History lessons in Lisbon

This is the last day of the Portuguese experience. Tomorrow we head back "across the pond" and bring an end to the blogs. Hope you've enjoyed them.
A lot of interesting history pack into today as we toured parks, then seaside monuments in nearby Belem. This is where the river meets the Atlantic, so many forts were built in the past, including the Tower of Belem, to keep out the pirates and encourage spice trade. The Monument to the Explorers honors the brave men like Magellen and Vasco de Gama, who set sail from here in the 15th/16th century.  The monestery (1503) with church, where people came to pray for the adventurers, was huge and ornate. It houses the "official" grave of Vasco de Gama. One delightful stop was to the coach museum, a converted riding school with ornate 18th century hand-carved horse drawn coaches. Our discovery today was warm custard tarts fresh from the famous Pastries de Belen shop! A great way to end the day. The Farewell banquet is tonight at a rooftop restaruant.
Today's pix: Belen Tower;Monument to the Discoveries; inside the monestery church

Lisbon and Surroundings

It was our first and only day of rain as we took a day trip to nearby Sintra, the  fishing village by the Atlantic  Ocean, then up to Cascais, the mountainous region where palaces, estates, and golf courses rise high above the common man! Beautiful and powerful surf below in Sintra and, in Cascais, lovely wooded landscape leading to our tour of the palace (summer home from the 1400's of Henry the Navagator's folks). Topped it off with lunch and shopping for regional specialties. The rain stopped by afternoon for our first walking tour up and around the hills of Lisbon, riding the ornate outdoor elevator down from the top. Dinner was on our own with friends and we enjoyed  excellent filets of fish - swordfish, grouper, salmon, though one held out for lamb.
Today's pix: Fishing harbor of Sintra; pastry shop in Lisbon; view of the castle/fort from the elevator.

Cork and Pork and Storks in Portugal

Off to new "learning and discoveries", as Grand Circle calls our out-of-the-way adventures. Now in Portugal, we had a real highlight of the trip today, a detour through the back country to the prestigious family owned "Brito Paes" Stud Ranch, on which property six generations have bred and sold Lusitanian horses. It is family run now by a widow and her 3 sons. Maria also has built a lovely  separate guest diningroom in which a local staff of women served us a fine lunch. They raise the horses for the first 4 years and do some performance training as well, so we saw a demonstraion with several of these beautiful animals. Along our drive we saw many storks in nests up on the utility poles in the country. We also passed the (black) pig farms (remember that expensive dried ham?) near the forests of cork (oak) trees. Stopped to examine the peeled bark trees, from which all those good wine bottle corks are made. Sunset arrival into Lisbon tonight.
Today's pix: lunch at the farm; Lusitanian horse show; peeled cork tree

Festive Seville!

The church bells are all chiming in competition as I write this on a Saturday full of weddings. You must put this city on your Bucket List. It is the amalamation of  all history from before Christ to the present and promises beauty, richness in culture and arts, and the excitement of the new generation. Spain has sorely felt the slump in the European economy, but the cities still feel vibrant (thanks to tourism!). Highlights today were tours of the Plaza de Espania, built as part of the big1929 Iberian Exhibition, wandering the streets of the old Jewish quarter, visiting the magnificent gothic cathedral, (1400), once a Moorish mosque (1100), which houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus, sharing more tapas with friends. Tonight we saw a flamenco show before our fashionably late dinner at 9:00 (still can't get used to eating at such a dark and late hour).

Today's pix: Plaza de Espania; Cathedral of Seville; Christopher Columbus tomb; Flamenco theater

From Sea to Mountain tops

Left our resort by the Meditteranean Sea at sunrise today and climbed up into the beautiful mountains to Ronda, (3,300 ft.), one of the whitewashed villages that dot this region. Learned that Spain is second only to Switzerland in European mountain ranges. Ronda, itself, is divided by a deep chasm and offers spectacular vistas of the mountains and furtile farmland below. The city boasts the first bull ring (1700's),the sport beloved by folks such as Earnest Hemingway ("For Whom the Bell Tolls") and Orson Wells, whose ashes are buried in the bull ring. We enjoyed tasting premium "five chestnut" ham, from the black pigs who are free range and feed on chestnuts and truffles - outrageously pricey and not exported, then we toured the bull ring, learning about the history  of the "sport" and famous bull fighters. Tapas lunch al fresco and a bit of shopping.
On to Seville tonight.
Today's pix: Ronda and chasm; watching the art of cutting fine ham paper-thin, Ronda's bull ring

Lost Morocco

No, we weren't lost in Morocco yesterday but the blog went into cyberspace. TI'll try again. Our optional tour took us by ferry over the Straits of Gibralter to Tangiers for an exotic dip into Africa. Mohammed (who else!) guided us by bus high up through the hills to view the beautiful homes of government and royal persons, sit on camels, and overlook the expanding city. Eight different cultures coexisted in adjoining neighboroods in thre mid-20th century - several Arabic and Muslim groups, Spanish, French, Portuguese, British, American - for a very iternational city. We walked through the souks and marketplaces of the old medina, had a fabulous Moroccan lunch at a posh hotel, and took in the obligatory rug demostration/mint tea experience. A great, if overwhelming, adventure.
Pix: Lainey with the twins; spice market and lesson, olives; carpets

Grand Circle Highlight

One of the most special events of a Grand Circle trip is the visit to a local coop and to a home hosted meal with a (non-English speaking) host family. Today, after a tour of the coastal city of Malaga, birthplace of Pablo Picasso and, don't forget, heart throb Tony Banderas, we drove up into the lovely mountains to a little town where we broke into groups of 6, for  a sumptuous home-made 4 course dinner with our hosts. Marge got to be the translater for our group!
Today's pix: coop whre inlaid wooden boxes, tables, etc. are hand-made; our host's 100 year old house and 300 olive trees; our delicious meal