Colossal Waste: Around The World 2011 Day 45: Lisbon, Portugal

Today was our full day in Lisboa, and we made the most of it. Because we had a lot of ground to cover, we took the unusual step (for us) of hiring a driver for the day who also acted as our guide. In other words, today was in fact the most difficult post of the trip for me Waste-wise, because we covered a lot of sites. My first pass of wading through the photographs resulted in my still having over one hundred pictures to share, which is ridiculous. I narrowed them down to seventy-eight, which still makes this post too long for the short-attention-span crowd.

Breakfast in the Four Seasons, a classy affair to be sure.

How long ago did I give up on eating not too much? A long time ago.

After breakfast, we got ready and met our driver Jorge in front of the hotel. Without a moment wasted, we were on our way to Sintra, home to the summer residences of the Kings of Portugal during the height of Portugal's wealth and power.

Okay. This photo was key. Barbie wanted me to get the towns of Sintra and Cascais in the same shot, and out of around seven tries this is the only one that was satisfactory. And one is enough. Why did she want that shot? Because for a brief time twenty-one years ago, she lived in Sintra with a former fiancée. It is a story too long to tell, but suffice to say that one man's loss is another's gain.

European towns nestled into hills always have the same feel. Narrow, winding walkways filled with shops and restaurants, with residences just beyond. In a way, these villages might be the most European places left to visit, as they have undergone less change during the last century than other parts of Europe.

Barbie poses with the statue in front of a wine shop.

Looking over Sintra is the Castelo dos Mouros, or Castle of the Moors. It is what remains of the Moorish citadel that allowed the Moors to control the area for 400 years. Our guide, Jorge, pointed out the Muslims of North Africa allowed free practice of other religions, and after the Europeans forced them out of Portugal Islam was not accepted and, of course, along came Inquisitions. For the record, the term Moor was a name applied by Europeans to people of North Africa regardless of their nationality or ethnicity. The word comes from the term Mauri, used in classical Greece and Rome. In fact, most of the "Moors" were Berber or Arab. So that we are clear on this, you do not call someone a Moor. It is considered a borderline racist word. But I am going to subit to it here, since everywhere I go things are named "Moor This" and "Moor That."

Time to tour the Sintra National Palace. Those two massive chimneys were built that tall not for function but for form. Chimneys were a sign of wealth and status, and the summer palace of the monarchs of Portugal needed the tallest, largest chimneys in the land. Most of this palace was built around 1415, and it was a royal residence from then until the late 1800's.

Salas dos Cisnes, Swan Hall.

Not too difficult to figure out the reason for the name Swan Hall.

A closer view of the mine are bigger than yours chimneys.

The manufacture and use of tiles in design was brought to the region from North Africa, and the skill has been used extensively in Portugal ever since.

The palace gardens.

Oops. Somehow I do not have a picture of the plaque for this room. Note that in every direction you have hand painted tiles.

Even the ceiling is an elaborate mosaic of tile.

The tile work is simply amazing.

My favorite tile of the room.

All palaces need their own chapel.

The kitchen comprises two rooms, each under one of the massive chimneys.

The view looking up into the chimney.

And that wraps up the Sintra National Palace. Considering the wealth that the monarchs of Portugal enjoyed during the age of exploration, I was surprised that it was so small. I suppose the surrounding geography limited the size and scope of construction, and it was, after all, just a summer home that served as a place from which to hunt the game in the surrounding hils.

Time for the Castle of the Moors.

Built during the 800's and 900's, the Arabs document this area as being a place of rich fields and game.

Barbie in the opening of the castle's Church of Saint Peter. After the conquest of Lisbon in 1147 by King Afonso Henriques, the Moorish garrison here surrendered without resistance and the castle became the main population center of the area. During the 1400's most everyone moved downhill, near the Sintra National Palace. During the 1500's, the castle was abandoned by its last inhabitants, the Sintra Jews.

Today the site is a place of great archeological significance, and they were digging while we were there.

When I took this photograph, the archeologist in the center was just losing control of her bucket.

That bucket. I tell you this because, quite sadly, the bucked landed directly on the remains of a human being that they are unearthing, and shattered a few bones.

Right after it happened, all of the archeologists scrambled to assess the damage.

It could not have been too bad, because they soon started taking funny pictures with the remains, patting it on the skull to make sure that it was okay.

I guess brushing dirt off a 500 to 1,000 year old human skeleton all day breeds a certain familiarity. Look at his smile as he holds his hand to the patient's head and looks to his friend's camera. Gives you the feeling these are archeology students, no?

The castle walls.

The Sintra Royal Palace is right THERE.

This gives you an idea how high on the hill these walls sit.

And now we come to the nostalgia portion of today's tour.

Barbie spots the former home of her former fiancée's family.

For a very short time in 1990, Barbie lived THERE. (This also marks the rare, perhaps even first, appearance of Barbie's pointing finger.)

And this concludes the nostalgia portion of the Waste, though much of the day was nostalgic for Barbie.

We had higher to climb, and the scenery was so beautiful that we continued as high as we could.

Climbing the steps was good exercise. I kept a hand on the wall at all times. Coming back down, a handsome young man from the USA was sitting while his girlfriend climbed. We gave him some words of encouragement and he sucked it up and started climbing. I hope he enjoyed it up there as much as we did.

