A day at the Lisbon Oceanarium/Um dia no Oceanário de Lisboa

According to one guidebook, the Lisbon Oceanarium (don't call it an aquarium!) is the second-largest aquarium in the world. I suspect that information might be slightly out of date, but nonetheless it is quite large and rightfully occupies a position of pride among Lisboetas who care about such things. It is located in the Parque das Nações, which is a large former industrial wasteland which was redeveloped to host Expo '98 in Lisbon. For my fellow Seattlites, it's kind of like the Seattle Center. Along with the Oceanarium, it houses plazas and pavilions, a marina, a concert hall, a shopping mall, fancy residential complexes, a new train station, and nearby, a casino. There's also a cable car traversing from one end to the other so you can take the whole thing from above.

Arrival: Here is the Gare do Oriente (East Train Station), which is the location both of trains to Europe and the last Metro stop on the Red Line (Linha Vermelha). It was designed by Santiago Calatrava, who is a very famous architect from Spain.

We walked through the mall (named after Vasco da Gama) and out the other side, then you are immediately confronted with this:

On the way to the Oceanarium, you pass a lot of different stuff. Here is another cool statue. In the background, you can see the cable cars I mentioned. There's also a pedestrian causeway with numerous runners and bikers. I should mention that's the Rio Tejo in the distance.

Here's a view of the Oceanário from distance. It's built right into the water.

Here's a more close-up view of the Oceanário. I've read that people think it looks like an aircraft carrier, but I think it looks like a evil movie villain's futuristc lair.

Mrs. Nojo with Vasco, the Oceanário's "mascot".

The main attraction of the Oceanário is its large central tank, which houses many many different fish species. The rest of the exhibits are built around this tank, meaning as you wind your way through the aquarium, you come back to it multiple times and get different angles and see lots of different fish. It was hard to photograph into the tank well, so this is the only picture of it I'll post, but needless to say this photo doesn't really do justice to its size. There are some enormous fish in there, including whale sharks, manta rays, and sunfish, but none of them are visible in this photo. (Silhouette belongs to Mrs. Nojo).

OK, let's move on to animals I was able to photograph decently. One cool thing about the Oceanário is that it isn't just fish. There are some cool bird exhibits as well. Here are some South American terns:

Pacific Sea Otters! Gah, so cute!

This is a Turaco, which I believe is an Indian Ocean bird.

This little bird looks like an oriole, but it was in the same exhibit as the turaco, so I think it was also native to the Indian Ocean. I didn't record its name, unfortunately.

Here's a fish I managed to get an ok picture of. It's not very pretty or exciting, but it was big.

Sea anenome:

Here's some kind of salamander or newt or something:

This is a small Australian shark:

That's all for now. An enjoyable place to visit, if kind of expensive. And packed with children. Animals!

Food Photography - For Mom/Fotografia de Alimentos - Para a Mãe

So I had a request from my mother to post photos of meals when we eat out. So, here's the first of the occasional posts I wil do in this vein. This was from the restaurant "Zapata" which is very nearby us and very popular.

This is "Cozido Portugues" which essentially translates as "Portuguese Stew", although "cozido" is one of those words that doesn't translate perfectly to English. Anyway, it's just a mixed plate of stewed meats and vegetables, in this case served with a side of rice and beans, although that is not standard. Amid this pile is three different tyes of sausage, various cuts of pork and beef, and also things like tripe and stomach. In terms of veggies, there was cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. Nice n' hearty.

(PART 2 - read part 1 first, se below) A Soccer Stadium and a Soccer Game/Um Estádio de Futebol e um Jogo de Futebol

OK, let's finish up these photos. Here's three shots of the interior of the stadium I took at halftime.

Here was the area right behind us.

Here's one end of the stadium.

Here's the other.

Finally, here's some shots of some fan groups. Yes, the third and last shot has a bad word in it. Nuaghty, naughty fans.

(PART 1!!) A Soccer Stadium and a Soccer Game/Um Estádio de Futebol e um Jogo de Futebol

On Sunday, February 19th, we went to Estádio José Alvalade to attend the soccer game between Sporting Clube de Portugal, more commonly known as Sporting Lisbon, and Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira. Sporting won, 1-0, and it was a great time. First, I'll add some background on Portuguese soccer, then add background on why I have chosen to support Sporting Lisbon while I'm here.

The Portuguese Premier League is dominated by three teams, AKA the "Big Three". Two of the three are from Lisbon (Sporting and Benfica) and the third is from Porto (FC Porto). Together, they account for almost every league title going back decades. Lisbon is split between its two teams, although Benfica has the most support around the country. There are a few other teams scattered around the Lisbon area, but they just aren't very successful and attract many fewer fans.

So why pick Sporting? For me, there are two main reasons. One, when I made my first visit to Portugal in 2001, I was in Lisbon when Sporting won the title. It was quite the green-colored party in the city that night, and it just kind of stuck with me. Second, Sporting is the only first division Portuguese team to employ an American - and that American is Oguchi Onyewu, a beast of a defender for the national team and one of my favorite players, to boot. So, it seemed natural for me to support Sporting.

The game was good, Sporting won and pretty much dominated Paços de Ferreira, a relative minnow of a team, despite only getting one goal. The only sad part was Onyewu got hurt in the game and had to be subbed out in the first half! Bummer! I guess, looking on the bright side, at least I got to see him play a little bit before he got hurt. Also, as he was coming out of the game, the fans were singing his name, a sign of respect and appreciation. It was cool to see an American player receive that ovation from a European crowd, even if it is becoming more commonplace these days.

Anyway, on to the photos. First you'll see shots from the outside of the stadium. These were quite obviously not taken on game day, but some other day. That's ok, just imagine 30,000 green-clad people milling around outside, and darkness. Then, you'll see photos from the inside on game night.

