Shopping Lisbon

Fields

Waking up in the train

Portugal - fence and garden by track

Monday, 20 July

We came on the night train and were fascinated by what we saw at dawn. Farmhouses painted in bright fuchsia shades of pinks and greens. Lots of green, trees -- very few to be found in barren Spain.

Train station from the train

Now in Lisbon we could FINALLY buy some baby food. Gerber's strained is 30 cents for a small can. My sister had planned to get some on arrival in Madrid -- but on Sat. (holiday) and Sun. all the stores were closed -- except for 4 drug stores which were on special duty. We tried to track them down but no luck.

Looking out the Hotel Borges window

Our room at Hotel Borges was large, with bath. It looked out on the Rua Garrett, a busy shopping street right in the middle of town. So we could switch off, shopping while my niece napped. The baby's crib is Italian Renaissance and she is 'out' in it now having taken some of those expensive carrots.

We'll take an afternoon tour, and we both *love* Portugal. It's clean and you'd never guess it were a police state. A combination of San Francisco and Paris. (My mother's note here said: I would like to know what THEY know about San Francisco -- They have been there only in the ova state as far as I can remember!). Steep hills drop right down to the river Tagus. Yellow streetcars.

Yellow trolley

The hill facades are studded with many colored fisherman's houses. French is the second language to the Portuguese and our French is again refreshed. Much brighter than Spain and Madrid -- more prosperous. Many French tourists, but not so many Americans.

Tiled building

I bought groceries ($5.00) for lunch and we ate while the baby slept and I think this will be SOP.

An old postcard of Monsterio do Jeronimos at night

Dear Daughter.

Your cousin and Aunt and I arrived here this morning and we are to take a city tour this afternoon. We have a nice big crib -- and a bathroom. Last night we spent on the train. There are lots of silks to buy at about $3.00 a yard. Mummy tried to drink some lemon squash without diluting it and your aunt laughed. They sell Gerber baby food here in the stores.

Love Mummy

The first day we were here, we took a very swanky city tour. Currently a city tour similar to the one we took would be $23.30 for adults. It seems to leave from the same place as our tour did (the Marquês de Pombal monument) and take in some of the same sights, such as the Avenida da Liberdade, Jeronimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém. We got out to walk around at the Tower of Belem and we went into the Jeronimos Monestary. We also saw the Lisbon hospital and medical school, Black Horse Square, the Doca de Bom Sucesso which is a fake lighthouse, and the Vasco de Gama monument.

The tour was on a two-decker bus and had headphones with commentary simultaneously in seven languages.

Our bus from the Vasco de Gama monument

We saw many of the "Squares"

Remolares Square has a statue the sculptor José Simões de Almeida in memory of the Duke of Terceira, who commanded the wars in liberal constitutional troops, Following the 1755 earthquake, the area was rebuilt with new urban design, which was then referred to as the new Pombal square

Praça Duque da Terceira - Cais do Sodré

Praça do Comércio from the bus

Praça do Comércio is near the Tagus river, and is still commonly known as Terreiro do Paço (Palace Square), because it was the location of the Paços da Ribeira (Royal Ribeira Palace) until it was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake.

Marquess of Pombal Square

Marquess of Pombal Square looking the other way

Other squares include Marquess of Pombal Square which doesn't seem that square to me because it is a very big garden in a median.

In the middle of the roundabout there is a large column dedicated to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal, 1st Count of Oeiras

Restauradores Square

Restauradores Square isn't a square of restaurants, but is dedicated to the restoration of the independence of Portugal in 1640, after 60 years of Spanish domination. The obelisk in the middle of the square, inaugurated in 1886, carries the names and dates of the battles fought during the Portuguese Restoration War, in 1640

My niece and the mosaic pavement out the bus window

Praça da Figueira (Square of the Fig Tree) is a large square in the center of Lisbon. The equestrian statue representing King John I (1357-1433), was not there when we made the tour in 1964 as it was not installed until 1971

Medical School at the University

Lisbon hospital out the bus window

Hospital

Scaffolding on a building

Houses near Belem

Vasco de Gama monument

We saw the

Tower of Belém

The Torre de Belém was originally completely surrounded by water but over the centuries the Tagus river receded and a section has silted up. The tower is now easily accessible from the riverbank by a walkway that brings visitors right to the entrance. We visited but did not go inside the tower.

