#flathal #flatstanley #lisbon #portugal
Flat Hal and Flat Stanley have been traveling for roughly 95 days, and today reality and normal life refused to stay out of their trip. Spain, Portugal and part of France had a major power failure. Millions of people were without power. Less than two hours after we arrived in Lisbon, the city went dark. Traffic lights went out, airports closed, public transportation was struggling.
The only thing we REALLY wanted to see (and could see without power) was a statue inaugurated in 1959 to express gratitude for the lack of destruction in Portugal during World War II. The statue, Santuário de Cristo Rei, is similar to Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which we saw earlier in this trip.
Lisbon — A Pier With A View
Visible from our ship while we were tied up at the pier was Panteão Nacional (National Pantheon).
Also known by its original name, the Church of Santa Engrácia (Igreja de Santa Engrácia), this magnificent Baroque building took centuries to complete! It now serves as the final resting place for many important figures in Portuguese history.
Lisbon, Portugal, Twilight With Little Light Pollution
Often, particularly in big cities, it can be hard to see stars in the night sky. Instead, the city will almost seem to glow on the horizon — street lights, and countless other lights in the city casting so much light into the sky it seems to catch on the particles in the air and hang there.
But last night, before Lisbon was able to get the power back on, we saw a large city, with minimal light pollution. A few emergency generators were clearly running, and probably other lights powered by nearby solar panels.
As the flat fellas went to try and capture the silhouettes of some of the striking buildings in the skyline their zoom lens picked up a sliver of light in the sky. It was the moon! We might not have been able to see it if the city’s lights had been on!
