during my future travels.

As usual, more photos have been uploaded here.

Reflections on 2008

As 2008 comes to a close, it seems appropriate for me to reflect on the events of the last year. To call it an interesting ride would be an understatement. While the world at large has recently changed in irreversible ways, I have attempted to keep a more introspective focus here. I do not mean to suggest these experiences happened in a vacuum; such a statement would of course be ridiculous.

What follows are some of my experiences in the past year.

I have traveled to 7 countries outside the US. Seven of my last twelve months have been abroad, and I still have three more to go.

Before leaving, I was lucky enough to grow intellectually and swap ideas with some of the best academic minds in the world. In June my family flew to Boston to attend my graduation from what US News & World Report ranks as the top engineering university in the nation. My research allowed me to spend a month in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by a 123 page thesis report submitted only four months later.

In Iceland, I visited incredibly pristine environments and some of the most naturally beautiful landscapes imaginable, including volcanoes, craters, waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, geothermal pools, and geysers. In late June, I watched the sun set at 2am and come up a half hour later. A few weeks later, I went hiking (with daylight) around midnight.

I stood at the edge and looked down the largest waterfall in Europe (Dettifoss, North Iceland).

I toured both the worlds largest and second largest museums (Louvre in Paris & Prado in Madrid), and saw Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Picasso's Guernica.

I have come far too close in the wild with the world´s largest land and sea mammal (elephants and whales, respectively).

Throughout the year, I lived with people from Bolivia, China, Hungary, India, Japan, Kenya, and Spain.

One Hungarian roommate taught me how to drive a manual transmission in Reykjavik. Many thanks to the patient Icelandic drivers who tolerated my constant stalling at intersections :)

Although I missed out on many new films, I watched The Dark Knight in Reykjavik and Quantum of Solace in Dublin.

My culinary experiences grew just as fast; I saw & ate foods I never thought possible (mostly in Ghana & Iceland) - including goat, whale, bush rat, blood pudding, rotten shark, and sheep's head.

There were lots of drinks along the way: the highlights being Oktoberfest in Munich, Guinness in Ireland's oldest pub, wine under the Eiffel Tower, apeteshie at the Fire Festival in Northern Ghana, sangria in Madrid's Plaza Mayor, brennavin in downtown Reykjavik, and port in Lisbon's Palace Square. I learned how to say "toast" in all the local languages.

In Spain, I caught glimpses of traditional culture through Flamenco dancing and bull fights, performed in much the same way as it was in past centuries.

I stood on bridges and aqueducts built by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago.

And last but not least, I spent an afternoon in a penis museum in Husavik, Iceland.



Of course, not all of it has been fun & games.

It is always annoying to live out of one's suitcase, but I know few who have done it for months at a time. Or six.

Virtually all my time abroad has been in countries where English is not the primary language.

I have bared witness to abject poverty, starvation, diseases like Guinea worm, and people whose only source of water resembles a large mud hole located several miles away. I have lived in places without running water or reliable electricity. I have been awoken by rats chewing on my bed and animals walking on the roof. I know in certain places this is simply a way of life, and in other countries people are much, much worse off.

Having these wonderful experiences while simultaneously seeing how others live has burdened me with a substantial amount of guilt, a natural reaction of watching others toil without getting to enjoy life to the same degree. I still haven´t figured out how to justify much of my lifestyle when thinking of starving children, a concept starkly more sobering when experienced in first person and not as pictures on tv. The reality is these people are real, there are a lot of them, and they live less than a day's travel away.

By all accounts, this has been a hell of a year for me.

Despite how this can be read, I don't say it to brag. If anything, traveling has hopefully instilled some much-needed humility. When abroad, you are the idiot and everyone else knows what's going on. There are barriers to understanding, the most obvious two being language and a lack of knowledge of local customs. But overcoming these obstacles, or even just briefly peeking over them, is the joy of traveling.

While it has been a lot fun, the truth is that I often feel isolated. It's incredibly frustrating to have these wonderful stories and few people to share them with. I suppose part of my desire to write this blog has been to address that.

"What have I learned" is a difficult question to answer, not for a lack of substance but because I find it hard to coalesce my impressions. Or even if I do, finding a way to express them into words is often beyond my ability.

I have a greater appreciation for things I took for granted, whether it be a safe place to sleep, a hot shower, or even having a friend to talk to.

My time abroad leads me to believe most people often want the same basic things out of life (no matter how different the cultures), and happiness is very weakly correlated to personal wealth. People in Ghana smile the most of any country I've visited.

Seeing cultures live in such different ways has altered my way of viewing the world. I now see my beliefs and ideas of "right and wrong" as but one in a set of many.

