Despite the sad weather forecast Abi & I awoke to the most GLORIOUS sunshine and obviously headed straight to our hotel pool to catch some rays whilst our good fortune lasted.

^ How great are their towels?!

With a few hours of sunshine banked we freshened up and headed out, with São Jorge Castle being our destination of choice.

The castle is at the top of a relatively steep hill, so be prepared to get your sweat on if you’re going to walk it!

Considering that the 11^th century medieval castle is one of Lisbon’s top tourist attractions, there wasn’t all that much to see.

But it’s a lovely place to wander around.

And the views are well worth the walk!

With vantage points allowing you to look out in every direction, the castle provides unbeatable views of both the historic centre of the Portuguese city of Lisbon and the Tagus River.

Armed with our favourite Magnums in hand, we ambled the streets appreciating the iconic, shabby-chic state of the Portuguese buildings.

^ How cute is that car?!

^ And, of course, the infamous Portuguese tiles.

Until we stumbled completely by chance across the Sé de Lisboa Cathedral.

Which was sadly shut for renovation, but didn’t stop us from admiring the medieval architecture and fortress-like appearance of the exterior, which apparently dates back to the time when medieval churches were sometimes used as military bases during times of siege.

… Your fun fact of the day!

We walked towards the blue arches (sadly not the golden ones).

And came out the other side to find the most beautiful, well-kept tiled & painted houses.

Deciding that it was wine o’ clock, we continued our journey down the narrow, winding streets, soaking up Lisbon “behind the scenes”.

Only first realising that something special was occurring when we spotted the colourful tinsel hanging overhead.

And emerging onto the main streets, found ourselves embroiled in the largest procession of people I have ever seen.

Everyone from priests, nuns, the military, widows, school children, the general public… and their dog (you get the picture), were marching down the street holding hands & singing hymns.

A quick Google confirmed that it was in fact the “Feast of Corpus Christi” day, the celebration of belief in the body & blood of Jesus Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.

Despite being *somewhat* agnostic, it’s always a beautiful thing to see humans coming together, and it was definitely a grounding moment!

But women on a mission, we eventually snaked our way through the crowds and returned to “our spot” from the previous day, rewarding our efforts with a well-earned glass of wine (or 4).

We stayed chatting till the sun started to disappear and the temperature started to cool, debating our transport options to our next watering hole.

I’m sure they were doing the exact same thing:

Eventually deciding to give the European tuk-tuk a go!

With a while till our dinner reservation, you’ll have to read my next post to see how we passed the time and what an absolute gem of an authentic Portugese restaurant we discovered.

It’s worth waiting for 😉