Lisbon Travel Answers

I can only give you some info about some religious events going on at downtown, I'm usually not at Lisboa on Easter. On April 1, "Domingo de Ramos" celebrations with the "Triunfo" procession at Largo do Carmo (4pm); on April 5 "Via Matris" celebrations (3.30pm) 7 churchs procession starting at São Domingos; April 6, "Via Sacra" celebrations (10.30am)starting at São Domingos. Just do not expect grand celebrations, it's not usual in Lisboa. The major Easter celebrations in Portugal are at Braga (north of Portugal).

Let me tell you a story. At times there was a Prince who decided to conquer the land to have their own kingdom. But as he had only one province (1/30 of the area of the current territory) he had a problem: lack of population. To solve this problem he decided to adopt the people who lived in the conquered lands. There were “only” a small difference, the conqueror was a Catholic and the conquered population was Moorish. The achievement was taking shape-from north to south, and new King banned public achievements of another religion other than yours without imposing it to conquered populations who could perform their devotions in their homes. With that kept the peace among the people with different believes who, over the years, has blended. Thus was born a country named Portugal. A tolerant country, with many Catholic rituals and traditions but also some pagans. This story explain that in the north, for being the first, and where the concentration of Catholics was greater, the festivities are still strongly marked, while in the south are more modest. In Lisbon, surely there will be some celebrations in the churches, but not much else. While in the north villages are organized religious processions, streets are adorned with carpets of flowers, sings to the souls during the night, symbolized the burial of Christ and many others. The festivities take place during the day and night. I dare say that in Lisbon, the Easter season days will seem quite like the others. ;)

Thank you both of you for your recommendations and for the nice story Smonteiromota. It is the shortest version of a country history I have ever heard :) but this is making me curious about the extended version too. Anyway, you shouldn't understand from my question that we are visiting Portugal for the Easter ceremonies but that... once we will be there, we want to get the feeling of the "happenings" caused by that special event. All the best!

I'm glad to know you liked my short story. As you may know Portugal is one of the oldest countries in Europe. The territory is the same since 1249. I already wrote in this forum my Lisbon trip advice, if you don't mind i will copy/paste next. The story i told you is visible in Lisbon. In the city you have a medieval neighborhood next to the castle that is called "Mouraria" which means the neighborhood of Moors. If you see carefully (not easy) but in some of this medieval streets, the windows at the buildings still have a wooden door typical of Moors countries , which was used for women to look out the window without being seen by society, an act that was forbidden in Moorish countries. Can also see buildings with ogival stone arches, typical Moorish. Enjoy your stay, and search in the Internet, by name in Portuguese, the following locations: Places to visit (copy/paste) I would advise starting to know a little history of the city, how it arose and developed up to today. So you must go to the city museum (Museu da Cidade – Campo Grande). Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00 Closed Mondays and holidays. Then you'll understand better what you'll see later. Visits to areas of the city: Zone of Belém: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém , Museu dos Coches, Museu da Electricidade, Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, Vasco da Gama Aquarium. The downtown area: the Cathedral, the castle, many churches, the trams, the squares, the medieval streets (Alfama and Bairro Alto), Museu Teatro Romano, Mãe de Água (reservoir), Aqueduct, Reservatório da Patriarcal (Reservoir), Estação Elevatória dos Barbadinhos (old Pumping Station), Panteão Nacional, Igreja da Graça, Basílica da Estrela. Area of the Expo - New Town: Oceanário de Lisboa (the new aquarium), Pavilhão do Conhecimento (Pavilion of Knowledge - good for children) and the Casino.

Thank you very much for your advices... I love architecture and I'm trying to transfer this to my 7 yrs old son. I am sure that both of them will love the moorish architecture and... I hope that our trip will be long enough to feel our lungs with history. I'll take a look at your page... thank you again.

You can see here some places to visit some of whom are outside Lisbon, in nearby towns. http://www.getportugal.com/en/pois/m/11 If you plan on visiting other places than Lisbon look at the advice I gave to sandgrounder at the same forum. Here: VT Forum temporarily unavailable best regards

Dear "smonteiromota", Thank you very much for the info and the links. We would probably stay at home and do a virtual-visit of all Portugal :) I was only wondering, why you don’t save your answers as tips on your profile?! It would be much easier to help the others, isn’t it?

loooooooooooooooooooool Well you are right. Maybe because i'm a rookie and I still didn't had the time to explore the website. I will consider your advise. Meanwhile if you still have questions i will consider help you ;) My work has nothing to do with tourism, however, Portugal is still in economic crisis, by which I, and another 10 million who live here appreciate that your visit will not be only on the Internet. ;) Besides knowing or travel is not just taking pictures to say "I've been in that place";). It only makes sense if it is to know different cultures. Lifestyle, food, weather, experience and more... At least that's what I think.

Don't worry, we are coming in Portugal at the beginning of April and we will try to take our card with us too :) I am sure that this financial crisis will be finished soon, and we are trying hard to pay our part on this. Everybody knows that Romania is one of the richest countries in Europe, isn’t it?! :)))))) About your page on VT, it is much simpler than you believe, just search for a location, and start completing your page about it. You can add photos and movies, and you shall say there as much as you want from your previous experiences as a tourist. As I see it, you have a lot to say, at least about your country. We have started to do this not only for sharing our experiences with the others but for saving on a safe location, our travel stories :) And I have to appreciate that writing our impressions here is improving a lot our English too ;) Thank you again for your advices and... have a nice day!

Improve my English... that was one of my reasons too. The other was to help the tourists planning to travel to Portugal in order to enjoy the country and spread the word, that Portugal is a good country to travel and see! I had at my degree, two Romanian teachers (man and wife) :) they were the terror of the students! ;) I just don’t get it, why do you say that Romania has blame in crisis? We here do not blame anyone but our own politicians and their stupid decisions. Once I realized how it's done I’ll accept your friend request. (!!) In case you are planning to visit the "fairy tales" Sintra city, I recommend you try this pastry (38 ° 47'46 .80 "N 9 ° 23'26 .52" W googleearth coordinates) with the name "Piriquita II”. Ask for "Travesseiros de Sintra” or "Queijadas de Sintra", in case you have trouble pronouncing it, write it on a paper and show it to the waitress and choose how many with your fingers. Then close your eyes, taste it… and come back for more! Enjoy it.

Thank you again to all of you for your help and for your advices. Our trip in Portugal was amazing, excepting the fact that the time was really running :( If you want to remember about your “Portuguese experiences”, you’re welcome to visit our pages (not finished yet): "Portugal-the other limit of Europe" - Portugal by adema29