Lisbon, Portugal

It has been a busy time in Lisbon, with so much to see and do.  It's going to be a long post!

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Lisbon's castle - the Castelo de São Jorge.  Whilst it is a bit of a climb to get there it is well worth it with views across the city.  these are both from the terraces around the castle and its walls itself, which are quite extensive.  As well as these substantive walls, there are also some archaeological remains of buildings that were on the site even earlier (it had been occupied since the 7th century).  Compared to the castle at Tavira there were a few more rails and barriers as well!

Another historic building was the Belem Tower.  This was a former defensive fort just off the banks of the estuary, with views out to the estuary and back to the city from its different floors.  Cleverly, with the narrow staircases there was a traffic light system telling you whether you could go up or down.  Despite a few issues generally it worked!  It was a popular place to visit with queues going back over the bridge to the bank.  You could also buy a joint ticket which included access to the nearby Jerónimos Monastery.  There were queues to get in here too (in what by now was high heat) to the one entrance - however it turns out that I should have tried just going up to the exit as I already had a ticket as I got beckoned in as I got near!  This had some remarkable architecture in its cloisters, and additional displays of its history and some of the resting places of historic Portuguese figures.  There was also an impressive church as part of the building.

This was just one of many churches that I visited in Lisbon.  The Paróquia de São Vicente de Fora was another impressive church with a monastery attached, this with a number of museum displays in it (some quite random) including a set of tiled panels relating to the fables of de la Fontaine.  The Panteão Nacional is the new National Pantheon, with tributes to figures from Portugal's history mainly from the past 100 years.  Both of these also included the opportunity to go out on top of the buildings, to see the views in the sunshine.  Other churches visited included the Igreja de São Roque and the Convento do Carmo which was partially destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1775.

As ever I went round a (large!) number of art galleries around the city.  A particular highlight was the Berardo Museum which focused on art from the 20th and 21st centuries.  As well as the permanent collection (which included some big names such as Warhol's) there was a special exhibition on art from advertising.  This was a special bonus as it wasn't due to open until 2 weeks time!  The surprising part is that the majority came from the UK, with the USA a close second - only a few were actually Portuguese!  All this and it was free!  Also free was the Design museum Mude which is set in an old bank near the centre.  It makes good use of its location, even putting some items on display in the vaults (which were interesting to see in themselves!)

Other art collections visited included the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and its associated modern art centre.  This was set on its own site in a park with a particularly enjoyable set of temporary exhibitions in the modern art museum.  The Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea or Chiado Museum falls into one of the "traps" of the art world that "contemporary" stopped there in 1975!  Fortunately I knew, but you could see it catching out some people.  No such confusing names with the National Museum of Ancient Art, although getting in it was confusing enough with the first entrance I found being not really in use, but rather than sending me to the main entrance the guard there sent me to the restaurant!  I also visited the Museu de Artes Decorativas Portuguesas which had a fine collection of furniture and also showed off the typical Portuguese style of tiled walls. 

If all this wasn't enough I also visited several other things including a trip[ to the top of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos - a monument to Portugal's explorers.  I also visited the Electricity Museum in Belem.  This is a large museum in an old power station which still has all the old equipment in.  Therefore, as an educational experience it would be strong, but it also works as something fascinating to look a from an artistic point of view.  Impressively, it is free to get in as well!  There were also many green spaces to walk around, including park Edward VII which is named for the then King of England!

One of the other things that were considered monuments of Lisbon were aspects of the public transport system.  There are three funicular railways and an elevator that is over 100 years old that were part of getting people around the city's hills.  Whilst I didn't go on any of them (the distances they covered were quite short all things considered) they often seemed packed with tourists.  I did though take a trip on one of the historic trams that made its way through some of the older districts of the city, up and down the hills,  this was quite a fun experience - particularly when the driver appeared to put his foot down!  They are just single cars, but get very packed - whilst I got a seat having got on it at the start of the route any later and it is standing room only!

May 1 was another bank holiday, and that meant that many of the attractions in Lisbon were closed that day.  Fortunately public transport was still working (I went to Lille once on a 1st May and the Metro there was closed down for the day) so I was able to take a day trip out.  However, lots of other people had had the same idea, so there were huge queues at the ticket machines at the train station, not helped by the machines being temperamental!  (Useful note if you are ever in Lisbon - if you have money on your travel card for zapping it works on local trains as well so just go to the gate rather than wondering why the ticket machine won't let you buy a ticket!)  I took a train out to Sintra, where there were two very different castles to see.  The first, in the centre of the town was the former royal palace, the Palácio Nacional de Sintra.  One of the highlights were the ornate ceilings, both painted and gilded.   Later, I trekked up the hill to see the Moorish Castle.  Whilst a bit of an uphill walk to get there, the views from it were tremendous and went on for many miles (or kilometres as the Portuguese TV translators would change it to!).  You could see all the way back to Lisbon and further in other directions.  Being so high, you certainly got to feel the wind coming in off the Atlantic, despite the fact it was a warm day where you were more sheltered.  It was quite a substantial site, with lots to climb over (not all health and safety friendly) and some clever examples of conservation.

All this leaves me asking the question as to why Lisbon is not more popular to visit?  Yes, it is a bit hilly, but it has lots of attractive sites and loads of things to see.  Most things are within walking distance, and if not there are lots of public transport alternatives available.  I had a great time, and there are many more things that I didn't get time to see whilst I was there.  Definitely recommended!