MissTick
Thingish Things

Once we left Belem, we were finally set free armed with the map of the city centre and an issued order to be back at the bus in three hours. Of course three hours is not enough to see the Lisbon. But at least it was enough to grasp a sense of it. Lisbon is beautiful. Graceful. Clean. And extremely romantic. Should we have more time we’d be tempted to spend few moments sipping coffee in one of the street cafe, watching the world going by. Lisbon is never in a hurry. Though it is never one of those sleepy places where time seems to stand still. Lisbon has it moderate. A perfect balance between hustle and bustle of a capital and relaxed attitude of a southern resort. I’ve already mentioned the pavements of Lisbon. They are simply works of art. I was intrigued by the variety of patterns I’ve seen, how they must love their city to decorate it in this way, it is not an easy job to do, lots of patience required, attention to details and lots of inspiration. But the results are so pleasing to the eye. When you walk the Lisbon’s streets, it feels as if the stones live under your feet.

In three hours given we walked few wide and straight, peeked into few churches on our way. And diligently left out the area marked on Antonio’s map as “shopping streets”. It was only 40 minutes remained to the “time-to-be-back” , when we’ve noticed something extremely attractive on one of the hills. It was a castle, of course. And of course the tourist’s pride didn’t let us to leave it alone. It sure looked damn far away and we were playing a daring game with time risking to miss our bus back from Lisbon. But it was a castle, on a hill, promising amazing views over the city and we just couldn’t stay away. We made our way there rather quickly, considering that we were moving up and without sense of where to go, apart from very general sense of direction. Yet we made it. And have been rewarded fully. Saint George's Castle used to be a royal residence at some time in 14-16 centuries. Nowadays, of course, it is mainly the walls and towers and a restaurant on site and a little museum, which we didn’t have time to visit. Castle offered impressive panoramas over Lisbon. And for that along it was worth our effort. Besides, getting back to the bus was easier, as we have seen the shortest route from above.

We were in our bus seats exactly 3 minutes before the time our strict guide Antonio set for return. And needless to say that we were happy and very pleased with ourselves for grabbing the chance to see something more then we were “meant to”.

We entered Lisbon by the Salazar Bridge and the historical district of Belem. We left the capital through the modern part of it, the Expo’98 district. A somewhat futuristic landscape and a bridge called Vasco Da Gama – a 17 km long and quite an experience to cross over, as it is not a straight bridge, but has curves and bends and as you driving through it, the scenery is amazing.

I wish we’d have more time for Lisbon for it really deserves much more attention. I’d like to go there on a long weekend break some time and just spend it all in the city of enchanting wonders. In my web-wanderings I found this beautiful legend about Lisbon. Legend tells Ulysses founded it. He founded Lisbon to meet his lover affair. The girl was called Lisbon. She got upset with Ulysses for something. She changed into a snake and died near the river, leaving near the river the curves of her body: the seven hills of Lisbon. How so very beautifully sad, isn’t it? I think, this completes my Portuguese Tales now. However I've got few more things to add to it. Spanish things. Some places leave very special image in memory. When I think of Lisbon, I think of a blue sky, white elegant streets and gentle magenta of Jacaranda trees. It was magical.

 
To be continued...