More wanderings

Firstly, an apology, I have been very lax at updating this blog. No excuses, Lynne and I have been settled into "tourist " mode and have just been mooching around Lisbon and enjoying the many attractions in between doing small but vital jobs aboard Dark tarn. So here we are just before Christmas and we decided to go and see the large domed church on the hill above Alfama, which turned out not to be a church at all but was in fact the Pantheon. A clue was the fact that Fado music was playing as we entered. Amelia Rodriquez in fact.......

The building itself apparently has only recently been finished and the time frame is a source of amusement to locals!

Its undeniably an impressive structure if a little souless . Acres of marble beneath a conglomeration of domes make for an echoing vast space.

In alcoves and separate chapels? lie the bodies or at least a memorial to the great and good.
There are the usual political figures but there are also footballers (Usebio) and performers.

Unsurprisingly perhaps Amelia is here...........quite moving listening to her soulful voice echoing around.....

A rather more light hearted exhibition was found in one of the upper galleries it was a collection of Nativity scenes created by local schoolchildren. Some were very imaginative, I was particularly taken by one which was made entirely of bread!
Very close to the Pantheon is a famous Lisbon market, the "Thieves market" this is a collection of open air stalls where its possible to by any type of junk your heart desires, there are undoubtedly some treasure to be found but as they say you need to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince! its great fun though and a great atmosphere.

Its surprisingly extensive and is very popular with locals and tourists alike.

One part seems to concentrate on antiques another on the usual market traders selling clothes shoes etc.

The more interesting items seem to be with the car boot style traders, bits of old motorcycles, musical instruments or just plain tat!

On a sunny afternoon, its a marvellous distraction. Its also not far to catch a number 28 tram which will take you to another of the famous viewpoints of Lisbon the Square and church at Graca.

It was here that we discovered a surprising exhibit a model of the local procession of Corpus Christi, showing the many trade groups and societies that march in colourful costume.

It really is a most remarkable thing, the work of one man. It is exhibited in a marvellous room just off the main church and itself is decorated with Azure tiles.

The model is certainly impressive unfortunately we wouldn't be in Lisbon for the real procession but the model gives a good impression of the scope and grandeur of the real event.

 The many panels showed scenes from Lisbon's history, in particular the defeat of the moors, some of the panels were quite gruesome!
Later in the week just before we were due to fly home for Christmas we joined the queue for a Nativity Concert at the strange circular church of Nosa senora des Navigantes, which is just upriver from the marina just before the Vasco de Gama bridge. It is a modern and completely circular building that had left us less than impressed when we first came across it.

 We joined the queue not really knowing what to expect, gradually the building filled up and we were treated to a wonderful concert by several choirs. The initial ensemble were youngsters who sang using the space and building itself as an instrument. moving around the audience and going up into the galleries to sing. The acoustic of the building itself was fantastic and later an adult choir also used innovative techniques at on point having the entire choir arranged around the outside of the circular audience seating accompanying themselves on wine glasses filled with water. as they played and sang the resulting sound was glorious and utterly ethereal.

Later the choirs would join together in certain works continuing the use of the space itself. The whole concert was extremely professional and very well received by the audience which completely filled the church.

A fabulous and memorable gift from Lisbon to us at Christmas.........
On our way to the airport we discovered that they had decorated the tube trains with a more modern Christmas interpretation, cheerful non the less!

As we flew over Portugal in bright sunshine we crossed above the Lake and Dam at Pedragoa where we had stayed earlier in the year.

On our way home for Christmas we swopped the glorious blue sky's of Portugal for the grey and overcast of Britain.

Museo Militar

I have to admit that in a lifestyle full of surprises, the Museo Militar was an astonishing event.
Our normal bus in to Lisbon city centre passes  this fairly anonymous looking building just after the railway station at Santa Apolonia. After a concentration it seemed of late in religious buildings Lynne said we should go to see the military museum. I acquiesced with good grace whilst being particularly chuffed. As usual we entered at the completely wrong place, ( this being the obvious entrance by the railway station ) however after being told in no uncertain terms that this was a military establishment and the correct entrance was at the opposite end of the building, we took the long walk to the correct entrance.

We bought tickets and were directed to the first room of the museum. Its the small door just past Lynne in the photo.

What a surprise, not the arrangement of antique cannon, which Lynne had a passing interest it was the wonderful decoration of the walls and ceiling.

It seemed to portray the age of exploration and was almost a visual record of expansion and occupation of the world in a fantastic and romantic way. It almost reminded me of a scrapbook of maps and images and timelines, a sort of super graffiti if you like.

We attempted to ascertain the provenance of the paintings from the staff but were unfortunately stymied by our poor grasp of Portuguese, the helpful lady on reception did her best and we were a bit more enlightened however we were totally unprepared for the extent and splendour of the art and decoration throughout the museum.

Each room is a work of art in itself, with painted ceilings and panels.

I would be ecstatically examining a Baker rifle from the era of the peninsula war and Lynne would be entranced by the fabulous art on display above.

There was an art installation that had relevance to the great war, a conflict that Portugal was involved with, some of the exhibits were very moving. The installation of feet above, non of the pairs being similar I found particularly poignant.

 Of course the permanent exhibits were interesting and also for me reinforced the great war as a European conflict, and a tragedy of epic proportions and a failure of 19th century politics in a 20th century world.

 After the Great war we took a time machine into the 17th and 18th centuries, I was absorbed by the exhibits and Lynne was entanced by the fabulous ceilings and art works adorning the walls.

The rooms just seem to go on and on, each symbolic of an epoch or era. Each decorated in a particular style whether that be European or, in a recognition of Portugal's colonial past African or Indian or Asian.

Eventually the rooms disgorge you into the central courtyard that we glimpsed earlier before being redirected to the main entrance. There is strictly no filming or photography so you haven't seen this picture, OK. Tiles are nice though........

Hardly state of the art weaponry in my opinion, however.......

This is an undiscovered gem of Lisbon in my opinion, in all the time Lynne and I were there we seemed to be the only visitors, this may have been due to the time of year but even if you have no interest whatsoever in military history, just go to look up at the ceilings, you will not be disappointed

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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.