Lisbon, the capital sort of an interesting
mix of San Francisco meets Morocco.
[laughter]
It really is.
It's like it's very similar to San Francisco in a lot of ways.
It's about the same latitude as San Francisco, has a bunch of hills.
Even has this bridge looks kind of familiar.
It’s the same guy who designed the Golden Gate Bridge.
This is the 25th of April Bridge crosses the River Tagus in Lisbon.
Of course trolley cars just like you see in San
Francisco and this Manueline architecture very
distinct to Portugal that sort of looks like it’s
something of a combination of Gothic and Moroccan.
Also, these tiled buildings everywhere
like you’d see in the Middle East.
It’s also an interesting city of sort of old and new.
Lisbon is a very old city, has Roman roots.
You see a lot of these old buildings.
This is the Alfama neighborhood, very old
section of town with these twisty windy streets
and red tiled roofs, but then you have these
very modern structures like the subway system.
This is the Oriente Train Station, very modern.
Also, the Vasco da Gama Bridge, one of the longest
bridges in the world crosses the River Tagus.
You have this interesting mix of old and new.
This also is a city of great views.
Because of all the hills, there’s all
these different viewpoints in the city.
This one is just below the castle.
If you’re going up to see the castle, they’re called miradors, overlooks
the Alfama neighborhood, the old fisherman’s quarter.
Up at the castle which is the highest point in the city, you have this view
from their viewpoint, fantastic view overlooking the entire city.
From the San Justa Elevator, this is an old steel
elevator that was designed by one of the students
of Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower.
From the top of that has a nice view of Rossio Square.
Lisbon as we know it has been rebuilt since
1755 when they had this huge earthquake,
one of the biggest earthquakes recorded in
Europe and it happened on All Saint’s Day.
Most people were in church in the morning and
the earthquake toppled quite a few buildings.
Then because back then everybody cooked with fire
and used candles for light, a lot of fire started.
The city caught on fire and started burning.
The earthquake then caused the tsunami which
came in and wiped out a big portion of the city.
A lot of the city was destroyed.
The king at that time hired this guy, the Marquis de
Pombal, to redesign the city in a very modern grid plan.
He did it in record time.
Within a month a lot of the city was already started to be rebuilt
and he rebuilt much of the old city here in this little valley.
This area is called the Baixa in a modern grid plan.
Before that, it was a medieval street plan
with very narrow windy twisty streets.
You can still see some of that windy
medieval plan in the Alfama neighborhood
which is on the hill tumbling down from
the castle and the Bairro Alto over here.
The Baixa area was completely rebuilt on
a grid plan and he put these squares in.
Up here you have the Praca Figueira and Rossio Square
and down by the river you have the Praca Comercio.
Some of the first earthquake buildings
ever designed were built after that.
These buildings were built after the 1755 quake
and they were built with this wood structure
inside with brick and stone on the outside and
were built to resist earthquakes and shaking.
Rossio Square, I just love this square.
You see this all over Portugal.
The way they do the cobble stones in the streets.
It looks like waves kind of tying in with the sea.
Reminisce of the earthquake you can still see some of it in Lisbon up
here above Rossio Square you have this old convent, Covento do Carmen.
It was an old convent that destroyed during
the earthquake, the ceiling fell in.
You can tour it.
They decided not to build it, but leave it
as a memorial to the earthquake victims.
Heading down from the Bairro Alto into
the Alfama, you have these twisty,
winding narrow little streets that are just really fun area to explore.
This is sort of how pre earthquake Lisbon looked.
Not a place where you could really drive a lot of cars through here.
Heading from Rossio Square down towards the
Praca do Comercio, you have this long street
lined with shops leading through this arch
to the main square the Praca do Comercio.
This is where a lot of the trolleys leave that go to Belem.
It’s really fun kind of active square, but most
people in Lisbon don’t really use it much.
There’s also a great little wine center over here at nine
o’clock where you can taste different kinds of wine.
You buy a little electronic card for a minimum of like
€3 and then you can go taste all these different wines.
They change the wines about every week.
I don’t think Lisbon has a lot of top-notch sites, like
you don’t have museums like the Louvre or Roman ruins
that you would find in Rome, but they do have some
interesting small museums that are very unique to Lisbon.
The Gulbenkian Museum is a small eclectic museum
that’s Rick’s favorite museum in Lisbon and has an
interesting collection of jewelry and sculptures,
paintings, furniture, very kind of fun little museum.
Also, the Museum of fado, so fado music they have their own museum.
It’s something that’s very unique to Lisbon.
I wouldn’t say it’s like a blockbuster site, but
it’s something that you won’t find anywhere else.
Also, the Tile Museum, this is built in an
old convent and has some fantastic tiles.
Just outside of the main part of the city you have this suburb called
Belem and there are several great sites that you can see here.
The Monument to Discovery is built to commemorate
all the famous Portuguese explorers.
One of the reasons that Portugal became such a strong seafarer
was this revolution in ship design called the caravel.
Here you have Henry, The Navigator in front holding one of those caravels.
Some of the Portuguese explorers were really
responsible for discovering a lot of the world.
You had Dias, Vasco da Gama, Cabral who discovered Brazil and Magellan.
One of the other main sites that you can see in Belem
is the Monastery of San Jeronimo which is built
in this Manueline style of architecture, very unique,
beautiful gardens in front and the Belem Tower
which is another sort of Manueline style used to be
the sort of guarding entrance to Lisbon harbor.
The Carriage Museum there is a whole museum of different
royal carriages throughout Portuguese aristocracy.
My favorite site in Belem is this little pastry shop.
[laughter]
They have this little custard tarts you will see all over Portugal.
They’re called pasteis de Belem, but that
shop is the original one that makes them.
For about $2 you can go in and get a little custard tart
and this tiny little like shot of espresso called the bica.
Fantastic, especially when they’re hot out of the oven.
Near Lisbon you have the number one day trip I would say would be Sintra.
It’s a really easy day trip from Lisbon.
You can take a train there.
It’s about 45 minutes.
The trains go very frequently and it has
three palaces that you can tour there.
So that my favorite is the Pena Palace, very unique
style, looks something like out of Doctor Seuss.
It’s very beautiful and it was also the home of the
last Portuguese king who they booted out in 1910.
Just down the road you have the ruins of the Moorish Castle
which almost reminds me of something you would find in Ireland.
Has these big stones all covered in moss, lots
of steps, beautiful views from the top there.
Then you have in the town itself the National
Palace which I think is the least interesting.
If you’re going to visit Sintra, I would start with
the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle, then you go
back down to the main part of town, see how you feel
and you could see this as a last option I would say.
The hike down, if you hike down from the Pena Palace back into town
you pass through these beautiful gardens and some wooded trails.
It’s a really nice little walk.
Then just west of Sintra you have the western-most point of Europe.
It’s called Cabo da Roca.
It’s a bit of an over- rated site I would say.
The coast itself is quite beautiful, but all that’s
there is really this little plaque that says, it’s
the western-most part of Europe and you can get a
little souvenir certificate that says you were there.
Not a whole lot.
Another very easy day trip from Lisbon is
Cascais which is just a short train ride away
to about 40 minutes west. Sort of the weekend
getaway of the Lisbon elite back in the day.
Now, it’s got some beautiful beaches and seafood restaurants.
This is a fun little escape for the
weekend or for a day if you’re in Lisbon.