# Lisbon



## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

I recently went to Lisbon for six nights.

It was a somewhat unsuccessful trip, if I'm honest; mostly my own fault as inadequate research and last-minute booking led to me sleep deprived in a noisy hotel, and I struggled to photographically perambulate as ambitiously as I normally do, given the very hot weather and steep hills. So I should really have more, better photos than I do. But everything I did manage to see was fantastic, and a handful of my photos came out pretty nicely. I definitely want to go back and do it again properly some time.

Arrival

Moments like this are why I always book a window seat. A sight of Europe's longest bridge, the Ponte Vasco da Gama:


Ponte Vasco da Gama by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

You can actually see Lisbon airport below that, but first we looped right around the Tagus estuary, to land from the other direction. Snapping the Lisbon-area coastline proved to be fortuitous as I ended up visiting Carcavelos beach, seen left of centre in the first shot:


Aerial Lisbon metro area coast (Parede, Carcavelos, Oeiras) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Costa da Caparica (aerial) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Then we descended over the historic Aqueduto das Águas Livres, which I also visited later in the week:


Aqueduto das Águas Livres from the air by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Aqueduto das Águas Livres from the air by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Then some glimpses of Lisbon's more modern urbanity as we came in to land.


Aerial Lisbon (Benfica stadium) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Aerial Lisbon by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Aerial Lisbon (Sporting stadium) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Aerial Lisbon by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

I do love an airport with a metro/rail link. A sign of a first-class city in my experience.


Metro entrance (Aeroporto) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Metro entrance (Aeroporto) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Arriving at my hotel. Nice view.


Balcony view (Rua Dom Pedro V) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Balcony view (Rua Dom Pedro V) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Bairro Alto

I was staying in the Bairro Alto or "Upper District" which as the name suggests is on top of a (rather steep) hill. This affords some excellent views, such as these down streets:


Calçada Eng. Miguel Pais by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. São Marçal by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. Cecílio de Sousa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Calçada Eng. Miguel Pais (zoom) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

And the views from the splendid *Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara*, just down the road from my hotel. I hung out here most nights, reading my book and enjoying an ice cold beer sold by a nice roving Indian chap who used to live in Hounslow (said he much prefers Lisbon, heh). A lively place well past midnight, the lower deck where local teens drank, smoked and snogged, on the upper deck fado buskers serenading tourists. I really should have taken better photos in better light, but I took these on the first day then didnt take any more thinking I'd only overload myself with repetition. 


Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Castelo de São Jorge from Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Lisbon Cathedral from Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Around *Bairro Alto* by day


Purple trees / Rua Dom Pedro V by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rua Dom Pedro V by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Tv. Guilherme Cossoul by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Bairro Alto by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Ascensor da Bica by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Bairro Alto by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Golden hour, sunset, dusk and night in *Bairro Alto*


Golden hour at Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Golden hour on Praça do Príncipe Real by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Golden hour on Rua do Loreto by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Golden hour on Calçada do Combro by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rua do Sol a Santa Catarina by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. Fernandes Tomás by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Miradouro de Santa Catarina by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Bairro Alto backstreet at dusk by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Bairro Alto clock by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

The area is very lively with nightlife which I totally failed to capture.


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Graffiti in Bairro Alto


MUL / DITO by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Graf on R. João Pereira da Rosa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


SOTE by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


DITO by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


GIF by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


FUP by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


DITO by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Tn (!?) / DITO by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


War on buff: Writers 1 - 0 CML by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Elevador da Glória

From near Bairro Alto's summit it's a very short walk down Calçada da Glória to Baixa, the "Lower Town" or effectively "downtown". But it's rather more taxing walk _up_. Hence the Elevador da Glória was born. You can pay tourist silly money with cash, or a more reasonable amount from your metro smartcard, so it took it many times when feeling lazy, though slogged up on foot a few times too.


