Lisbon: The end

We got off the ship quite early, but we had to wait for awhile in the taxi line to get a van that could accommodate our family of 5. The roads of Lisboa were either really windy, or our taxi driver took us the scenic route to our hotel. We got to the hotel and got settled for the day, then set out to paint the town.

Bruce loved the cobblestone patterns in Lisbon. We walked across several plazas, found a grocery store, then found a place to eat. We walked up the hill and ended up at St. Jorge's castle.

If you look closely you can see our ship on the river.

The courtyard of the castle was a haven for the boys to run around and play. They enjoyed the canon, the fountain, the rocks, the statue. It was also a great place to trip and fall. Exploring is so adventurous!

We climbed up and down stairs as we walked around the outer castle wall. The boys' imagination ran wild with knights and castles. We even had some mood music provided by a street performer that added to the richness of the experience.

Any nook and cranny Allen, Gideon, or Lincoln could fit into, they stuck themselves in it as best as they could. And anything one brother would do, the others had to follow.

The interior of the castle had a museum full of artifacts found at the excavation site. I thought the neatest things were the colorfully painted tiles as well as the everyday things used in the lives of the people.

Another cool door to add to the collection!

Bruce humored me and we ventured into a souvenir shop to find the boys pins for their collection and to find an ornament for me. I ended up with a rooster. There is a local legend about a man who was wrongfully accused of murder and was sentenced to death. At the last hour, he appealed his sentence. He was brought before a judge while the judge was eating. The judge asked him if he was guilty, and the man replied that if he was innocent, the cock he was eating would get up and crow, and it did. The man was given a pardon.

We headed back to a grocery store to buy food to take back to our apartment. Friday nights are traditionally our family fun movie nights, so we found some pizza and took it home to microwave and watched "Meet the Robinsons."

We all were more than ready to head home.