A LEISURELY MONDAY

We were pretty exhausted after our full sunday but the weather was nice and so we had to get out of the house and do and see something.  We decided a nice leisurely stroll on the Av. da Liberdade and a walk through Praque Eduardo VII which we had seen when we were on  the Yellow bus tour might be a good adventure for the day. It was near the El Corte Ingles mall where we thought we could grab a bite to eat in the neighborhood and look around the mall.  With that plan in mind - off we went. 

We passed by the Rossio train station which is just beautiful.  This station was built when train stations were seen as the "temple" of travel.  The Franco-Swiss author Blaise Cendars called railroad stations "the most beautiful churches in the world" and this station could be an example.  It is one of the strangest architectural complexes housing a rail terminal in Europe.  

Central Station is printed on the horseshoe arches and a statue of King Sebastian is in the center of the two arches.  King Sebastian was a romantic, dashing and young soldier king who was lost in 580 in an ill-fated crusade in Africa.  As Sebastian left no direct heir , the crown ended up with Philip II of Spain, who became Philiip I of Portugal.  The Spanish king promised to give back the throne if Sebastian ever returned and ever sine the Portuguese have dreamed that Sebastian will return, restoring their national greatness.  Even today, in a crisis, the Portuguese like to think that their Sebastian will save the day- he's the symbol of being ridiculously hopeful.

The  Avenue was built in the 19th century in the style of the Champ-Elysees in Paris.  The avenue still has a certain elegance with fountains and cafe tables shaded by trees, as well as a pavement decorated with abstract patterns.  It is the site of the city's grander hotels and designer shops.  It is also a street you should walk down , not up as we did.  It is definitely on a slope, although gradual we were feeling it by the time we reached the park which is also sloped. We were getting our exercise for sure.  

This Obelisk at the beginning of the street celebrates the restoration of Portuguese independence from Spain in 1640.

Oh and look what we found on the Avenue.  Obviously high end!

The monument dedicated to the Marquis of Pombal , the prime minister rsponsible for the rebuilding of Lisbon following the great eathquake shows him standing on a column with his hand on a lion (symbol of power) and his eyes directed to the downtown area that he rebuilt.  The base is decoraqted with allegorical images depicting Pombal's political, educational and agricultural reforms.  This square is located in the middle of one of the busiest and biggest traffic circles in Lisbon.

Pombal had the govenment turned over to him by lazy King Jose I in 1750.  He wa a talented, ambitious and handsome individual.  He was praised as a reformer but revilved for his ruthless way.  He was ambassador to Britain and had learned modern ways and when returning to Lisbon he battled the Church repression and promoted democratic ideals of the Enlightment, but enforced his policies with arrest, torture and execution.  When the city was leveled by the earthquake Pombal had kicked off a major rebuildig campaing within a month.  He rebuilt the downtown featuring a grid plan and built buildings that were earthquake proof.  The buildings are all uniform, with the same number of floors and standard facades.  The priorities were to rebuild fast, cheap and earthquake proof.  They were designed by military engineers who had experience building garrison towns overseas.  

This earthquake, one of the most violent in recorded history, was the first one to be studied methodically, marking the beginning of the science of seismology.

The park was originally known as the Parque da Liberdale but renamed in 1903 in honor of King Edward VII, who had visited the city the previous year to strengthen the historical ties between Portugal and Britain.  The park is divided into three sections , with a central grass area with geometrically patterned hedges and two landscaped gardens on either side.  

While strolling up and through the park we noticed this beautiful building so we walked over to it and discovered that it was an abandoned building.  We had no idea at the time what it was but realized that it must have been a trully beautiful building in its day.  It is in fact one of the three sections of the park.

We later found that it is the Pavilhao Carlos Lopes.  The pavilion was originaly built for the 1922-1923 exposition in Rio de Janeiro, held in celebration of the centenary of the Independenc of Brazil.