Elevador da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

There are boards set up here for legal grafiti / street art:


Legal graffiti on Calçada da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Legal graffiti by Calçada da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Legal graffiti by Calçada da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Not that that stops the walls and vehicles from being painted:


Elevador da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


ASTER by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Graffiti by Calçada da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Graf / street art on Calçada da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Street art on Calçada da Glória by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Baixa

The elevador drops you into Restauradores: 


Praça dos Restauradores by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Immediately you can see from the scale of this square that we are dealing with a very different urban character here, a grand, planned, Enlightenment city. It is also known as the _Baixa Pombalina_ after the Marquess of Pombal, who was prime minister in the period after the 1755 earthquake flattened most of Lisbon, and who took the lead in rebuilding the city according to this ambitious and orderly plan, with its grid system of wide streets, quasi-uniform facades of the earthquake-resistant _Pombaline_ style buildings, and large squares, dazzlingly crisp and white, furnished with epic civic monuments and institutions.


Teatro Nacional / Praça Dom Pedro IV by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Looking down into Praça Dom Pedro IV by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Fountain, Praça Dom Pedro IV by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rossio station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

I really wish I'd got a daytime shot of Rossio station, it's simply one of the most glorious facades I've ever seen.


Rua da Prata by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rua da Conceição by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Fado & Wine by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


I know the feeling by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


A grand bank by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

This all culminates as you walk through the Rua Augusta Arch and into the Praça do Comércio, overlooked by the castle, where Baixa meets the river.


Rua Augusta by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Praça do Comércio by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Praça do Comércio by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Lisbon beach / 25 de Abril bridge by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Triangle shadows by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Baixa is linked with the *Chiado* district via a double-ended Metro station:


Baixa-Chiado Metro station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

And the Elevador de Santa Justa. From 1902. I didnt go on, the queues were big, I wish I had found time though.


Elevador de Santa Justa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Elevador de Santa Justa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Elevador de Santa Justa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Elevador de Santa Justa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


View from Convento do Carmo by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

(It takes you to the Convento do Carmo, whose ruins were preserved in memory of the 1755 earthquake, and which I wanted to see but was unexpected closed at short notice for the exact days I was present and available to do so. See what I mean about it being a partly unsuccessful trip...)


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Chiado

Chiado lies mid-way between Baixa and Barrio Alto in both a literal geographic sense and also in terms of urban and architectural feel. Sharing the crisp Italianate squares and restrained Pombaline chic of Baixa, but with the grand scale and extreme regimentation replaced with a dose of Barrio Alto's dense, chaotic hillside seaport vernacular.


Convento do Carmo by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Chafariz do Carmo by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Steps by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. do Alecrim by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. do Alecrim by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. Garrett by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Chiado renovation by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Azulejos #17 by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Twilight azulejos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rua de S. Paulo by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Lisbon sunset by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Lisbon sunset by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Burger joint by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Musicians by the Metro station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Staircases by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## ashton (Nov 1, 2005)

I love this thread.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Great, very nice photos from Lisbon :cheers:


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Fine thread, Steve!
The last picture (stairs) is only one of many, many very impressive ones! kay:


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## capricorn2000 (Nov 30, 2006)

fantastic, the city is much beautiful at ground level.


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## AbidM (Apr 12, 2014)

What a beautiful city, hilly cities really do have a certain appeal to them.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Lisbon really does look like a fabulous city. I’ve heard only good things.

Are you back living in London now?


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

cheers all for stopping in. Alfama, Castelo, Parque das Nações, Belem and various other things still to come 

Jane - nope, Bristol until further notice. at the moment I am hoping to move to the EU next year (Lisbon put itself right on the shortlist!), so there's no point moving again before that, but we'll obviously have to wait and see if that works out...


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Gare do Oriente

Most normal people, having got their bearings of the basic city centre, would proceed to visit the Castle, Cathedral, the World Heritage architecture in Belém, one of the many major museums perhaps...

I am not very normal, so I went to visit.... a train/bus station.

