Friday 21 March 2014

We think Benfica won.

Day two of our Lisbon visit started grey and a little threatening. Nevertheless we caught the local bus (free this time!) to Placa de Figueiro and after a short wait joined the sight-seeing tour that covered the eastern side of Lisbon.

The Lisbon Expo of 1998 was centred on the north bank of the Rio Tejo in what is called the Parque das Nacoes , and many new buildings were constructed. Now given over to commercial and residential use, the area retains some of the features of the Expo including museums and exhibitions and the Oceanario, one of Europe’s largest oceanariums. There is a lot to see and the tour whetted our appetites to see more in future. From here we could also see the Ponte Vasco de Gama, the longest bridge in Europe at 17km, carrying the A12/IP1 motorway across the estuary. A selection of the many photos we took:

P & O Oceana was in town

Vasco de Gama Shopping Centre

Railway Station

A selection of roundabout art we saw on our perambulations:

From here the bus travelled round to the north of the city then back into the centre through well-appointed residential areas with long wide tree-lined avenues, and statues and monuments everywhere.

The Bull Ring

You think the UK has a graffiti problem?

Quite good though

Lamp post embellishments were everywhere

Old and new in harmony

The first motor sales garage in Lisbon

Railway Station

Eden Theatre - example of Art Deco

Finally deposited back at the square, it was noticeably cooler and rain threatening, so we had a nice lunch in another of the myriad of small cafes that abound in Lisbon. Afterwards Bren wanted some thread and buttons to finish off a couple of the projects she has been working on ever since we left home so we walked to the street of haberdashers: a feature of the reconstruction of the Baixa after the 1755 earthquake was streets dedicated to a particular trade or occupation, which to a lesser extent continues today.

But with the weather definitely now turning we decided to give the last bus tour a miss – it was only a short trip round a small area in an open minibus – and head for home. Of course it was now getting into rush hour and the traffic was horrendous, not helped by an accident between a bus and car across a big junction (nobody hurt). And we had only been in the van for less than five minutes when the heavens opened – just made it!

From a slightly shaky start we decided that we like Lisbon very much and there is an awful lot to see – the bus tours just gave us a taste. When we come back we’ll get a Lisbon Card, which covers transport costs, entries to museums etc. and spend a day exploring each area in depth.