4th November – Lovely Lisbon

After nearly 50 years I finally arrived back in Lisbon. My young, teenage memory from a school cruise consisted only of one fort and one monument, aided by two postcards I’d bought back then, and that I’ve  kept ever since. Now I wanted to find the places again, and so much more besides in Portugal’s capital city.

With a bus stop very close to our city campsite, located in a great greenspace within a pine wood, it was easy to travel in and out of the city centre although it took around 45-60 minutes dependent on traffic. Once there, a great way to get around was the Yellow Bus Tours; we paid for a 72 hour pass which not only allowed us to see all 3 routes around the city, but also a tram tour and boat ride which was excellent value for money.

Arriving in Praça do Comércio the first impression was one of scale. A huge plaza situated on the edge of the River Tagus estuary, historically traders would sell goods here hence the name of the Plaza. The Praça do Comércio was totally reconstructed in 1755 after a huge earthquake destroyed much of Lisbon, followed by a devastating tsunami which left thousands dead and much of the city in ruins.

Traditional painted buildings line the Plaza on three sides, the central one having the enormous and elaborate gate, Arco da Rue Augusta, with three statues representing Glory , Valour and Genius which are part of the Portuguese coat of Arms. In the centre of the Plaza is another statue, one of King José I on horseback dated 1883, who was the ruler during the reconstruction.

Setting off on the top deck of the open-top Yellow Bus Tour, we went out on a general city tour along the main avenues and historic central districts with a commentary over headphones informing us of details of sites and monuments as we passed by. Colourful tall building lined our route with obilisques, fountains and several statues; there were plentiful trees with garden areas and decorative pavements of many designs in typical Portuguese style.

One of the most elaborate buildings we passed was the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, which is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, founded in 1496 and donated to the Monks of Saint Jerome. With its very long, white stone façade glinting in the bright light it seemed to be split into 3 sections with the heavily decorated main double door having numerous statues, a domed bell tower with pinnacles and balustrades to the side. The long length of the building featured many arched windows, split by a square two storey section with another entrance and windows above. At the far end was an impressive, vaulted entrance with tall twin towers either side of it.

Rossio Square is beautiful and designed with a black and white wave pattern stone pavement. A theatre is located on one side with white columns with a frieze above, to the opposite end is a fountain and in the centre a white column with heraldry around its base a statue at the top of Dom Pedro IV who reigned briefly over Portugal. It is a lovely place where there were lots of benches so it is obviously a place locals like to gather.

Bus tours took place numerous times a day doing circuits to different areas of the city, together with tuk-tuks giving private tours and novelty rides. There were also trams on regular service up the narrow, hilly parts where busses didn’t go, but we took the Tourist Red Tram to the old town districts of Baixa and Alfama.

Getting off at the National Monument of Castelo de São Jorge, sitting high above the city below, we found out it was not only a ruined castle, but a former palace and part of a residential area for the elite many centuries ago. Originally built by the Moors in the mid 11th century, modified and enlarged many times, it was mainly used as a palace until the 16th century when it then took on a more important military role until the early 20th century. Evidence was found of housing going back to 700 BC during recent archaeological excavations which is ongoing research. The main castle was entered over a bridge crossing a dry moat, with courtyards and ruined structures inside, together with gardens, statues and resident peacocks.

It has 11 towers, the most important being the Keep which was the strongest built to withstand heavy attack, the ramparts link the towers and provide a walkway that look out over a tremendous view of the city below.

Walking around the streets we saw a really colourful, tiled underpass plus lots of the usual graffiti on the sides of building, disused walls and fences, together with some really fantastic street art. It was lovely to admire the pictures and marvel at how they are created on such a large scale.

Several parks were dotted around the city, we saw some from the bus and some on foot; a big emphasis is placed on relaxation with green space and city squares have numerous benches, fountains, lakes and exercise options. The campsite we were staying at was within a vast hillside covered with trees and termed as the ‘lungs of the city’.