I have always been a bit of a fan of Santiago Calatrava's work in photographs but as far as I can rack my brains, I've never seen any of his work in person, so the *Gare do Oriente* was very much on my list. And not having planned properly I picked that more or less randomly on my first day as somewhere to go. With hindsight this was yet another failure on my part as that would have been open any day, whereas other things I wanted to see turned out to be closed on later days... but never mind.

inside:


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

outside:


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

climbed a nearby hill to a derelict would-be building site for an overlook:


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Gare do Oriente by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


I wanted to get a train from there back to central lisbon so i could photograph the platforms but, guess what... my poor planning strikes again, there wasnt another train for ages, the ticket guy just shrugged and told me to get the metro instead. i was getting hungry and didnt fancy the wait, so i did :/

obligatory graf shot 


QUE? by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Parque das Nações

Gare do Oriente was built to serve the new _Parque das Nações_ (Park of Nations) district, built for the '98 Expo.

Now as an (ex) London when I hear "new build district to the east of the city, served by transport links with futuristic architecture" I think, "aha, the Canary Wharf of Lisbon". And indeed the station did remind me somewhat of the Jubilee Line Extension, in all its sci-fi concrete spaciousness, but a better analogy overall would be the South Bank ("riverside district with a high concentration of cultural venues and interesting touristy things to enjoy").

Of course I'd just spent an hour or so taking photos of a bus station, so by the time I got to the Knowledge Pavillion - closed. Cable car - closed. D'oh! I'd also intended to walk up to the Vasco da Gama bridge for a closer look, but it was getting late, the light was already fading... so, yeah, my stupid lack of planning cost me again.

The handful of shots I mustered:


Pavilhão de Portugal by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Pavilhão de Portugal by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Oceanário de Lisboa by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Pavilhão do Conhecimento by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Lock / cablecar / bridge / boardwalk by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Ponte Vasco da Gama by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Cable car / Ponte Vasco da Gama by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

AbidM said:


> What a beautiful city, hilly cities really do have a certain appeal to them.


indeed they are fertile ground for photography imo, unfortunately I naively assumed that May=Spring=pleasantly warm, in fact it was 30+ sometimes which to me is beyond warm into outright hot, so i had a very love/hate relationship with the hills! :lol:


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Amoreiras

The next day was my last full day and I'd hardly seen or "done" anything except some general pottering around town between miradouros. I'd already written off my planned day trip to Sintra as too much hard work, now my head was saying I really must go to the world heritage sites of Belém, but my heart was favouring another dose of nerdy infrastructure hunting, and the latter won.

So I strode off purposefully through the Amoreiras district grabbing just a handful of quick snaps as I went...


Mãe d'Àgua aqueduct by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Azulejos #15 by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rua das Amoreiras by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Azulejos #16 by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


R. Prof. Sousa da Câmara by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Graf on Calçada dos Mestres by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Aqueduto das Águas Livres

My destination was the Aqueduto das Águas Livres, which I'd flown over on the way in:



> Aqueduto das Águas Livres from the air by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr
> 
> 
> Aqueduto das Águas Livres from the air by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


The aqueduct was completed shortly before the 1755 earthquake, but the engineering was so sound that it survived, and suvives today. And for the princely sum of 3 euros you can walk across it. Awesome.

Less awesome was the fact that somewhere around here I did something stupid to my camera, goodness knows what, but a good 50-70% of my shots for the rest of the afternoon were useless. I 'lost' many good views from the aqueduct, and in particularly I don't really have any good shots _of_ it. Which is why I resorted to quoting the aerial ones again.

