Lisbon (Lisboa)

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We have spent the last two days seeing something of Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguese), the capital city of Portugal. The city was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1755 and many of the buildings date from the rebuilding that followed. It is situated on a series of ridges and valleys running down to the river Tejo estuary. The two things which impressed us most is the domestic scale of the architecture, there appear to be no tower blocks perhaps due to fear of another earthquake, and the transport system, particulary the trams which crank up and down the many hills in impossibly narrow cobbled streets.

We have used all the available forms of travel, buses, trams, funiculars, lifts, ferries and the underground metro.

We wandered through some of the wide streets, open squares and gardens created after the earthquake and the older areas with their steep cobbled streets and visited:

The Romanesque cathedral.

Basilica da Estrela, a vast 18th century church

Mosteiros dos Jeronimous, a classic example of Manueline architecture, particularly the intricate carving of its two storey cloister

The National Azulejo (tiling) Museum the prime exhibit in which is a 36m long panorama of Lisbon before the earthquake

We also had two excellent fish meals at restaurants recommend by the Rough Guide and thanks to help from the waiters we were quite adventurous in our choice of main courses with delicious results.

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