Moscavide

We have moved, again but we are staying within Lisbon. We have now left the old districts of Alfama and Chiado for a much more modern accommodation in Moscavide. The district, which is located in the northern parts of Lisbon, was easy to get to using the metro even though we had quite a lot of luggage in the form of suitcases, backpacks and of course a stroller and the child. However, it was much easier than I thought it would be and once there, both the cobblestones and the narrow alleys are gone. Here they are asphalted, wide avenues and newly built houses. The newly built ones are of course relative but I would appreciate that a lot was built at the end of the 20th century and the apartment we live in now was probably built around when Lisbon last had its world exhibition, expo, i.e. 1998.

Here in Moscavide, they are much fully, cleaner and more modern than we have seen before in the city. There is a nice boardwalk that you can go for a run along or just walk down to, have a coffee and eat another Pastel de nata, this magically delicious pastry filled with delicious egg cream.

Looking out over the water, you see the magnificent Vasco da Gama Bridge. I thought I was driving over a completely bizarrely long bridge when I drove into Lisbon and it is indeed a candidate for the longest in Europe at 17km (for reference, the Öland Bridge is 6km). The bridge was built to reduce the pressure on traffic through the city and, as a coincidence, it was also completed in time for the 1998 World Expo, strange isn’t it.

Woke up a good while before the sun decided to rise which can be a bit bitter but the positives of it all are that I was down by the water when it finally decided to come out and what a sight. My photo below doesn’t do the experience justice and the Vasco da Gama bridge that I talked about yesterday is impressive in itself, seeing it in a cavalcade of colours while feeling the heat starting to come was a great way to get rid of the bitterness.

Apart from that, the day has actually been mostly a disappointment, I got a tip from Google to go and look at street art under/on the bridge foundation, a short walk later in a drizzle and a rushing cold wind I realize that oh well, these weren’t particularly exciting. To be honest, the so-called street art wasn’t much to rave about and I’ve seen more impressive paintings on both trains and walls.

The rain increased from drizzle to torrential rain so we decided to go to the local shopping center, here came the next disappointment as it was quite big in itself but most of the shops were closed or just completely uninteresting to someone like me. But I saw two ring-necked parakeets in a tree on the way there, at first I thought they were domestic birds that had escaped but I read on the Internet that they are apparently relatively common here. Definitely the funniest thing that happened on a rather boring day like this. Now time to “enjoy” pasta and sardines in tomato sauce because I am too comfortable to go out in the rain, I should probably just go to bed and sleep the bitterness away, at least here there are no freezing temperatures or snow.