Portugal: A walk around Lisbon

The Fado Museum

We've just arrived in Lisbon and we weren't quite sure what to do when Ange came up with the inspired idea of walking from our hotel to the Fado Museum. It struck me that I could just take photos of whatever we stumbled across. (I am always on the look out, but usually I have some definite targets as well.) So off we went from our hotel heading south along Avenida da Liberdade towards the centre.

The first notable sight was this tram, adapted to operate as a funicular.

A little further along we were taken in by two men doing some work – presumably laying the cobbles that are such a feature of Lisbon's pavements - in bronze .

Next was the marvelous façade of the Rossio Station, built in the Manueline style in 1886-7.

We crossed Praça Dom Pedro IV (also popularly known as Rossio) with its tiled ground that made feel as though you were walking over waves.

The lower end of the square offered our first glimpse of the Castle of St George – where we started our first exploration of Lisbon 26 years ago. I read that it was much restored towards the end of the 20^th century.

We climbed up and followed a winding road passing beneath the castle. There were some very attractive house with tiled facades in the Portugese style. I especially liked this one.

We reached a viewpoint and enjoyed our first view over the enormously wide river Tagus …

… and descended to reach the Fado Museum. It was an interesting experience, starting with film clips of (presumably famous) Fado singers and guitarists trying to answer the question "What is Fado". They were generally inclined to mystification – head scratching, you can't be taught, you just sort of pick it up, and so on. We listened to several songs which we enjoyed and we learned that as well as a normal guitar, a round, deep 12 string model is in wide use.

Leaving the Museum we headed west a bit inland from the river. I was very taken by the upper storeys of this building, which had an art nouveau feeling. (I realised that there were probably other art nouveau buildings in the city and wished I had had the wit to do some research. Most unlike me!)

A little further along was the intriguing Casa dos Bicos (the House of Points).

It dates from the 16th century and was one of the few buildings not to be completely destroyed by the notorious earthquake of 1755. It is thought to have been inspired by the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. The building is now a cultural centre.

We headed uphill now to reach Lisbon's cathedral (or Sé), which we remembered well from our previous visit. It is very awkwardly located with tram lines going right up to the entrance and round the left side of the building. We didn't go in, remembering it as rather plain.

We dipped back down to reach the large Praca do Comercio, or Palace Square, right on the waterfront. It is enclosed on three sides by colonnaded buildings in a uniform style. It was rebuilt after the 11755 earthquake. In the centre is an equestrian statue of King José I, inaugurated in 1775.

We left the square through the Triumphal Arch which was not completed until 1873. This is the view from Rua Augusta.

Further along the street in a turning on the left is the rather wonderful Santa Justa Elevator. It was opened in 1902 and links the lower and upper parts of the city.

We continued along Rua Augusta and at the top went to the left to re-enter Rossio square. These nymphs were my final shot of the day.

Conditions: bright and mild, becoming cloudy.

Distance: somewhere between four and five miles.

Rating: four stars. A wonderful open-ended ramble.

Milan: Porta Nuova

We have just arrived in Milan and rather than visit the nearby Duomo (the plaza in front of it is jam-packed - it is a Saturday, when presumably the number of tourists is at a peak), we have headed out to Milan's newest attraction, the redevelopment of the Porta Nuova district. We leave the metro at Garibaldi and above is the view that confronts us: two sky scrapers with a plaza between them.

We head towards them from the station and are amused to be confronted by an old style tram: it seems out of place in this temple of modernism.

Before entering the plaza we continue along Corso Como to reach the Porta Nuova itself: a rather splendid arch flanked by a pair of pavilions. (I couldn't get them both in without cluttering the foreground with cars and people.) It dates from 1810 the old city walls when it seems that old city gates were torn down and new gates erected in a ring much further out.

From here, we headed back along Como and up a walkway leading to the plaza, with an intriguing building suggestive of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the background.

The plaza contains a mixture of shops and bars. What struck us most was that it seemed that most of the people there were Italians rather than tourists like us.

We now enjoyed a close up view of the Unicredit Tower. At 231m (758 ft) it is the tallest building in Italy (for comparison, the Shard in London is 306m high). The architect was César Pelli.