Inside, it looks like this:


Inside the Aqueduto das Águas Livres by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Some views... complex road junctions beneath us to the left, the big railway station of Campolide to the right... with some crazy people walking across the tracks:


Roads in the Alcantara Valley by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Campolide station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Crossing the tracks, crazy by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

To the north, some rather ugly mid-rise hotels:


Lisbon hotels by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

But closer to the viaduct, a more traditional architecture evident in the Bairro de Liberdade district, huddled below the arches on the western side of the valley:


Aqueduto das Águas Livres by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Colourful houses by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rooftops from the Aqueduto das Águas Livres by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Get to the end, sadly no option to enter the huge park on that side of the valley, you just have to turn around and come back. Some views looking east towards Amoreis / Campolide: 


Aqueduto das Águas Livres by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Lisbon hillside by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Sweeping road by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

More rooftops of Bairro da Liberdade:


Rooftops of Bairro da Liberdade by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rooftops of Bairro da Liberdade by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

And finally, the transport/infrastructure nerd's dream, the southward view over the tangle of roads and railways leading up to the 25 de abril bridge:


Transport infrastructure along the Alcantara Valley by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


25 de Abril bridge and approach systems by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## TeKnO_Lx (Oct 19, 2004)

Great photos, I´m lisboet although living in the UK right now. Unfornately I have to say that you miss perhaps the best part of town - Belem. For me is the best place to walk/jog/cycle in Lisbon (7 km waterfront from Cais Sodre to Belem). You would also enjoy the new MAAT museum. Lisbon is a great place to live, the only bad part is the general economy and public transport that must be improved (also too much tag/graffite). . It´s interesting how Porto is actually more clean and has less grafittes than Lisbon. The drug sellers are also a major hassle in Baixa. But the wide array of beaches (árrabida, Carcavelos, Costa da Caparica, Guincho, Praia Grande etc) and the climate make this city (metropolitan area) a wonderful place to live neverthless of all the problems


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

I did actually make it to Belem on my last day. Very rushed/brief visit though. 

The public transport seemed quite good to me, but of course that was a tourist, not in a hurry. 6 minute headways on the metro has lots of room to improve in future, at least. I never took a tram since they seemed way too overcrowded. It seemed odd to me there were heritage/tourist trams operating the road past my hotel, but no "real" trams, despite it being clogged with cars. I wonder if more tram routes could be reinstated.

Graffiti I generally like although it was quite rampant on nice old buildings which i find a bit of a shame, when there are more "suitable" shabby buildings to work on, but that's a whole complicated argument really. Most of the Baixa "vendors" left me alone with a simple "no", although one of them was very difficult to get rid of.

I've heard that Porto is very nice. Actually in the queue at the airport I was talking to a Portuegese government minister (!?) who said she was from the north and preferred it to the Lisbon, too big and busy for her taste. I wonder which area has the best chance of finding work as a non-portuguese speaking web developer, lol


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Various stuff

After the aqueduct I completed the day with a typically disorganised / partially unsuccessful amble around north-ish parts Lisbon. First past this graf and interesting building which I think was a prison...


Graffiti on Rua Marquês de Fronteira by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Graffiti on Rua Marquês de Fronteira by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Rua Marquês de Fronteira by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


...to reach Parque Eduardo VII, the "top end" of the grand planned Avenida-Baixa axis, with sweeping views down the hill to the riverfront square visited earlier. Except when I turned up they were preparing for some sort of gig or festival, so there was scaffolding and trucks all over the money shot.

On the bright side (literally), were these colourful stalls. Also spotted possibly the nicest public toilet architecture ever? 


Parque Eduardo VII by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Nicest public toilet architecture ever? by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Nicest public toilet architecture ever? by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Then over to Entrecampos station, for a look at the Campo Pequeno (bullring, now arts venue), and a nice ornate building opposite. I wish heritage building owners wouldnt hang these huge irl banner ads on them. I mean, I know they have to survive etc, but from an architectural photography point of view it's a running grumble with me... Ah well, camera was still on some stupid wrong setting so none of my shots were properly sharp anyway!


Entrecampos station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Campo Pequeno by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Campo Pequeno by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Junta de Freguesia Avenidas Novas by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## TeKnO_Lx (Oct 19, 2004)

stevekeiretsu said:


> I did actually make it to Belem on my last day. Very rushed/brief visit though.
> 
> The public transport seemed quite good to me, but of course that was a tourist, not in a hurry. 6 minute headways on the metro has lots of room to improve in future, at least. I never took a tram since they seemed way too overcrowded. It seemed odd to me there were heritage/tourist trams operating the road past my hotel, but no "real" trams, despite it being clogged with cars. I wonder if more tram routes could be reinstated.
> 
> ...