This is what you might call the "official" entrance to the stadium, located on the north side.

Here's the club's crest rendered in tiles on the side of the stadium.

The stadium is located right next to the Campo Grande Metro station, which is also a major bus terminal. As you exit the station, you come right out to the west side of the stadium, as seen in the following two pictures.

If you're wondering, the stadium is more than a simple arena. Inside that large glassed off area is a shopping complex, restaurants, movie theater, and even a sports medicine clinic.

There are four of these large yellow structures, one in each corner of the stadium. They hold lights, but I think they are mostly decorative. They seem quite garish to me, but I'm not an architect, am I? This one is on the south of the stadium.

Here is the NE of the stadium.

Here's a peek inside, shot throught a grated door.

This is the eastern part of the stadium. What's important to remember about Sporting, like most football clubs in Europe, is that it's actually one division of a larger athletic club. So Sporting Clube also fields teams in sports like handball, basketball, futsal, etc., and sponsors individual athletes in sports like cycling, swimming, and track. Some of these teams are professionalized, and others are not. But they are also a general athletic club with a gym, and pool, and various courts, etc. In this entrance, behind all that glass, is the actual general athletic club of Sporting. It's attached right to stadium like a limpet.

Trophies!

More trophies! This display is inside the Loja Verde (Green Store), which is Sporting's official team shop (inside the aforementioned shopping center in the stadium).

Like all European football teams, Sporting has its various fan groups of "Ultras". If you aren't familiar with the ultra phenomenon, please follow that link. This group even has its own clubhouse located underneath the stadium! How cool is that? (They also have their own website).

OK, let's move on to the game. Just a caveat: because it was nighttime, and the vagaries of stadium lighting, some of these photos will be blurrier than normal. You're just gonna have to deal :-).

Here's Liz right after we entered. She's sporting a Sporting hat. Hahaha, wordplay. I know it looks closed off, but there was actually a much larger bank of doors just to her right that were wide open...

There's most of the Sporting team right before kick-off.

Gooch!

Here's a couple action shots that turned out pretty well.

It appears I can't add any more pictures to this post, so stay tuned and read Part 2 (which will be above this one on the blog)

Parque Eduardo VII

Parque Eduardo VII is a large park located north of the Praça Marques de Pombal, a broad and very busy traffic circle. It's a fairly modern creation, rising uphill from the statue of Pombal in the center of the circle. The main, central area of the park is grass with low-lying bushes laid out in some kind of pattern - wasted space if you ask me. There are two broad, shaded sidewalks running up and down the length of the park, occupied by people strolling, young lovers making out on the benches, and often people just using the park as a shortcut. On the periphery of the park are a variety of diversions - a shady, wooded area with a pond, tennis courts, a petting zoo, a swimming pool, and an amphitheater. If you're curious, the park is actually named after a British monarch, King Edward VII.

This is looking up the length of the park from the bottom. The Praça Marques de Pombal is located behind me from this perspective, with sundry parking lots, kiosks, and metro entrances in between.

At the north end of the park, also the top of the hill, is this esplanade/viewpoint. Is esplanade the right word? Perhaps my esteemed readers can suggest a better alternative...

Hey, just like that you have now been transported all the way to the top of the park, to the aforementioned esplanade/viewpoint. From here is a beautiful view of the center of Lisbon (the sky is pinkish because there was sort of a sunset happening when I took this). OK, quick Lisbon geography lesson: if you proceeded straight ahead, you would head south down Avenida da Liberdade, home of many offices, posh shopping, and most of Lisbon's best hotels (oh yeah, and the Portuguese Communist Party. Juxtapositions!) Continuing in that direction you'd cross through the plazas of the Rossio into the Baixa, eventually hitting the Rio Tejo. The hill to the left (east) is the Alfama, crowned by the Castelo de São Jorge. Behind that is the boho Graça district. The hill on the right (west) is the Bairro Alto. So, now you know. Don't say I didn't teach you anything on this blog!

Here's a close up of the Praça Marques de Pombal. What's majestic about this statue is that he stands atop the towering pillar, gazing out upon the modern city of Lisbon which he basically re-created after the 1755 earthquake. The funny part about this statue is that he's got a rather bulbous rear end, which you can kind of see from this picture's vantage point. (Also, eagle-eyed viewers may note the presence of the Elevador da Santa Justa on the right - it looks like the top of a castle turret sticking up).

Just because it's almost obligatory at this point, here's a close-up of the Castelo de São Jorge. It is pretty with the sun set glowig off of it, isn't it?

This fountain and reflecting pool occupy the center of the viewpoint at the top of the park. The fountain was installed to commemorate the 1974 Carnation Revolution. (I'm gonna go ahead and say it - it's also really, really phallic).

Here's a side view of the fountain. The large pillar behind it is one of a pair, which date from the Salazar era. Their architectural style just screams "mid-20th century dictatorship" to me. The rough, disorganized jumble of the fountain is a nice contrast, I think.

Finally, just in case there was any doubt about when this particular set of pictures was taken, here's a giant hint:

Where Mrs. Nojo206 works/Onde a Sra. Nojo206 funciona

Here are photos of ISCTE, or to give its full name: Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.

The sign marking the main entrance to campus on Avenida das Forças Armadas.

The main walkway into the center of the campus. Various divisions of ISCTE and/or IUL are housed in these buildings. Liz's department's offices are in the last building in the back.

This is the building where her office is located. It used to be up on the 6th floor, behind one of those weird shaded windows. Now she's down on the 1st floor. Much less exciting, but also much less sun glaring into the office.

This was the view from her old office.