1/5 - Trip to Lisbon

With Maggie and John we decided to discover this city.

 

Lisbon (Portuguese: Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 2.4 million

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the fifth century, it was captured by the Moors in the eighth century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city for the Christians.

Lisbon enjoys a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate. Among all the metropolises in Europe, it has the warmest winters, with average temperatures above 15.2 °C during the day and 8.9 °C at night in the period from December to February.

Lisbon is recognised as an alpha city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education, and tourism. It is one of the major economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial centre and the largest/second largest container port in the "Europe's Atlantic coast".

Time to taste the Ginjinha and Bacalhau after walking all those km...

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2/5 - Day trip to Belem

Belem Tower is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (1460 – 1524) was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India. For a short time in 1524 he was Governor of Portuguese India under the title of Viceroy.

The Maritime Museum of Lisbon is dedicated to all aspects of the History of navigation in Portugal. It occupies a part of the neo-Manueline Western wing of the Jerónimos Monastery as well as a modern annex built to the North of the monastery.

The exhibits include historical paintings, archaeological items and many scale models of ships used in Portugal since the 15th century. It is one of the most visited Portuguese museums.

The Monument to the Discoveries is a monument that celebrates the Portuguese who took part in the Age of Exploration, of the 15th and 16th centuries. It is located on the estuary of the Tagus river in the Belém parish of Lisbon, Portugal, where ships departed to their often unknown destinations. The Monument to the Discoveries represents a romantic idealisation of the Portuguese past that was typical during the regime of Salazar.

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3/5 - "Modern" Lisbon and the Oceanario

Expo '98 (1998 Lisbon World Exposition)

The Oceanarium is located in the Parque das Nações, which was the exhibition grounds for the Expo '98.

The Lisbon Oceanarium has a large collection of marine species — birds, mammals, fish, cnidaria, and other marine organisms totaling about 16,000 individuals of 450 species.

Despite its intention of representing the open ocean, the Oceanarium has been criticised by several scientists for grouping together species that would never meet in nature.

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