This is the last day of the Tauck tour culminating in a farewell dinner this evening. This morning we are going for a bus tour around the city to see the highlights and we will be then stopping at a couple of the main attractions for a guided tour.
The local guide joins us on the bus at the hotel to prior to leaving on the bus tour to provide commentary as we drive through the city.
Lisbon was almost completely destroyed in 1755 by and earthquake that registered 9 on the richter scale, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. The rebuilding of Lisbon was the responsibility of the Marquis of Pombal, the then Prime Minister. The previous Moorish character of the city with winding narrow streets was replaced with wide straight avenues in the style of Champs Elysee in Paris.
A monument to the Marquis of Pombal is erected at the top of Avenida da Liberdade ( Liberty Avenue), not far from our hotel.
Lisbon Town Hall
Parliament House
This Bridge across the Tagus River looks just like the Golden Gate in San Francisco
Our first destination was Jeronimos Monastery. We could see it was popular by the huge line up of people waiting to get tickets before the site opened. Fortunately for us, our tickets had already been purchased and we avoided the line and were first in when the doors opened. This monastery is the burial place of many of Portugals great Explorers.
Made of limestone, the building is very impressive from the outside
The Church is a very impressive structure
The tomb of Vasco Da Gama
Looking down into the Church from the High Choir
The cloisters were also very impressive
On the same site as the Monastery, is the Maritime Museum, which is our next stop.
Entrance to the Maritime Museum
Portugal played such an important role in "The Age of Discoveries" that this exhibition is really worth seeing. As you enter the museum, the first exhibit is a statue of Henry the Navigator, in front of a huge map of the World showing the paths of discovery of the various well known Portuguese explorers, Da Gama, Magellan, etc.
This plane, the Santa Cruz, made the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic
Copper sheet antifouling on an old sailing vessel
Henry the Navigator
Map showing the various journeys of Portugal's Explorers
The next section of the museum showed display models of the evolution of Portuguese sailing vessels as the needed to become larger and faster to bring back the valuable cargo from their newly acquired colonies.
Simple Barques used mainly for river trade evolved into Caravelles (below)
Square Sails were added to improve speed
Warships were then needed to protect the cargo ships from pirates
The next part of the museum was devoted the evolution of powered vessels, but the section that followed that had full sized exhibits was by far the most interesting.
Royal Ceremonial Barge
This plane, the Santa Cruz, made the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic
An earlier Sea Plane
Copper sheet antifouling on an old sailing vessel
The museum was very well done and contained a wealth of information and exhibits, well worth the visit.
Our last stop off before having some free time, is at the Belem Tower, a fortress built on the River Tagus to protect Lisbon from pirates. As we get off the bus, our guide Todd has a treat for us. Whislt we were going through the museum, he had gone off to a famous bakery that makes the best Portuguese Custard tarts in Lisbon, and had bought us some for morning tea.
Todd with the remains of the custard tarts
Belem Tower
An enterprising street stall
And another
There was a yacht race on the river
With the tour completed, the bus dropped us in the main city area, so we could get some lunch and have a look around.
As it was now about 1 pm, we decided to have lunch with a couple of our tour companions at a restaurant recommended by our guide, Casa Do Alentejo. It was not that obvious from the street, but we knew it was in a 17th century Moorish style building.
Further down we walk through an arch to Commerce Square at the waterfront.
As it was now about 1 pm, we decided to have lunch with a couple of our tour companions at a restaurant recommended by our guide, Casa Do Alentejo. It was not that obvious from the street, but we knew it was in a 17th century Moorish style building.
We walked up the steps from the street and came into this courtyard, with not sign of a restaurant, so we went up another floor and there it was.
The restaurant was decorated in ceramic tiles on all walls
The food was not bad and a few others from our tour group ended up at the restaurant. After a hearty meal, we walked down to the waterfront. Along the way we pass the "Steel Elevator" , a lift made totally out of steel that has a lookout on the top, and we think an exit into a building that gives access to the upper city.
Moving further down the avenue we pass a human statue couple representing the National passion for music known as Fado.
Looking back towards town from Commerce Square
Statue of King jose 1
Statue of King jose 1
Everyone was getting tired so we walked back to the main shopping area and caught a taxi back to the hotel.
At 6.30pm, we regathered for cocktails and a farewell dinner. It was a pretty low key affair, but nice. There seems to be a few of us not leaving until Friday, including our Aussie companions Ian & Pam. We have booked a tour with them tomorrow with a private car and driver to go to Sintra.
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