Lisbon: Vasco da Gama Tomb (St. Jeronimo's Monastery)

First place we headed for in Lisbon was St. Jeronimo's Monastery (above), a stone's throw away from the seafront.

Below, you can see people queuing up to get into the cloister of the Monastery, but, at the same entrance, you can walk straight into the Monastery church without paying anything:

And not far into the church on the left lies the Vasco da Gama tomb:

Of course, this great man's name had been repeatedly mentioned during my history lessons (at St. Gabriel's in Bury, Lancashire) from what now appears a lifetime away.

Below, there is a 'nice-ish' shot of the upper-end of the church:

Also really liked this side chapel containing the 'Tomb of Christ':

This side chapel is also on the left as you enter the church, just before Vasco da Gama's tomb:

Yes, I would definitely recommend visiting this place.

Seville: The Bullring

As the coach started drawing into Seville city centre, the building that grabbed most people's attention was the bullring:

On this Monday afternoon, the inside of the bullring didn't seem open for viewing, but there was some kind of museum open and a visit there may've possibly lead to getting inside the bullring, but I simply didn't have time.
 

The picture below shows some traditional bullfighting symbols, I guess, and was positioned above the April bullfighting schedule:

Got this picture of the inside of the Seville bullring from off the internet:

And this gory picture too:

Think that I would be too squeamish to watch a bullfight, and it just wouldn't be my cup of tea, anyway.  Having said this, I'm not sure where I stand on the '(not) banning bullfighting' issue, as it seems to be a complex case of animal rights versus preserving traditional human culture.  Regarding this, the Seville bullfights only seem to regularly take place in April and, more sporadically, during some of the following months.

Just found myself absorbed by the beauty of the exterior of the Seville bullring on a sultry mid-April day.

You can just about see the Seville bullfighting schedule for April in the bottom right corner of the picture below:

Lisbon: Vasco da Gama Bridge

Picture of the Vasco da Gama Bridge above as we were leaving Lisbon last week.

Our guide explained that spanning over 17 kilometres, the bridge used to be the longest in Europe, but that this has been overtaken by a bridge in Denmark that spans over 19 kilometres. 

Having said this, I've just been looking at some internet sites which still claim that the Vasco da Gama Bridge is the longest bridge in Europe.  So who knows?

Faro Cathedral (Algarve, Portugal)

At the heart of Faro Old Town lies the Cathedral:

Faro Cathedral is set in a large square surrounded by orange trees, which was very quiet and peaceful when I was there last week.  Unfortunately, the Cathedral was closed when I was there so I didn't get inside.

To get into the Old Town from the Marina, you pass through a church-type arch with the sign below:

Frankfurt Airport: A Good Meal

Nice vegan sandwich with an even better German beer for just over 10 Euro at Frankfurt Airport here.

Was really happy that I had 4 hours connection time going to Faro and 3 hours so going back to Warsaw at Frankfurt Airport as the latter is absolutely massive.

Faro (Portugal) Marina

Really glad that I visited Faro last Friday (rather than just skirting off to the seaside resort I was heading to).

Found Faro a very relaxing place, and the small marina in the pictures here signalled that I was on the right track towards the Old Town:

Faro (Portugal): The Arch to the Old Town

Just back from a trip to the Algarve in Portugal where I met my good friend Dave Dealy and his family. 

The pictures here are of the beautiful arch that leads up to the stunning Old Town in Faro.