Azulejos

Painted ceramic tiles or Azulejos, they are everywhere in Portugal. Originally introduced by the Moors around the 13th century, by the beginning of the16th century Portugal was producing its own.

Of course now we have spent a little time in the country we can distinguish between the older Manueline architecture (a Portuguese-Gothic style) to Pombaline styles. The geometric style above is Pombaline (post earthquake of 1755)

The classic blue tile decoration often seen in churches public buildings etc. I used to think the blue colour was what Azulejos referred to (Azul being Spanish for Blue) however the word is Moorish in origin and means small polished stone. I seem to remember that blue is an easy colour to fire in kilns hence Ming ceramics from China and European types such as Delft. I also think it came via the middle east so the moors legacy would seem to hold up. The decoration is painted on before firing, the pigment used is normally cobalt blue.

This is the beautiful San Bento railway station in Porto . The blue panels are surmounted by a colourful frieze above.

A more modern version can be seen in a metro station in Lisbon, its interesting that every Metro station is decorated in a different style, quite a few are very modern or art nouveau. Each sation was decorated or designed by a different contemporary artist. Almost all use tiles.
I feel that "small polished stone should more correctly refer to the other distinguishing feature of Portuguese towns and cities, the block pavements.

These consist of small blocks of limestone or basalt roughly 2" square, unbelievably laid by hand, usually in a pattern of some kind. These are occasionally quite elaborate as above but more commonly they are a simple geometric pattern. As an aesthetic thing they are very successful, as a walking surface they are less so. The slightest hint of moisture and they become unbelievably slippery! Also although they may look it they are far from level,

Lynne and I have largely abandoned flip flops and sturdy shoes and sandals with grippy soles are the order of the day. Other differences we have noticed between Portugal as opposed to Gallicia is its far more common to display affection in public, there is an awful lot of kissing goes on and its not formal!

Lisbon the City

When we decided to winter over in Lisbon I must admit to having reservations....we are not really city people if that thing exists at all. Both Lynne and I find cities too noisy, busy and generally intimidating. I think its something to do with the dense complexity of cities as opposed to the simple and open landscapes of the ocean. Lisbon is however in parts undeniably beautiful. It is also shabby and run down in more than equal measure. There is a great sense of history and in an unusual way it seems to still be unfolding. It is in short a city I think we can enjoy. It benefits from my profound ignorance, as it is constantly able to surprise and engage me. There is simply too much to see and do so I will attempt to give a flavour of Lisbon as we have skimmed its surface.

This is the Rossio  (Praca Dom Pedro IV ) As is common to most of Lisbon it was completely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1775.The busiest part of the city it was based on a grid system of streets that link to the Praca de Commercio down the hill by the river Tagus. It is a hive of bars shops and restaurants. It is known as the Baixa (lower town)

One of the more eccentric ways to climb the steep streets is the Elevador de Santa Justa. Built by an apprentice of Gustav Eiffel I think you will agree its a wonderful piece of Neo-Gothic, late 19th or early 20th century engineering. I look forward to seeing the view from the top!

I suppose that if asked some people may recall that Lisbon is famous for its trams, the historic ones are now largely for tourists but they share the system with working trams that serve the transport needs of a large city.

As we walked around we were entertained by a great many "living statues" the ones above were depicting "Fado"

Fado, what's that then? Put simply its a traditional musical style unique to Portugal, more specifically there are two traditional styles, the Lisbon and the Coimbra, Coimbra is sung almost exclusively  by males whereas the Lisbon style has been sung and changed by females most notably by Amália Rodrigues. There's no getting away from women in Fado!

It is a sad song style, supposedly to express "longing". The vocal style is counterpointed by a guitarra, a double stringed instrument which itself is complemented by a classical guitar.

There should be some opportunities to enjoy this music in the months to come.

 In the Biaxa the streets are often referred to by the trades that inhabit them, thus street of booksellers.
this was an open air market of books, just to the side of the church of our lady of Incarnation.

