Trev's travails: Iberian adventure - Part 1

As part of our 30th wedding anniversary celebrations we embarked on a two week Iberian adventure which would take us to Lisbon, Porto (with days out in Aveiro and Espinho) and Madrid.

This post covers our first port of call - Lisbon, where we spent 5 days.

Our apartment was a short walk from this statue of the Marquess de Pombal - named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal. He was prime-minister from 1750 to 1777 and was in charge of the rebuilding of Lisbon after the earthquake in 1755 which devastated a considerable part of the city.

We invested in a Viaviagem travel ticket covering our time in the city - for 6 euros a day this gave us unlimited travel on buses, trams, and the metro. Needless to say, we made full use of it.

On our first full day we went on this tram to Belem. The Lisbon tram network first came into operation in 1873, as a horsecar line. In 1901 the first electric tramway opened. In recent years with the introduction of the Metro and expansion of the bus network, has led to a slow decline in the tram network.

Belém Tower or the Tower of St Vincent is a fortified tower built in the early 16th century. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defence system at the mouth of the Tagus river and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery replaced the church formerly existing in the same place, which was dedicated to Santa Maria de Belém and where the monks of the military-religious Order of Christ provided assistance to seafarers in transit.

It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983

The decor inside the monastery is impressive

It was here that we came across the tomb of Vasco da Gama - the famous explorer

The Monument to the Discoveries was originally built for the 1940 World Exhibition. It celebrated the achievements of explorers during the Age of Discoveries and the creation of Portugal's empire.

The monument was only built as a temporary structure and it was demolished a couple of years after the closure of the exhibition. The monument we see today is an exact replica of the original one. It was built in 1960 on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's death

The monument shows more than thirty statues of people who played an important role in the discoveries. Leading the way is Henry the Navigator who is shown standing on the bow holding a model of a caravel. Behind him are king Afonso V - who supported the exploration and colonization of Africa - and the explorers Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral and Ferdinand Magellan. They are followed by navigators, writers, missionaries, a mathematician, a cartographer and other figures from the era of the discoveries.

On our return to the centre of Lisbon, we travelled by ferry across the River Tagus (Rio Tejo in Portuguese) to Almada. For us there were some similarities with travelling across the Bosphorus in Istanbul. The bridge is the 25 de Abril Bridge ("25th of April Bridge”) connecting Lisbon to Almada. It was inaugurated on August 6, 1966 and it is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The name "25 de Abril" commemorates the Carnation Revolution - a military coup in Lisbon on 25 April 1974 which overthrew the regime of the Estado Novo

Christ the King statue in Almada overlooking Lisbon - inspired by Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro

Over the past few years Lisbon has been a stopping point for cruise ships. This has affected the tourist trade particularly in the Alfama area of Lisbon

Whilst in Almada we saw two vessels in dry dock

Dom Fernando II e Glória a wooden-hulled, 50 gun frigate of the Portuguese Navy

... and a submarine

The following day we went on a "chill-out" walking tour - here is our guide, Rafa, explaining to us the impact of the earthquake in 1755.

This was not a "traditional" tour where the guide takes you round lots of buildings and sights. Instead Rafa treated us to a cultural experience of what it's like to live in Lisbon - encouraging us to view it from a local's perspective as we strolled through the streets (back streets and main thoroughfares).

This is the Alfama area - the home of "fado", Portugal's national song

The Commerce Square

St George's Castle

Baixa area

There were many examples of highly decorative tiles on buildings depicting scenes from Portugal's history

Whilst on a bus ride we came across this aqueduct - the Águas Livres Aqueduct - "Aqueduct of the Free Waters". Lisbon has always suffered from the lack of drinking water, and in 1731 King John V decided to build an aqueduct to bring water into the city. It took nearly 20 years to build.