Retrospective...
Tuesday March 22, 2016
We decided, instead of going farther out of
town that seeing Lisbon was better use of our time today. I am glad Sergio
suggested it because I still hadn’t seen any part of Lisbon. Well, except for
the main Avenue. We loaded up and started south on the Avenue de Liberdade
toward the water. The avenue itself is beautiful. It is not only the main thoroughfare,
but also a pedestrian area with cafes on every block. It is a great place to
sit and have a coffee to people watch or to meet a friend or lover. It is
flanked with trees and shrubbery, so on hot summer days you can have a little
shelter from the heat. I would never tire of sitting there just observing life
as it unfolds.
Our first stop was Carriage museum. This was a
must see. The craftsmanship and luxury really shows you the disparity between
royalty, prestige and the everyday person. I think the pictures speak for
themselves in this case. I was glad we had time to get this in. Of course I could have spent more time, but
as I looked at the collection I was cognisant of our restricted time frame.
The second stop was the Geronimo monastery in
the Belem area. As we were driving, Sergio pointed out that the access even for
able bodied people to some of the tourist sites was limited to walking or taxi.
Public transportation is not the most useful in this case. The monastery was
busy. People were swarming. This was off season? I would hate to be here at the
peak season. I could only imagine the throngs of people. I will let the
pictures speak for themselves on the beauty and unbelievable craftsmanship of
the building.
The feeling of the place though has to be experienced.
I had imagined that it would be a peaceful place, but it felt very stark and austere.
Oddly enough the second section for the convent was not very ornate. I suppose
that indicates the churches reverence of females in its midst, or lack thereof. I had hoped to get a famous pastry from the
monks near the monastery, but the line up was out and around the block. Due to
our time restriction, I would have to skip it. I was a little saddened by this.
I guess it is something to bring me back to Portugal.
We continued on to the tower of Belem. It had some interesting history, but sadly I
was only able to see the outside of it.
In the same area was the memorial to the navigators ( Padrᾶo dos Descobrimentos).
We made a short pit stop there as well. Both of these are connected by a
boulevard along the water. It seems like a nice place to hang out for the day,
have an ice cream and swing your legs over into the cool water. The Portuguese
seem to love there ice cream.
Our last part of the trip, Sergio was nice
enough to bring me to the oldest part of town up through the old and narrow
streets to the highest viewpoint. The panorama was remarkable and I caught a
glimpse of St. George’s castle perched on one of the other hills. It looks
quite formidable even now. This was a great way to end our tour. There were
tourists there, but these are the diehard ones that walk all the way up. I can
tell you, you have to be in good shape to go all the way up here.
So, I think in general I was able to see a
good overview of the city. Things are very spread apart with obstacles in between,
so I would say pick a spot and go on an adventure there. Then the next day pick
another spot and so on. I highly recommend a tour company with an adapted van
for people with reduced mobility. It will make your trip easier and more
relaxing.
This is the information for my accessible
Lisbon tour guide. Sergio Melo - website http://www.adaptedtoursportugal.com/
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