Portugal 1

Our first view of Lisbon as we left our hotel

I have already blogged about some of the differences between Portugal and China that Adam and I immediately noticed upon arrival, so I will make this more of a travel blog, for those interested in my activities while in Lisbon.  We arrived 3 days before the start of the conference, so we were able to get in some good sightseeing before being confined to the conference center.  The first day, we went to a small town called Sintra, the seat of royal and semi-royal palaces for many years.  The most famous building is the National Castle, home of the last kings of Portugal, and known for its massive kitchen chimneys that have been compared to Madonna's bra! 

The inside of the castle was very very different than inside Chinese royal buildings, something I think Adam and I both noticed more than the actual decor.  There were tiles everywhere, known as 'azulejos', decorating both interior walls and exterior ones.  Sometimes they were just a simple geometric pattern over and over, but other times they had more elaborate scenes in varying colors, although blue/white seemed to be a favorite.  There was an entire room of the castle with massive tile pictures on the walls!

Sintra also has an ancient Moorish Castle which we climbed up to see, known as the 'Great Wall of Lisbon'.  It wasn't nearly as impressive as the Great Wall, but it did have some really cool views down to the sea and across the land surrounding Lisbon.  We also visited a nearby castle that was partially built by a king from Bavaria called 'Mad Ludwig' (or something like that), and it did have some eccentric twists to its architecture and a very colorful exterior!

some of the tile work at the castle

The second day, we went on a self-guided walking tour of the old Moorish part of Lisbon known as Alfama.  Alfama was built by muslim immigrants from northern Africa, and it has twisting alleyways, cobblestones, and hidden courtyards.  It was also the only part of Lisbon that wasn't destroyed in the great earthquake in 1755, so its the oldest part of the city now.  These old-style trams are an icon of Lisbon and barely fit in the narrow streets of Alfama!

On our walk, we discovered the National Pantheon, which was made of beautiful white marble and housed some famous deceased, including the famous 'fado' singer, Amalia.  Fado is a type of singing very famous from Portugal, which seemed to me kind of a mix of folk and blues and opera, but I never heard much so I'm not sure.  There were also good views of Lisbon from the top of the Pantheon.

We made sure to eat one of the specialities of Lisbon, 'sardines', a very ubiquitous fish in the surrounding waters.  It had zillions of tiny bones, but they were so fine that you could eat them.

Finally, on the last day before the conference, which we dubbed 'church day' we  went inside several famous churches and monasteries.  One monastery had a huge exhibition of the azulejos which were telling parables that sometimes didn't make much sense!  There was a lot of intricate stone and woodwork in all the cathedrals and the differences between temples in China and in Europe were again striking.  Here is a random chapel that I don't remember the name of, but its quite pretty.

The most famous monastery was the Monastery of Belem, and its attached church.  It was HUGE and very beautiful, with intricate stonework that I've never seen the like of in Asia.  Asian temples do have things that awe, but somehow nothing to match the soaring arches and rose-windowed colored silent space of a cathedral.  There is a famous courtyard in the Manuelline style that was also breathtaking.

Me with the view from a mountain near Sintra