In case you were wondering if all of Lisbon was centuries old, there is a whole district east of the old city centre (called 'Oriente', surprise!) which boasts both private and public buildings on the cutting edge of modern architecture. The area was developed for the 1998 Lisbon World Expo and besides monuments, an amazing suspended concrete roof, buildings all done in ship motifs (the theme of the Expo was the world's oceans), a new avante garde train/metro station and a restored stack from the oil refineries which used to occupy the real estate, there is a spectacular Oceanarium featuring the second largest tank in the world. None of these I visited, just took the tour bus through the area --maybe another time.
I had contemplated visiting the Tile museum, but my guidebook indicated that the best modern tiles were to be found in practical use on buildings and especially in train/metro stations. Today's picture is a typical tile, in the traditional blue and white motif, which is actually the sign for an antique shop across from my hotel.
As the next part of my adventure begins with the pickup for the cycling tour (about 45 min. from now), I am not sure when I will be blogging again. I hope that most (all) of the lodging spots over the next week will have wifi, but one is never sure in medieval villages.
With the prospect of travelling back in time several hundred years, I am glad to know that I have had this afternoon, a slice of 'the world's best chocolate cake'. (I would give it an 8.5)
Lisbon sounds as though it has a week's worth of holiday in it.
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