Beyond its culture, its attractions, its contrasts and streets, Lisbon has that indescribable something that makes it unforgettable. His images are trapped, forever, in the retina and in the soul, more like a real fortune than a curse, and refuse to leave the visitors. This represents the spirit Portuguese and hypnotizes even the most insensitive. Exaggerating a bit, of course, because Lisbon does not necessarily go back in time. Although modern looms, for example, in the latest area of the Park of Nations, the city’s past is ever present and sentence to a lovely melancholy. So charming that, despite a long day of exploration on foot, always feel like walking a block and discover more tiles, balconies, characters and bars. Admire their roofs. Feeling the ocean breeze, hear his voice and let go.
What would the imagery of Lisbon without its mythical tiles. With an architectural style, commissioned during the reign of Emperor Manuel I, with unique features, its most recognizable work is meticulous, with color and bluish tones thousand designs, which make up the beautiful traditional Portuguese pottery.
From North Africa, the art of tile entered the Iberian Peninsula in the mid-fourteenth century. With techniques incorporated the Italian Renaissance, the coatings on walls and kitchens of the era reflected images of hunting, rural life and local cuisine, revered by the Lusitanian. Lisbon is essentially a city proudly tiled. The National Tile Museum (near Commerce Square), factories and souvenirs in the form of tile of all sizes, from small samples of these 2 euro to the hundreds that tourists want to spend on large murals on demand, with Home deliveries worldwide, are reproduced in the corners.
Factory can also visit St. Anne in the Chiado district and working since 1741, offering a more attractive option than in the stores typically aimed at tourists. Another option of this art is the step in the Lisbon Metro. Seasons Park, East, Cais do Sodre and Campo Pequeno are some that have the best murals.
Always to the west and along the river, the Bairro Alto is left behind and down to bohemian Lapa neighborhood where houses are luxurious hotels, fine dining and a hint of pride splendor then tried to translate into the namesake neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, but here a little more remains standing.
You have to stop walking to take a taxi, tram or collectively to Belem, for which the district must reserve a day if you want to see everything. To begin, two pins monuments: the Tower of Belem, the fourteenth century, and “Padrão dos Discoveries” from 1690, proud symbols of the Portuguese navigator race. To follow, can not be overemphasized Design Museums and Archeology and the Jeronimos Monastery, where the remains of two heroes from different Portuguese ancestry: the brave discoverer Basque da Gama and the aforementioned and omnipresent Fernando Pessoa. The spirit of travel to America also resides there, and the vanes are oriented from where the sailors of the caravels. Is that it comes down in Lisbon: passion and sentiment, nostalgia and history, myth and reality, old and new. Thus, as warm as the breeze in August as wet as the river and its sea.