From the top you can see Pena National Palace, which began as a monastery but was destroyed in the 1755 quake, until 1838 when prince Ferdinand acquired the land for the royal family and started construction turing it into a new summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. This also explains why the Sintra National Palace is less, shall we say, impressive when compared to other European summer palaces. The royal family moved up the hill.

Time to visit the Pena National Palace.

The Pena National Palaces represents a variety of architectural styles, including Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Islamic and Neo-Renaissance. This is referred to this as Romanticism; a rection to the Age of Enlightenment and advances in science with revived Medievalism. My interpretation would be that the 1800's, with the industrial revolution and the advance of the Middle Class and the spreading of education, rubbed the aristocracy the wrong way and they longed for the good old days.

Guess how longing for the good old days worked out? By 1919 Portugal experienced the Republican Revolution, deposing the monarchy for good. In fact, Queen Amélia, the last queen of Portugal, spent her last night at the Pena Palace before leaving the country in exile.

Much like the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, the place would be tacky if it was not so old. Yes, I called this place tacky. Sue me. I do not always have to respect the past.

Barbie in a panorama, stitching together the disparate elements of Pena Palace.

By the way, photography was forbidden inside, which is why you only see exterior shots.

Barbie overlooking the inner courtyard. Here you see the Moorish tiles and Arabic influenced architecture.

We missed hanging with Joel in London, but at least we got spend time with his 'fro here in Pena Palace. (Actually, Joel's 'fro is probably double or triple that size now.)

Disneyland has nothing on the Pena Palace.

More amazing tile work.

Look closely and you can see the walls of the Castle of the Moors we visited earlier.

Barbie at the entrance.

We got back into Jorge's car and headed to lunch.

That point of land is the Westernmost point of Europe.

We sat down to eat at Meste Ze, and they immediately brought us these appetizers. We did not each much of them, and then we saw them on the bill. I did not feel very clever.

I did not mind shucking the shrimp myself. I would do one for Barbie, then for me, then for barbie, then for me. Good shrimp.

We ordered the Cataplana Marisco; assorted shellfish in a tomato cream broth. Delicious!

In a moment of weakness, Barbie ordered the Gelado Meste Ze, following the Scharfian rule to always order dishes with the name of the restaurant in them.

On the way back to Lisbon's center, we were treated to many sights.

First, we came across the America's Cup.

See those sails? Those are the competitors in the America's Cup.

You cannot really see it, but above sites the Estoril Casino and Hotel. Jorge told us some history that the James Bond fans will love.

During World War II, Portugal was one of the five European nations that remained neutral, because at that time they lived under the military dictator Salazar. As a neutral country a safe distance from the fighting, many aristocrats and dignitaries came to Lisbon during the war, which lead there to be many spies here as well. During the war, Ian Fleming came here and found the hotel and casino to be an inspiring setting for a novel that he would write a decade later, Casino Royale. All true.

The Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, the area of Lisbon named after the Portuguese word for Bethlehem.

Inside the monastery is this fantastic Church of Santa Maria. The monastery and church feature heavy influence from the Knights Templar. When the Templar were disbanded in 1312 by Papal order under heavy pressure from the King of France who owed the Templar a great deal of money, the King of Portugal welcomed the remaining Knights Templar to Portugal to aid in his wars with the Muslim world. He simply renamed the Knights Templar the Order of Christ, and let them go to work for him.

Vasco da Gama; one of the dignitaries entombed here.

This picture is included because this is the first time I have seen a tourist using a PSP as their travel camera. I have nephews who need to see this.

A panorama shot of the church, which artfully combines Renaissance and Gothic styles.

A panorama of the entire monastery.

Towards the riverside from the monastery are more sights and monuments.

This is a replica of Santa Cruz, one of the three Fairey IIID's used when the Portuguese Lieutenant Commander Sacadura Cabral (pilot) and Cdr. Gago Coutinho (navigator) crossed the Atlantic from Portugal to Brazil in 1922. The two first aircraft (Lusitania and Portugal ditched and sank), but with Santa Cruz they completed the voyage.

This Portuguese team was the first in history to cross the Atlantic in an airplane. We hear about Lindbergh instead of them for two reasons. First, under dictator Salazar little news got out of Portugal. Second, they stopped at islands on their journey from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.

The Belém Tower; this military tower once stood in the center of the Tagus river, protecting Lisbon from pirates. The river actually once ran along directly in front of the Jerónimos Monastery, where ships could stop in front for blessings before their journey. (The earliest example of the drive-thru concept I have ever heard.) The river filled in the area behind the Belém Tower with silt, and now it is on the shore.

You know the rule; help people.

Finally, I get a good shot of the 25 de Abril Bridge. Built by the American Bridge Company that constructed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and not the Golden Gate. Opened in 1966, it was originally called the Salazar Bridge. (You know how dictators like to have their names on things.) After the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the bridge was renamed the 25 de Abril Bridge, the day the revolution had occurred and democracy was restored in Portugal.

The Padrão dos Descobrimentos celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries. In addition to the main statute of Henry the Navigator holding a model of a carrack, on either side of the ramps of the monument are a total of 33 figures from the history of the Discoveries.

This monument is very much my favorite spot in Lisbon. It is a beautiful monument, and behind it is an incredible map given as a gift to Portugal from South Africa detailing the year of every major Portuguese discovery around the globe.