KamGrrl (or StringGirl 3.0 as she might be called) may have ventured around many European nations. However, her experiences around the Iberian Peninsula are limited to her times in Barcelona. There she has been on numerous occasions, but has not until now even been to Portugal.
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| Torre de Belém |
The Port of Lisbon is very proud of their heritage as the point of embarkation for many of the key "discovery" voyages throughout the years. Often paying homage to some of their most famous navigators like Vasco de Gama, Henry the Navigator, Escobar, Phillipa of Lancaster, and Saint Francis Xavier, to name a few.
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| View from the cliffs near the hotel |
Much of the seaside where we stayed in the Atlantic facing town of Cascais was rocky cliffs overlooking deep water. We did not really try while we were there to do any swimming or rock climbing (a shame really).
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| Approaching the town center Cascais |
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| Central square of Lisboa |
Go on a tour of Lisbon (Lisboa) and you will undoubtedly hear about the
earthquake of 1755. Much of the city was rebuilt following that disaster. The Great Quake (estimated to be 8.5 - 9.0 in magnitude) was followed by a devastating Tsunami that engulfed the city and changed the geography of the area, making the river wider and narrower significantly in many spots.
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| Santa Justa Lift |
One of the stranger and more unique sites is the mid-city urban elevator that can be used by the citizenry to avoid climbing the many hills that define the Lisbon geography. Built upon several hills in the late 19th century the residents of the sprawling city decided to erect the elevators to allow commerce to carry on without the burden of climbing so many hills. The Santa Justa pictured above is the last of the vertical lifts remaining, however several funiculars still operate today; primarily as tourist attractions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Justa_Lift
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| Preparing for a tour of the city on small gas powered carts |
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| Cart tour of the city center |
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| Rua Augusta's Arch |
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| Azulejos (or Glazed Tiles) adorn the sides of many buildings and lend Lisbon a distinct architectural style |
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| Rua Augusta´s Arch |
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| Palace Square , sometimes called Black Horse Square for the kings horse shown here trampling serpents |
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| ruins from the Roman times in Lisbon |
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| St George's Castle |
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| Castelo do São Jorge |
High atop on of the hills can be found the remains of a Moorish Fortification, now known as
Castle of Saint George. While not the earliest fortification built on this site it is the latest. Portions of the current structure may date back to the 10th century during the Moorish occupation of Lisbon.
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Along with their rich naval history, Lisbon is also proud of their early triumphs in transatlantic flight. As early as 1922 Portuguese aviators had crossed the South Atlantic to arrive ultimately in Rio. While not the first Atlantic Crossing and not non-stop (one of the benefits of the use of seaplanes, yes planes as they used 3 in their crossing), Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral did succeed in the death defying voyage a full 5 years before Lindbergh's more famous flight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_aerial_crossing_of_the_South_Atlantic
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