You´re right about trams. in the couple last years tourist have "taken" them, and there hasn´t been enough investment to buy more. They´ve become tourist traps (hence expensive Carris green trams for tourists) and heavens for pickpockets, while the locals are "obliged" to the buses.

From 2017, the council owns Carris, and they want to reinstall old tram lines that were deactivated (e.g #24 tram from Cais Sodre -Amoreiras). Probably also to diminuish the pressure from the famous #28.

The metro has suffered from financial restrictions and that´s why the bigger waiting times and the relative small network. Although they want to change that as the economy is recovering finnaly. 

One thing good is the great amount of cycle lanes they have been building lately though. A biking share scheme is due to start in September

IMO, both Porto and Lisbon are quite easy to get a job for your field. Lisbon is going quite "mainstream" at the moment in IT and Entrepreneurship (websummit) with loads of opportunities appearing every month (an example https://blog.pipedrive.com/2017/02/pipedrive-opens-office-lisbon/). I wouldn´t say is a cheap city to live, although it wins to London and Paris in every aspect.

Comparing with Porto, is bigger, sunnniest, has better beaches (more variety) and is more "trendy". Also more dirty and caotic. Public transport is worst I would say. The Light Rail system in Porto is a delight. Porto is a little bit more "authentic" and less touristic, but that is changing as it´s becoming more popular. 
I recommend you to visit both places. Neverthless with so many foreigners in Lisbon (students, nomads) you can live without actually bumping into portuguese ppl and learning portuguese is not really necessary. 

Nice photos, really appreciated


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## ashton (Nov 1, 2005)

^ Beautiful pictures.


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Bravissimo! :applause:

Pure joy to look at your pics, Steve!


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## Skopje/Скопје (Jan 8, 2013)

Lisbon is so charming and beautiful city. Thanks for the photos.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Interesting commentary too......


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## marlonbasman (Apr 21, 2012)

interesting city with varied colors and designs.


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

thanks everyone for your views/likes/comments 



TeKnO_Lx said:


> You´re right about trams. in the couple last years tourist have "taken" them, and there hasn´t been enough investment to buy more. They´ve become tourist traps (hence expensive Carris green trams for tourists) and heavens for pickpockets, while the locals are "obliged" to the buses.


yes i noticed that, they were not only too crowded for me to want to use them in general, but specifically, crowded with tourists clutching their DSLRs and guidebooks (like me!) and no clue how to board quickly (seriously, how hard is it to get the viagem card thing and stick a bunch of credit on it) etc etc. making it quite useless as genuine transport for locals. sad and vicariously embarrassing



> From 2017, the council owns Carris, and they want to reinstall old tram lines that were deactivated (e.g #24 tram from Cais Sodre -Amoreiras). Probably also to diminuish the pressure from the famous #28.
> 
> The metro has suffered from financial restrictions and that´s why the bigger waiting times and the relative small network. Although they want to change that as the economy is recovering finnaly.
> 
> ...


good stuff, i hope the expansion comes to lisbon. i didnt realise Porto had such an extensive system, i looked it up after your comment and i'm impressed. seems ahead of what comparably sized cities here have generally got.



> IMO, both Porto and Lisbon are quite easy to get a job for your field. Lisbon is going quite "mainstream" at the moment in IT and Entrepreneurship (websummit) with loads of opportunities appearing every month (an example https://blog.pipedrive.com/2017/02/pipedrive-opens-office-lisbon/). I wouldn´t say is a cheap city to live, although it wins to London and Paris in every aspect.
> 
> Comparing with Porto, is bigger, sunnniest, has better beaches (more variety) and is more "trendy". Also more dirty and caotic. Public transport is worst I would say.
> I recommend you to visit both places. Neverthless with so many foreigners in Lisbon (students, nomads) you can live without actually bumping into portuguese ppl and learning portuguese is not really necessary.
> ...


cool, thanks for the info. btw if you want to see pics from my prior visit to portugal (madeira): http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1691242


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## General Electric (Sep 12, 2010)

Awesome updates, various and well presented! The city looks very nice kay:


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Belém

So, my final day, with a plane to catch mid afternoon i dont have long, but I decide I can't go home without seeing Belém at all, even if it is a rather stupidly 'flying' visit.

