A Cool Day on the Iberian Pennisula

Today was cool with a high of 75.It was cloudy with occasional sprinkles.  We all agreed that we could handle being wet from rain rather than being wet from sweat. Our morning tour of Lisbon started with a tour of Alfama,the original quarter of the seamen.  Streets were cobbled, barely wide enough for a small car.  Some alleys were so narrow that people had to walk single file.  Alfama was re-built after the 1755 earthquake, fire, tsunami. It sits on a very hilly spot at the base of the harbor and is now inhabited by very elderly tenants. The buildings are rent controlled.  Portuguese laws prohibits landlords from forcing tenants out. As we were standing in the street with our guide who was telling us about Alfama, we heard in insistent whistle.  It was an old lady who wanted to walk through our group and she did- all the while tooting her whistle! Later we saw her sitting in a coffee shop with her morning coffee and roll.
Later we visited the Jeronimos Monastery which is 500 years old and huge. The building took one hundred years to build and glorifies the New World discoveries rather than saints! One of the early kings expelled all Catholic from the monasteries and convents.  Those buildings were then converted to museums or public buildings.  After 1950, the Catholics were allowed to re-establish their orders and did so in smaller buildings.  Back to the monastery.  Vasco daGama is entombed there.  Now mass is held there on a regular basis.
We took the optional afternoon tour along the Iberian Peninsula. Our first stop was the Royal Summer Palace and its gardens. Then we drove along the Atlantic Ocean. Like Hiway One in California, the highway curves along the coast between the shore on one side and the towns on the other side.  With today's drizzly, foggy weather it took a bit of imagination to see it with your mind's eye on a beautiful day. Drove through Estoril where the rich and famous have vacationed for years.  Ate lunch in the picturesque fishing village of Cascais. Chuck and Christine both enjoyed grilled sardines.  The rest of us passed on that. The sardines are 8 - 9 inches long and are served with their heads on. After a little shopping, we headed for Sintra, another town along the coast.
Portuguese tidbits:  roosters are good luck and can be found on all sorts of souvenirs: towels, tiles, magnets, shirts, etc.  The typical house is white stucco and has a red tile roof. Painted and fired porcelain tiles are used extensively on and in buildings.  Tiles are left over from the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Pennisula.  Last night's restaurant had a huge tile scenes on two walls.