Today we got the bus from Faro to Lisbon. A totally uneventful trip. The bus was full so we were a bit cramped for room but otherwise no issues. The terrain in the south of Portugal is very hilly, it is a series of hills all interconnected. It would have made it difficult to put the motorway through, though in medieval times it would have made it an easy area to defend - from land attack anyway.
We walked around Lisbon for a few hours this afternoon. What a beautiful city! I think I had read, somewhere in the dark dim distant past, that Lisbon is a beautiful place but I never gave it a second thought until now. We will enjoy exploring the place over the next couple of days.
Some very early highlights include the following.
- Really cute little trams.
- A castle at the top of the hill (must visit this tomorrow).
- This "ascensor", or elevator. It was built in 1902 and used to be driven by steam. Now it is powered by electricity and there is no cover charge if you have a valid Metro ticket. Also slated for tomorrow.
- As with all the European cities we have visited (including previous trip), a large pedestrianised area covering several blocks that makes it a pleasure to walk around. No bikes here though, probably because it is too hilly.
- Some of this place is very hilly, to the level of San Francisco. It is a bit like a really much improved Wellington with lots of character. Walking around here will certainly help with fitness.
- Another San Francisco style feature is this massive, and very high up (it is much higher up than it looks in the picture) bridge across the river. This is not a great picture and the bridge is hard to see but we came in to Lisbon over it and it is a real thrill.
- This is more of a Rio de Janeiro feature, the monument to Cristo Rei (Christ the King). Really dominates the landscape. Again I hope to get a better picture in the next couple of days.
- If the hills are too much for you there is a really cheap and well interconnected Metro + bus + tram + train + ferry service with very frequent services. This thing is not a private yacht - it is one of the public ferries across the river! The Metro looks like it has been around for several decades but it is well signposted, clean, and trains run every few minutes. Our politicians should take their next junket to places like this so perhaps they might learn something about putting together a decent public transport service. And, by the way, the tickets are simple disposable proximity cards, i.e. disposable Myki cards! The ticket machines work and are easy ti use and can communicate in a number of languages. Why we spent $1.2bn on a system that doesn't yet work is beyond me, when you see systems like this that have been around for a while.
- The buildings here are magnificent, perhaps because they got rebuilt after the earthquake + tsunami + fire. There are just sooo many beautiful buildings, including residential blocks, accentuated by the hilly landscape. A real pleasure to walk around.
I guess that's enough from the first few hours of walking around at random! I am really looking forward to exploring this city further tomorrow - and the Brazil and Portugal games!
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