See ALL the Things! Part 1

I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish… You see, it is difficult to get all which I want.

Simone de Beauvoir

Two months would be a very long time to be on vacation, but I wasn’t on vacation. I was studying abroad, and working remotely. Fortunately, field trips were a huge part of the study program. In the two months I was there, I wanted to not only experience all of Portugal, but to fully sate my wanderlust for everywhere. There was no guarantee that I would ever travel again. I just wanted to see, and feel, and do ALL the things!

I’m from Los Angeles where the landscape is constantly changing. Lisbon has constant construction, and excavation, but still maintains an unfamiliar sense of continuity. I was continually struck by the juxtaposition of the brand new and the ancient casually coexisting.

In two months, I don’t feel like I even scratched the surface of Portugal. That said, we went to so many beautiful places. Lisbon alone had far more than a month’s worth of worthy attractions.

Here are some of them:

Museu Nacional do Azulejo

First of all, I just like the word azulejo. It’s tile, a specific style of glazed ceramic tile. Growing up in Los Angeles, I’ve always had a familiarity with and fondness for Talavera tile. Until I learned about azulejo, I figured Talavera was just a broadly Mexican art form. It turns out that Mexican Talavera originates in Puebla, Mexico, inspired by an azulejo style popularized in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. Moorish control of significant territory in the Iberian Peninsula planted the seeds for this art form that has evolved with multiple influences, in multiple nations, since then.

Azulejos are ubiquitous throughout Portugal’s geography and history. So, of course, there’s a museum for that. The Museu Nacional do Azulejo is housed in a beautiful former convent and showcases stunning examples of azulejos through the centuries, islamic motifs, catholic religious images, historical images, and modern art. It also has a cozy little courtyard and a cafe. Given the chance I would definitely go there again.

Castelo de São Jorge

The site of Castelo de São Jorge has been occupied by Celts, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Suebi, Visigoths, and Moors. Clearly, it has strategic advantages for defending even temporary encampments. The oldest evidence of construction dates back to the 10th century. There is an almost overwhelming amount of human history to stand on.

The view sweeping over Lisbon’s red rooftops to the Tagus remains stunning even today. I’m generally not a big fan of crowds of tourists, but past ticketing there was plenty of elbow room and it’s the best view in town.

Praça do Comércio

The huge plaza surrounded by yellow walled Pombaline buildings is absolutely iconic. I loved the view from atop the Arco da Rua Augusta. The arch is a celebration of Lisbon’s rebuilding after the 1755 earthquake (and resulting tidal wave and fires) and the plaza itself is at the former site of the royal palace that was destroyed by those events.

The area is touristy, and rumored to have a lot of pickpocket activity on the plaza. Touristy isn’t all bad. With the aim at welcoming tourists you get a lot of shops and restaurants with English-speaking staff and the crowds weren’t bad when I went. It’s also very easily accessed by Metro. So like I don’t feel like the locals spend a lot of time hanging out here, but I don’t spend a lot of time seeking out the Hollywood sign in L.A. I still love seeing it, though.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. That said, this may have been the only place that I’m not sure I recommend. For me, on a school field trip, where all the admin and logistics were handled by other, adultier, adults, it was definitely worth it.

Some people have trouble even getting tickets in the summer. This is a very popular tourist site. The school secured our tickets. To keep crowds manageable inside, once it’s at capacity they don’t let anyone in until someone else leaves, so the reserved entry time on your ticket is a vague suggestion of when you’ll be let in. Our group got priority treatment, so again, not a problem I experienced. There’s not a lot of informational signage, so you could find yourself just looking at stunning Manueline architecture with no context. Of course, doing your own research in advance, or paying for a tour, would remedy that. We had our professor to explain stuff.

So again, I had a great time and you could to, if you plan accordingly. I recommend making a day of it. Get yourself an espresso and pastry next door at Pasteis de Belem. Visit Torre de Belem and the Monument to the Discoveries. Know that things will be crowded and it’ll be a lot of hurry up and wait, but if you want to complete the visiting Lisbon checklist, so much of it is in this neighborhood.

Palácio da Ajuda

This neoclassical palace was the last royal residence in Portugal. The royal family seems to have been somewhat cursed, at least as far as housing goes. The earthquake/tidal wave/fires took out the old royal palace (and much of Lisbon). Fearing being crushed by stone walls the king had his next residence, Paço de Madeira, built with wood. In 1794, this wooden palace built for a king afraid of earthquakes, burned down.

Construction on the new palace, Palácio da Ajuda, began in 1796. Then the royal family fled Portugal and the invading Napoleonic forces in 1807. When they returned from Brazil in 1821 very little progress had been made on the under-supervised construction (almost like building the palace of an absentee monarch is a low priority for laborers whose country has been invaded). The royal family moved into the habitable portion of the palace a few years later and construction continued off and on until the end of the monarchy in 1910.

Weird housing curses aside, the parts of the palace that are complete, are the most decadent I’ve ever seen. Lush fabrics, ornate fixtures, early indoor plumbing, art collections, it was luxuriousness soaked in grandeur and dipped in opulence, à la 19th century. I’ve watched a lot of BBC dramas with fancy manor houses, but nothing prepared me for the in person experience of such a royal residence.

Lisbon Miscellany

Living in Lisbon for a month also involved going to perfectly ordinary places. Mostly dull things like dropping in to a Continente or a Lidl for groceries, but those were also the moments when I felt most like I was a member of the community and not just a guest. Some of these stops were more exciting than others.

Party Boat

I mean, this certainly wasn’t an everyday thing, but I also feel like there was a good mix of locals and tourists on the boat. I feel like so much of the city is built around its views of the Tagus River. Traveling on the river lets you face back to all of those sights. And doing so while drinking and dancing is way more fun than the usual standing in line at these monuments.

Monuments & Public Art

There is a lot of free art that I encountered mostly incidentally. It is possible to take a guided street art tour. Or you could pick a topic, like Fernando Pessoa and seek out all the related public art. Or you could do like I did, and just frequently marvel at the beauty randomly placed before you. It’s worth riding the Metro just to see the art in the stations.

Museums, Exhibits and Events

I honestly don’t remember the names of every museum we went to, and with as many museums as we went to, I don’t think we went to most of them. The Casa dos Bicos is a fascinating bit of 16th century architecture that also houses The José Saramago Foundation and an excavation into the Roman artifacts below. There are events and festivals throughout the year. I attended a Mexican Festival, complete with ballet folklorico, and vendor stalls that felt like something straight out of Olvera Street. There is always something to see or do in Lisbon.

The Mall

I am not proud of how much time I spent at the mall, but it was convenient. When I decided I needed a shade hat, the mall was there for me. When I needed a quick dinner, the mall was there for me. When the heatwave made my apartment unbearable, the mall was there for me. Movie theaters are the best place to hide from summer heat and I was surprised to find that they had so many American movies playing with Portuguese subtitles

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.As a starving student, with a demanding job, enduring a record breaking heatwave, I still managed to see and do so much without even leaving the city. Now, to be fair, I owe so much of that to the program that got us into all the fancy places. Still, it’s also a reminder that I really could have quite an adventure just treating the town where I live like I’ve only got a short time and I want to experience everything it has to offer.

Gonna look in every corner of the city
‘Til I’m wheezing like a bus stop
Runnin’ upstairs, gonna meet you on the rooftop

But at night, it’s a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come on, come on, and dance all night
Despite the heat, it’ll be alright

The Lovin’ Spoonful
Summer in the City