The biggest palace I have visited. This palace is build in rectangular shape with wide length that…read morecreates the long corridor to walk from one corner to the other. The first level is convent with all the living quarters. The cathedral also located on center of the palace. The second level is the living space for the royal. This dual use palace is the first I have visited. The visit will take minimum 1.5 hours to complete if you walk fast. The first floor cathedral has a lot of relic that to be use for the festival on the street. The cathedral is actually the Basilica of Our Lady and St. Anthony of Mafra. I like marble construction. It connected to the convent and living quarters of the nun. You can see the each quarter has the fire metal bowl. At very interesting is the first time I see the hospital in the convent for the sick people. The second floor is huge. The royal quarter, painted ceiling, games room, throne room, trophies room, royal prince room, music room, and more. The most spectacular is the library. The collection is by section. This library is very similar to the University of Coimbra library. The collection includes monster, magic, science and more for the books. Love it.

I enjoyed my visit here. I drove from Lisbon planning only to see the library, which is…read morehistorically important, if you're a big fan of libraries like me. But, I ended up pleasantly surprised by the added parts which included a museum and a "birds of prey" exhibit. The bird exhibit (and photo op) alone was 5 stars--I'm easily impressed by birds, I guess. The library, which I came for, was visually impressive. Yet, I was SUPER DISAPPOINTED that visitors couldn't actually go into the library. You can only take photos from one end and only about 3 meters into the space. So. Disappointed. Even so, it was a gorgeous space and seeing the rest of the palace sort of helped assuage my disappointment. If you're in the area (or an old library fan girl, I'd recommend it.

Hearing about the history of how these bridges and aqueduct saved the city years ago, it took me…read moreback to history class in middle school and then it hit me...THIS IS the SAME aqueduct I learned about in Portugal as a kid! Definitely cool to see it years later in person. The photos don't do it justice, it's a lot more grand looking in person.

The aqueduct was a nice walk with a nice view. There was one passageway opened to get from the…read moreeast/west side. I didn't realize other passageways would be closed, so I ended up having to walk back, take the passageway, and walk all the way to the end to see the view I wanted. I didn't find anything else to see or do at the aqueduct location. I guess I was supposed to take a taxi to three or four different locations to see the rest of the water system, but that's expensive and time consuming, so I was not able to.

Our visit to the Santuario de Cristo Rei was great. The monument is a smaller version of the…read moremonument in Rio, Brazil. To get there from Lisbon, you have to take a short and affordable ferry to the city of Almada. Almada is a cool, much slower city, and more affordable. After arriving at the Almada port, you can get to the monument via taxi, tuk tuk, or walk. We chose to walk. Although it took us about 40 minutes, we were able to see the city. It should be noted the walk is hilly. Regarding the monument itself, it was very nice with excellent views of Lisbon, the bridge, and the waterway. For a fee (around $9 euros) and a several minute wait, you can also go to the top of the monument for an even better view.

It took us almost an hour of waiting and 75 steps to get to the top. There are bars for your…read moreprotection. Purchase tickets before you wait in line on a separate building right when you park . There are steps to get to the aouvenir shop where there's an elevator to get you down. Despite the waiting (-1 star) - it was worth the wait.

A statue of the Marquis de Pombal dominated the center of the park. He was responsible for…read moredesigning the new Lisbon after the devastating 1se of the statue 1755 earthquake. At the base of the statue are representations of the earthquake and tidal wave that destroyed the city plus a female with outstretched arms signifying the emergence of the new city. It is a large roundabout at the north end of the Avenue da Liberdade.

Ponte 25 de Abril is a suspension bridge that opened in 1966 and crosses the Tagus River to connect…read moreLisbon with Almada. It received its current name after a military coup that occurred on April 25, 1974. The bridge is about 2,300 meters long and about 190 meters tall with a clearance of about 70 meters. Its design resembles the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, because it was built but the same company, American Bridge Company. The bridge is for use by vehicles and trains. It may also be viewed by cruise ships and container ships that pass under the bridge. I saw this bridge up close when I was on a cruise ship that sailed under the bridge. I took a video in which I could see the individual vehicles driving across the bridge. Apparently two of the lanes are made from see-through metal grating rather than asphalt to help the wind to pass through.

The 2,300m long suspension bridge is an iconic sight that can be spotted in the distance at several…read morelocations within Lisbon. At one end you can also spot "Christ the King" monument, which is inspired by Brazil's "Christ the Redeemer". The red color is the same as the Golden Gate Bridge- International Orange. The design is similar to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge because both were built by the same company- American Bridge Company. There's six car lanes on the upper deck with two train tracks added later on the lower deck.