Lisbon, Portugal: Beyond Lisbon


    It has been a week since we have arrived in Lisbon and I am absolutely loving it! We have gone to many different sites, learned many new things, and of course ate many delicious meals. Since being here in Portugal we haven't been able to go other places outside of Lisbon up until Monday and Tuesday of this week. Both days started out with an early morning where we had to go on the train to get to our final destination. The trains here are so similar yet so different from the ones in New York! Once arrived at our destinations we got to walk around and experience what we had previously learned about in our readings we had done for the day. Although I enjoyed both destinations (Évora and Tomar) I'd like to focus this blog on Tomar. 
   
Tomar:
    Once arrived in Tomar we started by talking about our reading from the night before. This reading focused on the The Knights Templar, which was a Catholic medieval military order. Prof. Skotnicki took us up the hill to Castelo de Tomar where the Templars once were. If there is one thing I have learned about Portugal is that there are A LOT of hills. The castle was gorgeous and we saw many symbols relating to the Templars inside and out. 
    This has been the third castle we've seen but has to be my favorite. There were so many rooms and so many different directions you could take that all lead to something new. This castle was unlike the others where there was also a church inside. The architecture all around was unbelievable. As we walked around we could read about some of what we were seeing, allowing us to relate it to what we have learned. 
    



    I’m excited to see what is in store for the rest of the trip and what other new things I will get to learn. I loved being in Tomar for the day and I hope for one day to go back and spend more time in the beautiful Castelo de Tomar. 
     

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