Saturday, 16 December 2017
Almada
The choice was , do we just get on the bus or do we walk? Downhill has always been a no brainer for me, I would far rather walk down a hill than climb up one.
Consulting the map which we had habitually picked up from tourist information in Cacilhas suggested an interesting descent through the old town of Alfama and find our way to the intriguingly named Panoramic Elevator.
We walked down into the built up area and following the map fairly closely had a pleasant navigation exercise walking the streets far from the normal tourist path. At one point we were distracted by the chance to have a look around a Portuguese Graveyard, expecting something like a Spanish Cemetery, Lynne was quite shocked to discover that the family tombs were, behind the glass doors, occupied. Coffins were just placed inside and obviously visited regularly. A bit strange, also a full time security man in an office by the entrance. We carried on trying to find the elevator.
This turned out to be unsurprisingly at the top of an enormous cliff, Lynne was unfazed by the prospect, or at least if she was she didn't show it!
The Panoramic Elevator is well named, an absolutely stunning bit of engineering and for the princely sum of 50 cents you can ride it, its even chauffer driven....
As was becoming usual the views were grand, the actual elevator can probably accommodate 6-8 people at a time, however there was no queue. So apart from the operator we had the thing to ourselves.
The appalling drop becomes apparent as you walk out to the elevator.
Once inside the expansive glass elevator, it does feel a bit like you may be in a Willie Wonka World ride.
You descend from the town on top of the cliff to the park and little beaches along the river at the bottom. An incredible and to my mind very beautiful piece of engineering.
Stunning in its simplicity and possibly the best 45 pence I have ever spent.
The parkland at the bottom of the lift is very calm and peaceful, in a funny way it feels like you have moved to a different place and to a great degree you have. We were back at river level.
The quiet and peaceful foreshore is the location of a riverside path and park system, very attractive to courting couples, luckily Lynne and I can fake that quite well!
We wandered along, the "wrong way" towards the suspension bridge and discovered a small museum that illustrated a very local history of shipbuilding. It was here we discovered the history behind H..Parry & Son. The lovely lady who charged us 1.20 euro also took the time to print us off a receipt
I'm guessing that the receipt cost the best part of the 60 cents entrance fee for one of us, and we were one of the very few visitors that day! There is still a shipbuilding industry although only one firm now remains.
The model above is of the ferry we would have taken in 1930, preferable in every way in my opinion , at least you could stand in the fresh air and how lovely is she?
We walked back along the river path which is a series of small beaches and bays with the occasional little bar or restaurant.
The river is a constant element and the navy were still active playing with their helicopters, it was still possible however to appreciate some peaceful spots to sit and contemplate the city over the way.
Eventually we were back in Cacilhas and as we were past the magic hour of four o'clock we knew the churches would be open. It is always a surprise to explore these sometimes unprepossessing buildings.
This one was no exception, it is the Nossa senora de Bom Sucesso Church, Built after the 1755 earthquake in "Pombalino" style. There are some notable 18th century glazed tiles which decorate the walls.
What we didn't realise was that the tiled panels described the Nativity.
They are absolutely beautiful, and unusually are not regular panels but, well I think you can get the idea from the photos.
Given the time of year it seemed particularly appropriate to discover these wonderful pieces of history in such an obscure place. (tip: click the picture and zoom in to see detail )
We enjoyed a great coffee and possibly the best pastel natas we have had in Lisbon in a small cafe by the ferry terminal before getting a boat back to the big city.
We will definitely be returning to the "other side", in further exploration of this fascinating spot.
Friday, 15 December 2017
Christo Rei
Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Out and about and Art again....
We travelled back to the gardens of Estella as we had a thought to visit the English cemetery there.
unfortunately we had got up too late as it was closed (only open mornings )
so we had to postpone our visit yet again. However the gardens are lovely and we decided to lunch in the small cafe by the duckpond.
The staff are obviously quite trendy as when you give your order you are provided with a small box which vibrates alarmingly when your meal is ready.
The park itself was glorious, the sun had shown his face for the first time in a couple of days.
