Many older buildings in Lisbon have tile facades. Our guide said buildings were tiled to preserve the buildings & keep the building's exterior from deteriorating. - Close up of the tiles on this building. - The Cathedral of Lisbon. Igreja da (Church of) Santa Maria Maior. Built in the 12th century. - aai - Inside the cathedral. - Inside the cathedral. - Soaring ceiling - Stained glass - aag - Stone columns inside the cathedral - The square around the cathedral - We toured Lisbon in this min-van. The electric cables above the street are for the cable-car system. - Lisbon cable car. Lisbon resembled a sort of European San Francisco in many ways: cable cars, very steep streets, and even a soaring red bridge over the bay that looked a LOT like the golden gate bridge. Our guide said the Lisbon bridge was designed and - An apartment near the castle. - Step streets of Lisbon - Inside the Castelo de Sao Jorge - Joel, inside the castle - Ancient olive trees inside the castle - The oldest ruins found on the site of the Castelo de Sao Jorge date to the 6th century B.C. The castle itself dates to the 10th & 11th centuries. - Inside the castle - aay - There was a giant crack in this wall inside the castle. These giant staples held the two sides of the crack together. - Another old, gnarled olive tree, and a cannon - The Castelejo - the western & northern escarpment of the castle contains 11 towers. - The old moat is now grassy. - abf - Ancient running water system - Castelo gato... a castle cat. - Joel barely clears the doorway - Views of Lisbon from the castle. The Vasco de Gama bridge spans the Tagus in the background. The bridge looks a lot like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. - View from the castle, looking over the Tagus - Views of the city - aat - abb - abe - abh - Black and white granite stones pave many of the sidewalks in Lisbon. They're beautiful, but a bit slippery even when dry; and must be downright dangerous when wet! - This doorway was barely tall enough for Michele to stand in... Joel would have had to duck to pass through! - abm - Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (Jeronimos Monastery) - One section of the sprawling exterior of the monastery. - The monastery was founded in 1502. It was damaged but not destroyed by the 1755 earthquake that destroyed much of Lisbon. - Another section of the monastery - Intricate ceiling detail inside the chapel, Igreja de Santa Maria. - Inside the chapel - abt - Vasco de Gama is entombed in the chapel - Vasco de Gama's tomb - A courtyard within the monastery - In Lisbon, weddings take place on Sundays. This crowd was watching a bride & groom emerge from the church after their ceremony. - In the Belem district (near the monastery), a craft fair/flea market sets up on some weekends during the summer. - Lisboan flea market - abz - These olive trees had dropped little olives all over the sidewalk. We couldn't figure out if the pigeons were eating the olives, or looking for other treats. - World War II monument - This plane is a replica of the first Portugese to cross the Atlantic by airplane (not non-stop) in 1922! Pilot Gago Coutinho and navigator Sacadura Cabral flew from Lisboa to Rio de Janeiro. - Torre do Belem; the Belem Tower is a monument to Portugal's Age of Discovery. It was erected between 1515 & 1520. Originally, there were a pair of towers (one on each side of the Tagus), but the other tower was destroyed in the All Saints' Day Earth - Michele next to the Belem Tower. - The Discoveries Monument pays tribute to great Portugese explorers. - Another view of the Discoveries Monument - Michele & Joel in front of the Discoveries Monument -