I expect 2009 to be much more "normal" (indeed I will be surprised if any calendar year tops this one), but I do plan on living out my last three months abroad to its fullest.

Overall, I'd like to think my travels have made me a more caring, open-minded person. And I hope they continue to do so.

So...How's the Port in Portugal?

Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon is a city I learned essentially nothing about while growing up or even during my time in Spain, despite my proximity to it.

It's the capital of Portugal, which lies on the western side of Europe tucked against the Atlantic. The country is entirely engulfed by Spain. As such, there is a bit of rivalry between the two, although the edges of sheer size and economic wealth clearly go to their larger neighbor. There are definitely overtones of elitism when the Spanish talk about the Portuguese.

But after having now spent a weekend in Lisbon, I am thoroughly impressed. Lets start with the basics: the official language is Portuguese, which is similar to Spanish in writing but very different when spoken. One from our group claimed it resembled German. The country is small and has a population of approximately 10 million, a third of which live in the greater Lisbon area.

I walked out of airport to find it surprisingly warm; at least 10 degrees warmer than Madrid. The people are very accommodating to foreigners and most speak several languages, likely because Portuguese doesn't get them very far in other countries. And everything (food, lodging, taxis, etc) were very cheap. And as the pictures will show, the city's beauty is absolutely first class.

This was my first view when I stepped off the airport shuttle in Rossio square. A very beautiful welcome indeed!
Even though it was early December, they had already put up their Christmas decorations, including impressive lights on most of the main streets and squares. This was taken only a block from our hostel in the Baixa district, which is the main center for shopping.
And this was the view from the balcony in our hostel room, which was only 15€/night. Just one of the many Portuguese amenities which was a bargain.
These are the "elevator trams" which take people up and down the various steep hills in the city for a small cost.
This is the popular nightlife scene in Barrio Alto, located a short walk from the downtown area. All the streets were blocked off with people walking around or hanging out. There were occasional police, but I saw a guy roll and smoke a joint directly next to one so clearly the rules are relaxed.

It was interesting to see because people would duck into a bar to buy a drink, then keep right on wandering. It seemed more like a frat party than a downtown scene, and I heard just about every language imaginable as we walked around.
At one point we walked past someone with a Big-Gulp sized cocktail, so I stopped to inquire where she bought it. She said there was a place right around the corner which sold mammoth & cheap drinks, so we immediately rounded the corner and headed in.

Boy was she right. The place had only a handful of choices, but they were running specials on mojitos and dark mojitos that night. And they were surprisingly strong - see the picture below for what I mean. Those are two bottles of rum being poured into a mojito with hardly any other ingredients. Why is that guy in the background smiling? Because he knows the next one is his and it only costs 4€.
Despite the bartender's best efforts, we managed to survive the rest of the evening by walking around and taking in the sights. We even managed to awake early and start a full day's worth of sightseeing.

First on our trip was the Terreiro do Paço (Palace Square). It's located near the waterfront (the ocean is barely visible in the background), and it used to be the location of the royal palace until the 1755 earthquake which destroyed much of the city.
And as you can see, it's particularly beautiful when lit at night.
Of course Portugal is famous for its ports, so we made sure to try them whenever possible. This first one is from a port bar with 200+ types available. Unfortunately we arrived right before close, so we were only able to have a glass. I fell in love with like the giant wine glass on the right.
We later perused a specialty port & wine store and saw these bottles. They were a bit out of price range, but I was impressed to see the various dates (1938 for the one on the far left, for instance).
Our first stop in the morning wasn't planned but turned out to provide some of our favorite views of Lisbon. We were lucky enough to walk by and find almost no one there (likely because it was still so early). From the street, it looked like a little courtyard or park.
But on the far side it had some spectacular views, like this one.
This is looking uphill towards the castle (left side at the top of the hill), which was our next destination.
And one more overlooking part of the city and the Atlantic.
After our brief (but beautiful) stop, we headed into the Castle of São Jorge. Originally occupied by the Moors, it was conquered in the 12th century by the first king of Portugal and later held to repel future invasions.

This is looking at the outside walls and bridge.
For some reason, there were a large number of stray cats (not pictured) within the grounds. We must have seen at least 10, although after awhile it became difficult to avoid double-counting.

This was taken while walking around the outer grounds which overlook both the city and the Atlantic.
Perched on the highest hill in the district, it too has a great view of the city.
It started to rain so we stopped at some covered tables near the gift shop to enjoy a bottle of wine. The weather quickly cleared and we were on our way, but not before having fun with some of the local peacock.
All that bird chasing worked up quite an appetite, so we stopped by a local restaurant on our way back into town to grab a bite to eat. This was a real local joint with only the owner and ourselves in it. After discovering we were Americans, he gave us the "English version" of the menu, which had clearly been drafted on a type-writer with prices in whatever the old Portuguese currency was before the euro. We had a hard time believing the entrees cost 15,000+ each.

