Finally on our way in Toronto!!!
We arrived in Lisbon after a very long journey and a few hours in London...once Nick had finally been allowed in. According to the immigration officer at Heathrow, his passport is apparently no longer a "valid travel document". Probably not since she tore half of the front page off...funny how we had no other problems the whole trip despite transiting through Canada and visiting Portugal! Ah well, these things are sent to try us (well Nick at least...).
In London we got a great view of the Eye and, Big Ben and a London double decker bus going over the Thames all in one shot!!!
I suffered less form the jet than Nick, which was probably because I managed to sleep almost all the way over...due to the fact that I had caught a stomach bug the day before we left and had been up all night...not the best way to travel!
Here I am the first night, getting ready to tuck into cheese, bread, mixed salad (how come they always taste so much better in southern Europe than anywhere else?), fresh salmon steak from the seafood case, and the house wine. Yum! Especially since it was only about $30 for both of us (and I hadn't eaten for two days...)We found the food to be absolutely everything we were hoping it would be. All the menus had a selection of meat dishes, and the frango (chicken) was usually good: but the seafood selection was were we normally ended up.
Here was a sardine plate Nick tried one day when we were out and about...unfortunately I couldn't get a photo before he had dived in!
I could have lived on grilled squid for the duration of our stay! I did manage to drag myself away from it though to try other fish dishes! Nick really enjoyed the cherne (no idea!) and the tuna and sardines were good too. We also found that it was so reasonably priced we didn't really have to look around for cheaper restaurants. As always we tried to eat where the locals ate, and were never disappointed.
The cheese was incredible, though the wine occasionally left something to be asked...if you went with a bottle rather than the house wine though, the quality tended to improve dramatically we found. This one was very tasty!
We found Lisbon to be very compact with most of the "sights" within walking distance of the pension we had booked, Praca do Figueira, which was on the square of the same name in the middle of the older town of Lisbon.
The pension was well located, very reasonably priced and absolutely spotless...it even had the added entertainment of watching the prostitutes on the corner of the square plying their trade...at least, we think they were prostitutes...I had some doubts when I saw a little old lady in suit and heels standing out there...but I don't know what else they could have been doing!
http://www.pensaopracadafigueira.com/Ingles/index.php
The center of Lisbon was destroyed in a major earthquake in 1755 and then rebuilt on a grid system: the first of it's type. The streets and squares in the down town are full of beautiful buildings, but we were surprised how run down a lot of it was. I think we were expecting something like Madrid, but it definitely has a very different feel. It was very atmospheric and very European, and we loved it!!
There seemed to be a lot of construction work going on, and I would think that it will look completely different in 10 years. This is Rossio, the main square...it was a lively place!
These are the arches and buildings all around the Praca do Commercio which ended up being one of the main squares. It was just beautiful, right on the river front and the square to catch most of the trams from. The tourist office was there as well, so of course we had to visit!
During the earthquake, the Igreja Carmona was destroyed. The re builders decided to leave the church as it fell to commemorate the thousands who lost their lives. It still stands on a hill above the downtown area and is certainly a pretty stunning site in the middle of a city.
To reach the monastery, you can either climb the hill or take the Elevador Santa Justa. This is a strange contraption built in the middle of the street that is basically a lift.
We didn't go up in it, but we had a beer at the bar on top (of course) and enjoyed the view...once I got over the vertigo, that was!!! The left hand view of the monastery is taken from there and this view of the Santa Justa Elevador (and bar!) on the left is from the castle.
There are a number of old trams and funiculars around the center of Lisbon. A couple run past some of the main tourist attractions, including this one with passes the cathedral (Se) and through the old Moorish quarter, the Alfama.
The Alfama is also undergoing a transformation right now...there are building sites every where, but it was still easy to get lost in the narrow old passage
The Alfama sits directly below the old castle which was rebuilt in the 30s and 40s by Salazar. It dates back centuries though as the original citadel was turned into a royal residence 1147 when King Afonso Henriques kicked the Moors out of Lisbon.
It was a great place to start as the views are great and you can see most of the downtown sites from the ramparts.
Lisbon is built on seven hills and has numerous "miradors" all over town to take advantage of the views. I think one of our favourites was Sta Lucia. The views were great and the terrace had a beautiful azulejo (Portuguese tile) panel and was covered in bougainvillea. Like a lot of the area, it was fairly run down as well though, which was a shame, but didn't detract from the view, the panel, or the flowers.
On our last full day we took the tram out to Belem. Belem has two towers dedicated to the Portuguese sailors who ventured out into the unknown and discovered sea routes all over the world. It also has a beautiful monastery that was built by Manuel I in the early 1500s to commemorate Vasco Da Gamas voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to India, and the Maritime Museum, along with numerous other places to visit that we didn't get to. The day didn't start well as we were on the wrong side of the square to catch the tram! We made it though, and shortly thereafter were joined by a guy who obviously hadn't seen water for about a year. Nick and I were unfortunately stuck at the back as everyone made a dash for the front when he snuck on at the back door without paying his fare!
So we cut our losses and jumped off at the next stop. Luckily we were at the start of Belem and were able to get some air walking along the river front. It was a gorgeous day. The first tower was built by the dictator Salazar in the 60s to mark the anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. It's very impressive and very angular, but nowhere near as lovely as the Torre de Belem in the photos above. This tower was originally a fortress built in the middle of the river Tagus and was the last and then hopefully the first sight the sailors saw when they left on their voyages. It was
built in 1515 - 21 and we saw impressive paintings of it's former glory with the storm lashed seas roiling all around it.After the Torres, we hit the Maritime museum. Unfortunately, we had run out of camera batteries at that point, and I'm not even sure if you could take photos inside the museum: but if you are ever in Lisbon, we definitely recommend it for a visit. The ship models were just amazing. I never realized that they built the actual ships from them. They also had uniforms and paintings and
reconstructed Royal cabins as well as a collection of the Royal barges. A great way to while away a Sunday morning (especially since it's free then!).There was a Mass underway in the cathedral when we arrived, so we opted to go into the cloisters which were recommended in the guidebooks we had. We weren't disappointed. The architecture was amazing. The arches and columns were full of naval motifs: ropes, anchors, fish, cables, coral
encrusted masts, seaweed and lots more.
Very exuberant, matching no doubt the mood of those sea adventuring years. The refectory had some gorgeous tiled panels in not only blues, which is traditional, but also lemon.
The monastery itself was also impressive though we weren't quite sure about the mausoleum added at the end about 70 years after it was finished. It was very plain and austere, and not in keeping
with the rest of the monastery at all!
The last night I finally got to try ginjinha, the local cherry liqueur, in a little bar we had started to frequent (!) on S Antao. Amazing how you can communicate with people when neither of you speaks the others language... fortunately our Spanish helped. This is Jaoa the owner of the bar and his brother.
And of course, course, no visit to Europe is complete without a trip to the local market! As well as all the local wines and cheeses, we found pigs heads, lots of octopus, and some very strange fish...not sure how much of a meal the fish on the left would provide!!!
And last but by no means least, Nick's photo of a lovely outside urinal near the entrance to the castle!!!!
In short, we had a great time! Loved the city, the people, the weather (it was pretty much warm and sunny the whole time), the food, the wine, the language and the prices...! We can't wait to go back to finish the sights of Lisbon and to explore the rest of the country!
No comments:
Post a Comment