The Home of Explorers - Lisbon Portugal

Would you like to travel to a place that is out of the ordinary? Would you like something unusual? Delightful and fresh? Something off the beaten track?
I suggest strongly to you that you think of Lisbon when Europe is once again on your agenda.
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, and Portugal is the westernmost country of the European mainland.

At one stage, Portugal and Spain divided up the world, taking half each. Portugal, through the work of Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, and Magellan, stood tall over a global empire during the 15th and 16th centuries, with possessions in Africa, Asia and South America. Now, it is all gone. Yet still, Portugal is a rare treat. In the rankings of the Quality of Life index (out of a total 111 countries) Portugal is ranked in the top 20 – ahead of the United Kingdom and France!

The capital of Portugal is an experience I guarantee you will find memorable. To enter Lisbon - to begin with - is a surreal experience unlike any other. You will approach the town of Lisbon, still not yet visible, over a bridge that is the spitting image of the Golden Gate Bridge. Look up to the right and you will see a statue called ‘Cristo-Rei’ (Christ the King), that is the spitting image of Rio’s ‘Christ the Redeemer’. This statue was built after World War II to give thanks for the country being spared the devastation of the war. Suddenly, Lisbon will open up before you, like majestic angel wings to reveal a city of around 3 million people.

This part of Europe is often forgotten in the rush to Rome, Paris and Barcelona, but in certain respects it will outdo all of them. If you’ve seen the quality and vibrance of the sculptures that are ever-present in Lisbon, you will understand. They rival anything in Paris or Rome. Of course, Portugal is famous for its painted and glazed tiles. A Portuguese glazed tile is one of the most memorable souvenirs, and you are guaranteed to not find anything else quite like it, anywhere in the world.

When you visit Lisbon, have a Portuguese tart, a glass of port, visit the famous Belem Tower, and I can only recommend, most heavily, a visit to the Discoverer’s Monument on the banks of the river. The figure on the prow of the ship is Henry the Navigator. In 1960 – twenty eight years before Australia’s 200th birthday, the monument was reconstructed to celebrate Henry’s death - 500 years before. Take a moment, look up with wonder at the Discoverer’s Monument, and hear the whispers of a time when this little country owned half the world.