Portugal Part 2

Hello everyone........I hope you liked our pictures from Lisbon.  I wanted to share a few more because I realized I missed a few interesting ones.

First, this is the only picture I got of my three travel companions.  And there are no pictures of the four of us together.  Too funny!  (but note the empty large beers)

A view of the city from the main park, Parque Eduardo VII.  Our apartment in Chiado is on the hill to the right.

Portugal's national drink (after Port) is Ginjinha, a sour cherry liquor.  There were several of these shops all around the city, where you could buy a shot to drink at the counter, or a bottle to go (we did both!)

There were lots of beautiful & old churches to explore.  This 1st one, Ingreja de São Domingos, is considered a national monument.  The church managed to survive the 1755 earthquake & a fire in 1959.

A few other church photographs - all were located on our apartment street, Rua Garrett

 

In addition to touring around Lisbon, we also spent some time outside of the city.  In Sintra & Fatima.  Both were day trips, one by train (Sintra) and one by car (Fatima). 

By the way, I love train travel in Europe.  And metros, and walking.  When I eventually move back to the US, I'm going to dread having to get into a car to go EVERYWHERE, and that most places are in a shopping center or the 'burbs.

Sintra and it's surrounding hills are classified as a UNESCO world heritage site.  There is a Royal Palace which was used by Portuguese royalty until the 1910 revolution.  There is also the remains of a Moorish castle and the Pena Palace, both located within the surrounding hills

Our 1st visit was to the Royal Palace.

It was inhabited by royalty from the early 15th to late 19th centuries.

Definitely a mixture of Arab, Moorish and Renaissance art & architectural styles

A walk around the town of Sintra revealed some interesting homes, churches, and a clock tower.

 

From the town, you could see the remains of the Moorish Castle on top of one of the hills.  We took a bus to the top to look at it closer.

 

 

 

 

The castle was built during the 8th and 9th centuries, during the Arab occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.  After the 1197 conquest of Lisbon, the castle was turned over to the Christians.  The 1755 earthquake caused considerable damage to the castle, and it wasn't until 1838 that any restorations were started

 



In the 20th century, there were several projects to restore and repair sections of the castle, allowing it to be visited by travelers.  They were currently doing some excavation work as well.

 

 My Dad started a "conversation" with this guy.  And even though the man only spoke Portuguese, Dad learned that he couldn't walk hills due to heart surgery.

me

Pat

 

Pat was FAR AWAY, on top of the castle walls.

A view of the city of Sintra from above

This is the Pena Palace.  It's also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It started as a small chapel in the Middle Ages, and then a monastery was built on the site in the 15th Century.  Unfortunately, the monastery was destroyed during the 1755 earthquake. But the chapel somehow survived.

In the mid 1800's, King Ferdinand I had it rebuilt into a palace that was used by the royal families as their summer residence.

It's a mix of different architectural styles - Gothic, Islamic, Renaissance

There were lots of interesting tiles

What a face!  I discovered that he's a newt, symbolizing the creation of the world

These are the stained glass windows in the original chapel (although I'm sure the windows themselves are not originals!)

The Cloister

Sweet gargoyle :)

Scary gargoyle!

I loved the kitchen.  I have copper pot envy & need a few of those wine vessels for personal use

King Ferdinand II.

Finally, we visited Fatima. 

 

If you don't know the significance of Fatima,  it is known as being the location where in 1917, three children saw an apparition (referred to as The Lady of Our Rosary).  The Lady told the children she was sent by God to give a message  prayer, repentance and consecrations. She visited the children each month on the 13th day from May 13 - October 13. The last apparition occurred on October 13, and was witnessed by 70,000 pilgrims.  On this day, she sent a message that consisted of three secrets:

1.) The first secret was a vision of Hell "where the souls of the sinful would travel without prayer"; 

2.) The second secret was a statement that World War I would end and a prediction of another war, World War II during the reign of Pope Pius II, should men continue offending God and should Russia not convert

3.) The third secret was written down by one of the children in 1944, and held by the Vatican until 2000.  There is much controversy about what the secret actually states.  One version is that referenced the persecution of Christians in the 20th Century.  But other believe that the actual secret has never been revealed.

 

Two of the children died at an early age and were beatified in 2000 by Pope John Paul II.  The third child lived until 2005.

Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed in this visit.  Maybe we didn't expect it to be so modern?  Maybe we expected something different from a place which is visited by 4 million people each year?  But we're still glad we saw it

 

A Trip to Lisbon

Hello!!!!  It's been a while since I posted an update.  It's been so busy and a little difficult to keep up with my blog lately.  Lots of travel and a new job (actually, a new job in addition to my old job).  But all is good and it was a really great summer.  I'm hoping things will slow down (at least a little) for the next few months and I'll be able to get back to more regular updates.

I've been wanting to share some pictures from our trip to Lisbon, which we took with my parents in early September.  When we moved to Russia in the summer of 2010 (3 years already!), my parents visited us in St. Petersburg for 3 weeks during the following summer.  The next year, we all went to Paris & Normandy together.  And this year, we decided to visit Lisbon.

