We had been in London about a month before we had our first European weekend excursion. We went to Lisbon and Sintra in Portugal for a long weekend due to the Spring Bank Holiday. We flew over on the Friday night and arrived at our hostel reasonably late at night. There seemed to be a big street party going on just down the road but I think we were both so exhausted that we managed a good night sleep. The weather the next morning was just what we were expecting and hoping for, a bright sunny gorgeous day. We spent the morning exploring the Alfama district, castles and enjoying Portuguese sardines and beer. We then decided to take the tram across to Belem but unfortunately as soon as we got off the heavens opened and it poured down. We found refuge in a little café before going off and exploring some of the sites around there. We then spent the night having a delicious (but bit expensive) dinner in a restaurant with an amazing courtyard before visitng Bairro Alto for some drinks. The next day we took a train out to Sintra where we visited the ruins of an old castle and then a much more well preserved castle which looked like a giant playground with amazing colours and designs. Our final day was spent visiting 'New Lisbon' which was almost solely developed for the World Expo that was held there in 1998. This was very different from 'Old Lisbon' where we had spent most of our time. It was then time to leave but due to a very late airport bus we only just managed to check in for our flights (45 minutes before departure) but eventually arrived back in London after a long and busy weekend - but very worthwhile.