I ordered the food in Spanish, not really having an idea of what type of fish was what. Much to my surprise, we each got a whole fish (head, tail, and all) like this one! It was really good, but picking out all the bones became tedious after awhile.
Also one funny side note - this restaurant was also the only time when someone attempted to steal from us. A couple came in, walked over to our table (again we were the only ones), and the guy tried to hand me a flier. I waved him off, but he persisted and kept pushing me to get me to take it. On the 3rd or 4th time he tried it, I noticed his hand slowly moving closer to my camera which was in the middle of the table. I reached out and snatched it, which caused him to run for the door. I thought about giving chase but decided it probably wasn't worth it.

We finished our meals (each costing about 8€) and hopped on a metro heading West. About 20 minutes later and 6km away we came to our destination of Belém, which has a famous monastery, tower, palace, and pastry shop.

Our first (and my favorite) stop was the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Hieronymites Monastery). This is the outside of the monastery and adjoining cathedral.
One of my favorite sites from the entire weekend was the inside courtyard which contains two-story cloisters. The detail of the carvings is amazing even up close, and I found the entire place to be absolutely gorgeous.
And this is looking down one of the side hallways.
And more of the architecture on the second floor.
The inside of the adjoining cathedral was also quite breathtaking. I much preferred it to the Sé (Lisbon's main and oldest cathedral, not discussed because I wasn't impressed), which is odd because the other normally receives all the praise.
We were strolling through in late afternoon, which happened to be a great time that day because a small orchestra and choir were warming up for a performance. I'm often on the fence about classical music, but I admit this was impressive.
And here's a small video of what they were playing.

On the way out, we passed by a 100+ people dressed in tuxes and elegant dresses, waiting to be let into the cathedral. Apparently they were the paying customers of the performance. It was a very odd contrast - here we were walking out wearing faded jeans and t-shirts, each looking at each other.

About a quarter mile away is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). It was built to honor the Portuguese who took part in the Age of Discovery in the 15th & 16th centuries. To a tourist like me, it's an impressive 52 meter tall slab of concrete with some amazing sculpture detail and a great view of the city. Each one of those people at the base are larger than real-life and are specific historical figures. I won't bore you with the list, although if you want to see it click here.
This is the view standing next to it, and in the background is the "25 de Abril Bridge" (25th of April), which also happens to be the largest suspension bridge in the world. It's often compared to the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco because of its appearance (even the same company made it).
The bridge used to go by a different name, but was changed to honor the date in 1974 which marks the Carnation Revolution. More can be read about it here, but it was a military coup which transitioned the country from a dictatorship to a democracy, ending the Portuguese empire.

And a little bit further down is the Torre de Belém (Belém Tower), which was built in the early 16th century to commemorate Vasco de Gama's expedition, who sailed around South Africa and discovered India. Later, it was used to defend the Tigus river (which runs east-west through all of Portugal and a good portion of Spain) and Lisbon itself. However, it fell to the Spanish in 1580 and was used mainly as a prison afterwards.
The view from one of the open windows, looking over the Tigus and suspension bridge mentioned before.
It is particularly beautiful when lit at night, as shown below (van Rooyen, 2007).
After we walked back, we decided to stop and enjoy the sunset at the Praça do Império, which are public gardens located next to the royal palace. One of my highlights of the trip was sitting there on a bench at dusk drinking a bottle of wine right next to where royalty live.
We then returned to our hostel for a quick shower and power nap (since we were running on about 4 hours of sleep), before we met up with another couple for dinner.

Taking a recommendation from my coworker, we hopped on a ferry which crossed the Tigus and took us into a small fishing village whose name I can't remember. The point was to see the river & bridge at night as well as experience a "true" Portuguese dinner experience by leaving Lisbon. The fog & rain prohibited us from experiencing the first, but he was dead on for the second.

While waiting & riding the ferry (maybe 45 minutes total), the four of us went through one bottle of wine and another one of port. We were feeling good as we disembarked and wandered around to find a restaurant.

We eventually stopped at a place with a reasonable menu (all entrees were under 10€) and some occupied tables. We were seated near the front, adjacent to a group of about 15 male Portuguese teenagers. They too were drinking, and since we were clearly outsiders they started talking to us. Of course no one in our group understood Portuguese, so what ensued was a back & forth in broken Spanish & English which was absolutely hysterical. We were trying to ask which wine was best, and they were responding by teaching us dirty phrases in Portuguese. I don't think we would have figured out what we were about to order if one hadn't started making obscene hand gestures.

