Lisbon and Costa de Caparica
If we’d known in advance that RyanAir lets you buy a seat for your guitar at the time we booked, we would have saved 30E. Oh well, live and learn.
Rather than staying in Lisbon proper, we decided to base ourselves at the beach town of Costa de Caparica, about 8 miles to the south, where our AirBNB apartment sits only two blocks from the water. It is the training ground for surfers. As you walk on the 2.5km active boardwalk (complete with pictures of activities), you see anywhere from 20-40 surfers between each set of rock groins.
Some in classes from one of the many surf schools, and many practicing for areas further up the coast with more challenging waves (Nazare, on the praia de norte, has waves over 100 feet high).
Getting into Lisbon from Caparica can be done by bus (4.3E pp each way on the 161 and takes about 45 minutes), or by Uber – from 9-19E depending on time of day (taxis are also widely available and run about 25E). We’ve done both bus and Uber, and definitely prefer the Uber – the bus gets very crowded. On our first trip into town, we had chosen an address that we thought was in a tourist area near the water. Where we were dropped was not what we thought. Luckily, I saw a bell tower not too far in the distance, so navigating by bell tower led us up the hill and to the Clock Tower
next to The Palacio da Ajuda (the palace built after the earthquake discussed below).
This got us a bus to the main tourist area (2E pp).
Lisbon has been a thriving city for over a thousand years, and was the hub of the Portuguese expansion in the 15th -16th centuries. Portugal used its prowess in shipbuilding and adventurous leaders (Prince Henry the Navigator, Vasco de Gama) to conquer areas in Northern Africa, claim a large portion of South America, coastal India, and Macau. The city reflects its heritage, though many of the buildings seen today are actually from the 18th century. In 1755, a massive earthquake (now estimated at 7.7-8.0) hit Lisbon on All Saints Day, followed by a massive tsunami and fires. Over 80% of the city was destroyed, and well over 12,000 people died (with estimates up to 50,000). For the rest of his life, King Joseph I lived in a giant royal tent due to fears of falling walls (and he wasn’t in the city at the time of the quake). Other leaders regrouped, and within days began planning the new city with wider streets, grand squares and parks – creating the first modern European city.
The Castle of St. George tops the skyline, and through several versions was a ruler’s residence, whether Governor or King, from approx. 48BC until the 16th century when King Manuel I built Ribeira Castle near the Tagus River. When an earthquake hit the area in 1531, the castle fell into disrepair. Projects off and on over the next hundred years kept the building standing, and it was eventually converted into military barracks and a prison.
Today, wandering the grounds is free for Lisbon residents, for the rest of us, it costs 10E for adults and 5 for seniors and children. Some of the towers have limited hand holds near the top of steps, so proceed with caution.
Since it is a city next to the sea, there are fortresses near the waterfront. The Belem tower, built in the 16thcentury, acted both as a ceremonial place of embarkation as well as an essential fortification.
Nearby, the Museum of Maritime Culture resides in the former Jeronimos Monastery.
As you would imagine, seafood plays a big part in the local diet. One of the most popular is a cod custard pastry (not like an American sweet custard, eggs and cream with cod in a flaky crust – more like a cod pot pie).
Rice and seafood dishes, similar to Spanish paellas but more like stew, are also common. Bolos are a sweet type of bread, like a pan dolce, often filled with jams or chocolate and are a breakfast staple.
We spent a week in the area, and did a day trip to Sintra about 30 miles north of Lisbon (the next post). We thought about heading to Nazare, or other nearby cities, but it’s really nice walking by the beach.
In the meantime, enjoy a sunset.
Had no idea of the Lisbon earthquake history!
They have a museum called “the Story of Lisbon” – which is very interesting, and the second part of the museum is dedicated to the recovery from the earthquake. They also made fun of the king for being so paranoid and living the rest of his life in a giant tent.