We walk all around the city for exercise, but also to see lesser known areas and make little discoveries. We’re usually in the area around our apartment: Belém, Ajuda, and Alcântara. Walking along the river is flat, but the hills rise quickly to about 130 meters, so it’s often a good climb.
The album below includes some of the standard tourist sites: Torre Belém is featured, for example, as is the April 25 bridge and the Cristo Rei Statue, both of which are easily seen from our place and the surrounding areas. There are also some less know places we’ve happened upon, such as the Cemitério dos Prazeres in Alcântara, which has the tomb of Pedro de Sousa Holstein, which Google tells us is the largest private mausoleum in Europe. It is indeed a very impressive pyramid.
Another little find was a memorial to Monument to the “Portuguese Jimi Hendrx”, Felipe Mendes, in Jardim Avelar Brotero, a one-block square park , also in Alcântara.
We also visited the Jardim Botânico da Ajuda, which, along with the expected plantings, featured a very interesting fountain and several pea hens with their chicks.
I could fill albums with hundreds of pictures of tiles and building facades. Each has its own character, but it’s more fun to walk around and admire them.
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