Photos : Lisbon, Portugal Photos
Promises Promises Promises
Lisbon could have been many things but it wasn’t. It was beautifully warm, the sky was blue, there were things to do, there were places to go however even with that, it wasn’t as memorable or charming as expected. Now I know what you’re thinking, his expectations are to blame not Lisbon. That’s true but it’s also true that every tourist I’ve spoken to has the same comment.
We arrived late at night and as with all places, it’s the airport that is your first real taste of the city. Lisbon’s airport is new and quite large. We did a 1/2 marathon getting to immigration to be presented with the obligatory ‘us’ and ‘them’ lines. Normally this isn’t a huge thing however in Lisbon it appears to be common practice to look a growing queue of people as a thing of beauty. In fact it is almost a national sport. As us foreign vagrants formed an orderly queue in front of the 6 immigration windows that were manned by no less than 3 extremely efficient and happy souls, minus the efficiency and happiness, that had a slight twinkle in their eyes as they saw the queue growing and foreign vagrants patience dwindling. To the right of the orderly ever growing queue is the kids, elderly and/or incapacitated queue (empty upon our arrival). This changed quickly as our queue virtually ground to a halt, much to the concern of the immigration officers (NOT!!)
From our vantage point, some agonising 10 people from the front, we saw one of them head for a break, I suspect he was attending a ‘live life to the fullest and do it with a smile’ video presentation. Down to 2 passport stampers. Mr Stamper one found a family who he suspected of being gypsies or someone he didn’t like as he scrutinised them, their passports and crawled up their family tree to see if anything shook loose. Stamper two noticed some families, invalids and blue rinse brigade had managed to complete the 1/2 marathon from the gates and were awaiting his attention. His idea wasn’t to take 1 from our queue and then 1 from theirs, such a silly notion should never be uttered. We were effectively stranded on the ‘please check my passport’ island. I’m pleased to report the gypsies were granted entry and now have a great view from underneath a 6 lane bridge near the center of town. The blue rinse brigade kept their dentures in and didn’t require any first aid en route to baggage collection.
Muse, Museums And A Church
Our introduction to the metro system was when the ticket machine adopted our money without giving us a present in return…no ticket! These machines are impressive. The attendant came over and advised us what had gone wrong and which coin denomination we had put in. There’s no chance of fooling them. The metro is pretty easy to get around and on the weekend almost much empty. The airport is right by the city too. Costs about 15€ and only 20 mins to get to our hotel.
Generally we avoid the food places near the main stations but as it was getting late and no idea of where was good to eat, we settled in to one of the 15 odd small restaurants down the side street outside the downtown station. Waiters were friendly and food not earth shattering but it hit the spot. Sitting outside bathing in Lisbon’s personality, surrounded by its buildings and clean streets, should make for an echanted setting however it felt more like Malta and Spain got married but were going through a bitter divorce and arguing over the plastic knives and forks. I’m not saying it was bad in Lisbon just that it wasn’t what I had expected.
The next day was spent walking around the shopping area then down to the waterfront. It’s easy to get around on the trams and busses. Making our way to the waterfront we found the Berardo Museum of modern and contemporary art which, because we are cultural vultures, had to check out. At its entrance was a Christmas tree shape of green bottles standing about 25 feet tall. Immediately inside the door you find an old caravan that is painted by anyone who wishes to. It’s nothing like the Bienalle in Venice but it did have some interesting exhibitions. Wow….never thought I’d write about that or even go into a museum (being the cultural void that I am).
The churches here are much like Lisbon. They were impressive but lacked something…maybe a virgin 🙂 Often the churches ask for a donation upon entering however at one there was only a fee if you wanted to see the innards of it. Chris and Kara declined but I ventured in and paid too much money for the experience. There is a courtyard and a balcony that extends around it but not much else and nothing to justify the ‘donation’…if I don’t get to heaven on that money then do I get a refund to spend in hell? It did have a vantage point over the main hall but I could have been on the ground floor and jumped to give me an experience not that dissimilar 🙂
We stopped for a late lunch by a park that is about 1/2 way back to the city center. The food, like the day before, was ok but nothing to write home about however the view of the park made for an interesting spectacle. With the abundance of sunshine and temperature in the mid 20’s families we out in force. Around the perimeter is a path and this is what we found interesting or concerning. There was a guy who’s elevator didn’t go to the top floor riding in endless circles on an old bike. His attire was shabby hippie complete with dishevelled grooming. Mr Hippy had eyes as glazed as a krispy cream doughnut. On the front basket was an old portable stereo playing music from a tape. He appeared to be chasing a young girl who had a confused and concerned expression. We could not
tell if the expression was from knowing the man or not. For the duration of our meal he did lap after lap appearing to chase the young girl. His crooked smile was cause for concern but the girl seemed pretty nimble and quick on the skates. The whole event was weird….. On a positive note, the girl’s roller blading did improve as she maintained her speed and didn’t fall over.
Night 2 yielded a better restaurant, again near the midtown but still tourist style. It felt safe walking around the city at night due to the atmosphere of the town but I think in part due to the types and numbers of people out. It was a beautfiul night at a comfortable temperature. I attempted some night shots without tripod….not a roaring success but it could have been worse.
No Bull….I Promise
We seemed to be rapidly running out of things to see so having been down one coastal shore it seemed only fair to Lisbon that we check out the other direction. Some quaint shops and a couple of photo opps but again Lisbon was nice but not as expected.
Having been down one coastal shore it seemed only fair to Lisbon that we check out the other direction. Some quaint shops and a couple of photo opps but again Lisbon was nice but not as expected.
Another day of wonderful sunshine and more chance for me to work on topping up on vitamin D and a chance for Chris to work on her tan. Simply enjoying the break from work warranted a lazy day, well that and we had seen almost everything. We did however leave a couple of places for just an occasion.
I’m not an advocate of bull fighting but we decided to check out the Campo Pequeno bullring. Since 2006 it’s been used as a multi-event venue minus the bulls. We couldn’t get to see the actual arena but saw the outside. Not on th etop 100000000 places to see in the world but we’ve been there.
Castle Ahoy
A trip to Lisbon isn’t complete until you check out the castle. Like many cities in Europe there’s a castle in or close to the city. No exception with the Lisbon castle that feels like theme park meets medieval holiday castle. It’s akids creche and tourist trap all in one. The view gives you an idea about how much of Lisbon that you haven’t seen. Maybe if you could curb your enthusiasm….nah, you never will.
Airport is like Lisbon. Promises a lot but you still feel a little underwhelmed. Towards the end of the sunday afternoon we had managed to drag ourselves away from the Lisbon charm and headed back to the hotel with the idea we’d have an early dinner then get to the airport. In a casual manner, no stress. The Lisbon apathy took hold and finding the planned restaurant across from the hotel closed we decided to head to the airport a lazy 3 hours early. IDIOTS!! All Easyjet flights delayed. Correct decision would have been to head back to town for dinner however stupidity proved to be a stronger force. We even tried to get on one of the earlier delayed flights however they were fully booked. We resigned ourselves to mind numbing boredom of spending our time in a cafe. Naively believing our plane would buck the trend of seemingly all other flights and depart on time we waited. We waited. We waited. Short version, we spent about 5-6 hours in the airport to then miss the last train. Sort of summed up the weekend….Easyjet and Lisbon promised a lot but you felt a little disappointed.