Lisbon, again, day 3

Hopefully today is the day we fly home. Our flight isn’t until 6:15 pm tonight.

We had a slow breakfast in the hotel and went for a walk around the area again, hoping to find something we hadn’t seen already. We discovered the beautiful Rossio Railway Station two squares over from our hotel.

The Neo-Manueline façade dominates the northwest side of the square and is a Romantic recreation of the exuberant Manueline style, typical of early 16th century Portugal. Its most interesting features are the two intertwined horseshoe portals at the entrance, the clock in a small turret, and the abundant sculptural decoration. Inside, the platforms are connected by ramps to the façade level and are covered by a cast-iron structure executed by a Belgian firm. The station is an important example of Romantic (façade) and cast-iron (platform cover) architecture in Portugal.

The city has changed. It’s now September, and it seems as though there are more tourists, if that’s possible. The squares in our area are full of large tour groups that we hadn’t seen before. I wondered if there was a cruise ship in Port. You can usually tell. Cruise ship tourists are somehow different in their numbers and behavior.

We walked down to the river, and sure enough, there was a rather large one docked.

After lunch, we’ll check out and make our way back to the airport… again. Fingers crossed we actually get home today. We’ve enjoyed our extra two days in Lisbon