My days in Lisbon Portugal during Pandemic.
Raticanta Mandrencar.
I traveled to Portugal in October 2020 and landed in Lisbon. It was a compulsion and not as a choice or travel trip. It was after my wife’s death, in July 2020, that, I was left alone and my children forced me to leave Goa to be with them either in the USA or in Portugal.
My wife and I had been married for the last 40 years and her sudden cancerous death was a severe blow to all our family members.
It was a pandemic wave throughout the globe and the worst was in Goa-India, where I was based. It was Goa’s health system that had collapsed completely and the spike in the death rate was rising. The USA and Europe were going through the Covid-19 shock wave as well. Luckily, Lisbon in Portugal was perceived as somewhat safer and better, then where I was in Goa and obviously, one of my offspring residing in Lisbon, convinced me to take a flight to Lisbon and that’s how I landed here.
Being in Lisbon.
Santo Amaro Chapel — Alcantara.
This was my second visit to Lisbon-Portugal. I visited Lisbon in the year 2019 with my wife and stayed at Alcantara. Alcantara is one of the oldest quarters of Lisbon and my residence was in one of the oldest buildings in that area. It was just two blocks away from Santo Amaro Chapel. This chapel is an Architectonic Gem from the 16th Century. Santo Amaro Chapel area is a really peaceful area. It is a beautiful place with an excellent view of the river Tagus and the bridge. Lot of residents visit this area and sometimes I see a few tourists spending a lot of time capturing the breathtaking views of Lisbon’s quient and ancient neighborhood. It’s traditional architecture with white washed walled houses and shining brown tiled roofs.
Santo Amaro chapel is strategically located on the top of a hill and it is round domed. It dates back to 1549 and is dedicated to St. Maurus. The chapel is protected with wrought iron gates. Most of the time it remains closed. If you find it open, you might be lucky to go inside and have a look at the 17th century azulejos-tile panels. All these images are related to St.Maurus. Most of the images are of broken legs and arms. It is believed that the saint had the healing powers and the visitors came to seek relief from their broken arms or legs.
From this point one could enjoy the beautiful view of Alcantara bridge or as it is presently known as 25 de Abril Bridge and the tall standing statue of Christ that is 110 meters (360 ft) high, erected in 1959, on the opposite site, at the Hillock in Almada.
“Alcantara” and “Almada”. These two names raised a curiosity in my mind and on googling, I found out that these were Arabic names. After the invasion and occupation of this region by the Moors these areas were named by them. The Arabic word “al-qantara’’, means bridge. As there used to be an old Roman bridge at this place during olden days, the Moors named this area as “al-qantara”. This is the place where the present 25 de Abril bridge starts to link the other side of Almada. “Almada” in Arabic means al-maaden — the ore mine.
This building, where we resided, was an over 100 year old structure. It was built in 1912. Till this date the building is in good habitable condition and well maintained by its owners. It was a cozy building with old fashioned worn out, wooden stairs and rustic wrought iron slide balusters. The windows were long and narrow, minus any balconies. However, through the washroom window, I would see at a distance the long red coloured and stretched out 25 Abril bridge.
25 Abril bridge.
The sight of this bridge fascinates me. Its height and Red cum dark brownish colour impresses any bypassers. It was constructed in 1966 during the dictatorship rule of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar and was named after him as Ponte Salazar. Later On it was renamed Ponte 25 de Abril after the Carnation Revolution on 25th April 1974.
The bridge has a two tier design where the train travels on the first tiers and cars travel over it on the second tier. It is a 3 kilometers (1.9) miles long suspension bridge and was modelled after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It was designed by the same architect. Until this bridge was constructed, the crossings used to be by ferry from Lisbon to Almada.
Belém — Almada e Betim — Panjim.
For whatever reasons, was it that I was born in Goa or else, the Tagus river side stretch in the Belem side of Lisbon is similar to a Betim-Panjim side on the banks of the river Mandovi or it’s just the replica. This location and topography attracted me a lot. I would walk miles on this stretch starting at the 25 de Abril towards Belem till the Belem Tower at the mouth of the Tagus River. This point, the Belem Tower is the site of maritime legends. In the 15th century, the explorer Vasco da Gama set sail for India from this Point.
