SIGHTSEEING | PARQUE DAS NAÇÕES
Ocean Heritage I
Lisbon’s Parque das Nações splices modern architecture with a seafaring tradition. Paul Bernhardt embarks on a voyage of discovery.
’m being watched. I noticed him earlier. An odd looking fellow with a flatened head and a poor excuse for a goatee trailing from his chin. He’s got acne. His long, sinewy frame is pocked with large, uneven spots.
I move away. But he’s right there, snapping at my heels. Strange thing is, he doesn’t have any legs. Instead, at one end of his body sprouts a bouquet of probing tentacles. I reckon if he stood up straight he’d be at least 20 metres in height.
But of course, giant sea serpents don’t walk. Tey swim. And I’m not treading water in some terrifying aquatic nightmare. Rather I’m
strolling along Esplanada D. Carlos I at Parque das Nações and my feet are stepping over a mosaic of fantastic marine monsters, the kind that used to strike fear into the hearts of medieval sailors when they really believed the depths were patrolled by huge legless creatures with skin problems.
But Lisbon’s “Park of Nations” is all about the imagination. And it’s all about the oceans, too.
Te unique cobblestone artwork known as calçadas decorating the pavements and promenades are embellished with nautical motifs – exotic denizens of the deep, curvaceous mermaids, numerous bearded
Neptunes, celestial globes and the ubiquitous caravel – the matchbox-sized lateen-rigger that Portuguese explorers risked their lives in during the 15th century to chart new worlds.
I’m visiting the park on a weekend. Sunday aſternoon has lured chatering city dwellers to the Jardims d’Água, a verdant garden of indigenous and sub-tropical flora. Te landscape is designed around a boardwalk that reaches across a shallow lake to interconnect pebblestone islets crowned with colourful, fragrant shrubs. Children’s laughter floats on the soſt, mild breeze. Above, a cloudless sky envelops us all in a daylight blue veneer.
15 | Summer 2011 |
www.portugal-life.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92