spain trip day 9
Tuesday 29 november 2005 5:23am s’pore time
9:23pm portugal time
today we finally got to see Lisbon proper. The area around this hotel’s abit drabby, although the tour guide says that the area is considered a “gd neighbourhood”. Then we were brought straight to the old town center there to see their harbour, where there’s this castle and a monastery built in manuelsque fashion, an architectural style u can only see in Lisbon. Its named after one of portugal’s greatest monarchs who was the only one who used this decorative style. It looks quite similar to those elaborate carvings u see in those buildings dating from the renaissance in spain. At first glance, both style look the same, but if u look closer, the decoratives widely used in the 2 independent styles r quite different. Manuelsque style is quite interesting. Exotic.
And another thing. Both sites r declared world unesco heritage sites coz its extremely rare to see this style. U can only see this kind of décor in Lisbon, and in Lisbon itself, only 2 sites built in this style exsist/survive. the 2 sites being the castle and the monastery.
And there’s also a huge monument along the harbour dedicated to the Discovery. Discovery of the new lands. The Portuguese were historically quite avid explorers and discovered many new previously unheard of foreign lands. And becoz of this they cd stretch their power overseas, making them a very powerful naval power. South Africa, parts of south America, Malacca, the east indies, Australia, japan, korea…all where some of the places where they set foot on. Places where nobody set foot b4. some of them, they claimed as colonies, others they just used as trading ports (indirect rule haha). And so they became very rich. All this happened during king manuel’s time, and so he had the money to hire the best artists and architects of the time to work for him, giving rise to the manuelsque style.
Then after being awed by all this and the monastery, we were brought next door to the monastery there to this café. Here in this café, was where the famed Portuguese egg tart was invented. So we got the chance to try the original egg tarts, and I tell u these stuff is fantastic. Very different from those u have back home. The egg filling tastes about the same, just that here, the sweetness is just right. The difference lies in the crust, where here the original one’s flakier and thinner. Shiok. And the ambience is dam gd also. They have all these blue, well-decorated tiles, antique tables, lights, shelves and stucco cornices dating from the 19th century. So ambience is also very shiok. Its probably the most memorable experience we’ve had here in Portugal.
After that, we proceed for a 1 ½ hr drive to fatima. All along the way, I cdn’t doze off, as pple wd usually do in a long bus ride. Its probably the excitement, and a multitude of emotions and thoughts within me that kept me awake. On the look out for the first sight of the holy city. What am I going to do there first? Will we have enuff time? What kind of souvenirs will they b selling there? And all this kind of stuff.
And of course the moment finally came. We stopped for lunch first, not far from the shrine. So me, papa and mama faster eat finish then go downstairs to get some souvenirs and holy stuff/statues/rosaries/blah blah from this huge souvenir shop just selling all this kind. Ya bought a lot. Some for close family members, friends, and we also got something for father brys and Geraldine. Sean and his parents also we got something for them. Shop until song song then we all boarded the bus again.
Here in fatima they have a tradition. Pple who shop at this outlet (one of the main outlets here for selling this kind of things) wd b given some lucky draw tickets at the entrance. The tradition is that every tour bus wd have a lucky draw and the lucky one wd have this huge statue of the virgin. Of course we were hoping to get it as I think we r the only catholics in our tour group, but unfortunately the virgin didn’t chose us. It went to this young girl. So there must have been a reason and purpose for this choice. And shop shop already until very contented. So wif or w/o the statue wo men ye shi wu suo wei.
The basilica was huge. Grand but simple in décor. Quite unlike those cathedrals we’ve been seeing past few days. Sometimes too much can become very distracting, and I liked it simple this way. It wasn’t really an emotional moment for us la. Not so drama la. Lets b frank here. But it was very fulfilling. I cannot exactly describe this feeling in words. Tour guide gave us all 45 mins to see, walk around, and for pple like us, spend some quiet time in prayer. Other that also collected some holy water from this tap in the middle of the large square. Water comes from a spring flowing from under the basilica
So finally I can say I’ve been to fatima. And thank goodness we came in the off-peak seasons. In the so-called holy mths of may to oct, fatima’s quite packed wif pilgrims. I was afraid of this. But today when we went there, there were not as many pple there, so it was all a very pleasant experience. In the off peak mths fatima is actually quite a quiet town, set admist some huge national parks. And pleasant weather today too. Clear blue sky.
Heading back to Lisbon, I finally fell asleep, after all the excitement died down. Reaching Lisbon, we were brought to the main old town square, called rosio square. Sun had set/was preparing to set. Walked around and just enjoyed the ambience of the city and the night lighting that started to come out. And we didn’t buy any other souvenirs coz still feeling su ba tock after buying all we wanted at fatima. The old town is quite nice. Not as old as those in spain. Lisbon used to have those similar to those in spain, but an earthquake in the 18th century destroyed the entire town. So all the architecture here dates from 18th century onward. Few buildings dating b4 this survive, except perhaps some old monuments and the manuelsque monastery of San Jeranimo. And we were brought to some other sites as well. Right now, the one that stands out is hero’s square located next to the harbour. Quite a big space surrounded by grand government baroque buildings. Really a spectacle when they light it all up at night.
Lisbon to me is a city that kind of grows on u. its not so easy to fall in love wif the first time u see it, like the cities of Seville and Barcelona. First few times u look at it the overall impression u get is that the city’s quite drabby and sometimes messy, wif a fare share of ugly buildings built in bad taste (but still looks better than s’pore). Architecture wise, it of course can never hope to match those u see in those great and old spainsh cities of Toledo, Seville, Barcelona, Valencia. (Madrid I’ve yet to visit, so cannot comment now)
But Lisbon has its own charm. And I’m beginning to appreciate such charm. Part of the charm I think lies in the fact that becoz its now as nice as the other European counterparts, u really look out for the gems that lie hidden in those obscure nook and crannies of the city. Unlike in say Barcelona, where everythings so nice u sometimes take it all for granted. Its then that u reallt begin to fully appreciate its beauty and the city’s culture. And some of the Portuguese architecture and traditions can b quite unique and interesting.
alvin ong dozed and watched the sawdust trampled night @ 10:07 PM
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