 

It was really a fascinating city.  One of our friends described it as "gritty", and that is absolutely true.  But I we found it to also be beautiful in it's own way - full of art & old world architecture, lively & friendly people, great music, and interesting food (although not always easy for our vegetarian).  It's built on 7 hills, so there are all sorts of hidden alleyways and surprise vistas to overlook the city.  And it was incredibly affordable place to visit.

We stayed in an apartment in the Chiado section of the city. Apartments are such a great option when you are traveling with friends or family, and want to be able to spend time with each other without sitting in a hotel lobby or bar.

Here's a few views from the apartment

Our street, Rua Garrett

 

 

 

Se Cathedral in the background

In this post, I'll share some pictures from the city of Lisbon and Belem.  In the next post, you'll see pictures from our day trips to Sintra and Fatima.

Like I mentioned, it's a city full of views since it was built on 7 hills.  I learned that the city of Lisbon is considered the oldest city in Western Europe,  having been a settlement since around 1200 BC.  Today, it's a city of 500,000+ people, and is the westernmost city in Europe (and the only one located on the Atlantic Ocean).

We took a lot of pictures from the tops of various hills, overlooking the River Tagus.

 

If you like music, Portugal is known for a musical style called Fado.  It started in the early 1800's and is typically characterized as being a Portuguese folk song, accompanied by a guitar, which is typically very sad & mournful.  They are songs about the harsh realities of life or any other subject related to loss or a feeling of desperation.  Sounds fun, right???  We visited a Fado house one evening for dinner, called O Faia.  It was really cool.  Three different singers, each with a very different style.     

 

 

One of the highlights of Lisbon is the Castle of São Jorge.  It's located in the Alfama section of Lisbon.  It's one of those places that you can see from almost every spot in Lisbon - a great land marker.

Its oldest parts of the castle date from the 6th century, when it was fortified by the Romans, the Visigoths (Eastern Germanic people), and eventually the Moors.   It served as a Moorish royal residence until Portugal's first king, Afonso I, captured it in 1147 with the help of northern European crusaders on their way to the Holy Land.  At that point, the castle was dedicated to St. George, the patron saint of England,  and became the royal palace until the early 16th Century.

It was a great place to walk through, exploring the gardens and artifacts

 

Some of us climbed the walls, while others stayed below to explore.  Hi Dad!

Cool view from the top of one of the castle walls.

Walking through the streets of Lisbon, it was interesting to see all of the unique tiles, vibrant painted doors, and iron balconies on each of the building.  All were a little "gritty", but still beautiful.

 

 

We had MANY stops for cold beer.  It was in the low to mid 90's every day, and walking all of the hills of the city was exhausting.  Here Dad & I are with a few empties

 

A few dog pictures (and her owner).  Mom is visible in the window reflection.

This is a nighttime view of the gate in Praça do Comércio , or Commerce Square. 

The square was originally called the Palace Square (Terreiro do Paço), because it was the location of the Ribiera Palace from the early 16th century until 1755.  1755 is the year of the Lisbon Earthquake, a 8.5-9.0 earthquake which occurred on November 1st (All Saints Day).  It almost destroyed Lisbon, and the estimated death toll in Portugal, Southern Spain, and Morocco is 40,000-50,000 people.

Some more nighttime views from one of the hills in Chiado (near our apartment)

Largo do Carmo (a square near our apartment)

Part of the grittiness of the city was graffiti.  But some of it was very cool.  

Next, we visited Belem.  It was a short tram ride to the west of the city.  Belem is known as being the starting point where many of Portugal's famous explorers launched their voyages (Vasco Da Gama,  Henry the Navigator, Ferdinand Magellan, and Christopher Columbus).

Below is the Jeronimos Monastery, built by King Manual I in 1502, on the exact location where Vasco Da Gama and his crew spent their last night before leaving for India.  Both Da Gama and King Manual I are entombed here.  We unfortunately didn't get to go inside (closed on Mondays).  The guy in charge of our tour missed this one!

I thought this Ficus tree (In the Belem Botanical Gardens) was amazing.  Have you ever tried to grow a Ficus in your house?  I wonder how old it is?

Lots of peacocks in the Botanical Garden as well

The Belem Tower..... Built in 1515 as a fortress to guard the entrance to Lisbon's harbor.  It was the starting point for many of the voyages, and for the sailors it was the last sight of their homeland. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage monument.

Finally, this is the Monument to the Discoveries.  It was originally built in plaster in 1940, for the World Exhibition.  A more permanent structure was built in stone in 1960, on the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's death.

It represents a three-sailed ship ready to depart, with sculptures of historical figures such as King Manuel I, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Cabral, and several other notable Portuguese explorers, crusaders, monks, and others.  Prince Henry the Navigator is at the front holding a small vessel.

Next is Sintra and Fatima....................