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| Tagus Bridge with Christ The Redeemer watching over it |
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| Evening over the Tagus River |
We arrived here early, that means earlier than originally
scheduled, as we skipped Cadiz due to high winds. By 9 p.m. we were tied up
practically downtown Lisbon. We had passed the large bridge over the River
Tagus. The bridge looks similar to the Golden Gate of San Francisco, except
this one is guarded by a large statue of Christ the Redeemer, copy of the
statue of the same name in Rio de Janeiro.
I decided to give exploring a rest and have an early night, which
definitely was a mistake. Just opposite our dock, in the Santa Apolonia Railway
Station, a good old fashioned Milonga (Argentine Tango dance) with live music
kept the local aficionados dancing for hours, whilst I slept. Well, I missed
out!!
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| Even the pigeons prefer sitting on a restored building instead of the decrepit one |
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| Up through the district of Alfama |
Morning arrived with sunshine and a promise of hot
temperatures. I walked past the railway station into the convoluted alleys of
old Lisbon, around the districts of Graca and Alfama just below the old Castelo
de Sao Jorge. Maps are useless here, as most of these back alleys do not even
rate a line or a mention on even the largest scale maps. There is neither rhyme
nor reason to the lay out of the old district, alleys just follow the line of
the hill, and houses are as tall that one cannot glimpse anything apart from
the next corner. Even those are undistinguishable until one happens to reach
the end of an alley. Fado (the typical local genre of music) restaurants and
bars pop up in the remotest corners, where the traditional music is played
almost every evening.
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| Typical back alley in district of Graca |
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| Fado music everywhere.... |
I erred about for a while following spur of the moment
impulses to turn wherever it looked intriguing until I headed downhill to ‘somewhere’
near the Cathedral, which took me into downtown Lisbon. One does not dare to
take one’s eyes of the ground, as cobblestones – broken up and otherwise – as well
as steep staircases need undivided attention.
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| No point of reference in these narrow streets |
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| Homeless lady keeping her journal.... |
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| The Dog Man with his three pooches riding with him on his bicycle made for a whole lot of them - it even has water supply, small boxes for them to sit in, although one prefers to ride on the man's shoulder. They are al lprotected by an umbrella adorned with dog portraits. |
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| I guess, they all may live here.... |
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| Entrance Gate to Downtown Lisbon |
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| Commercial Square |
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| Arcades as Commercial Square |
Downtown is a marvel of order, with an easily negotiated
grid of streets built under the guidance of Marquis do Pombal in 1755, after
the Big Earthquake. Santa Justa Steel elevator is one of the focal points; it
was built by Mesnier de Ponsard, an apprentice of Gustave Eiffel.
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| Near Castelo Sao Jorge....falling rocks?? |
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| Cell Phone reception may be better from the window... |
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| Home renovation in progress... |
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| And more cobble stones.... |
As it was still early in the day, I took rickety tram number
28 (2.60 Euros) up to Sao Jorge’s Castelo, just for something to do as well as
enjoying the tortuous ride through narrow steep streets. After poking through
yet another maze of back streets, I descended through a series of cobblestoned
alleys and staircases, lined by multi-storied buildings with the obligatory
wash hanging outside almost every window.
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| Example of adornment on Manuelite style building |
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| Manuelite style portal downtown |
I should have stayed and lunched somewhere in one of the
bodegas of the back streets up on the hill, as lunch in one of the popular open
air cosmopolitan restaurants (there are dozens of them and all full to the
rafters) in Pombaline Down Town was forgettable with heavily breaded calamari
and a local Bock beer.
I think one could return to Lisbon over and over again without
running out of things to discover. A week would be better than a day, as it
takes a little time to get into the local groove and take advantage of all
there is going on.
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| Ships, the means by which Portuguese discovered and conquered the world. I just cannot figure out the role of the birds on bow and stern.... |
