Castelo de São Jorge

Following lunch I headed back to the central part of downtown to check out Castelo de São Jorge. I kind of guessed how to get there so it took me a while to figure out which street actually led to the castle but eventually figured it out!

Castelo São Jorge is a Moorish castle - I've seen a lot of castles in my time but I believe this may be my first Moor one. It was built in the mid-11th century on a hilltop and over looks the city. Though it's military use really started when Portugal became part of the Spanish crown in 1850.

View from the castle 

View from the castle

Summer holiday time!

I think one of the things I respect most about Europeans is that they believe in vacation and take it! Of course they get a lot more weeks off than us North Americans. . .

Even though I have only been working a few months, I didn't want to be left out so I too headed out of Paris for a couple of weeks :) Though I will say, there is a reason that I don't usually take holidays in the summer months, prices are high and there are too many people for my liking but one's got to do what one's got to do!

First stop was Portugal! It was everything everyone has ever said about it - beautiful, affordable and always nice weather! I headed to Lisbon first and then to the Algarve region. (like Budapest, this is going to be a few separate posts in an effort to keep the them shorter).

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and has a very long history - predating even Paris! If I remember correctly it's the oldest city in Western Europe. Being a port city definitely helped it over the years (along with the Crusaders). The city is very white and the streets/sidewalks are frequently patterned stones (which makes them a bit slippery!) and it's a little hilly so lots of walking upwards.

The first day I headed to the Belém area to start. This area has some of the oldest monuments and is where many of the explorers departed from. In full disclosure I didn't make inside many of the sites because the amount of people out that day was ridiculous! 

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

In the late 1400s King Manuel I wanted to build a monastery where the Santa Maria de Belém church stood on the River Targus. It was later given to the Order of St. Jerrome which is where it gets its name from.

The interior of the church (right side of above photo)

Jardim da Praça do Império

One of the crusaders

Joe remembered to come this time :)

View from the monastery

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

This monument was built in honour of the Portuguese explorers in the 15th and 16th century.

View from the top

View from the top

And me looking like every other tourist that day

Tower of Belém

The tower was built between 1514 and 1520 as part of a defense system. I stood in line for 20 minutes and then gave up so I can't tell you much more!

And after all that, it was time for some lunch!

The view from the resto

Back to the tram . . . 

Hungarian eats

Of course as part of the trip, there was a need to sample the local fare. I did my best to try local dishes and beverages. I have a bad habit of forgetting to take photos before I start eating so I missed a few along the way :) 

First night was room service because this is a rare treat! The meal included veal stew with a Hungarian form of spatzel, cucumber salad, strudel and local beer. I have to admit it was far more food than I could consume so the strudel served as breakfast the next day.

The next few days included . . . 

Goulash

Hungarian pancake filled with chicken

Late afternoon lunch, where I forgot to take a picture of the food!

A trip to Gödöllö, Hungary

30km outside of Budapest is the town of Gödöllö whre you will find the Sisi Palace which is the second largest Baroque Palace in the world. During the Austro-Hungarian rule, the palace served as the summer residence of Queen Elisabeth, who was nicknamed Sisi, and the Hungarian King and Hapsburg Emperor, Francis Joseph. After WWII it was used by the Soviet troops and then as an old age residence. 

Pictures are not permitted inside the museum and royal apartments so this post will be short - and only includes outdoor shots.

The front entrance

Back courtyard

The "gardens" 

The Budapest Waterfront

The Dunabe waterfront is where you get some of the best views of the city but it also has some random monuments and statues. Most of them are whimsical but the first one I came across was quite moving - it is a Hungarian Jewish WWII memorial.

Now for the random ones . . .

And in case you haven't seen enough of the cityscape here are some more shots. 

And the city is pretty spectacular at night!

Budapest - or rather just Pest and Parliament

As part of the tour I took there was a trip to Parliament which includes a guided tour of the interior. This very notable building is done in the gothic revival style. The dome, much like that of Stephen's Basilica, is 96m high - this was done to recognize the conquest of the Kingdom of Hungary in 896 and then the nation's millennium in 1896. The building was also inaugurated in 1896 though only completed in 1904.

The view from Buda.

The building close up.

The Hungarian system was originally bicameral so has some similarities in its look to the Canadian and other similar systems, though today is only unicameral. Though the interior is much more ornate.

The gold ceiling

The Holy Crown of Hungary

Parliament sits on Lajos Kossuth Square which hosts a few statues and other buildings which were not part of the tour so not sure what they are :)

This one is actually still Parliament