Lisbon - Day 6 - Solo day

So, the last day in Lisbon I was on my own, as Nathan got up at the crack of dawn to go catch his homebound flight.
It was a sunny day, and I was on a mission to source a Lisbon Christmas bauble for my tree, so I decided to walk into the city to find a souvenir shop we had passed on the first day.

The city Christmas tree was now fully up, but no lights yet.

I found my Christmas tree baubles, and some other small souvenirs. Mission complete and after another coffee and pastel de nata-break, I then decided to walk up to a view point we had passed in an Uber earlier in the week. I got well rewarded with beautiful views!

Around 15 kms later I stopped by a restaurant not far from the hotel and ordered myself some dinner to take-away. Lonesome dinner in the hotel room, while Zooming with Linnea and Mormor.

And early the next morning, waiting for my Uber to take me to the airport - this little getaway was over.

Thank you Lisbon! It was a great week!

Lisbon - Day 5 - Gulbenkian Museum

Our day 5 was Nathan's last day. Unfortunately staff travel hadn't been able to book us back on the same day, so I was going to stay for a day longer. We started our last day together at the Museo Calouste Gulbenkian.

This museum is based on the private collections of Calouste Gulbenkian, who was an Armenian who came to Lisbon during WWII. He made his fortune in the oil industry, and he stipulated that this foundation should be set up in Portugal to look after his vast collection, and support the arts.

At the moment they had a temporary exhibition called Splendour in Venice. From Canaletto to Guardi, about 18th century Venetian painting, which is where we got recommended to start:

We have previously had some of these vedute displayed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and I was always so fascinated by the details and the splendor of these urban views. My longing to go visit these places just grows stronger! I have yet to see Venice for real.

Then we continued to the space with the Founder's Collection, spanning over 5,000 years of art history and accommodating around 6,000 pieces. This is one of the most important private collections of international art there is.

Portrait of Camille Monet, 1872-74, by Renoir. I love this painting! The way she is positioned in diagonal, so chill!

Flora, 1873, by Carpeaux; and Diana, 1780, by Houdon.

The Winter, 1868, by Millet, an artist we talk a lot about during our tours at the museum because of the role he played in developing the new naturalism. I personally have always liked snowy paintings, they feel a bit melancholic and infinitely beautiful at the same time.

Secretary, bookshelf and office, 1762-65, by Garnier.

They had a whole room of mosque lamps! I guess these Mamluk mosque lamps are considered to be one of Islam's main contributions to the art of glass; but still, I do prefer the way we display the artwork in Louvre Abu Dhabi - in a more universal context.
Visiting other museums always make me appreciate our narrative, and make me proud that the Louvre Abu Dhabi is so unique in the way the collections are curated and presented.

The Gulbenkian Foundation also features the Modern Collection, established after the death of Gulbenkian. This is housed in another, very cool building, designed by Kengo Kuma, a Japanese architect.

The collection here consists of works produced from early 20th century to present day, with a focus on modern Portuguese art.

A nice morning!

We then walked to a shopping mall to meet Andrew again for a coffee, and a spot of Christmas shopping, before we Ubered back to the hotel.
In the evening, we finally went across the street to the Craft Beer place Nathan had eyed up since we got there.

Then we had dinner in a pasta restaurant just around the corner, for our last meal. It was really lovely, some snacks and cocktails to start, and in-house handmade pasta.

And since I didn't want to go back to the Craft Beer bar after dinner, Nathan got some beers to go.., ha ha!

Lisbon - Day 4 - Museo Nacional do Azulejo

Our day didn't finish in Sintra. We took an Uber (super cheap in Lisbon, we became Uber pros!) back to the city, and straight to our next museum. Portugal is known for their ceramic tiles, so I wanted to check out the Museo Nacional do Azulejo; situated in a 16-century convent.

The art of making ceramic tiles is a Moorish inheritance, much adapted, and a distinctive aspect of Portuguese culture. Glazed tiled pavements were used since 13th century, and in the early 16th century the use of azulejo as wall revetment was disseminated in Portugal. You still see them all over the city walls, in many different variations.

Azulejo comes from the Arab word azzelij, which means "small polished stone". It refers to a ceramic piece, usually squared, with one side glazed.

So many different moorish tiles with varied colour palettes, glazing techniques and geometric patterns.

Throughout 16th century, the Islamic motifs of knotwork and geometric patterns were gradually replaced by European motif. Italo-Flemish mannerist azulejos arrived in Portugal then, made with a new technique, the faience, which was what helped broaden the decorative possibilities.
However the use of Hispanic-Moorish techniques endured.

This small but stunning cloister is one of the few surviving features of the original convent.

Tiles, tiles, tiles, everywhere!

Included in the museum is a convent church, packed with paintings and also tile panels and gilt woodwork, dating from 17th and 18th century. The Church now started commissioning smaller panels with representations of saints and religious, symbolic or emblematic scenes; with compositions direcctly inspired by European engravings.

I really liked the part with more artistic (less geometric) tiles, like this image of Lisbon made in 1937 for the Portuguese Pavilion at the Paris World Expo.

Or this vast tiled panorama of Lisbon, 23 m long, showing the city's waterfront as it looked before the earthquake, around 1740.

This was called Variation of Rita Hayworth, an artwork from 2020.

Tiles in relief:

Selfie!

Day four was finished off with a dinner in a concept restaurant, they basically only served entrecôte with fries, and brasserie sauce. Reminded us of a restaurant we used to go to when we stayed in Toulouse. Yum!