And then walked past this interesting low-rise structure, made of - or at least clad in - wood. It seemed to be empty and we wondered what its purpose would be.

At this point we spotted a sign on the boarding in front of the next area to be developed. It allowed us to discover that we were part of the way along a walking route through the development. This was great as it encouraged us to complete the route.

It seems that Porta Nuova has won an award for redevelopment schemes - and was being compared to the High Line in New York and the Las Ramblas in Barcelona. To be honest, we found this a bit far-fetched. The wonderful High Line, which we walked in 2015, presents itself as a linear park, while the original Rambla goes back a long time in history, while the early 19th century extension northwards from Plaza de Catalunya dates from the early 20th century and was part of a massive development called the Eixample, the extension.

Continuing along the route we passed on the left the pair of green buildings spotted earlier. They are very well named as the Bosco Verticale, or vertical forest. The towers, which are residential, were designed by Boeri Studio and opened in 2014. A remarkable sight.

We followed the walkway to its end. This is the view looking back with corporate towers on the right and houses for the rich on the left.

We retraced our steps and I took one final picture of a rectangular building with a sort exo-skeleton in wood and the Unicredit tower behind it.

Conditions: warm sunshine.

Distance: a couple of miles.

Rating: four and half stars. It is a very impressive development, despite some of my critical comments, and makes an interesting destination for tourists and locals alike. It perhaps just a bit over-hyped.

Turin: Borgo Medievale and other sights

 

The Castello

Today's plan was to get a cab to the Borgo Medievale, which is at one end of the Parco del Valentino,  and walk back to our hotel. The Borgo Medievale was built for the Italian General Exhibition of 1884 and features reproductions of 15th century buildings and furnishings in the style of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. We started by admiring the dramatic Castello and then walked round to the right to find the entrance on the banks of the River Po. This rather lovely panel marked the spot.

Inside (which is free unless you want a guided tour) there is effectively a medieval street. You first notice a church with a facade partially in terracotta and covered in frescoes.

Further along a house with an overhanging first floor supported on massive columns

It is very quiet this morning and we pretty much have the place to ourselves. Looking back it becomes clear that thee are delightful frescoes on the end of the building opposite.

The final gateway has more lovely frescoes.

Leaving the Borgo we continue along the banks of the Po - the longest river in Italy, rising in the Alps and reaching the Adriatic over 400 miles later. Here is it quite wide and slow moving.

As we approach the Vittorio Emanuele bridge, the Church of Santa Maria al Monte dei Cappuccini, a late 16th century Capuchin monastery, dominates a hill on the opposite side of the river.

As we reached the north end of the Park we were surprised to this splendid arch. It seems to be called the Monumental Arch the Weapon of Artillery (which feels like a poor translation). It dates from 1930 - and features lots pf weapons, including cannon.

We headed along via P and via san Massimo (leading into via Montebello) to reach one of Turin's most famous buildings: the strangely named Mole Antonelliana. Thsi was our first view from the rear.

It is named for its architect, Alessandro Antonelli - a mole in Italian is a monumental building. It certainly justifies its name. It was conceived as a synagogue at a time when Turin was briefly the capital of Italy. The architects desire for an enormous building eventually led to the Jewish community abandoning the project and the city took it over as a museum. It is now the National Museum of the Cinema. It is 167.5 m (550 ft) high and is the tallest un-reinforced brick building in the world (it was built without a steel girder skeleton). Apparently you see the Alps from the viewing point at the top.

To complete our walk we visited the Museo Egizio - the Egyptian Museum. We had read about it and thought it might be worth a look. It is in fact completely astonishing, as good a museum as you could find anywhere. The closest thing to a drawback is that it is very popular with school parties.

It was founded in 1824, but grew sharply between 1903 and 1937, when the archaeological excavations conducted in Egypt by Ernesto Schiaparelli and then by Giulio Farina brought some 30,000 artifacts to Turin. The route through the museum is chronological, starting with artifacts from the 4th century BC like this wonderful seated figure.

The routing is slightly confusing in places but you end up in the incredible Gallery of Kings.

One of my favourites was this statue of Pharaoh Horemheb and the god Amun (Amun is on the left - he is bigger because he is more more important)

Conditions: hot and sunny.

Distance: about 3 miles.

Rating: four stars. Interesting and varied.