September 22-25, 2016 ....Days 1-3
Lisbon, Portugal
We flew out of Seattle on the 22nd of September and a mere 14 hours later, around 8 am on the 23rd, we were in Lisbon, Portugal! We were greeted by a bright, beautiful, crystal clear blue sky day with the temperature in the high 80's.
Our first stop was Casa Amora, where we would be staying for the next three days.
Casa Amora is a stunning guesthouse, located in one of the nicest neighborhoods of Lisbon, Praca Amoreia.
Casa Amora has been lovingly renovated from an 18th century bourgeoise home to its present day splendor. There are only 5 rooms and a small courtyard perfect for our breakfasts and pre and post-dinner drinks, or just simply to relax. Our host, Juan, who has a marvelous sense of humor, made us feel right at home. Our lovely cook who only spoke French and Portuguese wowed us with her fresh homemade Portuguese pastries and bread not to mention her amazing array of breakfast fare each morning. We enjoyed every minute of our time there.
We decided that there was no time like the present than to go exploring in Lisbon. As we walked thru the neighborhood we passed a beautiful tree-lined park on the corner which reminded us a bit of Paris, with children and parents strolling thru, and a cafe with old men sipping their morning espressos.
However, this tree-lined park came complete with a massive 18th century aqueduct. Doesn't every neighborhood park have one? Not exactly a sight you'd see every day, to say the least. It was astounding to us to learn that the aqueduct had survived the devastating earthquake of 1755. This is the earthquake that destroyed the majority of the Lisbon where well over 10,000 of Lisbon's 270,000 residents perished.
We had a short walk to the Meto where we purchased our "Via Viagem" otherwise known as a "Zapping" card which is appropriately named for it gives one a much lower rate when purchasing metro, tram, and ferry tickets. We traveled on all three public transportations during our days in Lisbon.
Libson's metro is simple, fast, and color-coded. We found it to be clean and safe.
We navigated from the yellow and blue lines of the metro to our first sightseeing stop, Terreira do Paco. We walked up the metro steps to the sidewalk and the Tejo River was on one side of us! Ferry traffic, sailboats, cruise ships, and sightseeing vessels abound. Lisbon is named from the Phoenician words for "calm port" and that's precisely what we felt being on its shores.
The Tejo Rio is the river that flows directly into the Mediterranean Sea. The Tejo Rio was the gateway to Portugal's Great Age of Discovery as Vasco Da Gama and other brave explorers set out into the vast unknown.
As unexpected as it was to see the expansive water on one side of the sidewalk, we were equally impressed with the expansive area across the street as we gazed at the Praca do Comercio or the "Trade Square", although it is generally referred to today the "Commercial Square" and the "Palace Square".
The statue in the center of this square is of King Jose I. Immediately after the earthquake, the king gave control of the government to Pombal, a minor noble. A mere month later, Pombal had executed plans to rebuild the city, and he did just that to ensure Lisbon's glory days. Pombal was also responsible for creating some of the city's Parisian-style grandeur as exemplified in Lisbon's very own Arch de Triumph shown below in the background.
The statue above is of King Jose I riding high on his horse with Pombal on the medallion. Both men are looking at their port. The horse symbolizes triumph, stomps on snakes symbolic of evil, while the elephant represents the Portuguese empire's colonies in India and Africa. In 1560, you could literally sail from Lisbon to China without losing sight of land explored by Portugal. Throughout Lisbon's glory days, east met west.
Today
restaurants with international cuisines flank on either side of the square with delicious food. It's a lovely, yet touristy area.
Strolling along the palace walkways which flank the street, one needs only to look up and see Pombol's Herculean efforts of
reconstructing Lisbon to its pre-earthquake grandeur.
We found the Arch de Triumph style entranceway quite grand. The statues on the top of it are of Vasco da Gama on one side and Pombal on the other side.
Walking thru Lisbon's Arch de Triumph, we looked back and saw this sight. Quite impressive.
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Portugal is known for its exquisite tile and it is used virtually everywhere one looks. Many have intricate designs. This pastry shop's entire tile floor resembles an Escher etching!
Tiles aligned the facades of numerous houses throughout our daily travels.
as did the tiles in front of doorways
Throughout our 3 days, we enjoyed sightseeing the historic district of Rossio. Below is an optical illusion of waves on the flat cobbled surface which at one time made locals seasick so they were removed, only to be reinstalled at a later date. They still present an optical illusion of one side of the flat surface being higher than the other.
In the center of this square is a column that honors Pedro IV who was simultaneously King of Portugal and Emperor of Brazil.
The Elevador de Santa Justa was built in 1902 by a disciple of Gustave Eiffel who built the Eiffel Tower in Paris
We walked into the Rossio Station which is the train station with its striking horseshoe arches.
For centuries there was a statue of King Sebastian in the center of two arches; however, a few months ago a tourist, taking a selfie by leaning on the statue, caused the statue to fall backward and it was destroyed.
One day we took the tram over to Belem which is
located a mere 3 miles west of the city along the waterfront.
Jutting out from the shore is the famous Belem Tower built 1515-1520.
This was the white tower that protected Lisbon's harbor. It was the last sight the sailors and the great explorers saw when they left and the first sight they saw when they returned with their ships loaded with gold and spices.
Belem has a more modern giant riverside monument that was erected in 1960 which honored the 500 anniversary of Prince Henry the Navigator. It is called the Monument to the Discovery with Prince Henry the Navigator holding a caravel model. Caravels were fast, small (80 feet), light, and very easily maneuverable trading ships. These caravels provided the means for Portugal to become a very rich country. Unfortunately for the masses, Portugal's prosperity was limited solely to the kings and their court.
"The riches of the world poured into the tiny nation-spices from India and Java (black pepper, cinnamon and curry powder); ivory, diamonds from Brazil, and slaves (sold to New World plantations) from Africa; sugar cane gold and diamonds from Brazil; and from everywhere the knowledge of new plants, animals, and customs."
From Belem, we took a delightfully untouristy little adventure across the river in Porto Brandao.
We hopped aboard our ferry boat by zapping and rode across the river to eat lunch in a tiny fishing village with literally 3 narrow streets, but we had an excellent seafood lunch of freshly caught soul and fresh veggies straight from the garden. Divine!
We love Portuguese cuisine, fresh fish, fresh veggies, great bread, and desserts!
After making it safely back across the Tejo Rio in our ferry boat pictured below
we decided to head down the Belem waterfront and see the famous
Monestary of Jeronimos. This monastery is impressively expansive especially when viewed from our ferry boat.
King Manuel who ruled from 1495 erected this giant white limestone church and monastery which stretches 300 yards along Belem's waterfront as a thank you to the early explorers' discoveries.
"It was financed in part by the Pepper money which was a 5 % tax on spices brought back from India. This church was built on the site of a humble chapel where sailors spent their last night ashore in prayer before embarking on their frightening voyages into the unknown sea of darkness."
I was particularly impressed with the fact that King Manuel decided that the style of his Monastery of Jeronimos was to be called hereafter "Manueline".
In the monestary Vasco da Gama's tomb is on display.
Throughout our time in Lisbon, we used primarily the metro, tram, and trolley
Our tram operator knows just how close to cut it without touching the parked vehicle as he maneuvers thru the narrow streets!
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Trolleys in Lisbon are a beautiful sight to see. There are many vintage models from the 1920's and we enjoyed riding on quite a few of them. They would shake and shiver through the old parts of town.
Ours slowly climbed up steep hills and flew down the windy streets. I was hopeful for good brakes
As much as we loved traveling throughout Lisbon, we packed our bags to head out to the coast and hike the spectacular Algarve!
