COLOURFULWORLD

Thursday 28 July 2016

Portugal - Lisbon IV

It's been ages ago since my last post about Lisbon, but life get's in the way ...

Another visit to Lisbon started with a visit to Alfama, Lisbon's oldest district.
The narrow cobbled streets and plenty of steps between streets, means you have to walk a lot.


In the harbour the huge Queen Mary 2 was docked, so plenty of tourists were visiting this old part of Lisbon.

 The old trams still in use criss-cross the old neighbourhoods.


Climbing up to the St George's Castle we came upon a lookout located at the Calçada do Marquês de Tancos called "Miradouro do Chão do Loureiro".
The terrace adjoins a restaurant and it has a panoramic lift that takes people to a street down the hill.
It's not the best lookout as it's surrounded by a lot of buildings but you can clearly see the Santa Justa Lift just ahead and the Carmo Convent right next to it.

Ahead the Santa Justa lift (in black) and Carmo Convent next to it

Entry to the Lookout
To the left can be seen at the far end the statue of Christ Redeemer, on the other side of the Tagus River and the bridge across it can just be seen too.




 Turning to the back we can see the walls of the Castle of St George.
 

Walking up to the Castle we came across this artist who painted little scenes of Lisbon with coffee - very original!


The queue to enter the moorish Castle was long and we decided to forego a visit and just sit down and have a custard tart (Pastel de Nata) at "The World needs Nata".  What can I say, delicious!


The various modes of transport we found were unique - from tuk-tuks to bicycles, from segways to these bright yellow tricycles we saw near the Castle...


Also near the Castle on our way down to some of Lisbon's best lookouts, we came across this plastic flower covered cube hanging in a courtyard, attached to a metal turtle.


Next post - the best lookouts

21 comments:

  1. Fiquei muito curiosa pelos quadros pintados a café. Devem ser bem giros!

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  2. Why is the sign of the coffee-maker also in German I wonder?
    The pics remind me a bit of Italy, btw.
    When, just in case, is the best time to visit? It´s all so beautiful. Such a difference to here (or Perth).

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    1. He had the signs in 4 languages for the tourists. Spring and summer would be best. Winter is mild, rains a lot but no snow or not as cold as Germany.

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    2. Hm. One should think Germans do speak English, no?
      Thank you, I keep that in mind!

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    3. I guess most Germans would speak English, but it's always nice if you can communicate something to them in their own language.

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  3. Beautiful pictures and nice post on Lisbon again. It is a beautiful city!

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    1. Thanks Sara, I really played tourist this time and enjoyed getting to know Lisbon better.

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  4. I was totally impressed and was with you every step (and lift) of the way. I want a coffee painting. Looks really clever.

    I look forward to the next installment, because I keep going back and enlarging to get the best view.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth, I should have taken a close up of those coffee paintings, really clever idea. There's more to come.

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  5. Great overviews of the city. Those trams are indeed the same as our old trams.

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    1. Yes they are quite similar and still in operation.

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  6. Lisbon is a beautiful city Sami, the views across the rooftops are almost as good as looking over the Paris rooftops. Lovely to see little views of the harbour down narrow streets. It almost makes me want to get on a plane... almost 😃😃

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    1. Thanks Grace, it is a pretty city, quite similar to Paris in certain areas even.
      Who knows, after some hypnotherapy you might be able to eventually get on a long flight to Europe...one day.

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  7. That cube is unusual, Sami. :) Bit of a contrast with the yellow motor bikes. It's a lovely city and much too long since I was there.

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    1. Thanks Joanne. I was looking through photos of a my previous visit to Lisbon 2 years ago and saw they had a different piece of art in that spot, but this flower cube was nicer. Time for another visit then...I wish I was closer.

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  8. I meant to say last time the custard tarts look so good, one of my favourite treats 😃 Can you believe Sami, I got all ready to do the switchover to Windows 10 and when I switched on my computer this morning I was too late to take advantage of the free offer, typical 😃 So I'll wait to see if they make the offer again!

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    1. I had to stop myself from eating 2 of them every time we went out...these were so crispy just he way I like them!
      Oh well, maybe you aren't missing anything, the only drawback as there will be no support for Windows 7 if anything goes wrong. I'm finding my computer has slowed down a bit since I installed it, don't know if I can blame the installation, my husband is going to check on it.

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  9. Dearest Sami,
    For the oldest part of Lisbon this is a beautiful but also complicated area for passing through when needing an ambulance or to extinguish a fire. We have seen this in Italy, in narrow, medieval streets. Delivery of furniture etc. has to be done manually...
    Love your photos, it gives a very good impression of that part!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. True Mariette, it can't be easy to live there, no dropping your shopping by the front door. And of course as you mentioned fires or other disasters are difficult to get through.

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    2. Sami, it is romantic, idyllic and picturesque but very hard to deal with daily life. We are too spoiled for ever going back to such circumstances...

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