PORTUGAL, LISBON: WATERFRONT, SANTO ANTONIO CHURCH, AND GREAT FOOD

 June 22, 2022

Lisbon is a very walkable, pedestrian-friendly city. Most of what we wanted to see was within a few miles of our hotel. After our l-o-n-g day of travel, we still had just enough energy left to walk to what we thought were fairly close-by sites.

So off we went.

We passed by the Santa Justa Elevator (below, left), built between 1900 and 1902 to make it easier for Lisbonians (Is that a word?) and tourists to move between two levels of the city. We had read about the long lines and since there was nothing on the upper level that we wanted to see, we decided to bypass it.  I regret that now. It's such an iconic landmark; we should have investigated it more closely. 

We kept on walking down the pedestrian-only street, following our GPS directions to the main cathedral.

This is the premiere shopping area in Lisbon, at least for tourists, and I was sure that sometime during our planned four-day stay, we would get back here. Nope. *sigh*

Our GPS told us to turn left and head up a hill, but Bob told me we were going straight to see the Atlantic Ocean. After all, who could resist going through this magic portal?

 

We came out on Praca do Comercio, or Commerce Square, and were greeted by this giant head created by the single-named artist Hopare.

The head shares the space with a bronze statue of King José I, who reigned from 1750-1777. It was during his reign that a massive earthquake hit Lisbon and surrounding areas in 1755. The earthquake (7.7-9.0 on the Richter scale) and resulting fires and tsunami almost completely destroyed Lisbon and other cities all over the Iberian peninsula, and it killed somewhere between 12,000 and 50,000 people. This square was part of the rebuilding efforts, and King José was honored with the center spot in 1775.

The photo doesn't show that King José's horse is tromping on a slew of snakes, but look closely at the pediment and you'll see an elephant trampling a man. (The animal kingdom gets even.)

This view is looking back at the statue and the arch through which we entered the square. The arch is named Arco Triunfal da Rua, or "Triumphal Arch of the Street."

Dancing in the square between the king and the ocean was this gigantic polar bear. For a few euro, you could even take a photo with him. 

I'd rather take a picture with my own teddy bear.

Behind us is the Atlantic Ocean.

Before the 1755 earthquake, a grand marble staircase led from the sea to the royal palace.  These days there are some shallow stairs on a rectangle of concrete that provide seating for those who want enjoy the cool breeze.

Remnants of the original staircase? I'm not sure.

Well, time was passing and we needed to continue our journey that now appeared to be primarily uphill.  Not easy for two old fogies who had been on the road for almost 30 hours.

On our way up the hill, we stumbled (literally--we were tired) across this little gem, the Santo Antonio Church. According to tradition, this is where St. Anthony was born in 1195. Originally it was a house, but it was turned into a small chapel in the 15th century. Lest you think the building below is 800+ years old, don't forget the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. It destroyed most of the church, although the main chapel was miraculously left standing, The entire church was rebuilt in 1767 in its current form. The crypt beneath the church marks the spot where St. Anthony was born.

Actually, it was what was happening in the courtyard in front of the church that first captured my attention. Why were all these teenage boys standing around a statue?

After watching for a minute or so, we realized they were pitching coins onto the open book in St. Anthony's hands.

I learned the Pope John Paul II visited this church in 1982 and inaugurated this statue of St. Anthony, and that St. Anthony is the patron saint of marriage and lost things. We all need a St. Anthony in our life! His birthday, June 13, is a local holiday celebrated with parades and (of course) 200 to 300 marriages.

Those niches on the building next door (the Santo Antonio Museum) are filled with plastic flowers. . . 

. . . that match this wall of flowers. 

The interior of the church is Rococo-Baroque. The first photo was taken facing the altar and the second facing the organ loft on the other end of the room.

Looking up at the dome interior and down at the beautiful floor:

St. Anthony has the place of honor behind the altar:

We went back to tackling more of the interminable climb to the cathedral. Hey, wait! We're hungry and there is a cute place to eat--the Restaurante Alpendre! Alpendre means "front porch" in Portuguese.

The refrigerated window display looked interesting. Those are snails in the top left corner and cod in the bottom right.

We started with a phenomenal prosciutto and melon appetizer.

We followed that up with a second appetizer of delicious raw oysters. My entrée was a large dish of the best clams I've ever had. The were tender and juicy, probably because they were drowning in garlic butter. I also had bread for soaking up all the extra sauce.

Bob's entrée was perfectly cooked grouper, a fish he says he doesn't often see on a menu.

It was enough to fortify us for the final ascent to the cathedral--which, unfortunately, was closed when we arrived. But the restaurant discovery was worth it, and we came back for a second meal at the same restaurant when we came back to see the cathedral.

We continued our uphill climb to visit the Lisbon Castle.

READING

I searched for a book set in Portugal and came up with Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. It gets four stars in 2,903 reviews on Amazon, so I thought it was worth a try, even though I had never heard of the book or the author. It turns out that the author has written four international thrillers (this book being the most recent, released in May 2022), is the winner of both the Edgar and Anthony awards for best first novel, and was a book editor for nearly 20 years. 

The novel begins with a kidnapping in Lisbon and takes the reader through the twisting, narrow streets of the city and the equally twisting past of the main character. Clues are given along the way, but nothing is resolved until the surprising ending. I really enjoyed the references to places in Lisbon that we were seeing, as well as descriptions of Portuguese culture in general.

I purchased this book for my Kindle and began reading it a day or two before we left.  I could hardly put it down and finished reading it before our four days in Lisbon were over. I might have to try one of Pavone's other novels!