Now let's rewind to the beginning of June, when Laura and I spent a week in Lisbon, Portugal while I attended
an engineering conference at the Instituto Superior Técnico. I include the university's name here simply because it sounds really cool; the picture at left is a completely unrelated building near the Parque das Nações (
Nations Park), built for the 1998 World Fair's (or "Expo") in Lisbon.
I don't have a lot to say about Lisbon because frankly, I spent most of my time inside a series of conference rooms. Meanwhile, Laura did quite a bit of exploring and you can see her pictures on
Flickr. She walked all over the city, visited an aquarium, took a chair lift ride, etc.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The rooftops of LisbonLisbon is a reasonably safe city, and Laura didn't have any trouble when she was out and about by herself. When we were together, on the other hand, I found myself fending off drug dealers at every turn. If you ever visit Lisbon, don't be surprised if you're approached, even on a busy street in daytime, and indiscreetly asked if you'd like to buy some "hash." Say no, even in a suitably revolted fashion, and they'll assume you're holding out for coke. Then it's time to run away.
While in Portugal we were determined to experience
fado, a type of Portuguese music that I would describe as
operatic; Wikipedia's adjective of choice is
mournful, which is also accurate. We picked a restaurant with fado and enjoyed being serenaded by a procession of men and women of all ages, sometimes with guitar accompaniment. It's a truly unique experience to sit outside a restaurant in Lisbon, eating cod or some such thing while an elderly Portuguese woman croons what may be the world's saddest music from a nearby doorway or balcony.
The afternoon after the conference was over, Laura and I also went to the Lisbon Zoo, which was a lot of fun. We saw the usual giraffes, zebras, hippos, rhinos, monkeys, bears (at right) etc. The coolest animals we saw were the sea lions, though, who put on quite a show at their feeding and then joined a dolphin show to do more tricks. At one point during the show, the trainers actually walked the sea lions into the seating area of the ampitheater, into a row of seats, and then they circled the whole place. Seriously: Laura and I had to move out of the way when a sea lion came barreling through our seats. It was cool.
A bizarre pet cemetery at the Lisbon Zoo; RIP "Gigi"
We were able to get really close to the giraffes
A short train ride outside of Lisbon is Sintra, a beautiful city nestled at the foot of rolling, tree-covered hills. The area, The Cultural Landscape of Sintra, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its many sites and architectural excellence. It also features a subtropical microclimate and is extremely green and lush.
In the city itself, we visited Sintra Palace, built from 1415 onwards and continuously inhabited from the early 15th to late 19th centuries. Significant Islamic artistic influence, most notably tilework, is evident in Sintra Palace and many other buildings in Lisbon and Sintra.
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