Park and Palace of Pena

Ok, here are some pics from the Palace of Pena. It was vey awesome. You weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside though.

Here is some info on the palace if you are interested... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pena_National_Palace

Colares Wine Cellar (Part 1 of 2)

Here is the video of the monks... it was pretty fun to watch and hear them make an entire lap around the table... From where I was sitting - I could not see the face of the CEO who sat at the far end of the table... It was the longest table I'll ever eat at... I kind of felt like Robin Hood (my dad will like that reference)...

FYI: They were not real monks - we caught them changing into street clothes after their performance.

Enjoy:

Colares Wine Cellar (Part 1 of ?)

Wednesday evening we were treated to a formal dinner at the Colares Wine Cellar in Sintra (a city just outside of Lisbon). It was amazing. No expenses were spared. The entire group (200+) were seated at one long table. I think the table was built for about 20 fewer poeple because it was very "intimate" to say the least. The food was good, but the ambience was breathtaking.

Enormous wooden wine barrels framed each side of the table. A team of around 15 waiters served us a 3-course dinner. It was amzing just to watch them work. Setting down one plate after another. And while one waiter was placing your plate on the table, there was another right behind him waiting to make sure your wine glass was never empty. Incredible.

As the end of dinner was approaching the electric lights were turned off and we were left with only the large quantity (most certainly a fire hazard) of candles to light the room. As everyone looked around trying to figure out why the lights were turned out - a group of singing monks approached the table. You can see a picture below and I will post a video of the monks. It was very pleasant. They made a full lap around the table singing and clanking glasses with everyone at the table.

It was pretty impressive.

After dinner we headed back to the main area where a live band entertained us until around 00:00 (that's midnight).

Ok, here are some pictures...

Elevador

In downtown Lisbon there is an elevator that takes you to an observation deck above the buildings. Some spectacular views from there:

Proper stair etiquette

You must sprint both up and down stairs in Lisbon. It's the law:

Octopus Prime

So, on Sunday night I learned a few things about Lisbon.

First of all, if you need any drugs - hard or soft - you need only to grow a beard and walk around downtown Lisbon. If you follow those simple instructions you will be asked to purchase cocaina or hash every 100 feet. It's pretty amusing. I don't believe it is legal here, but they seem to be more liberal about it than any place in America - besides a Grateful Dead concert.

The second thing I learned is not to order anything based on the picture in a menu - if that picture was taken from 8 feet above the food. That's what I did and it was a huge mistake. I was with Denise and a couple of other people. We all agreed that the dish - of what seemed to be some type of jumbalaya - looked tasty. So I went for it.

One-by-one the we all got our food. Denise, Luke and Cassidy (not sure if I'm spelling that correctly) all got similar items - grilled meat on a stick with French fries. It all looked good to me. Then my jumbalya came... I belive the name on the menu was something like "alcovoljdf ljdfdljk" ... yeah, something like that.

The waiter put it down in front of me, and well... It wasn't jumbalaya. It was brown rice and octopus... and other various unidentifiable pieces of seafood. It was octopus stew --- otherwise known as "chum" or "shark bait"... I would imagine the waiters were inside laughing their asses off...

"I can't believe he ordered that - stupid Americans. I'm giong to charge them double."

So, here it is:

Ok, that is it for now. Tomorrow I'll have more things I've learned about Portugal... Including the proper way to go up or down stairs...

Puttin' on the Ritz

Getting a late start on this blog. We've been here for 2 nights now.

The Four Seasons is a Swanky. Denise says our room is 'small'. I say it is 'cozy'. Either way it's not too shabby. The bathroom has a bidet (French for 'butt washer').

This be the view from the room:

Ok, that's the hotel. More to come.