A Brush with St George

The last thing I suspected in Lisbon was to explore a castle named after England's patron saint, St George. However, that's the way it turned out one gloriously sunny and hot day. I had completed my appointments in Lisbon and decided once again to explore a part of the city I didn't think I had previously visited and the castle beckoned. So I took the subway into town after first having spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to use the ticketing system.The system was, I found, quite efficient and cheap to use.
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By the time I reached the centre, I knew that I had a very steep walk ahead but I didn't know the exact route. So I ambled around the attractive centre to get some visual clues, which I eventually found. Given Portugal's recent economic history, I thought the centre might be a bit dilapidated, but the converse proved true and the bustling streets were full of up-market shops attended by often well-, perhaps over-, dressed people. I felt a bit inferior in my usual outfit!

I ploughed through several rather large and opulent squares, marred however by a large number of much less fortunate beggars huddled on the ground - not a good advertisement for the economy.

Then there was the climb up to the castle through streets like this one lined with tourist traps. I found the cobbles very uneven and a little hard on the feet.

I was also expected something of an ersatz castle, but it turned out to have three rather lovely features. First it was a real castle with impressive ramparts, massive walls and all the other things one would expect from something dating back 9 centuries. Secondly, it was perched high up over the city in an eminently defensible location. Thirdly, this gave it many impressive views. Perhaps, fourthly, I should add it had a lot of small leafy portions that were lovely for exploring and sitting - like this one below. By the way, if the bridge in the background is familiar, you're right. It has a close cousin: the Golden Gate in San Francisco! Same designer; same construction company.

You saw this square earlier from ground level. It was even more impressive from up on high.

The green corridor in the middle here is one of the most impressive avenues in Lisbon - its answer to the Champs Elysée.

Three more impressive views of the ramparts.

And a rather nice church.

Not to mention a lot more battlements to climb.

Another attractive local inhabitant.

And when I called it time to descend, I took a different route only to discover some easier ways up!

In particular I liked this tuk tuk which the Portuguese must have borrowed from Bangkok!

By the way, when I got to the docks at the bottom of the hill I found myself looking a rather familiar ship. It was the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth. That might explain why I bumped into quite a few POMS on this trip - and especially at the English language show at the Camera Obscura up at the castle.

AS