Hello everyone,
We are currently settled in Eastbourne with our friend David, and this maybe my last post before we leave for, and arrive in, Vancouver next Friday (April 08).
We left Bucharest in due course, arriving next in Lisbon - one of the loveliest cities in Europe, if not the world. On the first day we took a city tour to give Koji an idea of the layout and general atmosphere of Lisbon, and the tour included the Palau d'Adjuda - the last royal residence in Lisbon before the monarchy was dissolved in 1910. I had not been there before, and was struck by its grandeur. It is in the process of being restored after years of neglect, and the early C19 furniture, paintings and porcelain are gradually being acquired or restored and put in place. I recalled that though Portugal is now a poor country, deeply in international debt, it used to have a large empire - Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Macau etc. Thus the imperial nature of the royal residences.
The next day we went on an extensive tour of the Gulbenkian Museum, which was closed the last time I was in Lisbon. This meant that it was a new experience for both Koji and me - as was the Palau d'Adjuda. The museum was endowed by Calouste Gulbenkian - an oil billionaire in the early part of the C20 - and houses his extensive collection of old masters, contemporary art, furniture and porcelain. It is not Portuguese, but Lisbon was where Gulbenkian thought his collection would show to its best advantage. It is a marvellous collection, and though the Guggenheim in Bilbao is by far the more impressive building, the Gulbenkian houses a much more extensive and international collection.
On our final day we went about 10km out of central Lisbon to the summer palace of the Braganzas at Queluz. It is a mini-Versailles, the most charming feature of which is its gardens - though the interiors are very impressive too. In the gardens there is a long canal, completely lined with colourful tiles(called "azulejo"), and it is the only one I have ever seen, though there may be more in private hands.
All in all, Lisbon is a handsome, welcoming city, and we hope to go there again for a longer period some time. It is dominated by Mediterranean pastel colours, despite its being the only Southern European city bordered entirely by the Atlantic.
We left for the UK from Lisbon on March 26 and have been relaxing in Eastbourne (a very pretty seaside town on the South Coast) with various local excursions and hospitality. We went up to London last week for lunch with friends, and Koji went up alone on Sunday to do a long walk around central London and the parks and take photos. Tomorrow we are going up again for the last time - to revisit the Wallace Collection and to take a whirl on the London Eye. The latter was the suggestion of some friends we met here, and we are hoping for fine weather.
Koji apologizes for the lack of photographs (of which he has hundreds), but our laptop is reaching the end of its useful life, and posting photos is really beyond its current capability. He will post a selection of photos of the later part of our tour when we get back to Vancouver
We are currently settled in Eastbourne with our friend David, and this maybe my last post before we leave for, and arrive in, Vancouver next Friday (April 08).
We left Bucharest in due course, arriving next in Lisbon - one of the loveliest cities in Europe, if not the world. On the first day we took a city tour to give Koji an idea of the layout and general atmosphere of Lisbon, and the tour included the Palau d'Adjuda - the last royal residence in Lisbon before the monarchy was dissolved in 1910. I had not been there before, and was struck by its grandeur. It is in the process of being restored after years of neglect, and the early C19 furniture, paintings and porcelain are gradually being acquired or restored and put in place. I recalled that though Portugal is now a poor country, deeply in international debt, it used to have a large empire - Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Macau etc. Thus the imperial nature of the royal residences.
The next day we went on an extensive tour of the Gulbenkian Museum, which was closed the last time I was in Lisbon. This meant that it was a new experience for both Koji and me - as was the Palau d'Adjuda. The museum was endowed by Calouste Gulbenkian - an oil billionaire in the early part of the C20 - and houses his extensive collection of old masters, contemporary art, furniture and porcelain. It is not Portuguese, but Lisbon was where Gulbenkian thought his collection would show to its best advantage. It is a marvellous collection, and though the Guggenheim in Bilbao is by far the more impressive building, the Gulbenkian houses a much more extensive and international collection.
On our final day we went about 10km out of central Lisbon to the summer palace of the Braganzas at Queluz. It is a mini-Versailles, the most charming feature of which is its gardens - though the interiors are very impressive too. In the gardens there is a long canal, completely lined with colourful tiles(called "azulejo"), and it is the only one I have ever seen, though there may be more in private hands.
All in all, Lisbon is a handsome, welcoming city, and we hope to go there again for a longer period some time. It is dominated by Mediterranean pastel colours, despite its being the only Southern European city bordered entirely by the Atlantic.
We left for the UK from Lisbon on March 26 and have been relaxing in Eastbourne (a very pretty seaside town on the South Coast) with various local excursions and hospitality. We went up to London last week for lunch with friends, and Koji went up alone on Sunday to do a long walk around central London and the parks and take photos. Tomorrow we are going up again for the last time - to revisit the Wallace Collection and to take a whirl on the London Eye. The latter was the suggestion of some friends we met here, and we are hoping for fine weather.
Koji apologizes for the lack of photographs (of which he has hundreds), but our laptop is reaching the end of its useful life, and posting photos is really beyond its current capability. He will post a selection of photos of the later part of our tour when we get back to Vancouver
I can't wait to see the photos!
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