September 27, 2016

We explored Lisbon on our own today. The sky was clear and the 8 a.m. temperature was 18 C with about a 20 km/hr wind. The information from the ship said 11 knots.  After breakfast in the Oceanview Café Buffet, we were off the ship by 9, forgoing our deck walk to sleep in. We took a Lisbon map with us, which did not have all the street names, but about 80% and headed for the closest domed church.  We took streets that progressed uphill making 40 degree turns with traffic trying to go both ways and cars parked on the side walk. We managed to get to the church, but it was still closed. It is called the Church of Santa Engracia, originally built in the 17th century, but collapsed during a thunderstorm several years later. Reconstruction, like so many churches in Europe, ran into funding problems then in 1916, still without a roof, it became the National Pantheon, where Portugal’s national heroes, politicians, writers and other cultural figures alike, are enshrined.  The Portuguese Baroque style church was finally completed in 1966.

Our next stop was a two towered church further up the hill and over several streets. Outside its walls, a large flea market was being set up with jewelry, clothes, shoes, scarves, leather goods, a large table of small cameras and much more.  I don’t know how official the ownership was of some items.

As we walked around to the front of the São Vicente de Fora church, we passed under an archway.  St. Vincent is the patron saint of Lisbon. São Vicente de Fora church was originally part of an Augustinian monastery, first constructed after the 1147 defeat of the Moors in Lisbon, outside of the city walls.  Then when Portugal united with Spain, Spanish King Philip 2, in 1582 decided that the monastery should be rebuilt, but wasn’t completed until the 1700s, however, the church was completed first in 1629. The church was open and had a 25 meter barrel like stone nave ceiling with a beautiful Baroque altarpiece, commissioned in the early eighteenth century by King John V. The dome and main roof collapsed onto worshippers in the 1755 earthquake. 18th century blue ceramic tiles decorate the cloisters with panels showing historical stories.  This church has a pantheon corridor where the Portuguese monarchs are buried.

We had decided that we had no idea where we were since it was hard to find street names and then some were not on the map.  We saw the Castelo de São Jorge way up on top of Lisbon’s highest hill and set it as our next destination, but most of the streets were going straight down and we wanted to head over and up.  We finally found a street where there was a sign pointing to the route to the castle.  The skies were still clear and the temperature was around 25 C at 10:30 a.m.  There were clear signs for the ticket office.  We entered the Moorish Castle that Christian Portuguese King Afonso Henriques captured in 1147, during the second crusades with the assistance of northern European crusaders.  It had been a significant place even in Roman times. In the early 1500s monarchs built a more comfortable palace within the walls of the castle. With severe damage by the 1755 earthquake, renovations were made over the centuries until in the 1930s it was restored to its medieval state. It has 11 towers, at different heights where you can walk all around the ramparts.  There are no buildings within it, but there a medieval garden with peacocks strolling the grounds.  We even saw a partly white peacock.  The views of Lisbon from the castle are panoramic.  We could just make out the funnels of our ship almost out of sight, around a hill.  Inside the central tower now is a camera obscura, an optical device invented by Leonardo da Vinci that projects live images from around the city onto the tower walls. There is a museum of archaeological finds from the castle site as well as a café and gift shop.  Next we wanted to find Rua Augusta, which is a main shopping pedestrian friendly street linking Rossio Square and Commerce Square.

We knew the general direction we wished to go, but the winding streets lead us on a longer walk than we had anticipated.  We found two glass elevators that went from a seven storey high restaurant down to a grocery store and the street below.  We got our bearings at the top and found ourselves in Rossio Square.  It shows the post 1755 architecture by Marquês do Pombal’s designed reconstruction in the buildings surrounding it. Marquês do Pombal was to Lisbon’s reconstruction as was Christopher Wren after London’s 1666 Great Fire reconstruction. At the center of the square is a statue of Dom Pedro IV as well as a fountain. On our way toward the river, one kilometer away, we looked down Rua Santa Justa to see a 45 metre tall metal tower, the Santa Justa Lift connecting the neighbourhoods of Baixa to Bairro Alto with two elevators helping the people negotiate the steep hill separating the neighbourhoods.  It opened in 1902 and was built by Raoul Mesnier de Ponsard, a follower of the French architect, Eiffel.  Curiosity satisfied, we continued to walk along Rua Augusta, passing through the 19th-century triumphal arch leading into Commerce Square, also known as Palace Square, since the 16th century Ribeira Palace once stood here.  It was once the main maritime entrance to Lisbon, which has the old marble steps leading up from the River Tagus. A palace stood here before the 1755 earthquake.   The arch is decorated with statues of historical personalities, like Vasco da Gama and Marquês do Pombal. In Commerce Square stands the equestrian statue of King José 1.  In 1908 reigning ‘King Carlos and his son, Prince Luis Filipe were assassinated here. Throngs of people, in 1974, assembled on the square during the revolution that overthrew Portugal’s dictatorial regime.

Then it was after noon and we had been on our feet for over three hours.  It was just a 25 minute walk back to the ship along the waterfront.  We saw excellent examples of Portuguese ceramic tile covering the exterior of buildings. We logged 6.8 miles

When we returned from our wander, the phone was blinking and an invitation was sent to us, and all the other passengers who were staying on board for the next voyage which goes to Greece.  We met almost 100 other passengers, on the helicopter pad for the sail away from Lisbon.  Ship’s officers and the cruise director, John Grantham, were there to welcome people with a glass of champagne or a mimosa.

Our table companions, Pat and Frank, were not at dinner tonight nor were they at the sailaway. 

Tonight dinner started with appetizers Chickory Apple Pear Salad, Wild Mushroom Barley soup and Shrimp Ceviche.  The entrées were Grilled Snapper Fillet with roasted red pepper and chickpeas and Coq au Vin.  We shared two desserts – Blueberry Pavlova and Ricotta cheesecake.  After dinner we went to the early theater show featuring English pianist, Chris Hamilton and enjoyed his playing.

We finished the day with a frappe.

Today we logged 8.3 miles.