Noite em Lisboa

Last time I entered a Portuguese post for one of Cee’s wonderful photography challenges it was daytime and we were in the least densely populated municipality in the whole of Portugal. Today is it night (N of course for Cee’s challenge today!) and we are in Portugal’s largest city. Not that it felt very populated on the evening we took this stroll, even the Elevador de Santa Justa looked quiet.  The Santa Justa lift opened at the turn of the 20th century, and is still running daily from 7am until 10pm (11pm in the summer). There are no views from the elevator itself and the queues to go up during the middle of the day can be lengthy, however it is rather fun and there are splendid views from the viewing platform at the top. By the way if you are wondering about the quality of some of some of my photographs blame my phone! It was an impromptu walk after our evening meal so I didn’t have my camera with me. I had much better success in Praça do Comércio where there was less light. In fact I think I prefer some of these shots to those I took with a proper camera during the day.

This enormous 19th century arch is a celebration of the rebuilding of Lisbon following the 1755 earthquake, with both the inscriptions and the sculptures honouring the courage and achievements of the Portuguese people. I’ve only recently learnt that you can go up it. And don’t fret about stairs as a lift takes you most of the way!

I am going to remain in Praça do Comércio for the final shots of my night explorations. These are both of the statue which can be found in the middle of Praça do Comércio, except we couldn’t actually see the statue that night, we could only enjoy its rather splendid plinth. It looked rather wonderful at night surrounded by black, although I must admit I prefer my daytime shot of the elephant on it. I am though intrigued as to why the equestrian statue of King José I wasn’t lit up. Were the bulbs out or is this normal? And if the latter, why?!