Day 5 in Lisbon

Thursday 29 January

What better place to visit on a rainy day in Lisbon but the Aquarium. Located in the former grounds of the 1998 Expo up river from the historic city center, the Oceanário de Lisboa is a must-see. How cool is it? Well here's a hint. . . 

I have to back up a few days to our dinner last Monday evening. The couple across from us, Chris and his wife Rebecca, were talking about the Mola mola fish, and that the Lisbon aquarium had one and they hoped to see it before leaving. Well, we were quite taken with the idea of visiting the Aquarium ourselves and the more I looked into it the better it sounded. 

So, off we went. Taking the Green Line from our Metro stop to the Red Line at Alameda and getting off at Oriente train station (we'll be back here on Saturday morning to catch our train to Porto).

the interior of our station

Quite a few Metro stations have some incredibly original tile artwork on permanent display. These two are from the Alameda station.

Oriente train station 

We walked out of the station through the enormous Vasco da Gama mall, and exited just short of the river. 

a rainy glimpse of the neighborhood

We then walked the 10- or 15-minutes to the Aquarium (also known as the Oceanarium). 

the building sits at the edge of an old seaplane basin - note the entrance ramp

the ramp with occasional notes about the One Ocean

The key point made at the Aquarium is that there are not several oceans but in fact only One Ocean.  The building is laid out with each of the four oceans (One) at a corner of  the large central tank to show in vivid detail how they are all connected. Fascinating.  I should also point out that this point is made in  very moving terms by a lovely video by Maya de Almeida Araújo we saw at the end of our visit.

Anyway here are just a few (very) short clips to give you a sense of the wonders inside the building. These are followed by a collection of random photos as well. I must say that we were intrigued by the number of adults who were just sitting here and there watching the fish. And we both admitted how indeed it is mesmerizing. . . 

Penguins at work and play.

common murre

puffin

penguin playground

penguins!

sea anemones and starfish

the tropical rain forest

Mola mola

sea anemone

one very ugly fish 

Leaving the Aquarium we strolled along the basin and close to the river back to the Mall. 

view of the basin looking back in the direction of the Mall

the King of Lynxes -- all made out of old plastic and metal garbage 

Once inside we headed to the upstairs food court and found a place to sit and enjoy a glass of wonderful Belgian ale.

It was then back to the Metro and home. That evening we returned to Koppu for dinner. We shared a plate of Gyoza dumplings and Susan had Yakitori with rice and I had shaved beef over steamed rice, washed down with a lovely Portuguese white wine. We ended the meal with ice cream; I had Caramel-miso and a scoop of Black Sesame and Susie had the Black Sesame along with a scoop of Matcha. Delicious!

Tomorrow we meet up with Graça, a friend of Richard and Pauline's. She has an itinerary planned to show us her neighborhood in Lisbon and some of the sights in the western part of the city. Stay tuned!