Untold stories of Lisbon and Sintra

Kung-fu fighting at Castelo de São Jorge, Lisbon
Kung-fu filming at Castelo de São Jorge, Lisbon | Photo by Lauren Girardin

There are times when the little details fall into place. Those times will never involve technology.

If not for a recent, prolonged fight with security holes in software made by a company whose name rhymes with “Schmadobe” on our Eee PC laptop, I would have had many hours of time to write about the funky street graffiti that covers Lisbon like wallpaper; or about how our couchsurfing host Manuela loves to channel her inner Italian-mama by hosting weeknight pasta meals for eight; or how the romance of the sun setting over the Lisbon skyline was rattled by the filming of a kung-fu movie; or when Todd and I were left wondering why Portuguese dishes made with bacalhau – salt-cod, the unofficial national ingredient of Portugal – were not as good as those we had in Spain.

Instead, I got to edit registry entries, run virus scans, and install new programs. Woo hoo.

In the gardens of Quinta de Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal
In the gardens of Quinta de Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal | Photo by Lauren Girardin

So, here’s photos from our four days in Portugal, including beautiful hilltop castles, stencil tags, and kung-fu fighting. The next dispatches about Spain’s Madrid and San Sebastian, will be filled with surprises.

Travel Photos from Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal


If you can’t see the photo slide show above, view the photo set on Flickr.