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EuroVicki
This time we decided to take a taxi/guide around the city. Alfama is the top of the city and we had a lovely overview. Our guide told us that in the old city the exteriors were tile before ww2, marble since 2nd war. Now new buildings are faced with glass and aluminum. The cable cars and trams run all over the city- the smaller went up the mountains and the trams are larger so stay on the flats. Rich people had big doors on their homes and poor people had small doors - joey took pix of this. Santa Maria the bigger (the name of this church) built on the site of a mosque in1200. Romana- gothic towers on the same church. The art inside was more of the gothic period. As we drove to the more commercial areas we saw black and white squares on the sidewalks and wee told that the colors represent the colors of the city of Lisbon flag. As we were heading for another city view we noticed some very old houses with plumbing added to the exterior.. Interesting! And the nearby plaza had a tiny kiosk so you could grab a coffee and sit .. And as I walked along then plaza I noticed squares of glass bricks on the ground and asked what's up with them-and he pointed to the stairs nearby- said the bathrooms were under the plaza and the glass bricks allowed natural light to filter in. Schiado- private house with beautiful painted walls. We drove to the other side of the city and saw a bridge designed by the same man as the Golden Gate Bridge, and at the other end of the bridge is the Christ the Redeemer statue built after the larger one in Rio de Janeiro. Belem tower was built in 1523 and in the same park we saw a statue representing the plane flown from Lisbon to Rio De Janeiro in 1922. Also a statue for all the Portuguese explorers. On the way back to the ship we passed an example of the new construction I mentioned earlier of glass and aluminum followed by the major commercial plaza for Lisbon. Back on the ship I participated in team trivia (which we lost), then a chocolate trivia (I won by 1 point) dinner, then Art For Dummies. By then we were so tired we retired to the cabin so we could watch MSNBC and I could recreate our day here.
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