In Lisboa you will find big city conveniences. After exiting the train station we bumped into a food market comparable to the Hawker stalls of Singapore but than indoors. The idea is that young local chefs can build up experience and reputation before investing in their own restaurant. “Tasty” idea.
In 1755 Lisbon was hit by a devastating earthquake. The 8.5-9 force quake and subsequent fires and tsunami destroyed much of the city and its surroundings. At the location of the Ribeira Palace (former riverside palace) now stands the Praca do Comercio (commercial square) surrounded by a U-shaped arcade, filled with shops and restaurants vaguely resembling a palace. It is beautiful and huge but misses the intimacy of the Mediterranean plaza’s.
Introduced in 1901, electric trams were originally imported from the US, and called americanos. These distinctive yellow trams are one of the tourist icons of modern Lisbon, and their size is well suited to the steep hills and narrow streets of the central city.
The old town district of Santa Maria Maior is home to many historical monuments
The hill in the district on which São Jorge Castle stands has played an important role in the history of Lisbon, having served as the location of fortifications for Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Moors, before its (re)conquest by the Portuguese in the 1147 Siege of Lisbon. (See post; https://www.twobatsea.com/history-of-iberian-peninsula/).
The Castle is largely in tact, houses several exhibitions and we spend a couple of hours there enjoying the surrounding views.
The local delicacy is cod-cake filed with Sheep-cheese and of course the port-wine.
Vino do Porto like Sherry, Marsala, Madeira and Commandaria belong to the family of fortified wines. One reason to “fortify” wine by adding alcohol is to preserve it. Port wine became tremendous popular early 1700 when the war(s) deprived the British from French wines. The fortified wines survived the long sea voyages remarkably well.
Another historical building in the district, especially interesting for mechanical engineers like Frits, is this elevator.
The hills of Lisbon have always presented a problem for travel between the lower streets of the main Baixa (drop-off) and the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square). The tower is 45m high, covering 7 stories and entirely built of CAST IRON
A one day visit doesn’t do justice to this city. We have only seen one district. But we have to be out of Europe by March 5th and our travels are directed by the wind patterns that are very erratic this time (Jan 2020) of the year.
Lisboa – Lisbon – Lissabon, we shall return.