Lisbon Castle and Other Sights (Sept 2014), Lisbon, Portugal

Every princess needs a castle, right? Sometimes my mum calls me principessa which is Italian for princess. So, if there’s a castle around I just have to check it out. My husband and I reached São Jorge Castle by tram number 12. To our joy it was an old, rickety, wooden tram and the ride resembled a ride in an amusement park. Perfect! I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. At some point if you put your hand out of the window you could touch the walls of the houses on the street. The tram had to navigate narrow streets and steep hills before it let us out near Largo das portas do Sol-a beautiful viewpoint. So, we took in the view of Lisbon and proceeded on foot to the castle. It’s a pity that we didn’t have enough time to explore more Alfama neighbourhood but I had a lot planned for that day and we had to move on. We got discount for the castle ticket because of our Lisbon card which also gave us free crazy tram rides. In my opinion the best views of the city are from the castle’s observation terrace and the castle walls. Just look at the photos. Amazing, right?

When I wanted to go to the loo I stumbled upon peacocks strutting their stuff in front of the loo. Afterwards we visited the small archaeological museum and then got in the castle. The castle dates from medieval times and it was once a Moorish citadel. The king Alfonso Henriques recaptured Lisbon from the Moors in 12th century and transformed their previous residence into a castle fit for Portuguese kings. There were falcons and owls and other birds in the courtyard for tourists to take photos with them. You can walk all around the castle walls and towers. I was a bit tired already of steep steps and I chose the wrong footwear (cute flats not sturdy sandals for cobbled streets and high steps). But my husband climbed up & down everywhere. I tossed a coin in a wishing well (I still didn’t get my wish). We found a Camera Obscura as well and waited a bit for another tour in English. It was worth the wait. We saw 360° view of Lisbon in real time. Have you ever been to one? I don’t know why we didn’t do Camera Obscura in Edinburgh. That one is the oldest in the world. There are no state rooms and treasury in this castle but it’s interesting enough. There’s a small archaeological site on the castle grounds that can also be visited. It was a very hot day and we had water& snacks with us but I was getting so thirsty that I soon lost interest in the excavations which would otherwise interest me ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).