Lisbon Part 1

We took the train from Porto to Lisbon admiring the seashore, small olive groves, eucalyptus and pine plantations, small gardens, corn fields, and cork oak trees from the speeding train.  Or at least I admired while exchanging text messages with a friend in Maryland while Jake read a novel. We took the fast train, the Alfa Pendular, which reaches speeds of 200 km/hour, getting us to Lisbon in 2.5 hours.  From the Oriente train station in Lisbon you get a Viva Viagem card for either 6 euros/day or pay by the trip to take the metro.  Just beware that the metro does not take US credit cards and the machines were not giving out new cards that day.

Invasive plants along the railway - Arundo donax and pampas grass

A field of sunflowers along the train route

Our street in Lisbon

Jake decided we should walk from the metro to our apartment.  It should take 15 minutes, but it was more like a ½ hour by the time we figured out the streets.  Easy for he with backpack, not so easy for me with rolling suitcase on cobblestone sidewalks!  We were both dripping sweat by the time we found our street but hey, we found it!  At least it was mostly downhill in this very hilly city. We called our contact and within 10 minutes she arrived to let us in and show us around the place.  We are in the Sao Bento neighborhood near Praca das Flores (Plaza of the Flowers - no, not a flower to be seen, but lots of trees).  We are also close to the National Assembly Building, but I haven’t yet learned anything about the state of Portuguese politics beyond noticing a Communist Party billboard in Porto.

We had dinner at a little café on the plaza, Pao de Canela.  The menu was somewhat limited at the early dinner hour of 7pm, but we each got a very nice salad.  Mine had chicken and mango with a yogurt sauce and sesame seeds.  Jake’s had chicken and pesto with some pasta.  We watched an episode of the BBC series Spooks on tv and went to bed. 

Today, Wednesday, we breakfasted at a local café with fresh squeezed orange juice (very common and delicious here), chocolate croissants (usually filled with Nutella), and coffee.  Then we set off downhill for the riverfront market.  It has undergone a yuppie transformation of sorts in the last few years and is owned by TimeOut Magazine.  It still sells vegetables, meat and fish in the mornings, but the entire central part of the market has been transformed into an upscale food court, more about that later.

At the food market in Lisbon

We caught a bus to the suburb of Belem across the street from the market.  Belem has a lot of museums and the President’s house.  We went to the UNESCO world heritage site of the San Jeronimo monastery.  This sand-castle like confection now houses an archaeology museum and a navigation museum in addition to a museum about the monastery.  We found that if you pay 2 extra euros you can gain entrance to the monastery and the archaeology museum in a very short line compared to the very long line in the hot sun just to see the monastery.  The archaeology museum was quite interesting too with exhibits on Portuguese explorations, gold and iron jewelry from the Bronze Age to the Roman conquest, on archaeological finds from a town in Portugal, and an exhibit on Roman objects from Lusitania.  The church attached to the monastery houses the bones of Vasco de Gama, the Portuguese explorer who first found a route to the Indies.  The museum did not answer the question of how the Portuguese ended up speaking a different language from the Spanish even though they are on the same peninsula.

Monasteiro Jeronimo

Vasco de Gama's eternal resting spot

We had lunch at a little café just around the corner from the monastery, the daily specials of monkfish and braised pork.  I then convinced Jake to go to the Tropical Botanical Garden, just behind the President’s mansion.  Jake found a shady bench to take a nap on while I explored the garden.  The garden has a neglected air, but is charming nonetheless.  It is full of ducks, chickens, and peacocks for one.  I came across groups of ducklings of various ages in the knot garden, roosters crowing proudly while hens pecked at palm fruits, and peacocks sleeping among the shrubbery.  I asked the one guard/ticket vendor about the garden.  It was started by the government in the late 1800s mainly to feature plants from the African colonies.  It has undergone a period of decline but may have recently been taken over by the University of Lisbon.  I hope it has better days ahead. 

Jake enjoying the botanic garden

Avenue of huge cacti

Touch of former elegance

The Japanese water garden with no water

Cats, ducks and chickens

Majestic avenue of palms

portrait of an ugly duck

After a reviving coffee and piece of carrot cake at the Navigation Museum cafeteria, we visited the Navigation Museum.  I think it may have the largest concentration of ship models I have ever seen.  There is lots of information about Portuguese explorers, the Navy, fishing vessels, and finally a huge display of royal barges. 

Royal barges

Exhausted by museums we caught a bus and then a very slow funicular back up the hill.  It has been very warm in Lisbon in the middle of the day, August weather someone said.  It cools down at night though fortunately. 

After a shower and a short break, I took a short walk uphill to the Botanical Garden.  This garden is better maintained and features quite a collection from all over the world. One section is an Arboretum with various collections of palms, cycads, pines, etc.   Another section is a rather unruly garden that used to be organized by plant family, but now seems to be organized in some sort of haphazard fashion that I didn’t get.  Still, lots of interesting plants if you’re in to that sort of thing!  Good thing I left Jake back at the apartment.

Cacti at the botanical garden

Stone mushrooms at the botanic garden

This evening we took a cab (yes, a cab!) back down to the riverside market to check out the food court. The food court was filled with people of all ages and nationalities. We started with 2 oysters and a glass of vinho verde.  Then a bowl of “stone soup” (bean and ham I think) while we chatted with a young immigration attorney from Baltimore.  Followed by a California roll and octopus salad.  I also tried the local sour cherry liqueur (too much like cough syrup) and a white port.  For dessert we split a dark chocolate éclair.  Caught a cab back too.  Cabs are not very expensive and easily obtainable (or at least they were tonight).