5th October 1143 -
Portugal became an independent nation and kingdom by the Treaty of Zamora.
Today, Portugal celebrates 868 years of history! In spite of the fact that my country has no official celebrations of this important historical date, I always celebrate it. So, Congrats Portugal! :-)
To celebrate my country's birthday, I want to share with you some Lisbon pictures, from last September, during my staying in Portugal :-)
I took an afternoon just for myself.
A walk in the city's downtown (
A Baixa)...
Cais das Colunas (18th century)
Enjoying the Tagus River (
O Rio Tejo)...
Looking at the south bank of the river Tagus...
Enjoying one of the most beautiful squares in the world with its magnificent view to the Tagus River and the
Cais das Colunas...
Praça do Comércio (18th century) / Comércio Square
Arco da Rua Augusta / Augusta Street Arch
A new restaurant in the square... (at least for me) ;-)
Estátua do Rei D. José I/ King D. José I statue
For the first time, I visited the
Terreiro do Paço (the previous name of
Praça do Comércio) and
Santa Apolónia metro stations. This one is specially pretty with the tiles about the trains.
Santa Apolónia is Lisbon's main train station.
Also for the first time, I saw the
Terreiro do Paço new ferryboat station! So different from what I remember! So large and modern!
After my stroll in
Baixa, I went to
Chiado, Lisbon's cultural place
par excellence and also the most expensive district...
This picture from
Rua Garret/Garret Street was taken in
Armazéns do Chiado, a shopping center managed by a Dutch company, the
Multi Mall Management.
From the shopping center lady's rest room, I took a picture of
Castelo de São Jorge/Saint George Castle...
...and of our Cathedral,
a Sé...
In Chiado, I went to
Bertrand Bookstore to feel the typical smell of this exquisite place, after all the
oldest bookstore in the world (1732). Then I went to
Santini, to enjoy the best portuguese (if not in the world!) ice-creams. I must say I went there twice. The ice-creams are absolutely delicious!
Walking down
Rua do Carmo/ Carmo Street, another pretty Chiado's street, listening a fado from
Amália, I stopped to take a picture of the
Elevador de Santa Justa/ Santa Justa Lift...
...and to enjoy another great view of the Castle and the downtown...
Finally, I went to another part of the city, the
Avenida Duque d' Ávila. I was curious about the city's new
ciclovia (fietspad), but I didn't see any bikes. However, a couple of days before, I saw someone on a bike in a ferryboat. Such a surprise, I must say.
I hope you have enjoyed this mini-trip in Lisbon! For me it was very special!
See you soon!
Ponte Vasco da Gama/ Vasco da Gama Bridge
