#859 - Portugal Trip (Part 2)

ENGLISH

Previously on Portugal Trip : Zilko went to Portugal for a one week vacation during the quarter-break. He spent the first three nights in Porto, a city 300 km north to Lisbon.

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal.

There are three places that must be visited, in my opinion, if we go to Lisbon, and two alternatives.

(1) Belem

Belem is a small area nearby Lisbon. In history, this place was the departing point of the voyages the world-wide-known Portuguese explorers during the Discovery Age, i.e Vasco da Gama in the 15th century.

Anyway, reading some webs about tourist destinations in Lisbon, most of all lead us to visit this Belem. Even there was one website claiming that Belem is like the Eiffel Tower of Paris or the Colloseum of Rome. If you go to Lisbon, you have to visit Belem. That's what they said. And, the worst time to visit Belem is Monday (and other national holiday days) as the access to some sites in this place is closed during those days.

There are two sites in this area that are included in the "UNESCO World Heritage Site" list, which are Torre de Belém and Jerónimos Monastery. The first one is a tower in a shape of a small fort with a unique Medieval architecture which was constructed in the 16th century as a lighthouse. To get in there, each person had to pay 5 euro (and no discount for students :-( (I already asked the ticket officer, I don't know whether there really was not any discount or she was just lying). To get to the upper floors of it, we had to use a spiral stone-stairs which was really narrow so that there were always long lines just to use this stairs. The second one is a monastery with a beautiful architecture. Honestly, I don't know that much about the second one as I didn't get in there due to a limited ammount of time.

Beside that, in Belem, there is another tower, which is also a monument to commemorate the well-known Portuguese explorers in the 15/16th century, it is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos. There was a discount for students in this place, and for students, it was 1.5 euro per person (after discount). The height of this monument was 52 meter and there was a balcony where we could see around from up there. There was an elevator to get up there. HOWEVER, unfortunately, at that time the elevator was broken down. And to get up there, I had to climb the stairs with 268 steps on it. Well, having made all the waty to Lisbon, why wouldn't I get up? Plus, it was "only" 268 steps! This last sentence was exactly what I thought at that point when I knew the elevator was out of service, not thinking that (apparently) 268 steps was A LOT!! Btw, if you are wondering how I knew the number of steps up there, it is not because I was so desperate that I counted them, but it was that when I was buying the ticket, the ticket-lady informed me about that I had to climb the stairs and there were 268 steps. Well, it was so exhausting, climbing a 268 steps stairs, haha. Up there, the wind was strong, and I could see the area of Belem and the surrounding (including Ponte 25 de Abril).

Apparently, Belem also has a unique delicacy, which is Pasteis de Belem. This pasteis is like a tart pastry with a really sweet stuffing. The taste was good, but I think I couldn't eat it that much as it was too sweet for me. Maybe because it was so famous so that there was a really long line in a bakery that sold this pasteis.ena saking terkenalnya, ada antrian panjang di salah satu toko yang menjual pasteis ini loh.

(2) Downtown Lisbon

Of course when we go to Lisbon, we have to go around the city itself. Lisbon is a city with a Portuguese-acrhitecture touch (of course), which (probably) because they "keep" the originality a bit too much, it was kinda slummy and dirty in some parts of the city.There are several spots in Lisbon that are interesting, which I personally call as the "Praça Triangle". There are three praça (square) which are really close to each other in the central of Lisbon, which are Praça do Comércio, Praça Don Pedro IV, and Praça da Figueira. More or less, this is the center of tourist activity in Lisbon, as there are many cafes, restaurants, stores, etc there.

There is also one more praça not so far away from those three praças, which is Praça dos Restauradores. Nearby, there are roads which are full of restaurants. If you walk to the north from this praça, you will pass by several branded fashion stores (like LV, Prada, D&G, etc).

(3) Cristo-Rei

Cristo-Rei is a Jesus-Christ monument which located accross the Tagus River, more precisely in the district of Almada. This monument is an 82-meter tower with a 28-meter statue of Jesus Christ on top of it. To reach this place, we can catch a ferry to cross the river (from Cais do Sodré) then take bus number 101. According to some sources, this monument was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We can also climb up (and fortunately, the elevator was working at that time, I was in no mood to climb up anymore :D). To get up there, I paid 4 euro. There was a unique thing in there. The elevator brought us to the upper floor of the tower, but it was not the balcony. After getting out the elevator, we still had to climb several stairs (not that much) and we arrived in a : STORE!! I went around the store and it seemed that there was no other door than the door I came from or stairs to go up. Automatically, I felt deceived!! I paid 4 euro just to get up to a store and I couldn't get up to the balcony where the statue of Christ stood!! Well, apparently, there was a secret door in that sore, in which if we opened it, there was a stairs that would lead us to the balcony where the statue of Christ stood. Lucky I could find it after a little analysis, LOL. Yup, for me it was a secret door as it was not really in a shape of a door and in that "door" there was no handle to open it. To open it, we had to step on a mat for few seconds and that "door" would open. Up there, the wind was strong and the statue of Christ looked really huge (of course)! Up there, we could also see the scenery of Lisbon just accross the Tagus River.