The church inside was fabulous as we have come to expect but there was a hidden treasure, in the photo above the small door lit up on the right led to this corridor with the most extraordinary frescos. Simple and crude yet very powerful. We have yet to discover who painted them as they are not deemed worthy of inclusion on the tourist trail. Another hint at Lisbon's rich cultural history.

The panel that Lynne is looking at suggests  (in Portuguese that they were painted in 1974 or thereabouts )
They seem to represent verses from the Bible as the chapter and verse are depicted within. You do need to look closely and Lynne was the one who solved the puzzle...she does love puzzles though.
I felt a little like coming across cave paintings, simple but  pure and powerful and the more one looked the more one saw, that surely is what art should be?

Later we wandered to the Praca de Commercio where there seemed to be a protest occurring. It was  a demonstration against the perceived bad handling of wildfires by the government which had resulted in a large number of deaths and it had recently come to light that some fires had been started deliberately.

It was all very civilised. you could even say good natured. I myself was remembering because I had only recently become aware that democracy was a relatively new freedom in Portugal.

A reminder in some respects of the Salazar regime was the famous Monument to the Discovery's built in 1960 at the height of the fascist regime. It looks out over the Tagus and depicts Henry the Navigator and a host of sailors cartographer's and even poets. However if you turn away for a second its possible to discover this.

Like the bridge of locks we had discovered in Belfast this was a host of padlocks and hearts making a simple message of collective unity and humanity.

As we walked towards the tower of Belem there was an unusual reminder of Portugal's exploration history in this full size replica in bronze of the first seaplane to cross the south Atlantic.

The tower of Belem was built in1515-21. We had sailed past it a week ago. Its a distinctive symbol of Lisbon and had protected the Royal family from harm during the 1775 earthquake. it used to be far more out in the main channel of the river but land reclamation meant it was now close to shore.
A little further on is a military museum and war memorial,

There is an eternal flame and a wall of remembrance, the dates are mainly recent and reflect on Portugal's troubled colonial history. There is also a tomb of the unknown soldier deep within the fortress chapel of remembrance.

we walked back towards the leafy parkland of Belem and had a drink in the Centro Cultural de Belem, A very modern events centre and art gallery (also the only free public toilet around ) The roof was strewn with bean bags to sit on making an extremely pleasant spot to sit and contemplate your navel....

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I am sitting under an olive tree on top of the roof of an art gallery.

The day was drawing to a close but we just had time to have a look at (but not in ) the Monastario dos Jeronimos.

The gardens have a beautiful fountain..

Its also home to the Maritime museum.
But by now we were tired and the prospect of spending some time in Lisbon seemed quite appealing.
We truly had just scratched the surface of what was becoming a very interesting city indeed.

Lisbon, The Oceanarium.

The Oceanario de Lisboa is an extraordinary looking building that sits in an old dock isolated from shore and accessed by a covered walkway. The whole building is essentially a huge fishtank, its the biggest aquarium in Europe and the second biggest in the world. As Lynne is very fond of creatures and there is no beach or decent snorkelling to be had on our doorstep we decided that joining as members would provide us with a good rainy day venue. o for a year we can visit as many times as we like.

I believe we will as it really is a fantastic experience. On our initial visit the entrance hall had sculptures made from plastic bottles, this highlights the fragile nature of the environment we live and travel on.

The actual building is essentially on two levels, you enter from above and work downwards passing through four different environments as you move around the central tank.

On the diagram above it is possible to see the many viewing positions that are provided. The tank is so huge it is impossible to see across it so one must travel around to see the various creatures, including large Dorado, Barracuda, Manta and stingrays, sharks and as seen below, sunfish.

I am very fond of the large rays, the one below is a manta, for scale the curved glazed window behind the ray is two stories high !

There are four environments roughly located at the corners of the building, the first you encounter is very familiar, Its the North Atlantic. There are guano covered cliffs and cold water home to Guillemots and puffins. (note bills are dull as it is outside breeding season )

There are Razorbills too, and its possible to get extremely close to the birds.

At waist height are glass panels that allow you to observe the auks flying underwater, something they tend to do much better than in the air!