We were entranced by the Manueline architecture style (named for king Manuel I) The Manueline style is a Portuguese variant of the high Gothic style found in northern Europe but with more exuberant decorations and nautical-themed ornaments. It has sculpted balconies and fine limestone ornaments, The Monastery also has this style which is quite different from the other monument that is here.

King John II commissioned the construction of a tower in the river Tagus as part of a larger defensive bulwark. But the king died and the project was shelved until King Manuel I revived the idea in 1514. At the time the tower was known as the Torre de São Vicente (Tower of St. Vincent) as the king had put the tower under the protection of St. Vincent, Lisbon's patron saint.

The tower consists of a six-sided base with Moorish style turrets at each corner. The upper floors of the tower contained the armory and private residences - the Italianate loggia with sculpted columns and balconies with intricate carvings are part of these residences. On top of the upper floor is another terrace, which I understand offers beautiful views over Belém and the Tagus river.

Belém Tower from the side

People at the base on the bridge

Me with my niece

Belém tower

Dona Maria I Pousada-Note the cars of the day (1964)

Belem (Doca de Bom Sucesso) This was a 'fake lighthouse taken from the bus window which is why it has a slightly green tint.

and the

Vasco de Gama monument through the bus window

Vasco de Gama monument

Mosaic walk near the monument

and visited

Jerónimos monastery

Jerónimos monastery

An armillary sphere on top of the dome

King Manuel I (1495–1521) built this monastery to thank the Virgin Mary for Vasco de Gama's successful voyages to India. It replaced a small chapel dedicated to St. Mary of Belém built by Henry the Navigator that was on the banks of the Tagus river. The monks that came to the monastery were the Order of St. Jerome (Hieronymites, or dos Jerónimos), and they were to celebrate daily mass for the souls of Prince Henry the Navigator, King Manuel I and his successors in perpetuity. The monastery is now a World Heritage site.

We were quite impressed with the architecture of the monastery which was a style that we were told was Manueline (named after King Manuel I). It was quite ornate - Gothic, Moorish and Flamboyant and has a lot of maritime motifs and twisted ropes.

The primary motif that we always looked for was the Armillary Sphere. We had a lot of fun looking for the Armillary Spheres which is a navigational instrument and the personal emblem of Manuel I and also symbol of the cosmos.

Front door

At the front door of the church

The cloisters were particularly ornate and they have the four corners cut at an oblique angle instead of 90 degrees which is more usual.

Cloisters courtyard with my sister and niece

The corner of the cloister cut at an oblique angle

Cloisters

Open arches in the corridor around the cloisters

Tuesday, 21 July

We stayed in the Hotel Borges which was very centrally located. I'm not sure who made the reservation but according to the internet, ... you will be able to see the Mario Viegas Theatre, Sao Carlos National Theatre and the renovated Museum of Chiado. .. Barrio Alto can be reached in just 50 seconds walking from the hotel, and it will only take you 10 minutes to get to the airport and 2 minutes to get to the train station.

View from our hotel window

I think the Sao Carlos National Theatre is what is visible under the window awning in my picture.

According to websites wireless internet is available in public areas and costs EUR 5.00 per 24 hours. For my niece, their current policy is that all children under 2 years stay free of charge for cots. Breakfast is included in the price now, but I don't think that was the policy then.

Dear Mother

We have been having a good time in Lisbon. First after I say that I have sent about 2/3rds of my postcards (I brought typed address labels with me for the people I would owe a card to) and have the last 20 ready to write, I will say what I have bought.

Today we both spent $95 each on a rug -- handmade to order here in Portugal -- measuring about 4.5 x 6 I think. Hers is gold and dark blue & greens in a moorish design and mine is a blue background with light blue and gold and orange border. We pay when we receive it which would be in about October. I have had it shipped to Norfolk.

2004 photo of the Rug that I bought in 1964 (my sister's rug did not survive)

When we went to Lady Blanche Ellis at the Sociedade Inglesa Docoracoes e Antiquidades Lda -- Rua da Emenda about the rugs, I wore my suit and lent my sister one of my jersey sheaths.

I have shipped a package from Madeira House - it is a hand woven stole and I have a skirt to match which I am bringing with me. Also from Madeira House a package containing some handkerchiefs (unspecified gifts) and some round embroidered mats.

skirt with hand woven stripes

I have bought my sister a gold filigree pin for her birthday. I have also bought one for myself. She has bought herself a pin and earring set and also a skirt, stole, and a blouse like mine.