I also think that this Cristo-Rei was one of the best places to see the whole skyline of Lisbon in the banks of Tagus river. This was possible because Almada was located just accross the Tagus river from the center of Lisbon. From this spot, we could get a nice view of Ponte 25 de Abril (it looked like the Golden Gate in San Francisco).


Aside from those three places, there are two more places that I think are also interesting to see in Lisbon:

(1) Castelo de São Jorge

Castelo de São Jorge is a Medieval castle that looked like a fort located on top of a high hill in the center of Lisbon. To get in, we had to pay. For students, it was 3.5 euro per pax. There was a funny incident when I was buying the ticket, but I will keep it for later. To get to the top of the hill, we could take a trem or bus (no. 737) to take us there. But after getting off, we still had to walk uphill for a bit :-)

(2) Parque das Nações

A park that is located in the north-east of Lisbon. It is really close from Oriente railway station. In this park lied Lisbon Oceanarium Lisbon, a sort of Sea World in Indonesia. To get in, each person had to pay 12 euro, but because I had a student card, I only needed yo pay 11 euro (yeah, I saved one euro!). As written above, many tourist destinations in Lisbon are closed on Monday. Well, this Oceanorium opened on Monday, that's why that Monday I went there. It was a cool place, with a big tank filled with many fish. Unfrotunately, there was no that tube-alley which went around the bottom of the tank just like the one in Sea World. The interesting was that there were alive pinguins there!! haha... . While I went there, it was being expanded, so maybe in some times we will get a bigger Oceanorium in Lisbon.

There was also a cablecar in this park. Actually, Torre da Gama, the tallest tower in Lisbon, was located in this park. But because it was (likely, this is just my guess) being renovated, it was closed. This park was also really close to Ponte de Vasco da Gamma, a bridge in Lisbon which was 17.185 km in length!! Up to now, it is the longest bridge in Europe (and waay longer than Suramadu bridge which is "only" 5.438 km in length).


To get around in Lisbon, just like Porto, the best way was to catch public transport. Just like in Porto, to get to a public transport, we could buy a daily pass in the metro station. The different thing was that we got charged by 0.5 euro if we asked for a new card. So, when your card gets expired, do NOT throw it away as you can recharge it (and you save 0.5 euro from that).The price ticket for a daily pass was 3.75 euro for a 24 hour access while a one way ticket (for a metro) cost 0.85 euro. We could use this card to catch all kind of transports in Lisbon, like subway, tram, bus, and also electric tram.

To get around Lisbon AND enjoying the atmosphere, one alternative is by catching a sightseeing bus. There were several companies offering this service. All of them opreated similar buses actually, a double decker bus with open upper deck. Of course the best spot on this bus was on the upper deck. In this bus, they gave us earphone that could be plugged to the seat and we could listen to some explanations of the visited spots. The service was available in eight different languages, and as easily guessed, Indonesian language was not one of them :-D The price varied between companies. And that 25% discount I wrote on the previous entry was only valid in one company. The one I picked offered a package of 15 euro for two days trip (and that was not the company who offered 25%. But that company who gave the discount offered 19 euro ticket for one day. So, even after discount, it was still more expensive, hahaha).

TO BE CONTINUED...


L : Praça da Figueira in Lisbon.
R : A shopping district near Praça do Comércio.


L : Classical Trams in Lisbon.
R : A Gate in Praça do Comércio.


L : Praça Don Pedro IV in Lisbon.
R : District of Alfama.


L : Praça do Comércio as seen from Castelo de São Jorge.
R : Castelo de São Jorge.


L : Castelo de São Jorge
R : A Railway Station with cool architecture.


L : A Roundabout in Lisbon.
R : A church we passed during the sightseeing tour.


L : One park in Belem just accross the Jerónimos Monastery.
R : Park in the heart of Lisbon.


L : Portugal's Flag.
R : A popular relaxing area by the Tagus River.


