Iberian Roadtrip—Part 2: Sevilla

Stop #2: Sevilla

From Lisbon we went directly to Sevilla. We slept in a building built in a typical Moorish style. Quite a cute, cheap hostel. It was cool, except that the toilette was directly in the room, divided only by a plastic wall that did not reach up to the ceiling and thus your pals could hear and enjoy all your "activities" there.

So what is in Sevilla to see? The most searched places are Torre del Oro at the riverside, the Sevilla's cathedral, which is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world, the gardens of Alcázar palace complex and the grave of Christoph Columbus. But the thing, due to which Sevilla was special for me, was the Metropol Parasol structure. It takes courage to place tens of meters high wooden mushrooms in one of the squares of the old city. But the result is very interesting and the complex fits in well. You can have a stroll on top of the mushrooms and there is one beer included in the price of the ticket. :)

Oh, did I mention that I found a mini-version of the European rocket Ariane 4 there? It has been there since the Expo '92 in Sevilla. The main topic of the exposition was "Time of the discoveries", because it took place at the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas.

Our hostel

The river Guadalquivir and Torre del Oro at the dusk

The Sevilla's cathedral

Maahgic Mushrooms

And the view from the top

There she is, Ariane 4, tiny between the trees

Too bad we had only one evening for this city. It has a space rocket goddammit!

Iberian Roadtrip—Part 1: Lisbon, Sintra, Cabo da Roca

On the way from Porto to Madrid, I teamed up with Jura, my ex-colleague and friend from Brno and Evelyn, a friend from Hamburg and we did an epic roadtrip. How was it? You'll find out here. I'll split it in several parts, so that each post stays short and internet-friendly.

Part 1: Lisbon, Sintra, Cabo da Roca

First stop: Lisbon

The first two days we spent in Lisbon and its surroundings. That city was the biggest positive surprise from the Iberian Peninsula so far. I expected a small capital, but the opposite was true. On the other hand, it has this feeling of a "student city". Not so crowded, not too industrial nor gets one claustrophobic feelings. They say it has been built on 7 hills, just like Rome. And it's true that the views from the hills on the mouth of Tejo river are breathtaking. They got their own "Golden Gate" bridge (Ponte de 25 de Abril) and their "Jesus Statue from Rio" (Santuário Nacional de Cristo Rei). The city is famous because of its yellow trams. The ones in San Francisco were inspired by them. If I were to pick two things that you certainly must visit, then it would be: Torré de Belém, the symbol of Lisbon and the steampunk-like public elevator, Elevador de Santa Justa.

Monument to the Discoveries
(the bridge of 25th April in the background)

Lisbon view

View on the Atlantic from the Torré de Belém

National Pantheon—the tomb
of Portuguese heroes

Alfama—the medieval town

Santa Justa Elevator

Torré de Belém

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos—beautiful monastery,
where Vasca da Gama is burried

That's him, the big discoverer

Parque de Nações—The place where Expo 98 took place

Lisbon at night, Castello de São Jorge in the background

Close to Lisbon lies Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe. Another surprise. I expected just a boring beach with a pole stuck in it, but the cliffs are high above the ocean and you can just sit on the rocks and listen to the waves breaking on the rocks. "Onde a terra acaba e o mar começa..."

And Sintra? Sintra is a fairy tale village between Cabo da Roca and Lisbon. It was one of the seats of the portuguese royal family. Too bad every time I visited it, it was already evening, so almost everything was closed. But the place is magical, even in the evening and is certainly worth a visit.

Jura, me and Evelyn, chillin "in da west"

Looking for the Statue of Liberty

Lisbon felt good. It was fresh and young and it did not feel like a stressful city. I got to return there one day.

End of my Portuguese Mission

I realized I don't have a video in Portuguese, so let me speak about it like this (Subtitles in Portuguese and English available):

And if I think I would pass C1? With little preparation for the test, yes, I am confident. I did this test for myself: http://www.ilearnportuguese.com/index.php/en/test-your-portuguese and I got right 53/60. Reading is ok, I read couple of books. But I would still have to practice writing, speaking and listening more. I am pretty confident when it comes to vocabulary, but the Portuguese pronunciation is sometimes so hard to decode, that after one year of studying Portuguese and one month studying Spanish, I understand both at the same level (when listening).

I am happy though how significantly I improved. I can sustain a discussion about such things as politics and corruption. And thus I managed to "unlock" theses countries as my potential home, or at least, a very pleasant touristic destination:

Lusofoníc World

Keep in touch Portuguese, our relationship isn't over yet.

Good bye Atlantic. I'll see you again!