Lisbon, exploring the city

I had a week off in September and an opportunity to travel with my daughter, who organized a trip to Lisbon. We flew from Venice airport and stayed in Lisbon for six days. Airbnb accommodation was booked in advance. She also organized tours of the city and its surroundings. In Lisbon's airport it is possible to buy a ticket that includes several modes of public transport: metro, trains, buses, and trams. Public transport is punctual and reliable, so moving between places didn't cause us too many problems. To be honest, I don't have such a sense of orientation as she does. Every day we walked a lot and talked, visited quite a few souvenir shops and her favourite stores, which are bookstores. It is possible to get books in English at quite reasonable prices. She bought a few of them and at the end of the week we managed to put them all in our suitcases.

Teden dopusta v septembru sem porabila za potovanje v Lizbono z mojo hčerko, ki je celoten izlet organizirala. Do Lizbone, kjer sva bili šest dni, sva šli z letalom iz Benetk. Prenočišče sva že vnaprej rezervirali preko RB&B. Tudi oglede mesta in okolice, si je zamislila ona. V Lizboni je že na letališču možno kupiti vozovnico, ki vključuje več načinov javnega transporta: metro, vlake avtobuse in tramvaje. Javni transport je točen in zanesljiv, tako da nama premikanje med kraji ni povzročalo preveliko težav. Povedano pošteno, njej je orientacija povzročala veliko manj težav kot meni. Vsak dan sva tudi precej pešačili in se pogovarjali, obiskali kar nekaj trgovinic s spominki in njej zelo ljube knjigarne, v katerih si lahko dobil knjige tudi v angleščini in po čisto razumnih cenah. Nekaj jih je kupila in ja na koncu tedna sva uspeli vse strpati v kovčke.

Lisbon is a lively city. We immediately noticed yellow trams, buildings covered with tiles, graffiti and street music. 

Lizbona je živahno mesto, tam najprej opaziš rumene tramvaje, stavbe prekrite s ploščicami, grafite in glasbo na ulicah.

On the first day we went to Belem tower (Torre de Belem), which was built in the 16th century. This is the place from where the Portuguese explorers boarded ships and sailed across the sea. I can't even imagine how long, and exhausting these journeys were.

Prvi dan sva se že zjutraj odpravili do Belem tower (Torre de Belem), postavljen v 16.-tem stoletju. Tu so se portugalski raziskovalci vkrcali na ladje in odpluli čez morje. Sploh si ne morem predstavljati kako dolga in izčrpljujoča so bila ta potovanja. 

Immediately after the tour, we tried the famous Portuguese pastry Pasties de Nata (pasties de Belem).

Takoj po ogledu sva poskusili znano portugalsko pecivo Pasteis de Nata (pasteis de Belem).

The Monument to the Discoveries in the vicinity was erected in remembrance of the explorers. Next to the monument is a map, showing the routes of the Portuguese voyages.

V bližini je Monument to the Discoveries, spomenik postavljen v spomin raziskovalcem. Poleg spomenika je zemljevid, ki prikazuje velika portugalska potovanja.

The Jeronimo’s Monastery was also built in the 16th century. We could only see a part of this magnificent building.

Tudi samostan Jerónimos Monasteryje bil postavljen v 16. stoletju. Ogledali smo si lahko le del te veličastne stavbe.

A little further the bridge Vasco da Gama over river Taja is located.

Malo naprej pa se lahko zazremo v most Vasco da Gama čez reko Tajo.

The most important square is the huge square Praça do Comercio, which can be reached by walking along the Avenida da Liberdade.

Glavni trg je ogromen Praça do Comércio, do katerega se lahko sprehodimo po Avenidi da libedrade.

Lisbon is full of buildings with patterned tiles, mostly in blue, but also those with pictures on the tiles.

Lizbona je polna stavb z vzorčastimi ploščicami, večinoma v modri barvi, pa tudi takih s slikami na ploščicah.

The oldest part of the city, and to me also the most charming one is Alfama. The best way to explore it is simply by getting lost in the streets and watching the shops and buildings and listening to fado singers and discovering some interesting viewpoints, such as the viewpoint of Santa Luzia with a charming view of the city. The city is built on seven hills and has many viewpoints, which are in the evening mostly crowded with visitors.

Najstarejši in vsaj meni najbolj očarljiv del mesta je Alfama. Najlepše ga je raziskovati tako, da se preprosto izgubiš med ulicami in opazuješ trgovinice, stavbe, pevce glasbe fado, tako, da odkrivaš razgledne točke, kot je Santa Luzija z očarljivim pogledom na mesto. Mesto je postavljeno na sedmih gričih in ima veliko razglednih točk, ki so predvsem v večernih urah polne obiskovalcev.

We took an educational trip to the National Tile Museum on a rainy morning and learned about tiles from the past and present. 

Ploščice nekoč in danes sva si ogledovali v muzeju ploščic (National tile museum) na deževno dopoldne.

Personally, I like these modern tiles with modern motifs.

Meni so zelo všeč tudi te moderne ploščice s sodobnimi motivi

While wandering around the city, we also stopped at the Santa Justa elevator, observed the Gloria elevator and tram no. 28. 

Med potepom po mestu sva se ustavili tudi pri dvigalu Santa Justa, opazovali dvigalo Elevador da Gloria in tramvaj št. 28.

We found some Lisbon graffiti, stopped at the Time out market with a variety of food supplies 

Poiskali sva nekaj lizbonskih grafitov in se ustavili na tržnici Time out market z ponudbo raznovrstne hrane

and drove to the LX Factory, a former textile factory, which has now been converted into a complex with many shops, bars, restaurants... Among them is this bookstore.

ter se odpeljali do LX Factorry. Stavba je bila nekdaj tekstilna tovarna, sedaj je preurejena v kompleks s številnimi trgovinicami, bari, gostilnami.. Med njimi je tudi tale knjigarna.