Portugal
Lisbon
 Finally we reached Lisbon and our
next place to winter. Partly due to good transport facilities
and partly due to the fact that Lisbon is a town full of beauty
and culture. Most of our co sailors headed for Algarve, Seville
or into the Med.
Compared to the north,
Lisbon is more "professional" and international. They
behave like in Paris, or in Rome. Their pocket thiefs are the
same as in other big cities.
The latter we manage,
but the Portuguese language is not the easiest to understand,
even if you speak French, understand some Spanish and Italian.
We managed to understand their tabloid newspapers, but spoken!!
They "delete" part of the words and then "group"
what's back into a "new" word.
However, many Portuguese
speak English, much more than in Spain, and as in the north,
people are very polite and nice to foreigners, specially if you
want to learn and  understand
their language. A nice man in a souvenir shop, selling postcards
to two English ladies, consistently saying "Gracias",
politely told them that "Gracias" was Spanish and in
Portugal they said " Obrigado". Commenting on his polite
way of teaching foreigners Portuguese, he nice gave us a little
lesson, correcting our primitive Portuguese.
Sailing up the Tagus river,
Lisbon lets you understand that here is a town full of history
and culture. Torre de Belém, dating back to early 16th
century, built as a fortress, soon became the starting point
for the many navigators, setting out to discover the new trade
routes to Brazil, New Foundland, India and all the way to Japan.
As a trace of these discoveries
the Portuguese influenced the new places. In Japan "thank
you" is "arrigató" deriving from the Portuguese
obrigado.
A short distance upriver,
and you are met by the new Culture Palace and the impressive
monastery, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, the latter financed
by a 5% tax on all revenues deriving from the new trades. The
discoveries were risky business, and the sailors were given a
common absolution, in Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, for sins
done and that they might do. Certainly such a generosity by the
church would be handsomely compensated.
Coming up the river ,our
first impression of the modern Culture Palace was an "impressive
prison  building" with
high walls without windows or tile decorations, standard on any
building of some importance. We later learnt that the construction
of such a building, between the monastery and the Tagus river,
had been a hot political issue, when built in 1990 to accommodate
the Portuguese presidency of the European Community.
However, if being a bit
soulless from the outside, inside is is full of activities, exhibitions
and music, specially in the weekends. Here you may enjoy everything,
from concerts by the philharmonic orchestra or world stars, as
well as children and folkloric groups, as this Alentejoan group,
playing on "pebbles", supported by accordion and drums.
Charming and real (full of proudness for being invited down from
the valley to the big capital).
Although we maintain a
special section for food and drinks, before leaving Belém,
we must recommend you to pass by the Antiga Confeitaria de Belém
to taste or take with you their famous Pastéis de Belém
(rich custard in a flaky pastry cup).
Belém is only one
of the "musts" of Lisbon. Baixa, Bairro Alta and Alfama
have a similar history to tell.
Travelling around in Lisbon
is easy on the many buses, trains, trams and subway. Their antique
trams, renovated to the standard of today is a cozy way to explore
Lisbon. Take the 28 for a round trip, bringing you "up and
down" the many hills and through the narrow streets.
If you take the 28 tram
take a stop at the western turnaround to visit the Cemiterio
dos Prazeres. Up on a hill, with a nice view down to the Tagus,
 the old families have established
their personal houses, to accommodate their ancestors. Normally
a house would take 4-8 coffins. Bigger families, as a Leitao
family, had a 2 storey "mansion" with nice inscriptions
on the question of life and death; as this:
"Souviens tois
qu`à l'heure de ta naissance tous étaient joyeux
et que tu seul pleurais. Conduis tois de telle sorte durant ta
vie, que tous à l'heure de ta mort pleurant et que tois
seul sois joyex".
A poor translation might
be something like:
Remember that when
you were born, everybody were joyful and you the only that cried.
Arrange your life so that when your time has come, all are crying
and you alone are
happy.
A general had ordered
his resting place to be built like a fortress with towers etc.
(Maybe he was superstitious and took with him some travel money?)
The Portuguese (and the
Spaniards) inherited from the moors the art of azuleios, decorated
tiles. You see houses decorated with "one off" made
 tiles decorations.  The
most impressive collection you will find at the Museo des azuleios????
The museum is an ancient monastery and is perhaps one of the
most interesting places for a short visit.
Nevertheless the tile
art is still kept alive. For the Expo in 1998, a new metro was
built. Every station had its specific decoration with modern
art tile work. International artist were invited to decorate
their station.
The  Expo
area is another "must". We first arrived here at 6
o'clock in the morning (to investigate the marina) and found
it dull and more like a ghost town. But during daytime there
will be lots of activities around the area as well as in the
impressive shopping malls.
An impressive Aquarium,
nature centre is located at the Tagus riverside. An immense tank
of water with smaller "habitats" around, each adjusted
to the climate they represents, from chilly Nordic to the tropical
conditions of the Pacific. Here you may have an impression of
fish and birds in a "natural" setting.
Vila Franca
de Xira
A good hour by train up
along the Tagus river, you arrive at Vila Franca. The railway
station in nicely decorated with azuleios, tiles in blue, telling
the story of the town and its "money earners". Traditionally
the town has been the centre for bull and horse rearing.
Twice a year young men
can show off in the "bull running trough the streets"
and watch the tourada and horsemanship.
Festa do Colete Encarnado
takes place early July and a similar festival, Feira da Outobro
takes place in October. Be aware there are even more festivals
worth a visit. Personally we went there late May/early June for
fiesta and competition in horsemanship.
In the bull fighting arena
there is a small, local museum. Closed during our visit, but
told to be of interest.
Updated 28.12.2001
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