Lisbon, Portugal

A cheery welcome to Portugal!

I had the chance to fly TAP, Portugal's Airline, to and fro New Jersey. "Had the chance" meaning getting the cheapest flight available which happened to come with a large layover in Lisbon each way!

On the way from Marseille to NYC, I had a 17 hour overnight layover. I booked a hostel and in the morning, walked along the Rio Teho and by the World's Fair '98 grounds. This is the Vasca del Gama bridge across the river.

On my TAP flight back to Marseille, I had a 7 hour layover in Lisbon. I kept my city map from my last trip there, so immediately upon my plane’s half-hour early arrival at 5:30 AM I walked out of the airport, across the parking lot, and onto some street of Lisbon. About 5 minutes later I found a street sign and was navigating myself in the direction of the river. The walk to the river was rather depressing: I walked along highways and passed alot of apartment buildings with peeling paint. I reached the river a few blocks south of the furthest distance I’d walked the last time I was in Portugal, which had been a lovely park with interesting art, sculptures and museums along the way. The part that I hadn’t reached is, apparently, where it starts to get more industrial, so I quickly gave up on traveling along the river.
I walked along some uprooted railroad tracks for a while, then along a main highway, and finally into a more residential part of the city. At first, I thought the buildings were wall-papered on the outside but then I realized that they were tiled. Even the buildings in the snobbiest center of Lisbon have peeling paint; I realize that this gives it its charm and character.

By around 9 I started hitting the touristy area: I passed the Convento do Beato, the Museu do Azulejo, some Military building, the Museu de Artes Decorativas Poruguesas etc. I went by the Panteao Nacional and went in two large Cathedrals where I stopped in and thanked God that I was surviving my walk.

I ended my trip to Lisbon at the Praca do Comercio, the “largest Square in Europe.” It’s certainly the largest square that I’ve been to thus far. There’s a very impressive statue of the King in the center that is currently under wraps. I stopped at Café Aura for a cappuccino com gelado, to rest my feet and shoulders, and to write my postcards. Today’s my Dad’s Birthday; I just missed being home for it.

I finally got the great view of the River I was looking for from the Praca do Comercio!

I took the subway back to the airport, unfortunately rushing through another fancy touristy part of Lisbon to get to the Station in time. Now I know where to walk to if I have another long layover.
Google Maps says I only walked 12 km and that I could have driven my 5 hour walking route in 20 minutes. That is discouraging. But I have covered an impressive portion of my tourist map of Lisbon.
Now I’m back in Marseille and ready to start up classes again tomorrow. I’ll be glad to see the other CEMistes again.

A warm welcome and "see you later!" from some public art at the Praco do Municipio.