After a few more bottles of wine and more inappropriate discussion, the teenagers left. Then some of the older middle-aged locals started coming up and chatting with us as well. One of them spoke some English, one was fluent in French (as was one in our group), and we all spoke some measure of Spanish. So now we were up to 4 languages being thrown around our table, with many rounds of drinks, lots of food, and a steady stream of wine. All conversations were friendly and ranged from politics (Bush and Obama of course), plus the Spanish/Portuguese rivalries. We found out later that one of the gentlemen was the owner.

We were having such a great time that we boarded the last ferry back to Lisbon (2am), and despite our best efforts to run up a huge tab, it only came out to 17€ per person! It was definitely one of my favorite experiences of the trip.

Back on the Lisbon side, we had one final adventure for the night when we found someone who had been drinking and had clearly been in a fight. He had a large cut above one eye and blood over his face, and since he looked like he needed some help we stopped, talked to him, and eventually got him into a taxi home. Exciting day!



The next morning we arose early (again) to head off to Sintra, a town located about an hour's train ride Northwest of Lisbon. Once there, one can take either a bus or hike to the main attractions which are located a bit outside the city. We opted for the bus.

Our first stop was the Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena National Palace), which was originally a chapel constructed after a claimed apparition sighting of the Virgin Mary. It later became a small monastery but was reduced to ruins in the great earthquake of 1755. It remained destroyed for centuries until the young prince Ferdinand took a liking to it and decided to have it rebuilt. It then became a retrieve for the royal family until their exile in 1910.

On a clear sunny day, this is what it's supposed to look like .
And another one at sunset - clearly it has some aesthetic values.
Of course when we were there it was a typical San Francisco morning - heavy fog with a constant drizzle. So the pictures didn't turn out the best, but they're still good.

We were free to walk around the outside grounds and later took a tour of the inside. This is a view from one of the many side balconies.
And this one from the other side.
Fortunately for us it gradually cleared up as the day progressed, as shown by our next few stops.

The Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors) was built sometime in the 9th or 10th century, but fell to the Christian Portuguese in the 12th century. It too was abandoned for several centuries and restored in the mid 1800s.

Again, on a clear day, this is what the outer ramparts would look like (Lusitana, 2002).
There weren't many structures to see on the inside, but here was the view on our way in.
Some kind of courtyard near the entrance.
A neat ledge overlooking the estate.
Taken on the outer wall. Hidden in the foggy background is Sintra and even Lisbon, far off in the distance.
Taken at the bottom of that same outer wall looking up.
And to wrap up, I ran across this pic while writing this post and couldn't resist. It's a gorgeous shot of both Pena Palace on the left and the Moorish Castle on the right at sunset.
After leaving the castle, we waited for the bus until we discovered it had broken down. Since we were out of sites to see, we hiked several kilometers back to town. Fortunately for us it was all down hill.

Along the way we walked by this beautiful garden, although it was unmarked and not mentioned in any of our tour books.
Once back in town, our last stop was the Quinta da Regaleira (also known as "Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire"). As the name suggests, the land was purchased by the wealthy businessman Carvalho Moneiro as a place where he could construct intricate structures. Basically, I like to think of this guy as an early Huge Hefner.

As you can see, most of the grounds consist of walking paths and trees. But the place is huge, and although we walked briskly for 2 hours, we were not able to see everything.
This is just one example of the neat structures.
One of the walking paths.
Likely to be my favorite view of the estate. The green at the bottom is moss covering pond water, and those are stones to cross it. Plus there are caves that wrap around the back part. A really cool spot overall.
Taken on the bottom floor after following the stone steps into the cave entrance.
Another building to which I have no idea its name or significance.
This was listed as the site's most famous piece. From the outside it merely looks like a standard well, but this is the view looking straight down it. Instead of water, there is a spiral staircase which loops around the outer wall. And those are people standing at the bottom, who have come from another building via an underground tunnel system.
Alas, after this the park was closing and we had to leave.

We made it back to Lisbon and took it easy for our last night there, although we did go through another bottle of wine & port while hanging out in some of the city's famous squares.

The flight home was a story to itself. Lisbon to Madrid is a 55 minute flight, but unfortunately most of my next day was spent in the airport because my flight never materialized. 7 hours later it mysteriously lands and we board with no problem, but to this day I have no idea why it was so delayed. While waiting, I befriended three other American girls studying in Southern Spain, so the experience wasn't a total loss. But even so, it was still a fantastic weekend!

As always, many more pictures from Lisbon & Sintra can be found here.