We returned to Lisbon 2 times within a month for various reasons. Each trip was wonderful. I couldn't come up with a single picture to represent this post, the first trip, so decided to use the Cristo Rei (Christ the King). He should be the center of our lives.
Trip 1 -- Mission and medical needs
When we arrived in Portugal, our visa was good only for 90 days. During that time you need to get a temporary residency card, which we did. However, that card is only valid for one year and thus, in April we needed to go back to Lisbon to renew it. Elder Broderick also needed to renew his driver's license as the law in Portugal is you HAVE to renew your driver's license when you turn 65! Sister Broderick's license is good until her magic 65 birthday next March and we will be in the USA by then. Dennis also had an eye appointment with an eye doctor to make sure all was well!
The good news: We had an appointment Wedensday morning for SEF (residency card) and it went pretty quickly -- not the very long waits that could happen. Good!!
Dennis had his mandatory doctor's appointment to make sure he was breathing, alive and could see well enough. Once we found the office (again), it was a quick in and out. Which was helpful as I was sitting in the car in maybe not so good place to park. That way, I could move the car if needed, which it wasn't. Very Good.
At that point, we were near the DMV equivalent in Portugal where you can't make an appointment. Last time we were there for 4 hours! We decided to take the chance and go even though it was later in the afternoon. We finally found a parking space nearby. It was a pay spot, but I stayed in the car to pay if needed and he went in to see how long the line was. He came out about 30 minutes later and was DONE!!! Very, Very Good!! Or Óptimo!! as they would say in Portuguese.
We now had ALL day Thursday to play until his doctor's appointment Friday morning. We were flying out late Friday afternoon. (And his eye is just fine!!! VERY, VERY, VERY, Good!)
So here is the fun!!
We arrived Tuesday afternoon and the office elders picked us up and took us to the Anderton's apartment/Self Reliant Center in the center of Lisbon. They were in the first day of a meeting of the various self-reliant leaders in several countries. We were so pleased that the countries included Cape Verde and renewed our friendship with 2 well-known friends!
James, on the left, lives on São Vicente and was in our branch in Mindelo.
Lucilino Mendonça lives in Praia and we worked with him in our humanitarian work.
It was wonderful to see them and catch up on their lives.
Here are our Cape Verde friends with the missionary couples who are the Self-Reliant specialists for the entire country of Portugal. They basically divide up the country in two and travel to the various wards and branches to help set up self-reliance groups. The Church has a wonderful programs to help members (or anyone who wants to attend) find/better employment, set up their own business, or get more schooling. The Education workshop is a requirement to get a PEF loan. In the middle of the group is Elder and Sister Anderton and the Neisweinder's are on the right. They have been in Portugal since November and February. They were very kind and generous to us, going on outings in the city and taking us where we needed to go. Thank you So Much, Elders and Sisters!!
Tuesday night was a quiet one for us. The Self-Reliance meeting group went to the aquarium and to dinner. We decided to stay at the apartment and relax. We took a late afternoon stroll along the busy Lisbon streets!
Lisbon, like most of Europe, uses roundabouts for cars to make their turns. (There are street lights, but the big intersections are roundabouts.)
And there is always some kind of decorations. Many of the big roundabouts have a sculpture, like on the right.
This is the statue of the Marquis of Pomball, a famous nobleman from the 1700's who was both hated for his power-grabbing atrocities and venerated for his great service to the Lisbon area after the 1755 earthquake that devastated the city.
Very near the apartment is the indoor bull-fighting arena. It is like
most sporting places with stores and things around the outer corridor.
The inside arena was very plush and beautiful, hardly what you would think a bull fight arena would look like. We could only see it
peeking through the windows in the doors. But the building is a big landmark in
the area.
Thursday was a completely open day! Elder and Sister Neiswender picked us up at the Anderton's apartment and we were off. We first tried to find parking in the big tourist place in Lisbon, but tourist season was just starting to heat up and where there was normally parking, everything was full. So, we decided to cross the 25th of April bridge. It is named for the day Portugal declared independence from the dictator, the same day we were married in 1974! It is also almost a carbon copy of the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge!
On the top of the hill above the southern anchorage, is the Cristo Rei monument. The above picture of the bridge is taken from the top of the monument.
At the base of the statue, looking up.
View looking down from the top of the monument!!
View of Lisbon across the river.
Proof we were both there!! It is nice to be with someone else to take a picture.
At the base of the monument was a sanctuary lined with very modern pictures, much different from the paintings in the older churches.
We drove back to Lisbon and this time went to the metro station, Marquis of Pombal, very close to the statue and took the Metro into the central city.
