Lisbon prep here.
Lisbon is a fascinating town. A month would not be enough to explore it; we have four nights. We are staying in the Alfama district, the quaint old Arab quarter that was spared the destruction that hit much of the city in the 1755 earthquake, fire and tsunami. Narrow cobbled lanes.
Alfama street at night
Tram
Fado is a style of folk music
George drinking '
Ginja', a cherry liqueur often served in a tiny chocolate cup
Lisbon is famous for 'Pasteis de Nata', delicious cream tarts. They are to Portugal roughly what 'Sachertorte' is to Vienna. Queues line up to buy them from fashionable pastry shops.
Let me give you a potted history of Lisbon.
More here.
After the invasion of the Moors in 711, Christian crusaders reconquered Lisbon in 1147. Portugal came into its own in the 15th and 16th century, when it became the first European power to explore the world, and develop an empire. A key figure in this was
Prince Henry the Navigator (aka Infante Dom Henrique, 1394 - 1460), who established a school of navigation, and promoted the exploration of the African coast. Significant protégés of his included
Vasco da Gama, who, in 1498, was the first to sail from Europe to India around the Cape of Good Hope.
Ferdinand Magellan, also Portuguese, although he was employed by Spain, led the first expedition to sail around the world, in 1519-1522, although Magellan himself was killed on the way.
Spanish and Portuguese voyages of discovery
Some of the wealth from that period can be seen in some of the splendid buildings and resources in Lisbon and nearby Sintra.
Portugal had a vicious version of the
Inquisition which ran for nearly 300 years. The major target of the Portuguese Inquisition were those who had converted from Judaism to Catholicism, the Conversos, also known as New Christians, who were suspected of secretly practicing Judaism.
Lisbon also had a major earthquake in 1755 which destroyed much of the city. The architecture of the time of the Age of Discovery is known as Manueline, after the king at that time, Manuel I (reigned 1495–1521). The architecture from the time when Lisbon was rebuilt is known as Pombaline, after the
Marquis of Pombal, the man in charge of the rebuilding.
The Twentieth Century was hard for Portugal. In 1908, King Carlos I and his heir were assassinated. Republicans took over, but in 1926, were replaced by a military dictatorship.
António de Oliveira Salazar eventually became the dictator and ruled until his death in 1970. The dictatorship was overthrown in 1974 by the
Carnation Revolution, which restored democracy.
We decided that we would try to appreciate the Age of Discovery, the Oceanarium, and Sintra, during the time we had available.
On our second day, we cracked the transport system and travelled up to the Parque das Nações, which was extensively redeveloped for the
Expo '98 World Fair. There are several spectacular pieces of architecture, including the
Oriente railway station.
Freshwater aquarium
Jellyfish
Lionfish
Puffin
Rockhopper penguin
Sea otters
Sunfish
We went on a harbour cruise on a dodgy 35 foot ketch. Just the two of us, the skipper and one crew. It was lovely.
Evening cruise on the River Tagus.
Happy hour on the terrace above Alfama, overlooking the Tagus River
Just north of Lisbon is an area called Sintra. It is hilly, and favoured by the royal family when the monarchy existed. Other aristocrats and wealthy people built palaces there, and they are available for tourists to oggle at. Some of it was distinctly pretentious, and suggested a decadent aristocracy.
Dining room
It was owned by a wealthy Brazilian, who was also a free-mason. This well was built as part of an initiation ritual.
Corridor at Palácio de Monserrate
There is another side to Lisbon. There is a lot of graffiti, and some homelessness. This is an underpass.
Portugal had a very severe drug problem, and dealt with it by decriminalizing all drugs in 2001. Here are some articles about the issue.
