Igreja de Sta Clara

As I was wondering around checking out churches in Porto (Portugal) I noticed one marked on my map slightly off the beaten path. With little left to do that day I decided I'd cross the main street and see if I could find it. A small brown sign pointed into a courtyard, towards what looked like the side of a church tucked away behind a solid stone arch. This little unassuming facade was what I was looking for? But when you turn the door handle (literally a hand!) the interior will blow you away. It is a testament to the wood carving ability of the Portuguese. As I sat down to soak it in I just kept noticing more and more details. It was all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping as I let my eyes roam. This, the church of St. Clair, was a truly impressive if unassuming little church.

Pena palace

I'm trying to get caught up on my whirlwind summer where I think the longest I spent staying in one spot was four days. You'll get little snippets of what made the biggest impressions over the summer.

Cheshire cats on chairs, a gargoyle over here and crocodiles on the corner of turrets. Here pink, there yellow, in the center blue tile covering. No piece of it fits together yet piece by piece it is an eclectic feast for the eyes. Perched high above the town of Sintra, the palace of Pena is quite a sight. Instantly recognizable it is difficult to describe. Tile work and turrets. Views and intricately carved details. It is definitely the most unique palace I have ever been to!

Feast of St Anthony

June 12th was the start of the feast of St. Anthony and a city wide festival of sardines! I'm still not sure what the connection between the two is, although perhaps there are stories of St. Anthony preaching to the fishes. Pat and Gerald had never gone into the city for this so we decided we should make our way into Lisbon. However, we would do so early so as to miss some of the crowds. Once we found an appealing temporary restaurant set up in a courtyard facing the streets we sat down to have our typical festival dinner: grilled sardines (5 each) bread, salad, boiled potatoes and some sort of chorizo starter. There was definitely a party atmosphere going on. I was quite amused to watch the three men manning the grills with sardines on their heads...little did I realize I'd acquire my own sardine hat soon enough and wear it the rest of the evening. We walked around after that; admiring the sardine decorations, colorful hangings, constant people out grilling sardines in the street (my favorite was a man who had a grill shaped like a boat) until we reached an area that was to have a parade...a very stretched out parade that had elaborate costumes, even crazier props to carry and where it was very difficult to find a spot where you could see them pass by much less perform. Quite the experience. We got back just after midnight when the party was probably just starting to hit full swing.