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Praca del Comercio
Near my classmate's hostel, and close to the sea. I just toured Lisbon, Portugal, during an eleven hour layover. As I stood in line to exit the airport, I chatted with fellow passengers, one of whom I discovered is also a fellow classmate for the summer in Fez. She, too, wanted to take advantage of the layover in Lisbon. We joined non-Portuguese speaking forces –my willingness and her preparedness made a pretty good combination.
She knew which bus ticket to buy, which allowed us 24 hours’ worth of city bus riding; however, the additional bus tour cost money, and I of course preferred to walk. She decided to join. I had been advised to go uphill once arrived in center-ville, so we did, searching for something about Sao Jorge… Up and up we went, sometimes going down to continue in a direction we believed to lead up, to Sao Jorge. We finally arrived at a church –the church of Sao Jorge? No, but it had a great view of the city, and off to our left a view of a castle –oh yeah! The castle of Sao Jorge! Not this hill, but that one!
We wound our way down and around toward the castle, discovering en route Saint
A Statue
This on the praca itself. There was an inscription of its significance, but I don't read Portuguese very well. Vincent church, which we entered. It was ornate, beautiful, and cool, as well as pleasantly level. The pews were simple benches, shared between two sections of the church. The back, closest to the towering, thick wooden doors, were placed on a wood floor and surrounded by saints in separate alcoves, about four on each side. Wooden railings kept us at a respectful distance from St. Francis of Assisi, St. Joseph, and others. Between each saint’s impressive displays, through the wooden beam I could see a smaller statue of another saint, not quite as ornate and without the space for prayer. The front part of the church was separated by a wooden railing which we did not cross. The alter was shining gold, amplified with the sun shining brightly from behind it. The dome vaulted even higher here, and Mother Mary and Saint Vincent were necessarily enshrined in equal glory.
From there we continued to wander in a general direction, eventually finding signs indicating the castle. Student discount tickets provided us full access to the ruins of a large citadel established by the Moors in the 11th century. We toured the archaeological digs that highlighted the forge, living spaces, and
Elephants in Portugal?
This looked painful. Kudos to the sculptor for such insightful work. the Muslim quarter. We walked along the fortress walls and into the many towers that served as lookouts over the city. There wasn’t much of a railing to protect us from the edge. The site is the best vantage point to view Lisbon, often through protective, narrow slits in the thick rock walls that were designed for military defense. The museum displayed several artifacts from everyday use in the kitchen and home –pottery bowls, lamps, pipes, and roofing tiles, as well as fragments of decorative tile.
But we were hungry. We walked downhill, and felt it. Lunch was outside on a cobblestone road, no vehicle traffic. I had breaded whitefish and potato-carrot-pea-mayonnaise salad, along with fresh bread and good, stinky cheese –all very tasty. I fell asleep while we waited for the check.
Once I had recovered, we decided I had enough time before my flight to Morocco to go to the Belem neighborhood where the best egg-filled pastry was reputed to be made. It was about a thirty minute tram ride (free with our nifty bus passes) to the drop off, and we walked a block or so from there. We met fellow American who informed us –well,
Travel Buddy!
No plans work out well! me –that Lisbon is one of the oldest European cities. I had been admiring its beauty, but was ignorant of any real information. None of us were really traveling to Belem to see more history, though, because we all wanted pastry. We sat down with a cup of coffee and ate the delightful treat as slowly as possible.
I had a plane to catch, and left on the tram to catch a bus to the airport. I am very pleased with Lisbon, but travel weary, travel stinky, and headed to Morocco in an hour. I am surprised that my plan to have no plan worked out so well in Lisbon!
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Aunt Donna
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Best Wishes!!
Have a good adventure, and fill us in all the way!!!