Lisbon - Day 2continued - getting off the beaten track

Clouds rolled in and it got a bit cooler so I went back to the hotel, changed from sandals to shoes and got my raincoat, and went looking for a late lunch.

Just down the street and frequented by locals

I had the Sopa de Dia (vegetable) and felt ready for some more walking.

I just had in my head that I wanted to go uphill (keep those hard won Madeiran muscles in shape) so set off up the first steps I saw.

Needless to say the stairs degenerated, to the point that I wasn't sure this was such a good idea.

At the top the person who owned the sleeping bag and cardboard boxes had been feeding the pigeons.

A little further along and I was glad I came. I discovered later I was in the Mouraria area. The area that was populated by the Moors after the Christians defeated them and regained Lisbon. It is now home to people from the former Portuguese colonies (That's according to the HOHO recorded guide)

Narrow, steep streets with colourful restaurants

and lots

and lots

of tiles on the walls.

I thought I had climbed up high enough to be near the castle until I saw that it was on a hill with another valley between. That's on the agenda for tomorrow anyway.

Just one of those querky things. Tucked under a wall beside some steps. Maybe its a sculptor's version of graffiti.

Coming back down hill I was back to my neighbourhood and I went back into the dilapidated church I had seen on my first evening here.

It sits on the site of the Convento de Sao Domingos, where sentences were read out during the Inquisition and Jews were massacred. It was destroyed in the earthquake of 1755. The earthquake occurred on All Saints Day when most of the city was at Mass. There were 3 large tremors and the candles of 100s of churches rapidly set fires that added to the destruction. Shortly after there were a number of tsunami. About 40,000 people died in Lisbon and most of the downtown area was totally destroyed. The church Igreja de Sao Domingos was rebuilt on the site but was gutted by fire in the 1950s. Although some reconstruction has been done (the roof and some of the sculptures) evidence of the damage remains.

Inside the church there are photos of the 1950s fire.

and you can see smoke damage on the stone.

Back outside, I was just taking random pictures.

The foot of a lamp standard.

The lamps hung from the walls have a ship depicted on them with a crow at each end.

Crows have been the symbol of the city since 1173 when they escorted the body of Saint Vincent to Lisbon, where he would be buried. (From a google search of "what is the significance of crows to Lisbon", found on "unispaces.com").

Mass producing Pastel de Nata in a very busy cafe.

Tile mural in the same cafe. No, I didn't get one as I am having one every morning for breakfast.

Statues on the sidewalk of my square

with this explanation.

I ended up eating supper at a restaurant right outside my hotel. I finally gave in and tried a dish with bacalhau (dried salted cod). This was Bacalhau a Bras which had the fish mixed with potatoes and egg.

Inside it was a open kitchen with lots of fish on the grill.

All the customers were outside so the cook had the big screen TV on a cooking channel (not the usual soccer)

Back in my room I could see the restaurant, the awning at left

and it's sign.

Lisbon - Day 2 - Belem and already overwhelmed

My hotel provides breakfast. The room has long tables and we all eat together, helping ourselves from the fruit, yogurt, cerials, custard tarts, rice muffins, various loaves and rolls, eggs, cheese, cold meat, fresh squeezed orange juice and a coffee machine to make lattes etc. No pictures as it was too cramped and I was self conscious. It was actually a bit too intense for me, that many people, in close quarters, before I had even had a coffee.
I walked a block and bought a 4 day pass on the Gray Line Hop on Hop off buses. There are 3 different companies and I chose this one because it had a route to an outlying village that I thought would give me a bit of a break from the city.

Up a tree lined street

round a square (they all have columns with statues and/or fountains)

and through a neighbourhood where it was difficult to tell where the murals ended

and the graffiti started.

Through some high end areas too.

Round Campo Pequeno, the Lisbon Bullring and Events Centre. Built in 1892 and renovated with a retractable roof in 2000. Portuguese bulls are not killed as part of the spectacle, they are wrestled to the ground. The guidebook does point out that most of them are so injured that they are usually put down afterwards anyway.

Down an avenue lined with trees in blossom.

Animals painted on the underpass pillars

near the zoo.

A pastel neighbourhood

and another.

Along the river, a series of squares,

another market,

more wall art,

under the bridge and into the area that I was interested in seeing, Belem.

Everyone on the top deck of the bus trying to get a picture of Monosteiro Dos Jeronimus (I didn't get off and will have to come back to tour this site)

I will also have to come back to see the Museum of Coaches, Maritime Museum  and the couple of art galleries that are in this area. Already overwhelmed and I have just done one of the 4 routes offered by the bus company.

I got off the bus here, at the Torre De Belem. When it was built in 1520 it would have been in the centre of the Rio Tejo but the earthquake of 1755 shifted the course of the river and it now stands near the bank.

I read a travel blog that said that there wasn't much to see inside,

but a great view from the top.

It wasn't an option anyway, as it was closed.

So I sat and sketched and just enjoyed the sun and the location.

From the tower I walked downriver past a marina,

and a lighthouse

to my next destination, Padrao Dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). You had to be careful walking here as there were a lot of people using this flat area to try out the speed of the various electric assisted bikes and scooters they had rented.

Built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of  Henry the Navigator. It just asks to be photographed.

I got back on the bus, knowing I would be back again to see everything else Belem had to offer.

I was trying to get the reflection of one building in the windows of another, when a plane flew by.

I got off the bus at the square near my hotel, Placa dos Restauradores, named after the restoration of the city after the earthquake.