There are other environments Antarctic, Indian Ocean and Tropical.

There are sea otters. Rock hopper and Megallenic penguins.

The environments above correspond to the environments below and its possible to go further into the underwater part of each as you descend to the lower levels

Of course you always return to the main tank and its wonderful creatures.

I for one could spend all day just sitting and watching.

And I know that Lynne can and will too!

I will try and upload a bit of video.

Parque des Nacoes

Our new home high up the Tagus river just before the Vasco de Gama Bridge was the site of EXPO 1998. Parque des Nacoes (Park of Nations ) a futuristic wonderland of high rise buildings exhibition centres, wide avenues, water features and public art.

We had initially dismissed the place as possibly being a bit soulless, but we slowly began to change our minds, it does have a unique charm. Its a bit like being in a real version of "The Jetsons". As Lynne pointed out you feel people should be riding about on hover boards.........

For me there are certain advantages, it is pedestrianised to a large degree so I was able to get my bike out of the cockpit locker and cycle along the extensive waterfront cycleways right up to and beyond Vasco de Gama bridge. There was a skate park there which ticked another box should Alex choose to visit.

There were also Flamingoes feeding along the muddy tidal flats of the Tagus. Always a sight to calm the soul....

Above the bridge was evidence of a more extensive path system, the way of Fatima. also there was a huge nature reserve EVOA, famous for birdlife. The narrow entrance to the Tagus openes up into a large tidal lagoon and extensive wetlands. It became obvious why most tidal flow was concentrated on the ebb. Although it was a fair journey to cross the river to the birdwatching centre I made a mental note to look into it and to remember my binoculars!

The tide also gave the marina problems, specifically with silting. The Marina was partially dredged in 2014 and the pontoons we were on had sufficient depth but over half the Marina virtually dries at low water, hence the large number of empty pontoons, in actual fact there is an equally extensive piled area beyond the tubular building in the picture, potentially there is room to quadruple its capacity if only they could solve the silting problem, its a great shame because other than the silt its a fantastic facility.

However the strong tidal flow past the entrance sluice gates was less of an issue for us, we served our time in the Menai! the sluice gates are shown below. The flow can reach 4 knots which can and does provide some tricky manoeuvring. The Marina is very secure and we feel happy to leave Dark tarn here for periods as we explore inland and return home for Christmas.

For a city location it is surprisingly quiet and peaceful.

Back towards the bridge among the futeristic buildings is the Igresia Nossa Senhora dos Navigantes, is certainly modernistic, but does it work as a church?
Not for me if I am being honest, we are used to churches being  an obvious hub of the local community in Portugal there are usually several people either sitting quietly or decorating with fresh flowers, or even just being around to talk to visitors. Here there was just the echo of concrete.

The support of the Vasco de Gama bridge have become an unofficial art gallery, there are extensive parklands all along the riverbank at the Expo site.

A remnant of the sites industrial past is this rather incongruous landmark, I say landmark as it quickly becomes the go to visual reference for orientation. It is possible to cycle up to the first platform via a spiral walkway the have a glorious fast ride back down. Of course you can always walk up too!

The view from the platform shows the wide tree lined streets.

Further on the central walkway have volcano shaped fountains which we didn't realise at first erupt every 15 minutes or so.

They surprised us and some children even more when they did.....
We also took the opportunity to visit the cinema, Most films are released with the original soundtrack and portugese subtitles so you can watch a film and have language lesson. The walk back shows a different aspect as the many features are lit up. Even after midnight it was surprisingly warm.

There are a vast number of places to sit and relax. Shops and supermarkets aplenty and the fabulous city of Lisbon 15 minutes away. Lynne has already made friends with the local ducks and the Marina even has its own resident lovebirds. Time to settle in for the Winter.

Here are a few more images from the area.......

The cable car runs along the same frontage as the paths and cycleway

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The picture above shows the Aquarium which we are looking forward to visiting, it contains some of the largest tanks in Europe.

This is the view down the avenue of flags of all nations.