European Odyssey: Lisbon

After slurping coffee and waiting for our turn to be called -- we belonged to the city tour plus hotel drop-off group -- we said goodbye to the Explorer and boarded our buses for a Saturday glimpse of Lisbon.

The first stop was at Edward VII Park, named for the King of England upon the occasion of his visit in 1902. The family tree of European royalty was heavily intertwined in that era; the King of Portugal was Edward VII's second cousin. The park commands a view down to the river Tagus/Tejo.

The upper terrace of the park, from where picture was taken, hosts monuments to the Carnation Revolution. This combination of a military coup and civil resistance overthrew the longest-lasting European dictatorship on April 25, 1974. No lives were lost, as our guides proudly explained.

A bicycle tour company was getting ready for weekend business; it was about 9:00 AM when I took this photo.

Then our bus took us to the Belém district, on the banks of the Tagus near the sea. Our first stop was adjacent to the Belém Tower Garden, or Jardim da Torre de Belém. It is in the lower left corner of this map, to which I will refer more than once.
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The Belém Tower, bottom left in the map, was built in the 16th Century to participate in the defenses of Lisbon. It is considered an example of Portuguese late Gothic, or Manueline, architecture. We'll see more of that later.

Near the southeastern corner of the Jardim is a monument to the seaplane Santa Cruz, which flew the last leg of the first  crossing of the South Atlantic in 1922. The feat required three planes; each flew an independent leg, but the first two ended with that plane lost through a forced landing in the ocean.

We boarded the buses and scooted a few blocks to the Monument of the Discoveries, or Padrão dos Descobrimentos, located in the bottom right corner of the map. This version -- there was a temporary one earlier -- was built between 1958 and 1960. This places it during the right-wing dictatorship of Salazar, which perhaps explains why it was not to my taste. It seemed too earnest and self-consciously monumental; it could have had a cousin in Leningrad. One can go inside it, but Joan and I didn't.

Between the monument and the street is a terrace with a 50-meter (164 foot) compass rose made of various marbles, a gift from South Africa.

In the center is a world map showing the Portuguese voyages of discovery (click to enlarge).

A zoom-in on one section.

We reboarded our buses to cross the busy double avenue and visit the Jerónimos Monastery, in the upper right of the map. It's not labelled, but it's the complex with two courtyards next to the word 'Jerónimos' in the label 'Rua Jerónimos.' Here is the main entrance. As you can tell, we have here another defining example of exuberant Manueline architecture.

The major attraction of the monastery, and I do mean major, for it was packed with people on a Saturday morning, is the Santa Maria church within.

The Manueline style of this church was different enough from what we had seen before to intrigue me. The columns seem barely sturdy enough to hold the soaring roof, and their decorations are influenced by the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the 16th Century. The above photo was taken from the second story, seen here.

Zooming in on the chancel and apse,

Tombs of the royal and notable are here, such as this one of Vasco da Gama.

Here are royal tombs in a side chapel.

The monastery's cloister is behind the church.

The walkway above is a good example of the embedded motif, with two Romanesque (rounded) arches within a similar, larger arch. Decorations abound.

Fanciful gargoyles stand watch over the gaps between the stories.

This  gallery maintains the architectural themes of the monastery, plus some azulejos tiles.

In the few minutes remaining for this stop Joan and I tried to sample the Pastéis de Belém, famous pastries of Lisbon whose original bakery was just around the corner. It being Saturday just before noon, however, the line was long and undulated down the street, forcing would-be pedestrians to wiggle through. Instead we returned to our bus, one vehicle among dozens by now. Our destination was the Lisbon Sheraton, where we would overnight before our return flight.

After checking in, we walked to the Gulbenkian Museum to spend the afternoon. We started with lunch in the cafeteria, and then began to explore this eclectic collection, acquired by the early 20th Century oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian over the course of his lifetime. The museum reflects his wide-ranging tastes and includes different cultures (Islamic, Far Eastern, Egyptian, European) and categories (illuminated manuscripts, rugs, ivories, precious metals, ceramics, paintings, furniture, sculptures). The museum's moderate size was well suited to our available time and energy.

We walked back to the Sheraton, and later had dinner at the hotel's restaurant, the Panorama, located on the top floor. The food was excellent, and the nighttime view of Lisbon and its lights was as good as any floor show.

Early the next morning we took a taxi to the airport, which is located within the city. Arriving and departing airliners had been a common sight the previous day.

The taxi driver knew where each speed enforcement zone was and would drop below light-speed for each one. We reached the airport with plenty of time to spare.

According to the final daily program from the Explorer, we had covered 2,467 nautical miles in crossing Europe from Copenhagen to Lisbon. We had seen an astonishing amount of culture and history, and had happy reunions with good friends.

It was a great trip.