Two packages were purchased with your money on Monday. They are Portuguese costumes and are about $8.00 each.

Portuguese costumes

Five packages have been mailed from a tile shop on Rue de Aleorum. They are insured so open them to see if anything is broken. There is one with two roosters (one for each of us), one with some plates and 3 of 5 with tiles. Don't show them around, they are all gifts.

Tile shop - fountain

samples of tile in the shop

Black cat tile that I bought

Tiles that make a picture

I have bought 3 blouses, a child's dress, 2 fans (cheap) a straw child's hat (for my daughter) and a straw basket and mat in Madrid. I will send them as soon as I can find a way to mail them.

I guess that takes care of our purchases.

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Dear Mother

Yesterday we tried to rent a car, but they were all taken so we got a taxi for 340$ escudos for the day (about $12.00) A car with a driver would have cost another $8.00 anyway plus a tip. This way we could both look and take pictures.

We went to Queluz (which is a little Versailles and my sister said reminded her of a grandmother's house) Sintra -- 2 castles to tour and the ruins of a Moorish ??, the monastery lined in cork, the Peniona chapel (where you can see 20 miles along the coast in each direction), the lighthouse which is the westernmost point of Europe, Calehair and Estoicil. It was a beautiful day -- cool and windy. It was so windy Weds. that my pocketbook flap flew open and the wind lifted my pocketbook away from my body.

We also ate in a Fado restaurant where my sister had squid and we saw a very good floor show. The rest of the time we have been shopping for things and eating in our hotel room.

We got your letter which was most welcome and I don't know where we'll be that you can write again. I'm dying to know when things get to there and also how my pictures turn out and I can't even mail them until I get to Valencia (via Bob on the ship). I am really enjoying Portugal. You must come some time.

A rented car, incidentally, would have cost $3.50 plus 4 cents a km (another 3.00 anyway) and insurance and also the cost of gas, so I don't think we got off too badly after all. We had the cab for 8 hours.

Lots of Love

PS tell the children I miss them.

Queluz postcard - card of Don Quixote Hall modeled after Versailles

Dear Daughter

We went to 3 palaces including this one today and had a glorious time. There were no cars to rent so we hired a taxi for the day for less than a car and driver would have cost. We conversed in French because he knew no Eng. His French was no better than ours. Most people here are willing to make an effort in a language other than their own. They are very jolly people. Your cousin had fun too. We wrapped her in a quilt and took her out on the westernmost point of land. It was windy and cool. The weather is very bracing here in Lisbon. We have mailed some packages to you. I have been shopping for everyone.

Love,
Mummy

Outskirts of Lisbon

Roman aqueduct on the way to Queluz

Versailles in the Pink

Throne room

African woman tile

Venetian glass chandler

Three graces plate in Queluz

Queens bed with embroidered cover

Music room

Ballroom

Queluz kitchen tower backlit

Gardens from inside the palace

Outside of Queluz palace

Queluz palace

3 Boys Fountain

Queluz statue with my sister and niece

Queluz gardens statue of Summer with me taking my sister's photo

Queluz garden flower pot

Queluz palace with part of the Nereid sea nymph fountain

Nereid sea nymph fountain

Lilies in Neptune Fountain at Queluz

Sintra from the Royal Palace

Sintra from where we ate

Moorish ruins on hill

Sintra

Fountain in front of Royal Palace with Armillary Sphere

Palace courtyard

Looking out over the countryside

Tile wall in the dining hall

Gold ceiling

Garden and town from the castle

The Room of Swans has an octagonal panelled ceiling decorated with paintings of swans.

1786 swan ceiling

In the Room of Magpies, we were told that King João I ordered the painting of magpies, the chattering bird, as a message to the ladies of the court whose whisperings of intrigue were distressing both him and his English Queen, Philippa of Lancaster.

