Lisbon; Sunday, 20 August, 2006

After breakfast I wandered down to the ferry terminal at Cais do Sodré and caught the ferry across the Rio Toja to Cacilhas. From there I picked up the bus out to Almada and the Cristo Rei.

The statue of Christ standing over Rio de Janeiro is one of the most famous sights in the world. In the 1950’s a small but similar statue was built on the hill on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon to give thanks that Portugal managed to stay out of the second world war. The statue, despite being smaller than the one in Rio is still massive. A lift runs up one side of the tower to the actual base of the statue, some 150m up. From there you can get stunning views of the city of Lisbon and out as far as Cascais and Sintra. Just below the viewing station you can also visit one of the worlds greatest tacky gift shops with glow in the dark statues just one of the delights available for purchase!

I caught the bus and ferry back to Lisbon and then the Metro out to the Parque das Nações. This was originally the sight of the World Expo is 1998 and has now been turned into a large exhibition and open space for the city. From the site you can also see the whole length of the stunning Vasco de Gama bridge, which at 17KM long is one of the longest in the world.

The site is massive and the easiest way to take it in is to catch the Cable Car that runs along the water front from the Oceanarium to the Vasco de Gama tower (which was sadly closed when I visited). After having found that the tower was shut I wandered over to one of the restaurants for some lunch before catching the cable car back to the Oceanarium.

Oceanário, the Lisbon Oceanarium is the second largest in the world and the largest in Europe, as they keep reminding you every couple of meters! Inside the massive tank contains thousands of species and it is spectacular. If it was not for the sheer number of people, you could spend hours standing transfixed at the tank as all the marine life floats past. The main tank occupies the centre of the building, in the four corners are smaller tanks that have different habitats (Indian Ocean, Artic etc) with both Marine and non-marine life, including in one tank some very noisy and playful beavers.

After looking around the Oceanarium I walked back to the metro station and caught the metro back into town. After a short wander around the city centre I walked down to the Praça do Comércio and picked up one of the two open top bus tours that Carris (the tram and bus company) run around the city.

The Olicipio tour runs up the coast from the Praça do Comércio back to the Parque das Nações (D’oh!) and then back through the top of the town before coming down through the Bario Alto and back to the Praça do Comércio.

After the tour I stopped for a small dinner before heading back to the hotel.