Luscious Lisbon

Lisbon is a delightful city.  It is one of the oldest cities in the world and the oldest in Western Europe.  Between the 15^th and 17^th Centuries, Lisbon was the centre of the great naval explorations and the age of discovery. However in 1755 a massive earthquake destroyed over 80% of the city.  Today hilly, scenic Lisbon is a vibrant modern city that clearly cherishes and maintains its past.

View of churches and the harbour

From another aspect

Our hotel was near a large mall, El Centro Ingles (actually run by a Spanish company), that contained the largest supermarket we ever saw.  The deli section alone was a big as our entire local supermarket in Canberra.  We never saw so many cheeses and small goods.  The shop was almost like going to a museum.

Cheeses as far as the eye can see

Legs of ham

Octopus anyone?

The waterfront is the heart of the city.  The Praça do Comércio is filled with tourist and locals alike and extends into the city in a pedestrian mall lined with shops and restaurants where buskers entertain the passersby.  We spent many hours going up and down this mall taking it all in.

Praça do Comércio

The statue of Christ as in Rio

One day we walked up the hill to explore the Castle of São Jorge.  This Moorish castle from the 10^th Century sits on the hilltop overlooking the historical centre of the city.  We walked all about the ramparts and marvelled at the camera obscura which gives a 360 degree view of the city in real time. 

Castle of São Jorge on the hilltop

On the ramparts

Afterwards we took up the offer from a vendor cart and had a ‘wine with a view’.  This was a great little business which sold a glass of wine to visitors who could then sit on the outer wall of the castle admiring the skyline of the city and watch the sun set over the harbour.  Terrific.

View from the castle.  The bridge is the same design as the Golden Gate in SF

The rooftops of Lisbon

We spent two afternoons exploring the parish of Belém in the southwest of the city.  To get there we took one of the iconic Lisbon trams.

Lisbon Tram

Belem is situated along the Tagus River and the waterfront is a wonderful public space of plazas and monuments.  The weather wasn’t ideal on the days we went there but we still loved walking along the waterfront while we hunkered down from the wind and showers.

Monument to the great navigators

Closeup

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

We found a fantastic naval museum at one end of the massive monastery complex.  Portugal has a proud naval history and the museum contained hundred of models of boats of every description.  Then in the last 20 minutes before closing we came to the chamber that contained full size boats from the royal family.  We would have loved to have spent another hour in this chamber alone.

 

15th Century Caravel

Old fishing boat - love the sail plan

The royal barge last used to escort Queen Elizabeth in the 1950's

For us though, perhaps the main attraction of Belém was Pastéis de Belém, a fantastic cafe established in 1837.  We had just stumbled upon this cafe to get some shelter from the rain, not realising it is actually quite a famous place.  As we entered we were presented with a rabbit warren of dining rooms decorated in iconic Portuguese tiles and filled with memorabilia.  The atmosphere was buzzing and friendly.  We ordered their signature custard tarts which, warm from the oven were just to die for.  On our second day in Belém we returned to the cafe and stocked up on take away for the train trip to Madrid.

After the feast with more to go

Baking the custard tarts

So ended our time in Portugal.  We had assumed the Portuguese culture would be similar to the Spanish culture but Portugal is quite a different country and we liked it very much.  We will be back.