Lisbon is well connected to the rest of Europe. From the shipping/passenger terminal, roads and rails are right there to take you where you want to go. Our excursion was on an open top sight seeing bus like you might know as a “Hop on Hop off” bus.
The first building to catch my attention was a bold red building alongside the river and the train tracks and the expressway. It is a train station with a subway station below and a hotel and restaurant in the rest of the building. Our tour guide does not recommend it if you like a quiet hotel.
It is the oldest railway station in Lisbon. Built in 1865, it now has rail service to Porto, Fatima, Madrid and Paris with a connection to the French TGV. In 2007 a connection was made to the end of the Blue Line Subway line. At one time it was painted a beautiful sky blue, inside and out. It is called the Santa Apolonia station and the hotel is the Editory Riverside Hotel.
There are advantages and disadvantages of travelling in a sight seeing bus. For me, the advantage I like the most is no glare and reflections off of the glass windows. The disadvantage is poor sound quality. It is difficult to hear the guide with the traffic and wind noise. Also, it is less comfortable when it is cooler and rainy as it was that day. Having said that, I am sharing a video with you. You can view it full size or speed it up or slow it down with the controls at the bottom of the video player.
Another distinctive train station in Lisbon is the Rossio Station formally the Central Station. It was built between 1886 and 1890 and looks like this:
– Where do you want to go Today ? –