So, to Cais do Sodré station, onto a graffiti-covered train and past graffiti-covered trackside/dockside (post)industrial buildings, most of which I couldn't capture but I did just about get another one of that dog seen earlier.

Also, having caught this train previously to go to the beach, I knew if I got my timing _exactly_ right there was a nice shot of the Christ statue lining up perfectly underneath the 25 de abril bridge. In the end I didn't get my timing exactly right, but eh, not bad for only having one attempt.


Train approaching Cais do Sodré by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


GOLA (runner) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


dog / KL'S by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Ponte 25 de abril from the train by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Sat on the train, mid-morning, I decide to check my guidebook for any last-minute tips on things to see, and read something like "all the cruise ship visitors flood Belém at mid-morning, so go any time except then". Oops.

It wasn't wrong. There were so many coach parties turning up that it actually gridlocked the main road and the police had to turn up to sort it out.

So I could try and get some closer cropped shots to make the _Padrão dos Descobrimentos_ (Monument of the Discoveries) look all clean and epic, but any wider shot revealed the crowds and (rather irritating) selfie-stick / shit sunglasses hawkers


Padrão dos Descobrimentos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Padrão dos Descobrimentos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Padrão dos Descobrimentos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Padrão dos Descobrimentos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Padrão dos Descobrimentos / Ponte 25 de abril by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Same deal at the Torre de Belém. No time to go in and look around, huge crowds kill any hope of clean exterior shots. Plus it's painfully hot and I'm nervous about making it back to the airport in time. So, rather ridiculously, having spent all this money and come all this way to lisbon I spent about 10 seconds looking at one of the star attractions and taking two crappy half hearted point-and-click shots before moving on...


Torre de Belém by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Torre de Belém by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

So I tried to find a slightly quieter 'back route' to the other half of Belem's world heritage site, coming across this graffiti/street art on the way.


RAZE(?) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


SCK by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Street art raccoon by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Then passing by the Cultural Centre. I really wish I'd had more time to explore this building and seek out more details of shape, texture, shadow; it was right up my street.


Centro Cultural de Belém by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Centro Cultural de Belém by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

WoW! Stunning images again, Steve!


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos - ditto previous comments - crowded, hot, short on time, etc, so I came away with a rather shamefully bad haul of drive-by snaps, for such an architectural epic


Mosteiro dos Jerónimos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Mosteiro dos Jerónimos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Mosteiro dos Jerónimos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Mosteiro dos Jerónimos by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

Then back through a nice park to the station and onto a train...


R. Belém by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Jardim Afonso de Albuquerque by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Runner through Belém by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

A brief moment to savour the nice light in the art-deco Cais do Sodré...


Cais do Sodré station by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

and then back out into the melee, beginning the long multimodal journey home...


Bollards by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Love the Monument of the Discoveries. Belem looks wonderful!


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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

Impressive updates kay:


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

This nice street art brought me a smile in the morning - thank you, Steve! 



stevekeiretsu said:


> Street art raccoon by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Very interesting Cultural Center!
Love #54 as a whole, and I adore the second last pic in #57 because of it's great light/shadow! :applause:


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## Why-Why (Jul 20, 2016)

An intriguing taste of Belem and amusing commentary, Steve.


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## General Electric (Sep 12, 2010)

Stuning updates


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## stevekeiretsu (Sep 25, 2011)

Window seat shots on departure:


Takeoff from Lisbon airport by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


A36, Lisbon (aerial) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr


Apelação (aerial) by stevekeiretsu, on Flickr

and that's all folks


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Thank you for showing us, Steve! kay:


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