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Lisbon There are only four of us and for a moment we are afraid the tour will be canceled, but the driver and the guide don't seem to bother. So it is almost a private tour.

Portugal [4]

Elisabeth & Teije
2004-03-06 16:28:18

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Friday 29 June, Lisbon There are only four of us and for a moment we are afraid the tour will be canceled, but the driver and the guide don't seem to bother. So it is almost a private tour. The city is build on 100 meters high hillsides and in the valleys in between. Lisbon is a mixture of large open squares, long avenues and parts where buildings are on top of another. After a big earthquake in 1755 a large part of the city was destroyed and it has been rebuild with many open spaces, to become the first modern and planned city of Europe.

First we drive to Belem, a suburb of Lisbon, 7 km. west of the centre. From the profits of voyages of discovery that left from here (Vasco da Gama to India; Pedro Alvares Cabral to Brazil) this monastery was build about 1500, the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. The famous Portuguese manuelino architecture is clearly visible in this building and the whole district.

Along the banks of the river Tagus more monuments can be found, like the Padrão dos Descombrimentos, a 52 metres high building which is a salute of honor to the exlorers. To the right the Torre the Belem, a fortress on a rocky island which had to protect the entrance to Lisbon. There are also some museums in this area.

From Belem we drive to the centre of Lisbon and the guide tells us about the history of the city. More about it on the information page on this website. The bus drives us up the hill, through narrow roads to the castle of São Jorge, so we don't have to climb.

Instead we walk the way back down through the narrow streets of the Alfama district. One can imagine being in the middle ages again. This is one of the few districts that survived the earthquake of 1755 and therefore never has been rebuild. But nowadays some restoration is very necessary. Many houses are supported by big trunks and steel.
The tour takes us throughout the city and sometimes we have a walk. At the end of ...