LISBON'S GOLDEN AGE WAS 16TH CENTURY

By Bob Van Leer

  (LISBON, PORTUGAL, July 10, 1992) - Our last night in Portugal was spent at the Hotel Fenix in downtown Lisbon.

  Outside the ambulances go by every few minutes. Given the way Portuguese drive, it's surprising there aren't more ambulance calls.

  This morning we had a short drive from Setubal and crossed again the 25th of April Bridge over the Tagus River. This time we had no trouble getting on it.

  The one and one-half mile long bridge was obviously inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

  At the time it was built it was the longest suspension bridge in Europe.

  It was originally named the Salazar Bridge after Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, long-time Portuguese dictator. The bridge was renamed in honor of the bloodless 1974 revolution which restored democracy in Portugal.

Golden Age

  The Golden Age of Lisbon, a city of about 2 million, was in the 16th century when ships were sent out all over the world returning riches to Portugal.

  Vasco de Gama opened the sea route to India in 1497 and Portuguese navigators began establishing trading posts around the world.

Empire Lost

  But Portugal's vast empire, which included colonies in South America, Africa and Asia, is now down to tiny Macau near Hong Kong which will probably disappear before the end of the century.

  Brazil was lost long ago. But much of the empire was lost in this generation. I saw one burly middle-aged man in a tee shirt with a tattoo on his arm "Angola - 68", a memento of Portugal's futile attempt to save its southern African colony.

  Lisbon had a new apogee in the first half of the 18th century and then was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755.

  The Marques de Pombal entirely rebuilt downtown Lisbon into, more or less, the form visitors see today. A statue of Pombal on a huge monument is right outside our hotel room window.

  We looked around town a little today and found a large shopping center not far away, the Amoreiras, for last-minute purchases.

Enough Eating Out

  We have all had enough of eating out. We ordered a few things from room service and ate a little in our rooms. Grandson Chris and I went for a walk around town afterwards.

  One interesting discovery was a huge house, large enough and elaborate enough to be somewhere between a mansion and a palace. It was situated on about five acres and surrounded by a high iron fence.

  This is downtown in a city of 2 million population. The house looked as if everyone locked the door and left about 1950 and no one has been back since. The house is beginning to crumble.

  The once landscaped grounds are overgrown and dying. If we had more time I'd liked to have found out what the story is.

  Tomorrow we will start the long journey home with an early morning flight to Madrid, Spain, and then a long flight to JFK airport in New York.