We spent about a week in Lisbon Portugal and the surrounding areas including the quaint town of Sentra in late September 2012. The weather was perfect. The city is on the Atlantic but on the other side of the big pond from Charleston, SC our hometown. (See Location Map) We encountered many Europeans and quite a few Brazilians since they share the common language of Portuguese. We saw very few Americans on the trip. We learned that Lisbon is often considered by the Europeans as an economical vacation destination as opposed to Paris, London or Barcelona.
Pardon the date stamp on some of these photos. These were taken with a Canon G11 (date stamp shown) and with a HTC Android Incredible 2 smart phone. This was a fabulous area to hang out, drink eat and shop. At the end of the street is a large structure known as the Rua Augusta Arch. It is the entrance into the Praça do Comércio or Commerce Square. The stone arch was built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. The people of Lisbon (known locally as Lisboa) love to eat and outdoor dining is a huge tourist and local attraction. There are several long strips of restaurants with outdoor dining. Street entertainment is everywhere.
The architecture in Lisbon is amazing. We mainly hung out in the Baixa Pombalina or downtown Lisbon. The area was designed in 1755 by a historically significant architect known as Marquês de Pombal. His design is considered significant in the history of architecture. Most of the following photos are from the downtown area.
This was the main pedestrian thoroughfare that leads down to the arch and to the waterfront.
Fresh local fish was available everywhere.
The following six photos were all taken in the Baixa Pombalina district downtown Lisbon Portugal.
We took a street car down to the area of this castle. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and it was closed but it was very impressive from the outside.
This is a shot of the impressive buildings in the square near the waterfront.
You can’t see from the angle of the camera, but these buildings are on the waterfront at the Tagus River that discharges to the Atlantic Ocean. This was a tourist area where you could catch buses or a trolley to various locations around the area.
We took a bus trip westward to the town of Sentra and spent the day. On the way back to Lisbon, it traveled along the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean. The following three photos are from that day trip.
