We are back in Lisbon after visiting the campus. It was such a lovely experience to be there. Taking the labs and seeing everyone from around the world, you just can't compare the feeling to anything ...
We had one more day to do touristy stuff before we head back to US and we decided to make the best of it. We head back to square Rossio. There is an observation deck that you can visit near the square and you can see the skyline of the entire city. You have to take this beautiful old-style elevator to get to the deck. (Tip - If you buy an entire day pass for 4.50 Euros, you can use the train & the bus as much as you want. There was a bonus, we found out that we can gain entrance to the elevator using the same pass, for Free !!! )
The elevator itself was quite charming. It was built in Gothic style architecture, complimenting what you are about to see when you go up the elevator.
The Elevator - Image by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009 Once we finished admiring the skyline, we decided to see what is at this level in the city. There is a small bridge from the elevator connecting to a higher elevation of the city. There were some ruins of what seem to be an ancient Gothic Cathedral or something like that and we decided to explore that. I must say, that was one of the best decisions I made during this trip.
The church of Carmo Covent from the Elevator - Image by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009 
The entrance to the church of Carmo Covent - Image by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009
It was a structure that built in 1389 and was destroyed during the earthquake in Lisbon on the 1st of November 1755. Church of Carmo Covent was then turned into a museum and it houses all the remaining original pieces of the building and other artifacts from the monasteries of the era. The building is massive, one can see where the ceilings must have been looking up at the ruins of the vaults. Its a very tall building, typical of traditional Gothic architecture. Beautiful pointed arches and elaborate, decorated columns are just breath taking...
Outdoor displays at the church of Carmo Covent - Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009The indoor display section also house many, many beautiful artifacts.
Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009Our next stop was to be the Castle you can see across from the Church / Museum. So we walked back to Square Russio. We didn't take the elevator, instead we walked through beautiful narrow roads of Lisbon. Its amazing how narrow the streets are but how people drive cars in both direction and still manage not to knock the pedestrians down.
Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009Back at the Square, it was packed with people. We immediately knew all these people were tourists from Bosnia who were there to see the Portugal vs Bosnia Soccer match. It was like a sea of people wearing Blue and Yellow clothing, drinking beer, singing (I assume) were Bosnian songs. It was quite entertaining actually.
Then we head off to the Castle. You can get entrance to the Castle of S. Jorge for 5.oo Euros if you are a student and I think around 15.00 Euros for others. By the time we arrived there, I was pretty tired so I didn't look around much for the history but I found some details in the internet later. You can read more about the castle here.
Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009We decided to walk down the hill instead of taking the bus down back to Sq. Rossio. On the way back we saw the most oddly shaped, majestic Gothic Church - Church of Santa Maria Maior.
Church of Santa Maria Maior - Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009
Archeological dig at Church of Santa Maria Maior - Images by Manori Sumanasinghe (C) 2009Church of Santa Maria Maior is a must see if you are in Lisbon.!!!
We are leaving Lisbon tomorrow. I'm sad. It's a beautiful city. And I haven't even seen a fraction of it's beauty. But I will be back again, hopefully next year. Until then ... Adeus Querida Lisboa..!!
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