Travelogue: Lisbon, Portugal
Earlier this month John and I spent more than a week in Lisbon. It seems that everybody we know has been there and has loved it, so we also decided to check it out. The hype isn’t misplaced!
Although Portugal is one of the world’s oldest countries, having existed as such since 1143, the largest recorded earthquake to rock the European continent hit the Lisbon area on November 1st, 1755, destroying most of the buildings and killing as many as 50,000 citizens. Hence, many of today’s historical buildings were erected or repaired after this tumultuous event, which included out-of-control fires along with three tsunamis, thought to have been nearly 100 feet high.
Lisbon is built on hills, in many cases cliffs. There are special trolleys on some of the steepest streets to transport pedestrians straight up, or down. There are also numerous “stair streets”, in at least one case about ¼ mile long. That one, near our residence, was the shortest route to a train station where we were heading one day. Our phone apps told us that we walked an average of 17,000+ steps daily but didn’t register the hundreds or even thousands of vertical feet we climbed! We were both thrilled that all our joints and other body parts held up well.
The old and central Lisbon neighborhoods are all very accessible by foot, so except, at the end of some really active days, taking the trolley up the hill to our residence, we walked, and walked, and walked. It really is amazing how a person arrives in a new city completely disoriented and then how within a day or two, they are mostly confident about their whereabouts. However, numerous times the steep hills and winding, twisting streets threw us for a loop!
Some random observations: like elsewhere in the world, some young adult males douse themselves in cheap cologne; way too many people smoke in Portugal; unlike other places in warmer climates, there weren’t any street dogs or feral cats running around Lisbon; people there are resoundingly kind and helpful; the small, hand placed limestone cubes called calcada portuguesa which are the, in many cases, highly artistic material (combinations of white and black) for the vast majority of sidewalks, when wet, are indeed slippery as ice (neither of us fell).
We ate better in Lisbon than any other city in the world. There are many outstanding vegan restaurants, numerous vegetarian/vegan ones and most eateries have clearly marked vegan options on their menus. As much as we loved the selection, including many fine vegan versions of various fantastic Portuguese pastries, the problem was that we didn’t lose any weight! Generally, the combination of walking and lack of decent vegan options results in negative daily calorie counts, but not there.
Portugal is world famous for its ceramic tiles, dating back to the 12th century. We very much enjoyed the national tile museum located in a beautifully restored convent that was founded in the early 14th century. However, what sticks best in mind are the interior church walls in a “neighborhood” convent that we encountered on the very first day. As is the case with the vast majority of tiles from certain eras (the young nun ‘on duty’ told us that these tiles were from the sixteen hundreds) they represent religious motives. What amazed me were the realistic renderings of Jesus as an incredibly attractive, muscular young man with a toga very minimally covering the groin. This in a nunnery!
It rained, a lot. Fortunately, although most days included a 100% chance of rain, in many instances it was either a drizzle or a brief shower. However, some severe mostly night-time storms caused intense flooding and even fatalities. Only our very last full day really was a washout. We had decided to visit a riverfront warehouse district, converted to artist studios, shops and restaurants. After a 3 mile walk in various degrees of torrential rain, we arrived there to discover that the whole district was flooded! After climbing somewhat back up a hill and finding a lunch spot, we decided to head to an art museum, mostly to escape the water. There we were told that the museum would be closing in 45 minutes because the city was under a state of emergency. However, we weren’t charged anything to spend those minutes browsing the one floor that was open.
Interlude: Funchal, Madeira Island: On December 11th, John celebrated his 60th birthday, and for that special event we had decided to fly down to Madeira Island, a Portuguese province a few hundred miles west of Morocco. This city truly is built upon cliffs and has cable cars connecting various areas. Unfortunately, the one we were going to take from the downtown up to a particularly scenic spot which also includes one of the world’s finest “tropical botanical gardens”, was closed for maintenance exactly the days we were there. We got there by cab. The gardens truly are magnificent, also because different types of environments are set on various terraced levels with breathtaking views of the city and ocean far below. We spent our full day afternoon walking along the ocean on cliffside paths, with hotels and other buildings hugging rock. Enormous waves were sending sprays of water perhaps a hundred feet into the air. I even got partially soaked in one instance. And, for all meals, we ate really great vegan food!
Wishing you a wonderful 2023!
