Lovin’ Lisbon
Crossing the Vasco da Gama Bridge into Lisbon
January 31, 2008
Well, first of all, I have to say that the drive to Lisbon from Seville was delightful! It only took me about 3 hours and it’s great scenery most of the way. Oh, and if you’ve never driven 130 km/hour through the Spanish countryside while belting out Hotel California at the top of your lungs, I highly recommend it. Very therapuetic. You’ve gotta love those Eurpopean radio stations.
I arrived in Lisbon just before sunset and was amazed at how beautiful the city is. It actually reminds me a lot of San Francisco (with an oddly similar bridge and even cable cars). My trip to Lisbon was actually planned around meeting a friend of mine from Ireland, Des. Des lives in Dublin and he and I used to date a while back and we’ve kept in touch since. When he heard I was planning to be in Lisbon on this trip, he scheduled a business trip (he’s been working over here some lately) to coincide with my dates. I left all of the planning for these two days up to him since I figured I had enough planning to do and he already knew the city anyway.
Unfortunately, just as I was leaving Seville, Des called to say that he had been in a minor car accident on the way to the airport in Dublin and though he was ok, he had missed his flight and it was the last one of the day. Darn it. He was really upset about it but insisted that the room was already paid for so I should go ahead and check in and he’d try to get a flight the next day to join me. So, I headed to the hotel and he had indeed taken care of everything and they checked me right in to the lovely suite that he had booked. While I was bummed that Des hadn’t made it, it was definitely nice to be back in a fancy hotel suite after slumming it for the past two nights. (And it was even nicer to not be paying for it since I feel like all I’m doing lately is spending money.)
My husky friend at Belem
The next day, I decided to make the best of the situation and head out to see what Lisbon had to offer. My legs were finally feeling human again after the marathon so I started the day with a quick run. It turned out to be a good thing that I had a car because a lot of the things to see in Lisbon are a bit outside the city center. After a shower and a wonderful breakfast at the hotel (included in our rate apparently), my first stop was the Belem Tower. Built in Manueline style during the Age of Discoveries in 1520, the Tower served to defend the Tagus River bank. Once a symbol of King João II’s power, as the new centuries passed, the tower has been given different functions such as a customs control point, a telegraph station, a lighthouse and even a political prison. UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site in 1983.
But, as you’ll see from the photo, the highlight of the Belem Tower for me was the husky swimming around outside it. He was so cute playing fetch with his owner. I probably took about a million pictures of the dog, I’m sure his owner (who only spoke Portugese) probably thought I was nuts, but who cares? Next to the Belem Tower is the Discoveries Monument which was built built on the bank of River Tagus in 1960 to honor the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. It was designed in the shape of a caravel, on which Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, and many relevant heroes of Portuguese history are shown riding.
I spent a marvelous day touring around town on my own since unfortunatly Des was never able to get away from the office after all. But, I really enjoyed Lisbon and my two fabulous nights here didn’t cost (me) a dime, so I’m back on budget-track.
Next stop, the Costa del Sol.
