Tag Archives: Portugal

São Jorge Castle

There is in Lisbon a very special lift (elevator, for you bloody yanks). This is the Santa Justo lift, designed by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, a student of Gustav Eiffel.

Santa Justo Lift

The lift is in the historic Santa Justo district, and the views at the top are great:

View from Santa Justo

View from Santa Justo

View from Santa Justo

Approaching the Santa Justo district will take you past some pretty awesome sights, such as the façade of the old Eden Teatro, a cinema that opened back in 1931. The façade remains, but behind it now the Orion Eden Hotel:

Eden Teatro

To the left of the Eden Teatro is the  Hotel Avenida Palace, built in 1892:

Hotel Avenida

And standing in front of both is the Monument to the Restorers, situated in the Praça dos Restauradores (Square of the Restorers):

Monument to the Restorers

One final Lisbon street scene for today:

Lisbon, Portugal

Our hotel awaits—MS Prinsendam

It was a long first day in Lisbon. After the fado we returned to the ship and rested up for the next foray into town. The next morning we took up where we left off, including yet again passing by King John I in Praça da Figueira (Square of the Fig Tree):

King John I . . . again—Praça da Figueira (Square of the Fig Tree)

And, as during the preceding day, we passed by some really great buildings:

Lisbon, Portugal

I do so love photographing doors and windows, as you may have noticed:

Lisbon balcony

There’s also all that exquisite tile everywhere:

Royal Police Guard (1804)

Eventually we made it to Praça de D. Pedro IV (Square of King Pedro IV; also called Rossio Square). Here we found another king. This time it we met Pedro IV:

Pedro IV overlooking Praça de D. Pedro IV (a.k.a., Rossio Square)

Here’s King Pedro IV posing for his closeup:

Pedro IV

And here’s the Rossio Square fountain:

Praça de D. Pedro IV fountain