Once there, there are 3 main ways for a tourist to get around to the sites:
These 3-wheeled cars, called Tuks, are everywhere. To find a tourist to give a tour of the city, they drive around, looking for someone who looks like they would like a ride! You can also get one from the company 'store'. Some have room for only 2 customers, or like the one on the right, they can fit in more, if available.
Tuk Tuk is one of the companies.
You can walk or you can take the trolley, which was our choice. Much less expensive and much more adventuresome.
I enjoyed riding the trolley, looking at the shops as we past.
At one place, we were passing some trolleys stopped on the other side of the road. Unfortunately, there was a line of cars behind them and because of parked cars in their lane, they couldn't go around the other trolleys because we were there. We couldn't continue because the cars were in our lane. A real Trolley jam! Finally, some of the cars pulled over onto the sidewalk and the last 2 cars backed out of the narrow part and went on another road. We were free to move forward.
Go Portugal!!
We were on our way to the São Jorge castle way up on the hill. (Another fun part of the trolley -- reminded me somewhat of San Francisco!). We got off the trolley where you continued to walk up the hill to the
castle. But first we were hungry. We found a little cafe near the stop
and enjoyed lunch.
Castelo de São Jorge -- São Jorge Castle
OK, here is the history lesson, thank you again Widipedia. First, there is so much history to this place it is impossible to tell it all here. In brief: 60 BC, first fortifications probably built -- by Romans. 10th Century: Moors build a wall around it. 12th Century: the castle and the city of Lisbon were freed from Moorish rule in 1147 by Alfonso Henriques and northern European knights in the Siege of Lisbon during the Second Crusade. Then there were lots of renovations, wall building, and fortifications built. In 1498, King Manuel received Vasco da Gama when he returned from finding the route to India. The castle was damaged in the 1755 earthquake and basically was left to decay. It continued to house garrisons of soldiers, etc. In 1947, Salisar began some restoration and the work of preservation continued to today. So, very short, missing LOTS of details of kings and wars, and building this and that. but you get the general idea!!
View of Lisbon and the Tagus river from the walls of the castle.
One of the outer courtyards.
There is a walkway around the walls of the castle which gives you views of inside and out!
More walkway.
Looking down on an inside courtyard
Window in the wall looking over Lisbon.
Inside one of the complete buildings is a museum chronicling the many years -- really centuries -- of the castle's history.
Some of the original tile work.
Down near the restaurant where we had lunch was a church of the Maltese Christians with their Maltese Cross.
Across the street from the restaurant was a tile wall picture of Lisbon.
Thank you, Elder and Sister Neiswender for a very fun day!!!!
Eating is always a fun experience with friends. The Andertons and the Neiswenders are wonderful people and are doing a marvelous work despite many challenges. We love our fellow missionaries. They are truly the salt of the earth!
Friday -- the fun is not over yet!!!
After a longer than expected eye doctor's appointment (an hour or more to dilate an eye??), we didn't have a lot of time to sight see before our 6:00 flight that afternoon. With Lisbon a much larger and busier airport, I wanted to be there no later than 4:15.
When Dennis and Elder Anderton returned from the doctor's, it was basically lunch time so we found a nearby cafe to eat lunch and then launched out into the Lisbon streets. The Andertons have been here since November and during the low tourist time, it was easy to get from one place to another. But this Friday afternoon was a different story -- the tourists were arriving!!
First we went to a huge cemetery, one like I had never seen before. It was literally a little village of crypt houses. The windows and doors had curtains. You could look inside some of the windows and see the shelf-lined wall, sometimes each shelf with a casket, some with an empty shelf or two. At the end of the room, where you could see it from the window, was often a picture of the people whose caskets were on the shelves on a small table with flowers (assume fake) and other decorations. There was often a stained glass window letting in some light. It was quite the place. You almost expected someone to come out the doors or answer if you knocked.
A crypt and tree lined street
A mansion crypt!!
À
Memoria
dos
Bombeiros Municipais
de
Lisbon
1875
To the
Memory
of the
Municipal firefighters
of
Lisbon
1875
I can't find any particular event in 1875 with firefighters. So, don't know what this is about other than a general monument to firefighters.
At a Crossroad!
View of Lisbon from the walls of the cemetery.
We had just enough time to visit a church near the cemetery.
Here is modern, but very beautiful one.
We didn't take a photo of the one we visited, but here are some inside photos:
Time to go!! Slow traffic!!! But we get to the busy airport in enough time but not much to spare.
And home again to our peaceful, quiet island!
