This article is dedicated to the capital city of Portugal, the place that has been rebuilt after a devastating earthquake, the place from where many legendary voyages have started, the place with the most beautiful modern train station, and the place from which a lot of people left in order to find peace in another country - this is Lisbon!
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021.1 In the last article (020) we visited most main train stations, and the last one was Lisbon Oriente. So it is fitting to start from the same place, and go back, towards Belem Tower while staying close to the Tagus River. In this image we see the beautiful Oriente Station (from here we actually went towards Sintra).
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| 021.2 This whole neighbourhood was built for the 1998 World Expo. And in this image we have Oriente station behind us, Vasco da Gama Commercial Center in front, the left tower is Sao Rafael and the right one, Sao Gabriel. |
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021.3 The commercial center, Vasco da Gama, its not that interesting, but I did like the suspended alleyways, featuring this translucent glass, that make our steps look like little ants.
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| 021.4 What I love, and perhaps what others may love also, is this view of the tower building from this angle! So good looking! (weird monument in the middle right? Reminds me of those algae roots that sometimes get carried to the shore and they get tangled on the feet while swimming. Why put that there?). |
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| 021.5 To the side of Altice Arena there are so many national flags, but can you spot yours? |
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021.6 I really loved this structure but it also impressed me a lot. It is huge and free of vertical pillars to hold it (it really is something to see in person. I remember looking at it like I never saw a building in my life). It is made with a new technology in concrete science and you can read more here
https://www.leca.pt/obras-de-referencia/pala-pavilhao-de-portugal |
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| 021.7 Lisbon Oceanarium -> I don’t know how you the reader may feel about these places, because I have mixed feelings: I like that they exist because they allow kids to see that the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers are full of life so they must be protected, but even so, little to nothing good happens because they exist. Kids of yesterday run today’s world politics and economics and I can tell that in 2023, the ship is not really going the right way… I think I visited only one oceanarium during my 3 years in Spain/Portugal and that one because… well you will see that in a later article. |
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| 021.8 Another sea related building, and it is actually part of the Oceanarium. This is also one awesome looking building and pretty obvious at the same time. |
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| 021.9 Jardim das Ondas -> same region as before but a much beautiful view with the aerial tramway, Vasco da Gama tower with the national flag, and Vasco da Gama bridge (longest in European Union, built in 1998 - actually almost all I showed so far was built for that World Expo). |
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| 021.10 As you scroll down on this page, from the previous image, to this one, it starts showing up just like a cruise ship. If it wasn't for the trees, one would think this really is a docked ship. |
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021.11 Buildings at Santa Apolonia (train station) with the Pantheon on the top of the hill. There is quite the walk from previous place, to here so we suggest you take the metro or the tram (metro is easier to get tickets)
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| 021.12 Not that magnificent exterior of the Military Museum but I do love the romanic columns and the timepiece. |
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| 021.13 Again the Military Museum and the Pantheon just behind it. |
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| 021.14 I don’t know what building this is, but I loved this Renault 4, and the (aged) colour of it and even the dent. As a former Renault employee, I really wish we go back to making cars look good and friendly (not furious, plastic, robot). |
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| 021.15 This is probably my favorite photo from Lisbon (excluding all the railway theme). Again the Pantheon is at the top of the hill. |
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021.16 Palacete Chafariz d’el Rei. At 160-200e per night, here they used to come to get you from the airport (in 2017/18) and breakfast was included. I stood at another hotel quite a bit more far, with no breakfast (so 30e “save”) and of course no shuttle to the airport (which also is not always a save) so maybe 160 is not that expensive. But this is a little palace and it is the only place not to have yellow on it (but actual rose/magenta) so it is even more special.