L : Sightseeing Bus.
R : Funicular (I still think "funicular" is a funny word :-D)


L : Pasteis de Belem.
R : Jerónimos Monastery as seen from top of Padrão dos Descobrimentos.


L : Padrão dos Descobrimentos.
R : A tower in Lisbon which looked ugly in the day :D.


L : Torre de Belem.
R : A guy singing, he had a really great voice!! He COULD sing!!


L : Sea dinosaur made from cans at Lisbon Oceanorium.
R : Tasty Paella.


L : Ponte 25 de Abril as seen from a ferry. Cristo-Rei is also visible.
R : Ponte 25 de Abril. It looked like Golden Gate in San Francisco.


L : Cristo-Rei.
R : Torre de Vasco da Gama and cable car in Parque das Nações.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Sebelumnya dalam Portugal Trip : Zilko pergi ke Portugal dalam rangka jalan-jalan selama seminggu ketika libur kuarter. Ia menginap di Porto, sebuah kota kira2 300 km di sebelah utara Lisbon, selama tiga hari pertama.

Lisbon

Lisbon adalah ibukota dari Portugal.

Ada tiga tempat yang menurutku harus dikunjungi kalau berkunjung ke Lisbon, dan dua alternatif.

(1) Belem

Belem adalah sebuah area kecil di dekat Lisbon. Sejarahnya, dari Belem inilah para penjelajah Portugis ternama memulai perjalanan mereka keliling dunia, misalnya Vasco da Gama di abad ke 15.

Anyway, baca-baca di web tentang destinasi wisata di Lisbon, hampir semua pasti mengarahkan kita untuk mengunjungi Belem ini. Bahkan ada website yang menyatakan bahwa Belem itu ibarat Menara Eiffel-nya Paris atau Colloseum-nya Roma. Kalau berkunjung ke Lisbon, harus pergi ke Belem. Begitu katanya. Nah, waktu terburuk untuk mengunjungi Belem adalah hari Senin (dan beberapa tanggal merah lainnya) karena akses masuk ke beberapa situs di area ini ditutup pada hari-hari itu.

Ada dua bangunan di area ini yang masuk ke dalam daftar "UNESCO World Heritage Site", yaitu Torre de Belém dan Jerónimos Monastery. Yang pertama sebuah menara yang berbentuk seperti benteng dengan arsitektur yang unik yang dibangun di abad ke-16 sebagai mercusuar. Untuk masuk ke menara ini, per orang harus bayar 5 euro (dan tidak ada diskon pelajar :-( (aku sudah tanya ke petugas loketnya tapi katanya tidak ada diskon pelajar, entah beneran nggak ada atau dia malas aja ngasi diskon). Untuk naik ke bagian atas menaranya, kita harus menggunakan tangga batu spiral di dalam benteng yang sangat sempit, alhasil selalu ada antrian panjang untuk naik/turun lewat tangga ini. Yang kedua adalah sebuah biara berarsitektur unik dan indah. Aku nggak gitu banyak tahu tentang lokasi ini karena aku tidak masuk ke dalamnya karena keterbatasan waktu :-)

Selain itu, di Belem ada menara lain, yang juga adalah sebuah monumen untuk memperingati para penjelajah ternama Portugis di abad 15/16-an, yaitu Padrão dos Descobrimentos. Ada diskon untuk pelajar di tempat ini, dan untuk pelajar harga tiketnya (setelah diskon) adalah 1,5 euro per orang. Tinggi monumen ini adalah 52 meter dan ada balkon di atas dimana kita bisa melihat sekeliling dari atas sana. Ada lift koq untuk naik kesana. HANYA SAJA, sialnya, waktu itu lift-nya lagi rusak. Dan untuk naik ke atas, aku harus naik tangga yang jumlah anak tangganya adalah 268 biji. Nggak mau rugi dong, uda jauh-jauh ke Lisbon masa nggak naik?? Lagian, kan "cuma" 268 anak tangga tuh. Kalimat terakhir ini adalah pikiranku ketika tahu lift-nya rusak, dan waktu itu nggak kepikiran kalau 268 anak tangga itu banyak!! Baidewei, kalo penasaran koq aku tahu jumlahnya, jawabannya adalah bukan karena aku kurang kerjaan terus ngitung banyak anak tangganya, tapi waktu beli tiket, petugasnya menginformasikan bahwa aku harus naik tangga dan jumlah anak tangganya 268 biji. Capek banget loh menaiki tangga yang jumlah anak tangganya 268 biji, haha. Di atas, anginnya kenceng, dan aku bisa melihat area Belem dan sekitarnya (termasuk Ponte 25 de Abril).

