Lisboa's treasured tiles

Tiles at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

Everywhere we look we see tiles. Just when I come to believe that Sevilla and Córdoba have the tile market cornered, we arrive in Portugal. Entire buildings on every block are covered with colorful tiles. Tiles can be found in churches, restaurants, embedded in park benches and wrapped around drain pipes.

Tiles at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

If I were in the market, I could buy colorful tiles in flea markets, cheap souvenir shops or fancy décor shops. Since we prefer to spend our money on experiences rather than stuff — goodness knows, we have more than enough stuff — tiled trivets don't tempt. But we are curious about the history and artistry of the ubiquitous azulejo.

Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

After a week of intensive study and field experience, I have become a bit more confident on navigating Lisboa's transit system. (As I mentioned in a previous post, there are no printed bus maps and since we don't have a smart phone, we must carefully plan our routes before we leave the apartment each day). Today, I have a compiled a complex itinerary involving bus, train and metro voyages, but our first destination will be easy:  We board a bus that runs right down our street and take it to the end of its line — Madre de Deus. We have arrived at the Museu Nacional do Azulejo.

Tiles at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

Inside Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

Tiles at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

The museum, nicknamed MNAz (which is easier to pronounce than the word azulejo), is located in an ancient convent, founded in 1509 by Queen D. Leonor. The exhibition focuses on the history of Portuguese tiles from the 16th century to the present. The museum also contains pieces from other regions of the world and includes informative exhibits on tile-making.

Figurine at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

Tiles at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

We wind our way upward through the monastery around a central courtyard. Midway, we visit the beautiful church, choir and chapels adorned in gold and, of course, tiles. More to my taste is the contemporary tile art on the upper floors.

Interior detail of the church at Museu Nacional do
Azulejo in Lisboa

Interior of the church at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

Contemporary tiles display at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

The top floor of the museum houses a large tiled panorama of Lisboa, and we have fun identifying places we've seen.

City panorama at Museu Nacional do Azulejo in Lisboa

For more information about Museu Nacional do Azulejo, visit the museum website here.

Some silly scenes of Lisboa

Views like this one seem to be around each corner in Lisboa.

As I write these blog posts chronicling our month-long trip to Spain and Portugal in the winter of 2016, I sort through hundreds (OK, more like 2,000) photographs. We spent two weeks in Lisboa, a city that delighted and challenged us.

Detail of building in Estrela neighborhood of Lisboa

The delights are obvious: Lisboa is an spectacular and amazing city, filled with all the sights, history, excitement and cuisine that one could want from a European capital.

Archway in Lisboa's Praça do Comércio

Challenging because: 1. The transit system doesn't print maps since everybody — everybody but us — has a smart phone. 2. Hills that demand we stay on course during our explorations, so we don't accidentally descend before we get to our intended destination, which is now way up there. 3. There are long intermissions during movies, even short movies. 4. You only get one menu to share in a restaurant making it difficult to translate and decide what to order. (Yes, I know, these are very, very petty frustrations.)

Lisboa's iconic No. 28 tram is our primary mode of
transportation to get across town from our apartment
in the Campo Ourique district.

Back to my more immediate challenge: how to sum up Lisboa in one concise essay. My solution is to share some of our more personal and off-beat memories and leave the details, history lessons and travel tips for future posts. So indulge me for now and stay tuned for more.

Is it any wonder that parts of Lisboa remind us of Sausalito?

The illusion of a wavy pavement in Praça Dom Pedro IV, better known
as Rossio, in Lisboa

Statue in Lisboa's Largo do Barao do Quintela

Tiny doors in Lisboa

Our guide for a free (!) three-plus-hour walking tour of Lisboa

Musical tiles in Lisboa

A window on a church destroyed during the earthquake
of 1755 in Lisboa's Largo do Carmo

Another Lisboa view

A guard at Lisboa's Assembla da Republica

Whitewashed buildings and laundry in Lisboa's Alfama district

Acrobatic statue in Parque das Nações, site of
Expo '98 in Lisboa

The 10-mile-long Vasco da Gama bridge in Lisboa is Europe's longest bridge.

Tight-rope walker in Jardim da Estrela in Lisboa

The English Cemetery in Lisboa is best known as the final resting place
of English writer Henry Fielding.

Botero's "Fat Mama" is located in central Lisboa's
largest park, Parque Eduardo VII.

Café chairs and fishing poles in Cacilhas, just across
the Tagus river from Lisboa

Complicated wiring on a building in Cacilhas

An artist in Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara in Lisboa

And we ate in Lisboa, too.

A lot of this ...

 ... and some of that.

Question: Why did I jumped into this mosh pit at Pão Pão Queijo Queijo
in Lisboa's Belém district? 

Answer: Falafel

We ate at Raffi's Bagels three times while in Lisboa.
Go at 10 a.m. when the authentic NY-style bagels are warm from the oven.