About a week ago I purchased a train ticket from Lisbon to Porto departing at noon today from the Oriente Station. Yesterday I figured out that the Oriente Station is 8 kilometers from my hotel.
There is a Saint Apolonia train station two blocks from my hotel but that is a metro only station. There is a Saint Apolonia train station about 4 kilometers north of my hotel and that is where my train originates. I should have booked my train ticket so that I got on the train at the Saint Apolonia long distance train station. But I didn’t. Oh well, I figured I could either taxi or walk the 8 kilometers to the Oriente Station depending on how I felt in the morning.
I got up this morning and packed and checked out of my hotel by 8:30. It was a beautiful morning and if I started walking at 8:30 I would be there by 11:00. I decided to walk. I figured I needed the exercise.
As I was walking out of the historic district I noticed a museum that is now on my list of things to visit the next time I am in Lisbon.
Lisbon was devasted by an earthquake in 1755. It was somewhere in the range of 9.0 on the Richter Scale making it one of the most severe earthquakes in recorded history.
When the earthquake hit Lisbon, most of the buildings collapsed. It occurred on a Catholic holiday so the churches were filled with lit candles. The candles set fire to the rubble. In order to escape the fires the people who were not trapped in the rubble ran down to the River Targus, which is a tidal river. When they got to the river they were astonished to see that there was no water in the river. They thought this was some sort of sign from God, like Moses parting the Red Sea. So they all ran out onto the exposed riverbed.
What they didn’t know was that the earthquake originated on a fault line out in the ocean west of Lisbon. This created a tsunami. The tsunami sucked the water out of the Targus River and then threw it back in a massive wave that drowned everyone sheltering in the riverbed. As a result of this tragedy Lisbon was rebuilt to be as earthquake proof as possible.
When Lisbon wanted to build a bridge across the Targus River they wanted it to be able to withstand a severe earthquake. They heard that San Francisco was building just such a bridge. They hired Joseph Strauss, the engineer who designed the Golden Gate Bridge, to design them a smaller version of this iconic bridge.
The Lisbon bridge has two decks. The top deck is for cars and trucks and the bottom deck is for trains. At one time bicycles and pedestrians were allowed to use the upper deck. However, there were so many jumpers that they said no more pedestrians or bicyclists on the bridge.
I spent the first half of my morning perambulation walking along a riverside path beside the cruise ship berths. Lisbon is a popular destination for cruise ships and there were 5 cruise ships berthed in Lisbon this morning.
The second half of my walk took me through an old warehouse district that was being redeveloped into funky lofts.
After a brief stop for a chocolate croissant and an orange juice I finally made it to Oriente Station at 11:00.
The train to Porto was a little slow and we arrived 30 minutes behind schedule. I then took a Metro train to the City Center station and checked in to my hostel. When I walked in the door the hospitalero greeted me by name and asked me if I enjoyed my trip to Copenhagen and Lisbon. What a great memory. He saved me a lower bunk on the first floor in his best bunk room. He also booked me an Uber to the airport for Saturday morning. What a great guy.
After checking in to the alburgue I realized I was thirsty so I walked down to the bar where last Thursday the owner of the bar introduced me to white port and tonic. The minute I sat down at a patio table the owner came over and asked me if I enjoyed my trip to Copenhagen and asked me if I wanted my usual. I told him that his bar is the only bar in Porto where I will drink port and tonic.
That’s it from Porto. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 