Rupanya di Belem juga ada satu menu kuliner yang khas, yaitu Pasteis de Belem. Pasteis ini adalah semacam kue khas sana yang rasanya sangat manis di dalamnya. Rasanya lumayan enak sih, cuma kalau makan kebanyakan sepertinya bikin eneg juga. Mungkin karena saking terkenalnya, ada antrian panjang di salah satu toko yang menjual pasteis ini loh.

(2) Downtown Lisbon

Sudah tentu kalau pergi ke Lisbon, ya harus keliling kotanya dong. Lisbon adalah sebuah kota dengan bangunan arsitektur khas Portugis, yang karena (mungkin) saking "dijaga" keasliannya, beberapa bagian kotanya nampak agak kumuh atau kotor. Ada beberapa titik di Lisbon yang menarik untuk dikunjungi, yaitu daerah (yang aku sebut sebagai) "Segitiga Praça". Ada tiga praça (semacam lapangan, atau yang disebut square dalam bahasa Inggris) yang lokasinya berdekatan di tengah kota Lisbon, yaitu Praça do Comércio, Praça Don Pedro IV, dan Praça da Figueira. Kira-kira disinilah pusat aktivitas turis di Lisbon, karena ada banyak toko, kafe, restoran, dsb di area ini.

Ada satu lagi praça di dekat tiga praça di atas, yaitu Praça dos Restauradores. Di dekat sini ada jalanan yang penuh dengan restoran-restoran yang layak dikunjungi. Jika kita berjalan ke arah atas (utara) dari praça ini, kita akan melewati deretan toko-toko barang branded (misalnya LV, Prada, D&G, dll).

(3) Cristo-Rei

Cristo-Rei adalah sebuah monumen Yesus Kristus yang berada di seberang sungai Tagus, tepatnya di kota Almada. Monumen ini berbentuk sebuah menara setinggi 82 meter yang di atasnya ada patung Yesus Kristus setinggi 28 meter. Untuk mencapainya, kita bisa naik kapal ferry menyeberangi sungai (dari Cais do Sodré) kemudian naik bus nomor 101. Menurut beberapa sumber sih monumen ini terinspirasi oleh patung Christ the Redeemer di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Kita bisa naik ke atas monumen loh (dan untungnya waktu itu lift-nya jalan, ogah banget naik tangga lagi :D). Untuk bisa naik ke atas, kita harus bayar 4 euro. Nah, ada hal unik di dalamnya. Lift mengantar kita sampai lantai di bagian atas menara itu, tetapi nggak sampai balkonnya. Setelah keluar dari lift, kita harus naik tangga (nggak terlalu banyak) dan sampailah kita di sebuah: TOKO!! Aku keliling toko itu dan nampaknya tidak ada pintu lain (selain pintu dari mana aku datang) atau tangga lain untuk naik ke atas. Otomatis aku merasa tertipu!! Uda bayar 4 euro untuk naik masa cuma buat masuk toko doank dan nggak bisa naik sampai balkon tempat patung Yesus-nya?? Nah, ternyata, sebenarnya ada pintu rahasia di dalam toko itu yang jika dibuka, di baliknya ada tangga untuk naik ke balkon tempat patung Yesus berada. Untung aku bisa menemukannya setelah melakukan sedikit analisa :D. Yup, pintu rahasia, karena pintunya nggak berbentuk seperti pintu biasa, dan di "pintu" itu tidak ada gagang untuk membukanya. Cara untuk membukanya adalah kita harus berdiri beberapa saat di keset yang ada di depan "pintu" itu dan "pintu" otomatis terbuka. Di atas, anginnya kencang dan patung Yesusnya nampak besar sekali (iyalah). Dari atas, kita juga bisa melihat pemandangan kota Lisbon yang ada di seberang sungai Tagus.

O ya, Cristo-Rei ini menurutku adalah salah satu tempat yang terbaik untuk melihat keseluruhan pemandangan kota Lisbon yang nampak dari pinggir sungai Tagus. Ini memungkinkan karena Almada, tempat dimana Cristo-Rei berada, terletak tepat di seberang sungai Tagus dari pusat kota Lisbon. Dari lokasi ini juga Ponte 25 de Abril juga terlihat jelas dan bagus (mirip Golden Gate di San Francisco).


