Day 2 - in Lisboa

Santiago de Compostela: 614 km away
Kilometers walked today:  11.9 km
Total to date: 11.9 km

A lady seating next to us in the plane asked about our daughters.  That is the girls we met at the airport.  Later on we had a laugh with them.

At the airport we got a Portuguese Sim card for the phone, a map of the city and took the subway to our hotel.  It was 10:30 am, the room is not available until 2 pm so we'll go for a walk.

Later, we walked towards the old city down a magnificent avenue, Avenida da Liberdade, by the time we got there it was noon so we stopped at an outdoor cafe for a sandwich and then we walked up and up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge.

The castle of St. George is one of the most notable features of the city. It is a top of a hill in a dominant position and with great views of the city and the river Tejo.  The original construction probably dates from the time when this city was part of the roman empire.  Most of the existing castle was built by the moors.  The moors were expelled by Alfonso I in the XII century and in the XIII century became the royal residence of king Alfonso III.  The castle suffered major damage in the earthquake of 1755 and while some parts have been restored, others, like the royal residence are still in ruins.  Interesting visit with magnificent views.

By the time we finished visiting the castle we were tired, it was around 2 pm, we had slept only 3 or 4 hours and my body was still thinking it was 8 am.  But the cathedral, the Sé of Lisboa, the church of Santa Maria Mayore, it's just a few blocks down the hill from the castle so we just had to go there.

The cathedral was built on the XII century just after the Moors were expelled on the site where the main mosque used to be. It is of a severe late Romanesque style and like most of Lisbon has been damaged by earthquakes and rebuilt.  We had a little time to say hello to our Lord and we got the first stamp on our pilgrim's credential.

After that we walked back to the hotel, got our room and after a shower we went to sleep for a couple of hours.  It is now 8 pm and I think we are in bed for good.