Magpie ceiling

Kitchen chimneys

Kitchen Chimney Royal Palace

Family group

Portuguese Couple celebrating their anniversary

Cross on the Pena Palace

Looking up Pena Palace

Top of the arch Royal Palace

My sister's photo of me Pena Palace

My sister's photo of me in Sintra (and her camera strap)

Pena Palace dining room with ceramic ducks on the table

Country side from the window

Carved four poster

tile below window

Dresden fronted chest

Room and me reflected in a mirror

Countryside and cupola

Venetian glass chandelier

Tower and dome from observatory

My sister's pic of me climbing windy dome steps

Looking down from the observatory dome -Pena Palace

Moorish castle and rocks from above

Onion dome among the trees

Observatory from below

Tiles

Clock tower and steeple

Courtyard

Closeup of hobnail doorway

Window like the Tower of Belem

Cab driver with my niece

Niece in stroller

Looking out over the countryside

Photo from the court

Cork Convent entrance

The Convent of the Friars Minor Capuchin, popularly known as the Convent of the Capuchos (Portuguese: Convento dos Capuchos), but officially the Convento de Santa Cruz da Serra da Sintra (Convent of the Holy Cross of the Sintra Mountains). The "Cork Convent" was established in 1560. It is noteworthy for the extreme poverty of its construction, which represents the ideal of the Order of St. Francis of Assisi, and for the extensive use of cork in the protection and decoration of its small spaces.

Window of convent

Looking out - Cork Convent

Window Cork Convent

Countryside from Church near Sintra

Top of the tower

Apparently it had been thought that Cabo Finisterre and Cabo de São Vicente were the "endpoints of Europe", but actually it has now been decided that Cabo da Roca (at 9° 29.8' W) is the real westernmost point of the Eurasian continent. It is 15 km west of Cabo Finisterre.

On this cape is a lighthouse which is geographically significant (as the westernmost point), but not as important to ships as the lights of Cabo Carvoeiro to the north and Cabo Raso to the south. As a result, the lighthouse was long neglected; not until 1897 did it even have a Fresnel lens, and for the next 50 years it had only a 4° (small) lens. The station is staffed by a crew of three keepers.

Portugal has a long distinguished maritime history. It was Portuguese who first traveled out and around Africa, launching the European age of discovery 600 years ago. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis. Lighthouses in Portugal are owned by the navy (Marinha de Portugal) and operated by the navy's lighthouse directorate

The lighthouse was built in 1772. It is still active; The light is 541 ft high and shows four white flashes every 18 s. The 72 ft tall square stone tower, rises from a 1-story keeper's complex. The tower is painted white with unpainted stone trim; the lantern is painted red (photo 2).

It appears to be the same in current pictures as in these that I took in 1964. I appologize that I did not get a good clear picture of the lighthouse as a whole. Photo 3 was the closest I got and that was backlit.

Lighthouse tower backlit

Lighthouse building

Me and my niece

Cabo da Roca ..The Westernmost Point in Europe.....not counting England or Ireland obviously or Iceland or...

My with my niece looking at the cross

It was known to the Romans as 'Promontorium Magnum' and during the Age of Sail as the Rock of Lisbon. Cabo da Roca is at the end of a 30 mile stretch of the coast known as the Portuguese Riviera. In 1997 the town council of Sintra erected a plaque that reads in part, "Cabo da Roca: Here ends the land and begins the sea." This is a quote from the Portuguese poet Camões. (Portuguese: Onde a terra acaba e o mar começa).

My sister and I and my one year old niece visited this point by taxi in 1964. In this picture, I'm standing on one leg and propping my niece up so she can see the westernmost point. My sister took the picture. There was a cross at the end of the peninsula, but we didn't walk all the way down there.

Apparently now, the tourist bureau will supply you with a document certifying that you have been to the most westerly point in Europe. But in those days, all we had to prove that we had been there was our pictures

Can you see North America? - Cabo da Roca

windmill in distance

Portuguese windmill

Wednesday, July 22

Fishmarket post card from 1964

Dear Daughter

I went down here today (fish market picture) and took pictures of the fish and the fruit market. there were little donkeys pulling carts too. The women carry the produce on their heads in baskets. Whole families were here, with children and dogs. It is cool, breezy weather here and very pleasant

Love Mummy

In addition to shopping, today I went down to the fish market and took a whole roll of pictures.

Street car stop with mosaic pavement

When we visited Lisbon in 1964, particularly in the fish market area, we saw many women carrying their baskets of goods on their heads. It wasn't just the fishwives that carried things on their heads - there were also fruits and vegetables and other things as well. They had a padded ring type thing to cushion their heads. And very good posture!!! I tried doing it myself when I got home, and it is a good way to carry things as it is balanced (you don't have a heavy thing in one hand).