I have always been heading to the riverfront of town near the congress exhibition hall under the 25 Abril or walking up to the marina and back. Walking on this stretch is similar to walking on the D.B.Bandodkar road in Panjim from Mandovi Hotel towards Kala Academy or Campal grounds. Of course, the landscape is more or less the same in both cities, but Panjim misses the grandeur that Lisbon has. On the contrary, the stretch and cleanliness reminds me of my walk on Corniche Road sideways of Abu Dhabi, during my habitat years in the UAE.
The other side of the Tagus river is Almada and I find several similarities between Panjim and Betim compared with Belem to Almada. The Belem side is similar to Panjim and the Almada side is more or same like Betim, albeit with greater distance between the two shores. Panjim-Betim has smaller ferry boats, whereas Belem-Almada has larger, fast moving ferries to transport the passengers.
On the Mandovi we still have three bridges linking both the sides of the shores, plus the ferries transporting passengers from both the sides. Similarly, at Lisbon we have two major bridges linking both sides as well as ferries transporting the passengers.
Vasco da Gama Bridge.
The present apartment, where we reside is known as Marvilla, Lisbon and it is one of the best locations in the town. It’s a modern building with all sorts of amenities, except a swimming pool for the residents. Else, everything is perfectly right from individual parking based underground as well as storing space units for each apartment.
The kitchens are spacious and well designed with marble finish and right pantry space. The balconies are long and wide.
The living room balcony is my favorite space to relax and rest. From the fourth floor balcony of the apartment, I see the long stretched Vasco de Gama bridge that is one of Europe’s longest bridges. I can count not less than 20 pillars from my seat. It sweeps across the Tagus river. One can experience the wonderful views of Lisbon city from this bridge if you are coming into the city from the other side.
During my last trip in 2019 with my wife, I had crossed this bridge when we had travelled to Madrid-Spain via road.
Vasco da Gama Bridge is 17km (11 miles) long (10km/6 miles of which pass over water). Its length makes it the longest bridge in Europe. It took one and half years to complete the constructions and was inaugurated on 31st March 1998. This bridge links the southern part of Portugal towards Spain and other Schengen countries of Europe. Due to its length and vastness over the Tagus river, it is considered as one of the superb feats of engineering marvel and costing around one billion US Dollars.
Modern Lisboa.
Due to the pandemic situation in Lisbon, it had plenty of restrictions in place and I have not been able to travel much out of the city. Once the restrictions were removed and both the anti virus jabs were taken, people started moving and the commercial activities started their resumption. Albeit at a very slower space and I too started moving out to visit different places.
The first thing I did was take an Uber to visit the Parque das Nações.
Parque das Nações.
The Parque das Naçoes is the part of Lisbon that is known as modern Lisboa. This area was developed and designed to host the Lisbon World Exposition in the year 1998. This side of Lisbon is completely different from the other older parts of the city compared to Alcantara, Ajuda, Alfama etc. No more quaint and narrow lengthy streets. In this part of the City, the Architecture is modern with the high rising buildings with glass facades and wide boulevards.
The eye-catching structure is the vast Vasco da Gama shopping centre. This rear side of the shopping centre leads to the waterfront where one could find several restaurants, marina and view the long Vasco da Gama bridge.
Waterfront — Parque das Nações.
You can have a long stroll along the waterfront area or take a seat in any one of the restaurants or food outlets enjoying Prata da Nata with a hot brewing coffee or enjoy a chilled beer. If time permits one could visit Lisbon’s famous Oceanarium next door. It is built on a pier in an artificial lagoon. It holds a large collection of general marine species in the central tank. This oceanarium is one of the largest indoor aquariums in Europe.
Then there are the cable cars that skim along the skyline above the waterfront. Take a ride in one of these cable buckets to have a lovely view of the surrounding areas. You will be able to enjoy the excellent view of the distant cities across the Tagus River.