The view from Miradouro de Graca of the Tagus River
and Castelo de Sao Jorge
This year Zola flew to Lisbon, Portugal, for her Spring break. She truly enjoyed her special time with just Mommy and Daddy, and mostly Mommy, since Daddy was at a philosophy conference most of the week.
After many delays and a rerouting of our trip, we arrived in Lisbon on Easter Sunday. The city was lively, with families walking around town and many people carrying boxes laden with sweets from the bakeries that crowd every street. As all the tourist sites were closed for the holiday, we explored the neighborhoods around our apartment in Graca, taking in the views and testing the hilly terrain, as well as the many bakeries we encountered.
Azulejos on a residential building
Lisbon is at once beautiful and decrepit. Amidst what look like decaying, bombed-out buildings are lovingly restored buildings, newer high-rises, pictures constructed entirely by painted tiles (azulejo), buildings covered completely in tiles, and graffiti, some artistic and some not.
Rossio
On Monday we visited the Castelo de Sao Jorge, a reconstructed fortress that originated from the Moors and was later used by the first kings of Portugal as their palace. The views from the citadel and gardens were impressive. Afterwards we meandered through the hilly streets down to the Rossio, an ancient city square with lovely wave-like designed tiles.
Tuesday we took the train to Belem. Our first stop was a famous bakery (of course, we were with Justin after all!), home of the Pasteis de Belem, a custard tart that resembles a creme brulee with a pastry crust. We all enjoyed these sweets and then toured the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. Afterwards we strolled down to the bank of the Tagus River and visited the monument to exploration as well as the Torre (tower) de Belem. The tower was a fabulous old fortress, complete with canons, a dungeon, and, of course, a tower with excellent views of the harbor, accessible only by a narrow, steep, winding circular staircase. We left Belem with a box full of many more Pasteis de Belem for our afternoon snack.
We spent the afternoon on Tuesday at the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (tile museum). The museum is housed in an old convent, which contained numerous stunning examples of Portuguese tiles, as well as the museum's collection.
On Wednesday Justin headed to his conference and Zola and I took the bus to the Oceanario, a massive aquarium located at the Parque das Nacoes, the site of Lisbon's Expo 98 world fair. Zola loved the aquarium, especially the sea otters. She pretty much grinned from ear to ear the entire time she toddled around the aquarium.
Sphinx in the garden at Palacio de Queluz
On Thursday Zola and I took the train to the Palacio de Queluz, an 18th century summer palace, which is just about 20 minutes outside Lisbon. Queluz is a miniature Versailles. The formal gardens were lovely. The ruins of a Chinese pavilion and canal on which the royal family would boat were being restored during our visit. And so much of the gardens were no longer even open to the public, as they were likely not being maintained at the level of their formal glory.
On Friday Zola and I began our day at the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, a museum located on a beautiful set of modern gardens. The museum itself has a diverse collection of treasures, albeit small. Each was displayed just perfectly. At the time of our visit the museum was displaying a portion of its precious "Stations of the Tokaido" prints, some of which were by the master Hiroshige. Zola tolerated the museum for a while and was very happy to be outside in the gardens, despite the rain, where we spotted many ducks and even a baby duckling.
Sintra
Friday afternoon we met up with Justin and joined an organized tour of Sintra, the summer retreat of the Portuguese kings. Participating in an organized tour group (of academics no less) with a 15 month old baby was probably not one of our brightest ideas. All time spent in the coach bus was miserable. Regardless, our time in Sintra was a delight. Our first stop was at the Palacio Nacional, marked by its gigantic twin chimneys. After strolling about the town a bit, we rode out to Cabo da Roca, which is the westernmost point of mainland Europe. The views were stunning and the wildflowers strikingly beautiful. After yet another painful ride in the coach bus, we had a look around the coastal town of Cascais.
Palacio da Pena
Zola and I decided to spend our remaining day in Portugal in Sintra, as our brief visit the day prior left us wanting to see more of the lovely town. Following our train ride to Sintra we took a bus high into the mountainside to start our day at the Palacio da Pena. The palace is surrounded by a lush park. Honestly, we could have spent the whole day in this park and visiting the palace. It was just so beautiful. We hiked up through the park to the palace, with its multi-hued fantastic architecture peeking out at us through the trees. Once we reached the palace we spent much time just taking in the views, with Zola clambering all over the terraces. Palacio da Pena is truly the fruits of one prince's romantic vision. I only wish Justin could have ditched his conference for the day so he could have joined us at the castle.
Afterwards we headed back into the town of Sintra where we visited the Museu do Brinquedo, otherwise known as the toy museum! The third floor of the museum was a fantastic collection of dolls, doll houses, and doll furniture. Nearly nothing could drag Zola and I away from this. Zola spent most of the time with her little face pressed up against the plexiglass walls of the display cases. Finally, Zola and I left the museum and wandered back through town, stopping in a park with some funky public art, on our way back to the train station.
The rest of the many photos of our trip may be viewed here.