After lunch, Which was very good by the way, only fresh ingredients are used, we walked over the road and I managed to persuade Lynne to climb to the roof of the Basilica, This cost a few euros and has a very long spiral staircase, Lynne is understandably not keen on these are they are somewhat claustrophobic. I tried to distract her by pointing out the fossils in the steps.
As I had also been careless enough to have given Lynne my man-flu she was forced to rest just before the exit onto the roof of the great Basilica.
This is a very airy spot with great views around the local streets and further afield. The great dome of the Basilica stands at one end of the wide stone roof and a small door enables you to enter it and walk around the balcony high up above the alter.
Again this is a somewhat exposed position, The interior stills seems a bit grey and gloomy to my way of thinking but it is undoubtedly impressive.
There is a great view down to the front of the Basilica looking towards the gardens of Estrella and the tram stop.
We spent some time admiring the splendid views over Lisbon and it was a rare privilege to examine the beautiful stonework of the building, we were taken unaware (as usual ) by the bells tolling the quarter hours, they are proper bells not a recording and the sonic shock can certainly make you jump!
The dying afternoon sun turned the stone a lovely honey colour as we made our way down the endless spiral staircase to ground level. We caught our favourite tram to Martim Moniz, the 28.
We enjoyed the Christmas lights in Martim Moniz square as the light turned into evening and were intrigued by a large papier mache Chicken. Its a famous symbol in Portugal but I hadn't realised it was also a Christmas decoration. Art is very often beyond me. Its fun though.
It was time to visit an exhibition and Lynne decide that we would spend a day in Belem.
In Belem is the rather splendid Centro Cultural de Belem, a huge building which houses theatre and exhibition spaces. One of which house the Berado Collection Museum. Home of contemporary art, we had the pleasure of having a coffee on the terraced lawns overlooking the river but had not actually ventured into the museum. As it was free on Saturdays (and not restricted just to Portuguese nationals ) we took the bus to Belem.
If you have any interest in Art at all, this is a must see. If you have no interest at all in modern art its worth a visit for the building itself. As a purpose built exhibition space it is spectacular. Its not on a par with the Guggenheim in Bilbao but has a more eclectic and warmer feel. There are some large sculptures including a Henry Moore that are outside and can be viewed anytime for free, there are also some inside the exhibition.
Including a Cesna light aircraft in the main stairwell, the argument whether that actually constitutes art I will avoid for now! its certainly decorated elaborately and the more practical minded can spend a minute or two contemplating just how they got the thing in there!
There are a fair sprinkling of famous artists represented in the permanent collection, there are pieces by Picasso, below.
A rather quirky piece by Salvador Dali couldn't really be by anyone else.
I must admit that I have a bit of a hard time sometimes with a lot of modern art, but sometimes a piece will make me smile, I enjoy visual tricks.
The permanent collection is sorted into a sometimes bewildering number of categories, sometimes by Artist, Jeff Wall, Gabriel Orozco for example, more confusingly (for me) by school or group. Hence the Dadaists are grouped closely to the cubists and surrealists. There are categories of Informalism Post War Figuration, Kinetic and Op art. It all gets a bit overwhelming. handily the abundant literature available for free and individual explanations adjacent to each piece are bilingual, Portiguese and English. However even in my native language some of the pretentious tosh that passes for explanation brings a wry smile!
I am more at home with pop art.
There are a good sprinkling of Andy Warhol's and Roy Lichtenstein's, whether you consider them to be great art it is a fact they have become very well known.
Warhol's Campbell's soup can being a case in point.
Hidden just above the Brillo boxes below, is another piece by Warhol, the silk screened Judy Garland. One of a number of notable pieces.
It is an excellently curated and presented collection, later I put a small review on their Facebook page and they were kind enough to acknowledge and thank me. I had a minor criticism regarding the lack of seating for elderly sailors, it will take a good 3-4 hours to walk around the many rooms and see all the exhibits. So in future I may have a personal seat opposite my favourite works! or maybe not.
Outside are further works this one is the bathers by a French artist and below is an unmistakable Henry Moore.
we left the museum through the back door so to speak wanting to look at a strange piece of three dimensional graffiti which turned out to be a work by a local art collective.
There is art everywhere in Lisbon..........