Enjoying Lisbon

Catherine arrived on Thursday in Porto and it was great to see her. We milled around on Thursday and went to a cute cafe for lunch. It seemed to be a place that was very popular with the over 80 crowd. We walked around the market and then down to the water. It was another gorgeous day with sun and blue skies. We sat by the river and had a drink and then milled around a bit more. Friday morning we went across the river to the Port wine houses. We took a couple of tours and then did some tastings. It was great fun. Friday afternoon we got on the train to Lisbon where Carlos met as at the station. He has been an excellent host. We have been staying at his parents' lovely home. The first night we had some really great grilled fish for dinner. Yesterday we had a full day of sight seeing. Carlos took us to Sintra, a beautiful fairytale-like village. I have visited this town several times but was delighted to go again as it is one of my favorite places in the world. We visited the Palacio de Pena at the top of the hill and the old ruins of the Moorish (aka "Moopish") castle as well. Then we met Joanna, Carlos's girlfriend and had a delicious lunch. We then went to Belem, a really pretty area of Lisbon to visit the sights there. Then to Lisbon proper where we enjoyed the view of the city from up at the castle walls. We had a really full day and Carlos did a great job of showing us around. We returned to his parents' place for dinner where we had another wonderful meal with the whole family. This morning we will go by train up to Coimbra, another of my favorite towns in Portugal and will spend the day and night there.