Portugal Day 4: Castles!

 Aaron woke up at 2:45 a.m., which is generally not when anyone wants to start their day, but here we were.

He eventually managed to fall back asleep again from 7:30 to 9:30, which was less of a nap and more of a second, deeply confusing bedtime. Kaylea, meanwhile, slept for a solid 13 hours, like a champ.

So the day started slowly.

We had a lazy breakfast, worked on the blog for a bit, and eventually rallied enough to do the thing we had planned to do the night before: walk up to the castle.

It was only about a 15-minute walk from our hotel, but mostly stairs. If you're thinking of coming to Lisbon at any point in the next few years, start working the Stair-master now. Trust us.

But the castle was worth it.

This castle easily made our top 10 castle list, which is not an official list, but probably should be. It had everything you want from a castle: stone walls, dramatic views, canons, towers, winding paths, a ditch that looked like it could have been a moat. It had everything.

Also, peacocks everywhere.

Not one decorative peacock. Not a polite little peacock cameo. Peacocks roaming around like they were full-time castle employees. 

We left the castle for a lunch with a massive scenic view over the city. Lisbon really does not mess around with views. You walk up a hill, complain about the hill, then immediately forgive the hill because suddenly the entire city is spread out in front of you.

After lunch, we decided to walk toward Pink Street.

Pink Street is one of those places that shows up constantly in pictures of Lisbon. It has a bright pink road and umbrellas hanging overhead, which sounds whimsical and fun and exactly like the kind of thing you are supposed to go see.

So we started walking.

On the way, we stopped for chocolate, because we are adults and can make responsible decisions like that. We also stopped inside a church, because Lisbon has about one beautiful old church every 14 feet and it feels rude not to at least glance inside. Aaron got called out for wearing his hat. At one point, we also stopped for a bathroom and bought the obligatory glass of wine. It probably wasn't necessary, but we didn't want to be rude.

Eventually, we made it to Pink Street.

And yes, it was pink.

And yes, there were umbrellas.

And yes, that was pretty much the whole thing. Done. We seent it.

From there, we took a 15-minute riverside walk back to the hotel, which was much easier on the legs and much better for morale. Then we did what any serious travelers would do after a day of sightseeing, hill climbing, chocolate eating, church visiting, bathroom-wine purchasing, and umbrella inspection.

We took more naps.

That evening, we went to a Fado place for dinner.

Fado is beautiful, dramatic Portuguese music, full of longing and emotion. It is also, according to Aaron, suspiciously close to polka music.

This became his main dinner theory.

Apparently Fado and polka developed around similar time periods in Europe, and once Aaron noticed the strong downbeats and familiar bass lines, there was no going back. Suddenly, everything was connected. Polka, Fado, Tex-Mex, Country Western music. Same energy. Same pulse. Same musical DNA hiding in plain sight. Cavemen created fire, then the wheel, then the um-pop-pop.

Aaron is now convinced this is some kind of international musical conspiracy.

Kaylea was mostly just trying to enjoy dinner.

After dinner, we turned in early because tomorrow is a travel day, and nothing says “romantic European vacation” like packing your suitcase, charging all your devices, and mentally preparing to figure out rental cars, luggage, and the next city.

But overall, it was a good Lisbon day.

A little sleepy. A little scenic. A little castleicious.