Prisoner of Hopes

Category: travels

  • Ado at the Zoo: Travel Goals

    I love zoos. When I was a kid, my parents would take us to the zoo for the whole day. St. Louis has a world class zoo. It is free and available to everyone in order to promote conservation and love of animals. As an adult, I still visit the St. Louis zoo as often…

  • Cinderella in Wonderland: Travel Goals

    As a little girl, I read countless fairytales. Cinderella going to a ball in a carriage made from a pumpkin requires imagination. The carriages in the Museu dos Coches are beyond imagination. I walk around the fantastical creations in disbelief. Kings and queens used these rolling masterpieces to make a grand entrance. I don’t know…

  • Hills to Climb: Travel Goals

    There is a train strike in Portugal. Any plans to venture out of Lisbon are on hold. Because we are in town for a month, we don’t feel much pressure. The day will unfold as it will. We take the metro to Restauradores and try to find Foz Palace. From the outside it looks like…

  • When Your Train is Going Nowhere: Travel Goals

    We get up early and head to the train station for a trip to the seaside. I have maps on my phone and lists of things to do. We head into Cais Sodre station and notice that the gates to the train platform are open. The trains aren’t running. A quick translation of the schedules…

  • Lost in Lisbon: Travel Goals

    We start the day with confidence as we no longer feel lost in Alfama. We don’t know all the roads but we can identify landmarks that keep us moving along the rabbit warren of streets with at least some confidence we will end up near the river and reasonably close to our destination. We even…

  • A Short Train Ride to Fairytales: Travel Goals

    Standing on a train platform and waiting with anticipation, we are alert for the train to Sintra to arrive. I check and re-check that we are on platform three. It doesn’t make the train come any faster. Once the train arrives, we select our seats near the large windows and in view of the display…

  • Beauty and Destruction: Travel Goals

    The Museu National do Azulejo is not much to look at from the outside. Looks can be deceiving. The inside of the museum is a treasure chest. Tiles from across Portuguese history are on display in the rooms of this former convent. Beauty awaits at every turn. Tiles in colorful scenes from the Bible line…

  • Of Castles and Cathedrals: Travel Goals

    Today we set out to find a castle. Castelo Sao Jorge casts a shadow over Lisbon. It is only a few blocks from our apartment (supposedly). Yet we have been in town for several days and have yet to see its walls except from afar. And in those instances it seems very, very far away.…

  • Museum Overload: Travel Goals

    Today we ride the metro for the first time. It is clean and bright. I wish for the millionth time that my city would embrace public transportation, but probably not in my lifetime. Midwesterner’s have a lifelong love affair with their automobiles that precludes discussion of public transportation options. We exit the metro station into…

  • Patron Saints and National Heroes: Travel Goals

    An afternoon visit to Sao Vicente seems to be a relaxing compliment to our morning visit to the market, so we trek back up the hill to the monastery. Tuk tuks line the area in front of the church and we carefully make our way to the entrance and pay the five euro fee. We…