Lisbon, Portugal

After a few days with Brian and Stefan, I left them and headed down to Lisbon at the invitation of friend and colleague Elizabeth E.  Her husband is in the Foreign Service and is one of the top people at the US Embassy in Portugal.

Lisbon has many similarities to San Francisco (although not as compact), such as trams that look like cable cars....

...streets that lead right down towards water...

....and their own Golden Gate Bridge lookalike.

Ok, so yes, I took one of those "hop on hop off" bus tours.  And yes, my hair is cut really short.  I have a habit of getting my haircut when I'm traveling as a way to meet locals.  But this time, I asked for short on the side and long on top, and I had a mohawk....so it became a buzz cut.

"Praca do Comercio" in the Baixa district...Lisbon's "downtown" and commercial center.

Baixa as seen from the Barrio Alto district

Did I mention tile on the buildings?

An entire store dedicated to....

...SARDINES!!!!

Walking around town, I saw this building, which is a reminder of the Moorish/North African influence in this part of the world.

The Jeronimos Monastery....full disclosure, I took this photo from the bus...didn't actually get off and go in, so I didn't even know the name of the place until I found it on Wikipedia.

The Tower of Belem, built between 1513 and 1519 (same time as the High Italian Renaissance...boy a lot was going on at this time in the world) to serve as a defensive point at the mouth of the Tagus River.

 

The Monument to the Discoveries, celebrates the Age of Discovery of which the Portuguese (especially their sailors) were major players.

Looking west....next stop, North America!