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| 021.17 Restaurant on the Bacalhoeiros street. Food was great, came very fast and they even served soup (I am a huge soup lover). In fact this is the reason we came here, they had soup written on the blackboard menu (displayed outside). I hope this place still exists and is as good as it was in 2017. |
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| 021.18 This is Se Cathedral de Lisboa. I love this frame and the left green building, but I cannot stop thinking: how much could rent cost in the yellow building to the right? |
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| 021.19 Igreja da Conceicao Velha. I actually waited for this Renault Twizy car to be in the shot. Back then (2017) this was the most weird car (or maybe still is) that we made at Renault. Citroen also did one, but at least that one would protect the passengers from rain and some wind :)) The only regret that I have about this image, is that the Twizy is not yellow… Lisbon is filled with that color. Even here, we have two buildings in that color, and the church which is made out of limestone. |
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| 021.20 Since I liked a lot the exterior, I was wondering about the interior and I was not disappointed, there is that emblematic yellow. What do you think? Are some greek islands more beautiful in that perfect white or is yellow also trendable? |
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| 021.21 Praca do Comercio and the monument dedicated to King Jose I. This is the most iconic image of Lisbon. I mean you see it in most books. Again, wish I had the tramway in view but it was hard to get a more "clear" spot so I did miss it (during the day, but check next article to see the tram, during the night). |
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| 021.22 Same place, but next to the “balloon person”. We tipped him, because he did put quite a nice show and he did entertained not just the kids. I made a tons of photos, but it is actually harder to get buildings reflected on those soap bubbles :)) they go away fast and in random directions. |
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| 021.23 More beautiful than the Louvre area, (and not because the walls are Lisbon yellow) the arches of Praca do Comercio are timeless and I hope we won’t ever see big brands destroying the view. |
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021.24 Passage under Rua do Alecrim and my wife taking a wide photo of the arch, filled with street art. In Spain (future article) we saw so much street art, that it inspired us to actually make more things that we hope are long lasting. Here in north of France, art has been replaced with burning cars... pity.
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021.26 A picture with a person making a picture with the person who makes the picture :)) Same place as before, but different angle.
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| 021.27 Bridge over Sao Paolo Street. I made a few photos with the Pizza Hut delivery person (this is what we used to eat at Sintra, late at night) but this is my favourite shot. We waited a bit for the tram to pass, but we weren’t so lucky to have a clean photo so I picked this one. |
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| 021.28 Sao Paolo Church and a building filled with immaculate azulejos (blue ceramic tiles). |
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| 021.29 View over Chagas Church. I love these buildings growing from the ground towards the sky. The funny moment was seeing someone having painted in yellow the top of the balcony :)) still not that much yellow in Lisbon. |
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021.30 Sao Paolo park and this very, very weird palm tree :D I wonder if we should water the plants in full summer daylight, with no clouds.
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| 021.31 Mercado da Ribeira – close to Cais do Sodre train station (seen in the previous article). This building also features a clock (just like churches, train stations and banks) but this is one beautiful market. |
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021.32 The beautiful Belem Tower. We did not visit this place as I think it was closed (as you can see, nobody is on the bridge) but it did inspire me to make it in 3D and also to search more about the place – see the legend.
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| 021.32 Since I did not see the interior, nor did I take pictures of it, I have to say that I had to imagine a lot, even today in this day and age :)) I started from the base and actually used real 3D bricks and not texture (but I think that the walls are very, very thick) and while I was doing the tower portion and the balcony to be more specific, I had the idea of making a cut in the base to sort of see a bit the interior. |
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| 021.33 The Transatlantic monument and the Belem Tower. Right in this area, there was a violinist performing crowd favorite tunes, all alone and from his memory. Quite impressive and touching. |
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| 021.34 Ponte 23 de Abril and an Easy Jet plane, preparing for landing (I think, the airport should be to the left of this image). This way we are looking towards Lisbon, and it is weird that we don’t see, at all, the biggest bridge in Europe. |
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| 021.35 One of the perks of coming to Lisbon by car, is that we get to ride the upper-deck of the 23rd of April Bridge (the train is on the lower deck). Of course you can order a car (taxi, Uber whatever) and experience the same thing. |
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| 021.36 Since we went on the “California” bridge, we must also go on the record breaking – Vasco da Gama bridge. There is a long straight line and on the last bit it corners towards Lisbon (and it gets pretty high also) |
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| 021.37 Vasco da Gama and back to Lisbon |
You probably scrolled fast this article and realised that this is not even half of what Lisbon is. And you are right, we had only 2 big days and we walked only on the area next to the Tagus River. Even at Belem Tower, we did not went to Jeronimos Monestery (in the area) but stuck to the riverside and when we return we will make a followup. For the tramway, well in all that sea of yellow and narrow streets, we could not make a great photo, but a lot more is to be seen in the next article, Lisbon, by night!
So see you in the next one,
MiDe.
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| Source: https://euamoportugal.com/pt/lugares/distritos/lisboa/lisboa/torre-de-belem |
