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Lisbon

12 May 2000 - 14 May 2000

After spending four hours at the airport, we arrived at the Hotel Presidente, where we were told that our rooms would not be ready for several hours. Rather than waste away the day sitting in a Hotel lobby, we headed out for some sightseeing. We headed North, past some monuments to a small park (not shown above) to the East of the Parque Eduardo VII (shown above).

We then crossed over to the botanical garden, shown above. We didn't have enough time before lunch to go inside the garden, so we walked around outside and watched the peacocks. Back at the hotel, we had lunch while still waiting for our room. After lunch, a nap, and a lot of waiting, our room was ready, leaving just enough time for some more sightseeing and souvenir shopping before dinner at the hotel.

With the northern part of the city covered, we set out to the South on the next day. The streets of Lisbon are full of fountains and statues, and the buildings are covered in azulejos (painted tiles). The third picture above shows the Elevador de Santa Justa, an elevator that goes from street level to the remains of the Church of Carmo (fourth picture above), which was destroyed by earthquake in 1755. Unfortunately, the ruins were closed off. The last picture above shows one of the fountains in Rossio Square.

From the top of the Elevador de Santa Justa, the entire city of Lisbon is visible. Above are Rossio Square, the Castelo de São Jorge, and the streets leading to the Tagus River. Also shown above is the Ponte 25 de Abril, as seen from both sides.

Above are more sights in downtown Lisbon: Rossio station in day and night, Praça do Comércio, Arco Triunfal, which took 118 years to build, and the arch as seen from below.

We finished the day with a guided sightseeing tour of Lisbon Cathedral, the Royal Palace, and Monastery of Jeronimos. Our last stops were the Tower of Belém (first picture above) and the Monument to the Discoveries (second and third pictures above). Along the way, we passed the Águas Livres Aqueduct. On May 14, we departed Lisbon for Oporto via Fatima and Coimbra. We returned to Lisbon for our flight to Funchal on May 22, when we could see the Vasco da Gama bridge in the distance (last picture above). The Vasco da Gama is a cable stay bridge, similar to the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston.

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