Three women gossiping

Old woman with basket in profile

Outside the fish market

Outside of market

Tile on the fishmarket

Fisherman's bar - plaid shirts

Interior

Through the door Fishmarket

Fish market

sorting fish inside

Boy in a box

Woman carrying a box on her head

Docks

women on docks sorting fish

Boats

Fruit market

fruit market

Family in vegetable market

Streetcars from the bridge of the street above

Following a fishwife up the street

We are staying in Lisbon tonight. We got our Wagon-Lits express ticket this afternoon. we lost our money on the Seville reservation by waiting too long to cancel it. We are going to skip Andalusia and go back to Madrid tomorrow night and the next night to Valencia.

My sister doesn't have a watch and so she doesn't ever know when it's time to feed the baby.

Thursday, 23 July

Postcard from 1964 - Lisbon

Dear Daughter

I hear you have been helping Grandmummy with the mice. That is my good little girl. The card shows the narrow streets of the old part of town where they hang wash out of the front windows, but it is a clean city. The Portuguese love children. This stamp has two children playing ball on it. Your cousin has cut some more teeth and now has 8 -- Love Mummy

Laundry - Lisbon Hotel

Dear Mother

Rue Garrett fabric shop

I forgot to tell you about a package yesterday. I sent one with Nicky's name with two pieces of Portuguese cotton - 2 meters each. One is for him and one for me. I mailed this morning a package with a dress, two blouses and a hat and several straw pieces. They are from Spain. The dress and hat are for my daughter and one of the blouses may be for Viola. I decided to give you the pkg addressed to you for your birthday, so you may open it. It is antique stuffs, so don't think it is just ordinary.

Fisherman's sweater

I am also mailing today a pkg with 2 fisherman's sweaters for Portugal for my daughter and niece and a pocketbook for you. This is bought with your money and you may open it. I have spent a lot of shopping money in Portugal as per instructions and aside from a few things in Madrid and Valencia, I don't expect to make many other purchases. The fisherman's sweaters are insured for $35.00 and includes also a Spanish fan.

My sister is shopping for tiles this morning. We hope to be able to see the coach museum this afternoon.

Coach museum

Stroller in coach museum

A banquet cloth -- organdy with applique costs about $80.00. I am sending 2 rolls of film with her hoping they will be developed by the time I get to Nuremberg.

We more or less pooled our pictures because if one of us was holding the baby it put us out of circulation as far as picture taking was concerned. I'll mail this and continue our adventures in my next.
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We had a nice trip from Lisbon on the train and everyone slept well. The evening before we took a ferry across the Tagus

Ferry dock on Black Horse Square

Sailboat near ferry dock

Lisbon ferry

Lisbon from the ferry

Looking back at Lisbon

Lisbon from the ferry

view from ferry

ferry dock

passing ferry

and ate a nice seafood dinner (sole for me and eel for my sister) with tiny little shrimp in tomato soup -- overlooking the river.

Stairs of restaurant

Cacilhas lighthouse

In those days I didn't have the internet to identify this lighthouse, but on VT, solopes identified it. He said that it.. "was built in Cacilhas (just across the river from Lisbon) in 1886, and moved to Azores in 1978 (after our visit), to replace Serreta lighthouse, in Terceira, destroyed by an earthquake. After strong protests from local people, in 2004 it was decided to rebuild the lighthouse in Cacilhas, with the same appearence and approximately in the same place. It was finished last July, but, so far, the lighthouse is... red, still with some discussion."

Ferrys

Across ferry engine room - sister and niece

Sailboat from ferry

Wake and city

wake and city

Dock with man

The baby also had a good nap at the hotel

On the way to the train, my niece fell asleep in the taxi. It was a long ride, the driver did not understand (!) and took us part way to the airport out of the way. At the station he wanted to charge us 50% of the whole bill for our luggage, and got a policeman to prove his point. We were furious -- it was about $1.50 for what should have been a 50 cent ride. The baby was fast asleep, transferred to her stroller. We were so mad that we refused a porter and carried our own bags. Besides we didn't have any more escudos.

But once on the train, the baby woke up, looked around, recognized the compartment as one she had been in, and went to sleep, from 9:30 to 4:30 and 4:45 to 8. We'd bought drinking water to wash bottles with, to supplement the bottle in the compartment. I slept on the top, the baby slept next to the wall on the bottom and the ladder kept my sister from falling out.

By this time, I was a veteran window hanger on-er. The Europeans spend much time in the aisles, outside the compartment, looking out at the passing scenery. Which was picturesque in both Spain and Portugal, but more poverty stricken in Spain.

Next back in Madrid