A boat ride was also in the price of our Yellow Bus ticket so we got aboard for an afternoon trip along the River Tagus passing right under a suspension bridge from Lisbon to the south bank in Almada. It is called the Ponte 25 de Abril, inaugurated in 1966 but re-named to commemorate the independence of Portugal in 1974. It is 1.4 miles long (2,277 meters) and an average of nearly 230 feet high (70 meters). There is a six lane road on the top and a double track railway line below, built in a similar style and colour of San Francisco’s famous bridge, with a statue of Cristo Rei looking down from his column on the south bank.

Passing the old Power Station built of industrial red brick, it was renovated and now houses the Electric Museum. Close by are the industrial docks with the huge cranes unloading large numbers of containers on a daily basis and the very different modern MAAT building housing the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology.

My two favourite memories of Lisbon were getting closer now, firstly the rugged beauty of the old Torre de Belém in the afternoon sunshine, its fortifications now being a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. The river is tidal at this point and it was wonderful to see the tower surrounded by water, built between 1514 and 1520 of beige white limestone with a bastion and 4 storey tower standing at 98.4 feet (30 meters).

The magnificent monument of Padrão dos Descobrimentos is my favourite. It is the Monument of Discoveries and celebrates the Portuguese Age of Exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries. It looks so new because of the pale colour and freshness of the carvings, but was in fact inaugurated 1960 with 32 ships of 14 nations in attendance on the river. Built of steel, cement and pink coloured stone it shows the early navigators, 33 statues all made from limestone, standing on the prow of a sailing boat, in total it stands 171 feet high (52 meters). My memory of it did not disappoint me and I was so pleased to have seen it again with adult eyes and appreciation.

On a separate day we walked alongside the river so we could visit these two famous icons of Lisbon. The Torre de Belém is reached over a foot bridge and then over a draw bridge into a large internal area with nature motifs and coats of arms, window apertures and small canons pointing towards the river. The tower had an underground area with no widows or light formally used as a prison, it must have been awful to be incarcerated in the dark and damp. Up on the hexagonal bastion terrace, the Moorish bartizan turrets looked picturesque with windows framing the views of the river, monuments and bridge in the distance.

The Monument of Discoveries was equally impressive close up with different figures standing in line on either side of the sail with Henry the Navigator in the front of the prow. There is a lift to take people up to the top of the monument and it is just possible to see people on my photograph. Having been up the previous tower, we didn’t go up the monument, but maybe another time!

I treated myself to an electric scooter ride between the monuments which was brilliant. It was very bumpy due to the Portuguese black and white paving which consists of small squares of stone, looks fantastic but is not laid completely flat. The scooter could go quite fast, with a forward and break tab controlled by your thumbs plus a break on the back wheel which you could step on. Obviously the speed I went ruined my hair!!

Going back into the centre in the huge Plaza Chris had spotted a Museu a Cerveja, a beer museum! It was actually really well done, interesting displays and notes through history of how the brewing industry developed, alongside and in competition to wine in Portugal. The entry price included a glass of beer to accompany us as we looked at the information. One of the kiosks was a smaller version of a brewing copper, while above the bar was a display of glasses, double layered with an inverted bottle shape inside and an air space between to keep the beer at optimum temperature.

Our last day in Lisbon was grey and quite wet, unfortunate because we were taking another open top bus ride to see the modern area of the city. There was a different kind of beauty between the contrast of the old style of buildings with stone and colourful tiling, and the new materials of concrete and modern reflective windows. Tiling is still greatly used and to great effect, decorating large expanses of wall space and making the area very striking.

I liked the modern buildings especially The Vasco da Gama Tower built to resemble a ship it was an observation tower with panoramic elevators, it stands at 466 feet high (142 meters) however, now it is now a hotel. Also the visually amazing Estação do Orient which is a station designed in steel and glass to recalling to mind many things; a cathedral, trees in a forest or ocean waves, it was certainly very stylish.

There was so much to do and see in Lisbon and we managed to cover quite a lot, there is so much more that we could easily return in the future and spend more time exploring. Now for a long rest in the Portuguese countryside and relaxing on the Algarve somewhere.