Part 9: Lisbon Walkabout

20240517-18

The Trip

There is much to see and do in Lisbon, much more than one could expect to do in a few days.  Or weeks.  Or months.  We had only allocated 4 days in Lisbon, so our stay is coming to an end.  With our remaining time, we decided that we would do a walkabout and see the sights close to our hotel.  The hotel is on Avenida Liberdade which is one of the main avenues in town and hosts a ton of high-end shops, restaurants and hotels.  We also decided to visit the Calouste Gulbenkian museum.  I had not heard of this place, but it exceeded our expectations across the board.  This set of photos spans 2 days.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.

We decided to head south from the hotel along the main avenue.  In the center of the plaza was a large monument.  Note the older building being refurbished.  This is "the" happening area of town.

A number of the older hotels were adorned with the classic tile exteriors.  Note the cut stone sidewalks.  They look great but are very slick when wet and are usually not very flat resulting in a tripping hazard.  The classic style versus function dichotomy.

Further south, in yet another plaza, we had stylish inlaid sidewalks, fountains and monuments.  In addition, there were sets of kiosks that were hawking wares, food and drinks to the passing hordes.

Most of the fountains were very ornate.

The Jacaranda were in bloom producing nice purple petals but littering the street when they wilt and die.  The inlaid stone produced a psychedelic effect.

Further south we could see a convent built into the hillside.

This narrow street went through an arch.  Super tight and a no-go for most vehicles.

The remains of the castle walls were visible to the east on the hill.

Nearing the river the sidewalks were choked with outdoor seating for the many cafes and restaurants along the path.  Note the pattern of the stonework has changed.

This is the Santa Justa elevator.  Interesting, but we elected to pass on actually riding it.

We are approaching the portal that will take us to the riverside plaza.

Plenty of the old-style street cars were out and about.  Modern trolley cars also used the trails.

The portal area had some kind of video event or news conference in progress.

Under the portal, looking up we could see intricate stonework.

Ornate carvings were atop the portal arch.

As seen from the river plaza, the portal was quite magnificent.

The plaza was very large and surrounded by some kind of governmental buildings.

As with any heavily-touristed area, you have some kind of showmen attempting to solicit donations.

The main bridge across the Tagus river was visible from the plaza.  We could also see the tour boats plying the river and the container off-load facility.

Every good plaza has to have a statue, this one was no exception to that rule.  The tallest hill in Lisbon is visible on the right of the photo above.

We ate at a nice restaurant that was in the plaza and when we were done, we headed through the arched walkways back toward the portal.

The roads near the plaza were a spider's web of trolley infrastructure.

On our path back toward the hotel, we passed this building with intricate stone carvings.  There were a set of six lions in the facade of the building.

The Santa Justa elevator was made of iron plates and rivets.

We had a relaxing day and nice meal that night.  The following day we decided to visit the Calouste Gulbenkian musem to our north.  We walked north along the avenue and to our surprise we came upon a statue in a plaza!  This area of town is close to the Lisbon airport so we saw plenty of planes on final approach for landing.

The walk to the top of the hill was not steep but it was long and we gained substantial elevation.  At the crest, we could see the Avenida Liberdade green space and the Tagus River in the distance.

Lisbon is a pleasing mix of old and new.  The area on the right of the photo above is the access to the park that hosts the museum.  It was under construction, so we had to divert around the area to get to the museum.

The museum is contemporary and built to last using poured concrete.  Mr. Gulbenkian was an oil magnate in the late 1800s and made a fortune from the oil fields around Baku on the Caspian Sea.

We just started into the tour and I spotted this Egyptian artifact.  Very impressive.

I was happily taking photos and was then reminded by the staff that no photographs were allowed.

I got one more photo before they shut me off.  This is carved marble.

Back outside, we passed more ornate tile work on apartments.

We never got the fully story on this structure, but it was large and multi-story including the contemporary basement.

Note the voting signage for the Communist Party.

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2024, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.