I left London on Saturday and arrived in Lisbon late Saturday afternoon. I made my way to my hotel via city bus and quickly settled in. The hotel left a lot to be desired, but was clean and close to lots of things, including local transportation. I then started walking around near my hotel and wouldn't you know...I ended up at the mall. I decided to go in and see if they had a food court, so I could grab some dinner, as it was about 5:30pm by this time. Another guy in my office and his family were also in Lisbon for the weekend (this would turn out to be a yearly trip for his family and I), so they met me for dinner. The next 2 days I hung out with he and his family. Here are the highlights......
On Sunday morning, we got up and headed down the Avenida da Liberdade (Liberty Avenue). This street takes you down to the water of the Tagus River and is lined with lots of shops and things to see along the way. Here are a few.......
Along the way, we stopped at the Elevador de Santa Justa...
It was opened in 1902, made of iron and is 45 m high. It is an elevator that takes you up to the Baixa area and Convento do Carmo. The Convento do Carmo or Museo Arqueologico do Carmo, has been an archaeological museum since the end of the 19th century. Its construction was concluded in 1423; however, there was a great earthquake in 1755 which brought down the roof and left the church in its current derelict condition. There is also some great views of the city from up there.
After the elevator and convent, we headed down to find the 28 Tram (Pic 1) to take us to the Castle of Sao Jorge (Pic 2 is from the top of the elevator with the castle in the distance). The castle sits on the highest hill in Lisbon, so there are spectacular views. It was in 1147 that King Afonso Enriques received help from the powerful armies of British and Frank troops to snatch the castle from the Moorish troops. The battle went on for 17 weeks. The castle has strong outer walls, various defensive buildings, 11 towers and the former Arab palace that served as the residence for the Kings of Portugal during the 14th-16th centuries.
After the castle, we started walking back down toward the city, and passed the Se of Lisbon, or Lisbon Cathedral, along the way. The cathedral began to be built in 1150 on a site formerly occupied by a mosque. The facade is 2 round towers flanking a rose window, with a Latin-cross floor plan divided into 3 naves. According to tradition, Saint Anthony of Padua was baptized here in 1195. Also, legend has it that in 1173 a boat arrived in the city with a crew of 2 crows carrying the body of Sao Vicente. Once they had arrived, their duty being done, the 2 crows flew off to the castle to make their nest in one of the towers. For hundreds of years, these crow's descendents became an attraction at the church...until the last one died in 1978!
We then headed to Belem, in west Lisbon. Belem has some extraordinary things to see and in my opinion, was better then the city of Lisbon. We started off at the Tower of Belem. The tower was built between 1515 and 1521 and had the duty of controlling the entrance to the city. Shortly after, the Spanish used it as a prison during their years of occupation. It consists of 2 main buildings, the first with a hexagonal base and cylindrical sentry-boxes in each of its 6 corners. The 2nd is the tower itself, rising to a height of 4 floors.
After the tower, we walked over to the Monument to the Descobrimentos. The monument is an enormous stone ship's prow, 52 m high, and built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. It shows the figure of the prince carrying a small caravel in his hands, crowned by an entourage of 21 characters related to the Descobrimentos. (Pic 1-2) I then headed over to the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (Pics 3 - 6). It was built during the first half of the 16th century at the request of King Manuel I with some of the treasure brought by Vasco de Gama on his voyages to the Indies. In this bulding is housed a monastery, the National Museum of Archaeology, and the Maritime Museum. I skipped the museums, but did go into the monastery and the Church of the Jeronimos. History says Vasco de Gama prayed here before the altar the night before he started his historic crossing taking him to the Indies. The great cloister of the monastery (Pics 7 - 8) is beautiful and very quiet and peaceful. It has 2 floors and one special feature...there are no two columns alike.
On Monday morning, we took the metro system out to the Parque das Nacoes (Park of the Nations), where the Lisbon Expo was held in 1998. This was definitely a more modern looking part of Lisbon. First we visited the Oceanarium, which is the "star" building of the park. The Oceanarium is one of the largest of its type in the world, and houses more than 25,000 fish and marine animals. It has this huge central tank in the middle with all kinds of fish....regular fish, sharks, eels, stingrays and manta rays (although I'm not sure the difference)...then you walk around the tank and they have different species from each of the 4 oceans.
We then took the cable car ride across the park (Pics 1-2), and then went shopping and had lunch at the Oriente station, which also happened to be a mall. The Vasco da Gama Tower (Pic 3) is 100 m high and has a restaurant at the top. It is built from one of the towers of the former refinery. Another feature of this area is the Puente Vasco de Gama, a bridge that is 16km long, 13 of which are over the River Tagus (Pic 4 in the distance).
On Tuesday morning, I got up and took the open top bus tour of Lisbon. I rode it all the way around once, and saw a lot of the same things again. I got off at the last stop at...wouldn't you guess...the largest shopping center in Lisbon. However, Tuesday was a bank holiday in Lisbon, and the mall was CLOSED! So, I walked down to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, which exhibits collections that embrace practically all the periods of the history of art. I also visited the Modern Art Centre, which houses modern works of art by mostly Portuguese artists. After the museum, I went over to the Jardin Zoologico de Lisboa, or the Lisbon Zoo. I did not spend much time here, and frankly did not even see any animals. I only had about an hour before I had to start heading back to my hotel to get my luggage and head to the airport, so I decided to skip the zoo.
Here are a few more random photos (left to right). Pic 1 - the 25 April Bridge (designed by the same people who did the Golden Gate Bridge...in case you couldn't tell) with the monument to Cristo-Rei in the background. Pics 2 & 3 - Praca do Rossio, Lisbon's most lively square. Pic 4 - Eduardo VII Park, with the Tagus River in the background. Pic 5 - Triumphal Arch in the Praca do Comercio.
Overall, I really enjoyed Lisbon. There is a lot more to see there than I anticipated. The weather was really nice...about 55-60 everyday, and I didn't see rain until a light drizzle the last day.
