Walk with me through the streets of Lisbon, PORTUGAL (Part1)

in #photography7 years ago (edited)

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"Hey, wait for me guys!" is what I often found myself saying while looking at my Steemit feed during the month of November, upon returning home from Steemfest.
It seemed everyone and their mother was producing a post on Lisbon! Meanwhile, I sat there processing my trip and letting it sink in. Yeah, I'm not the fastest Steemian out there...

Now let's be honest, with the outpouring of Lisbon posts you all read carefully (wink wink), if I were to quiz you on the basic facts of this amazing city, you would have no problem answering everything correctly. "Riiiight!" I hear you say.

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So, in the hope that I'll be bringing something new to the table, let's go for a walk through "my" sunny LISBON, Portugal.

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As you may have noticed from one of my previous posts, I am a huge fan of mosaics. I can only let you imagine how excited I was at the mere thought of visiting Lisbon, a city where mosaics can be found around each and every street corner in an incredible variety of artistic patterns.

The tiles are appropriately called Portuguese pavement or calcada portuguesa. They are painstakingly laid down by hand, following a process created hundreds of years ago.



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Being typically used in sidewalks, it is in squares and atriums that this art finds its deepest expression.



Sadly, very little new paving is done nowadays, and the entire profession is finding itself at risk. The long hours and low wages typical of calceteiros have reduced apprenticeships and thus new pavers.
Watch this short video to give you an idea of how Portuguese pavements are made:


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After living years in Hong Kong and discovering the magic of commuting on old colonial style tramways, I truly never thought I would find anything similar to rival with.
Enter Lisbon - a serious competitor!
The tramway network in the city has been operating since 1873 and is a much needed addition to the buses, metro, and fun tuk tuks (what?! tuk tuks here? weird). With Lisbon being built on 7 hills or colinas, catching a tram is often almost life saving!
A word of advice for the ladies: don't bring your heels. You'll most likely end up breaking them or coming home with a pretty little cast :)


Typical cobblestone street

Street view from Tramway rails



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Lisbon or Lisboa does not lack in charming gardens, squares, and vistas. After walking for miles (or so it seemed) up and down the hilly city, taking a break in the sunshine while stuffing my face on a couple of pastel de nata - a delicious Portuguese egg tart - was more than welcome.



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*****

In the oldest quarter of the city, Alfama, you’ll find steep steps, winding alleys, and narrow old streets which give it a unique atmosphere.

You may still be mesmerized by what is at your feet, but don't forget to look up and sideways!

Aside from the impressive neverending mosaic sidewalks and cobblestone roads, you will be surprised to see that Lisbon's artistic feel also takes form on its walls.

Below is a collage of some of the ceramic tiles which adorn the facade of most buildings. I've put together the photos of the prettiest blue ones I could find in the city. Fifty (thousand) shades of blue!



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More details on Portuguese ceramic tiles in Part 2 of this series



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Just when I thought Lisbon couldn't possibly testify to more creativity, I realized that almost every tiny bit of wall has been used as a canvas.

I was very excited to see that one of my favourite graffiti artist had also made it to Lisbon. After seeing his "Exit love" signature graffiti successively in Naples, Florence, then Berlin, it was funny to notice he has also made it to Lisbon and made sure to let us know.



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Labyrinth lines and patterns

Sticker war gone haywire



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And here's a photo of me taking a break after walking all day through the city, with yet another epic graffiti in the background wall - An art piece denouncing Europe's controversial behaviour/policies when faced with the influx of refugees.

Have you ever been to Lisbon or another beautiful city in Portugal?

Do you know of a city which is as esthetically pleasing to the eye as Lisbon?

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Be sure to catch Part 2 of my walk around the beautiful city of Lisbon to learn more about ceramics, feast on some seriously wild street art, and discover its rich architecture.

All photos in this post were taken with my SONY Xperia Z3 (except for the last one - that's @abh12345's photo)

Please don't hesitate to leave comments, share ideas, upvote/resteem.

To check out some of my previous posts, click on the links below:

Map Location: !steemitworldmap 38.7223 lat 9.1393 long LISBON D3SCR



“Learning is not a race for information, it is a walk of discovery” - Jane Healy

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You really have a keen eye for the details :) Lovely trippy azulejos :)

Thank you so much @herverisson. They are super trippy and colorful!

tell you what you can get FIT very quickly walking around lisbon. i'll be back, i absolutely loved the city..

Yeah that's for sure. Would have been nice to meet you and @dayleeo there for Steemfest!

So much art and culture! Love it :)

I miss the trams in Hong Kong (it's where I was born and raised!), what brought you to live there?

Thanks @redrica. I was there for over 3 years. Teaching in a Montessori school... absolutely love HK :)

How cool! My eldest went to a Montessori nursery here in the UK, before I started Home educating her, we loved it :)

Hong Kong absolutely needs more alternative education than what it has now, things are so tough for kids nowadays there :/ Where was the school you taught in?

It sure does. Unfortunately too many people, not enough schools in HK. And it's getting worse each year. I'll find you on Discord to tell you all.

What a beautiful pictures you made in Lisbon. I was there between Christmas and New Year a couple of years ago. I rode the tram and also saw some beautiful mosaics. Your pictures were a memory refresher, thank you for that.
I only discovered about a month ago that you and Asher were a couple. So nice to 'know' you two!
Are you already in Burgundy? I read a post from @morvanliving that the weather isn't very good at the moment. I hope it will be better soon and if not there are always the beautiful little churches and museums to visit or just relax with your family.