After the exposition , the pavilion was reconstructed  in the Parque Eduardo VII.  It opened in 1932, just in time for the Portuguese Industrial Exhibition.  After the exhibition the building was used as a meeting venue, concert hall and even a sports hall.  It was originally known as the Exhibition Palace but was renamed in 1984 , in honor of Carlos Lopes, winner of Portugal's first ever Olympic gold medal. 

In 2003 the pavilion had become dilapidated and the city decided to close the building.  Plans to convert the building into a sports museum fell thugh due to financial problems.  Its really such a shame because the building has some beautiful tile pieces on its exterior. 

The entrance to the building which is now fenced off.

We continued our walk in the park and came to a lovely fish pond and a interesting complex of greenhouses.

Aat the top of the slope is a modern monument that commemorates the 1974 Revolution- also known as he Carnation Revolution.  Antonio Salazar, who ruled Portugal from 1926 to 1868 was ousted on April 25, 1972 in an almost bloodless coup.  Only five people died that day.  Citizens spilled into the streets to cheer and put flowers in soldiers rifle barrels giving the event its name.  

We left the park and headed toward the big shopping center , El Corte Ingles.  We knew they had a cinema   so we decided we'd check and see what was showing.  English movies in Portugal are shown in English and are subtitled in Portuguese.  In Spain and France English movies are dubbed.  This is one of the reasons given to explain why more Portuguese speak English than either the French or Spanish people.  We hadn't been to a movie since Amsterdam so we were excited about the possibiity of maybe attending one if anything good was showing.  We stopped and had a ittle lunch at a cafe in a department store - a ham and cheese coissant and a cup of coffee and the total bill was 2.50 euro each.  Unreal!  When we asked directions to the theater we were told to go past the supermarket.  What we discovered was a giant supermarket.  We hadn't been in one of these since leaving the states 8 months ago.  It was so much fun to just look around and find things we hadn't seen in ages.  

We found the theater and decided to stay and watch Birdman since it had been nominated for a number of awards already.  It was terrific acting and the movie itslf was "interesting", a little different but good.  

I also saw this poster of the new Spongbob movie.  I'm hoping the movie gets here before we leave.  It was listed as one of the top movies to see in 2015 by USA today and Chris plays a small part in it.  He actually plays Antonio Banderas's father - obviously in some type of flashback scene.  

We really weren't ready to head home yet so we decided we should stop and taste one of Lisbon's favorite drinks - ginjinha.  Nuns baked sweets and the monks took care of quenching thirsts with this sweet liquor made from cherry-like ginja berries, sugar, cinnamon and brandy.  You can get a shot for 1.50 euro's.  You can buy it with or without berries and order gelada( if you want it poured from a chilled bottle).  There are two very famous ginjinha joints.  The one we chose to go to today is on restaurant row,( Rua das Portas de Santo Antao) Edwardino ( named after a clown).  Did you notice the "short" street name.  Is it any wonder I can't remember any street names here.  

I asked a young man standing with a few of his friends to take our picture and we struck up a conversation   with the group and before long a few more young people joined.  They all worked together at a youth hostel not far from the bar.  They were so delightful and we had such a good time talking to them.  when I had handed my phone over to the young man and gotten it back they warned us to be very careful because iPhones were hot numbers in Lisbon and someone could run off with it.  They also warned us to be very cardful of pickpockets throughout Lisbon.  We explained how we had been extremely careful.  We had not gotten pick pocked on tram 28 which is notorious for their pickpockets.  So far, so good but we tanked them for their advice.  

We decided we should continue our walk and explore restaurant row.  Our young friends said the area was very touristy but there were many good restaurants along the way.  

It was past cocktail time so we decided to once again have a little glass of wine at the rooftop bar and restaurant.  It was a good idea but it was closed so we had a drink at Nicolas's and then walked over to an Italian restaurant and ate dinner.  I had a pasta dish with homemade noodles with shrimp and a gorgonzola sauce. It was delicious!

We walked home through Rossio square.  

The train station at night.

It was another lovely day in Lisbon!