Selain tiga tempat di atas, ada dua lagi lokasi yang bisa jadi menarik di Lisbon:

(1) Castelo de São Jorge

Castelo de São Jorge adalah sebuah kastil kuno yang berbentuk seperti benteng yang terletak di atas bukit tertinggi yang ada di tengah kota Lisbon. Untuk masuk, kita harus bayar. Untuk pelajar, harga tiketnya 3,5 euro. Ada kejadian lucu saat membeli tiket ini, tapi karena berhubungan sama masalah bahasa Inggris, aku simpan buat bagian selanjutnya ya. Untuk naik ke atas bukit, kita bisa naik trem atau bus (nomor 737) yang mengantar kita kesana. Tapi, setelah turun dari trem / bus, kita masih harus sedikit mendaki sih :-)

(2) Parque das Nações

Sebuah taman yang terletak di bagian timur laut Lisbon. Letaknya dekat sekali dengan stasiun kereta Oriente. Di taman ini ada Oceanarium Lisbon, semacam Sea World gitu deh kalau di Indonesia. Untuk masuk, seorang harus bayar 12 euro, dan kalau ada kartu pelajar, cukup membayar 11 euro (lumayan ngirit 1 euro). Seperti yang kutulis di atas, sebagian besar destinasi di Lisbon tutup pada hari Senin. Nah, Oceanarium ini buka di hari Senin, makanya waktu hari Senin aku mengunjungi tempat ini. Tempatnya bagus sih, di dalamnya ada tangki besar yang berisi banyak ikan. Sayangnya, nggak ada lorong berbentuk seperti tabung yang mengelilingi dasar tangki seperti di Sea World itu. Yang menarik, di tempat ini ada pinguin hidup loh!! haha.... . Waktu kesana kemarin ini Oceanarium ini sedang diperluas, jadi sepertinya dalam beberapa waktu tempatnya akan semakin besar.

Di taman ini juga ada kereta gantung. Sebenarnya, di taman ini ada Torre de Vasco da Gama, sebuah menara tertinggi di Lisbon. Cuma karena (sepertinya) sedang direnovasi, menara ini ditutup untuk umum. Taman ini juga terletak dekat dengan Ponte de Vasco da Gama, sebuah jembatan di Lisbon yang panjangnya 17,185 km!! Sampai saat ini, jembatan ini adalah jembatan terpanjang di Eropa (dan lebih panjang dari jembatan Suramadu yang panjangnya 5,438 km).


Untuk berpindah tempat di Lisbon, sama seperti Porto, yang paling enak adalah dengan menggunakan transportasi umum. Mirip seperti di Porto, untuk naik angkutan umum, kita bisa membeli daily pass di stasiun kereta. Bedanya, di Lisbon, kita kena charge 0,5 euro kalau kita menggunakan kartu baru. Jadi, kalau jangka waktu pemakaian kartu sudah habis, kartu jangan dibuang karena kartu bisa kita isi ulang (dan kita menghemat 0,5 euro karenanya). Harga tiket daily pass adalah 3,75 euro untuk 24 jam masa penggunaan sementara harga tiket one way (untuk naik subway) adalah 0,85 euro. Kartu ini bisa digunakan di berbagai macam alat transportasi di kota Lisbon, seperti subway, bus, trem, dan electric trem.

Kalau mau keliling kota Lisbon sambil menikmati atmosfer sekeliling kota, satu alternatif adalah dengan naik sightseeing bus. Ada beberapa perusahaan yang menawarkan jasa ini. Semua sih rata-rata menggunakan bus bertipe sama: double decker bus (bus tingkat) yang tingkat atasnya terbuka. Dan tentu saja, spot paling enak di bus ini adalah di atas, hahaha. Dan di bus ini kita dikasi earphone yang bisa dicolokin ke kursi untuk mendengarkan penjelasan tentang tempat-tempat yang dikunjungi. Ada delapan pilihan bahasa untuk fasilitas ini, dan seperti yang bisa ditebak, bahasa Indonesia bukanlah satu diantaranya :-D Harganya bervariasi antara perusahaan. Dan diskon 25% yang aku singgung di posting sebelumnya itu hanya berlaku di salah satu perusahaan saja. Perusahaan yang aku pilih menawarkan paket seharga 15 euro dan ini berlaku dua hari (dan bukan perusahaan yang memberikan diskon 25% itu. Hanya saja, perusahaan yang memberi diskon ini menawarkan paket dengan harga 19 euro untuk tur satu hari. Jadi, setelah diskon 25% pun jatuhnya masih lebih mahal deh, hahaha).

BERSAMBUNG...