Yes, it's always a bit tricky to know who knows who on Steemit. Asher is the one who introduced me to it, and it's been quite the ride so far!
I just got to Burgundy and will be visiting the museum you told me about hopefully next week. For now it's food and family mode :) So happy you are connected with @morvanliving as well. Her blogs are excellent!
Thank you @clio. Enjoy the festivities with the family!🎄

You too, I hope you have a wonderful time with your family.
And I hope you write a post about the museum in Autun!

Thank you dear. I will try for sure.

Beautiful! And the Blog post too :D

Hey, who was the camera-person for the last photo? I think they did a great job!

Haha! I started giving you the credits and then I erased it. Too much blabla! But everyone knows now :)
💓

This is the best Lisbon post I’ve seen! Well written and wonderfully observed. I look forward to part 2! 😊

Thank you so much Lisa 😊 Part 2 coming soon!

Oh my goodness, I LOVE your Lisbon tour!! Such gorgeous mosaics and watching the video I thought about how great it would be to introduce these people to Steemit where they could blog about their work and gather funding to create their beautifully crafted works.

Your photos are stunning - that first one is among the very best I've seen of this much photographed view - and your stories have a lovely pace and show your perceptive, curious and humorous sensibility. I looked at this post twice :-)

That would be a brilliant idea... if only it were easier to explain steemit to others. I find it takes so much convincing and explaining.. but on the plus side, I feel I am improving my marketing skills. My "Steemit speech" gets better every time :)
Thank you so much for your support Ruth. It means a lot to me.
🎄Happy happy holidays to you🎄

It's so easy to support you :-)

And oh my goodness do I understand the convincing and explaining regarding trying to tell people of the wonders of steemit!! I haven't been too successful at bringing people here so far but I figure you can lead a horse to water, right? And it's such an amazing place, but they have to want to try at least.

Also, what brought you to Hong Kong?

I was teaching in a Montessori school :) Stayed there a few years and highly recommend it to anyone wishing to work or travel there.

Lisbon was beautiful and Steemfest2 was frikkin' amazing! I'll see ya there next time, for sure :D

It sure was! I'm hoping Steemfest3 isn't too far away from where I will be next year.. but if Steemit works as well as it has been so far, I just might be able to make it (in my brand new helicopter 😜).
Thanks @getonthetrain and happy holidays to you🎄🎁

Ha! Where are they going to find parking for all of our shiny new helicopters?? 😛

Maybe they can privatize an entire city next time 😉

Thanks for taking us back girl! Awesome panoramic view, street art, mosaics and tiles [@naturofbeing will LOVE those for sure!] but my upvote is for the beautiful, refreshing, amazing blonde face at the first picture! Tu es craquante cherie !!!

Aaaaawww merci loopdedoop, je tâcherai de mettre plus de photos de moi alors la prochaine fois. Juste pour toi 😍
Happy holidays my dear!

ouiiiiii Steemit a besoin de plus de Sylviaaaa <3
You too !!!! :D :*

Haha! Christmas Steemit madness. Everyone's losing their marbles!!!

i'm diggin the tram! great shots of the area and thorough review - bet the Portuguese egg tart was good😊 upvoted!:)

It was deeeeelish! Thank you so much for your encouragements and awesome upvote 🎁!

This post is fantastic!!! :D

Thank you @oh-oui. Glad you like it :)

Wow, I love this kind of posts with lots of photos from interesting cities. Unfortunately I have never been to Portugal but to other countries by the Mediterranean Sea and the cities are a bit similar. And I love the architecture and old towns and so on. Glad to be able to see all these wonderful places in Lisbon! I must say it looks like really hard work to build the streets, stone by stone, but the result is so beautiful.

Yeah, I hope they have good chiropractors! Thanks for dropping by @kerlund74. Happy happy holidays to you 🎄

We hope they have :)
Happy Holidays to you ❤

Its awesome ! Enjoyed this post !! Lisbon is beautiful !!!

It sure is :)
Thanks @akkha

You are welcome my friend !

There is so much art everywhere! I think im putting this city on my list for when i get to europe in the spring. The mosaics are great.

You must! I hear the rest of Portugal is gorgeous as well... no time to visit all this time around but I do plan on coming back. Hope Nepal is treating you well :)

I ve never been to Lisbon I did not know the old quarter had some small street like that! I would visit it hopefully soon! Very nice post!

Thanks @philfreetotravel. Yes, Lisbon is a must.
Nice name :)

Thanks a lot

I've been to Lisbon as well - quite many times as a matter of fact, so its scenery isn't really surprising for me, but sure is extremely beautiful and I can appreciate it every time I see it - be it in the real life or in the pictures, it's just extremely good. City has a vibe of being quite packed, while in reality it's quite big The buildings and architecture overall is just so beautufil. If you have ever been in San Franscisco, you can already imagine who designed it because the overall vibe and style is very similar. Oh and awesome pic on the background of the graffiti. Do you mind sharing where it is? I feel like it looks similar, but I can't really remind where did I see it :P

Was San Francisco built following the same designs as Portuguese cities?! I thought the Spanish had their influence in SF but had no idea any kind of influence came from the Portuguese.
I'm not quite sure which graffiti you are speaking of but, if it is the last one in the post, then it was on a tiny square coming down from the São Jorge Castle.
Thanks for your comment @mrpapuga :)

Heya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our Daily Travel Digest!

Beautiful post and you definitely captured some things I missed in Lisbon, haha!

WOOOHOO! Thanks @steemitworldmap team. Sweet Christmas present :)
I missed a few days of Steemfest so I guess with all our posts and experiences we are able to complement eachother 😉
🎄Happy Holidays🎄

Please vote and follw. Thanks

i felt a little nostalgic , thank u :)

Distinctive work Greetings
I wish you a happy day

Thanks @tohamy7 and same to you :)

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