Lisbon​ #5

Woke up at 5.30 and after admiring another splendid sunrise I headed off for a walk through the Barrio Alto district, but soon wished I had chosen a different destination, as the littered graffitied streets seemed particularly squalid this morning. It is like a different country to Baixa and Chiado only a few blocks away. Needs a darn good clean up I reckon.

We struggled with another blockbuster breakfast - maybe we have reached our pastry quota for now. But filled with breakfast, optimism and plans we set off little knowing that Lisbon's first surprise of the day was waiting for me round the corner in the form of a pigeon with an upset digestion who bombed me from head to foot with precision accuracy. Having seen what the pigeons were eating off the pavement in the Barrio Alto, I am not surprised it was not feeling well.

After a quick scrub and clothes change, we tried again, and made it down to Praca Figura in time to catch the number 12 tram which runs through the steeply sloping Alafama district. The tram is similar to the old green Melbourne trams, but painted bright yellow - this is Portugal after all, no dull green trams here - and about one third the length, so that the tram can get around the sharp bends in the narrow streets. The tram runs in loop and for Euro1.40 has to be one of the best value touristy thing around. Though it has plenty of local passengers as well, mostly older ladies heading up or down the hill to do some shopping.

After this we found what we thought was the stop for the bus to our next destination. After about 15 minutes wait. Bus came along,  right number, but heading in the wrong direction, but after another 15 minutes wait over the opposite side of the square we caught the right one, heading towards the National Azulejos Museum. 

Located in the Madre de Deus convent, which was built in the C15th, flattened in the 1755 earthquake, and restored in the C17th. The gardens are simple but striking, some keen eye behind it I think. 

The museum itself houses tiles from the C15th up to contemporary work. Anne  likes the Moorish, geometric interlocking pattern tiles, I like the more figurative ones.

When our energies began to flag, we had lunch in the peaceful garden - well it was peaceful until a very large group of well dressed people​ swarmed in - perhaps the attendees of the service that had been in progress in the convent's chapel. Whatever, we tend to be crowd averse, and left hurriedly, sowing the seeds of the day's second surprise.

We managed to find the bus stop for the return trip, and after a detour through the metro and some more fun with the stored value cards, we wound up in Chiado for lunch, then a visit to Sao Roc. This church has an almost overwhelming mass of detail, lots to take in. Anne went to put on her glasses, and realized that they must have been left behind, on the table in the garden at the Azulejos Museum. And so, I got to make the trip there and back again. I sure know the way now.

So, this is our last day in Lisbon. Definitely a place we would love to come back to. Tomorrow, with luck, we take the train to Porto.

My two key pieces of advice for Lisbon are, 1: if you want to use public transport,  buy a Via Viagem card, choose the "zapping" option, put 5 Euros on it and top up if you need to, and 2: watch out for pigeons.

Lison #3

Another early morning wake up as the body clock slowly adjusts, which is good as I get to go for a walk in the early morning light before the hordes swarm the streets. I walked around Baxia with it's magnificent edifices and swanky shops, down to the bottom of the Santa Justa elevator, back up to Sao Roche. Beautiful light after rain.

We set off early to catch the tram to Belem. Tram was a squeezy experience filled with tourists and a few hapless locals. There are a number of museums located within the Jeronimos Monastery there.  The archaeological museum had some beautiful roman marble statues dug from what was once a wealthy Romans holiday Villa, and a great treasury. The big event at the monastery though is the cloyster of the monastery itself. Never seen anything quite like that before, such an extraordinary profusion of wonderfully carved detail that the eye doesn't know where to look. Gaudi may well have drawn some inspiration from it.

After marvelling at the choir and the refectory we visited the maritime museum, and it's temporary Viking exhibit. Interesting but maybe our wonder nerves had become overloaded.
Got home via another hyper crowded tram, and another visit to the Beer Museum, after which we needed to sit in a darkened room for a while to settle down.
Once we had recovered we visited the top of the Santa Justa elevator tower, enjoyed it's splendid views but not so much the vertiginous spiral staircase, caught the lift down, walked to the waterfront in time to see the QE2 slide massively past, found a nice  restaurant for dinner, then stumbled home via the supermarket. I think Lisbon is right up there in my best European capital rankings.

Lisbon #2

Thanks to the time zone difference and my body's refusal to believe that it was dark outside and the middle of the night, l was wide awake at 3.30 am. I pottered around for a few hours, working out how the coffee machine and the lights operate, the woke up Anne and we went for a walk up the hill to the Gardens then back past the Convent of Sao Pedro de Alcantara, before winding through the Barrio Alto with it's maze of tiny cobbled streets. Lots of bars and lots of empty drink containers and bottles. Party town.  It was rubbish collection morning and we had to squeeze past as the huge rubbish truck and gang of guys came noisesomely past. Rubbish wise the street looked about 85 percent better where they had been.

After breakfast we headed down to Rossio. Lisbon we have found to be a city of surprises, most of them nice ones so far. Without a lot of expectation we visited the church of St James, Sao Domingo, to pay our respects. Walking through the door, expecting just another church, the interior is like nothing I have ever seen. Opened in 1241, the church was damaged in each of the earthquakes in 1531 and 1755, then gutted by fire in 1959 . The restoration has replaced the roof with what looks like pink granite, left completely unadorned, while the walls are blackened chipped stone.  Extraordinarily beautiful and impressive.

Another thing we have noticed about Lisbon is how terrible the available maps are. Every corner seems to have bewildered looking tourists earnestly consulting maps or guide books. Anne's theory is that this is designed the provide some comic relief to the beleaguered locals as compensation for being in undated by hordes of tourists.

Whatever, we joined the ranks of the confused and the lost as we blundered around trying to find the Fado museum. Fado is a unique Portuguese style of music which they are very serious about here.  There are Fado bars everywhere and some of the singers are national heros. Fascinating museum, and almost empty as most people couldn't find it.

After a hot stump back through dusty building works we discovered the Museum of Beer on the Praca Comercio, and sampled some of it's reviving exhibits along with lunch, then threaded our way back home for a jet lag induced nap. And that was about it for us for the day.

Today's pic is a wall of the convent facing a grungy graffitied. Laneway in Barrio Alto, with its 1752 tile work just out there unprotected. It would be in a glass case in a gallery surrounded by security guards in Australia.