Rotary International held its annual convention in Lisbon recently.
The event brought 19,000 Rotarians, family members of Rotarians and friends of Rotary worldwide into the Portuguese capital.
As often the case, many participants arrived days or even weeks before the main event and many stayed some extra days to savour all that the country and its inhabitants offered. A number seized the opportunity of the trip to visit Spain, Italy and other Shengen countries.
On arrival at the Lisbon airport, there is a tourism desk like in many countries. This desk offers help regarding hotel accommodations, mode of transportation to destination, currency exchange related matters, eateries and shopping centres.
Approaching the Lisbon airport from the Mediterranean from the air, a beautifully planned city, Lisbon, spreads out. Lisbon, a city that derived its name from Alis Ubbo or Olissipo, the names the Phoenicians called it originally, is rich in Roman history ranging from Julius Ceaser through to the moors. King Afonso Henriques VI was the first king of Portugal.
The 15th and 16th centuries were the most prosperous periods in the history of Lisbon, coinciding with the reign of the Avis dynasty. It was under these monarchs that the great sea voyages of discovery were undertaken that made the country a world power and Lisbon a strategic point on trade routes. This was the era of great seafarers like Vasco Da Gama.
A major event in the history of Lisbon was the earthquake which devastated the city on November 1, 1755, killing an estimated 60,000 inhabitants. This caused the Marquis of Pombal, King Jose 1’s Secretary of State, a fervent follower of enlightened rationalism, to order its reconstruction with the application of new town planning.
This was the beginning of the rectilinear plotting of streets, uniform land spaces for buildings and layouts, a new approach to urban planning which was to spread all over Europe. And so Lisbon, with a population of 2.5million inhabitants, has beautifully laid out streets, wide open spaces, parks, gardens and condominiums.
As recent as 1995, the old sea port of Oriente, a county of Lisbon, was completely knocked down and rebuilt with a state-of-the-art underground train station, a beautiful shopping mall named after Vasco Da Gama, a convention centre big enough to host 50,000 participants and not less than 10 five-star hotels. This was the venue of the Rotary International convention.
All along the beach line are eateries owned by Portuguese, Mosabequans, Brazilians and a host of other Portuguese speaking immigrants. Your guess is as good as anybody’s, sea foods ranging from octopus through to lobsters are proudly served.
This reporter gathered that Portugal has a total population of a little above 10million people.
There is a deliberate plan in the infrastructural development of the Portuguese cities. Towering condominiums are preferred for accommodating people. This makes for large populations to be accommodated in a relatively small portion of land. Then these concentrations of people are provided with big shopping malls, big parks and gardens, well plotted road networks and properly designated worship places. The Portuguese are 90 per cent Catholics. This way, people don’t need to travel too long distances to visit markets, schools, churches or other social facilities. This saves them a lot of resources. Their farmlands and vineyards stretch for miles.
In Portugal, every tour centre encourages the visitor to attend at least one Fado concert. Fado music is to Portugal what jazz music is to the USA. Fado is Portugal’s most genuine form of popular song, though it has always been more associated with Lisbon and Coimbra than the rest of the country. The words of Fados, which are like mirrors of the soul, are mostly concerned with feelings such as pain, desperation or sadness, but also happiness and good cheer.
The Portuguese are proud of the wines they produce, and so, virtually on all their guided tours, they include some meals served with at least one of their many wines.
The tours include the historical Lisbon tour which allows one for a fee of 38 euros per person to tour Lisbon, a city of 2,500 years history.
This takes one through Tagus River, the Moorish quarter of Alfama which survived the earthquake and Belem, home of the shipyards where in the 15th century the Portuguese Caravelas (sailing boats) departed to find maritime ways to Africa, Asia and Brazil. That you could say was the beginning of globalization.
Other tours are : the Lisbon and Tagus River, the Sintra and Es’tori coastline, Lisbon culture, the Arrabida and Southern plains, Evora and Monsaraz.
One of the most fulfilling and thrilling tours is the Silver Coast and Shrine of Fatima. This takes one to North West along the coast line areas of Portugal along the Atlantic Ocean, through the 12th century fortress of Obidos, with its white washed and well preserved houses.
The town of Obidos has kept its traditions, monuments and well-kept cobblestone streets allowing visitors to travel to the past to see its small churches, small shops and original bars. Many visitors ended their visit to Obidos with a well-deserved famous liquor “Ginginha” served in a chocolate made cup.
From Obidos, the tour moves to Nazare, a still very active fishing village. The village of Nazare is famous for its past tradition of having its fishing boats pulled out of the ocean to the beach by a pair of bulls helped by the fishermen, wives and children. Another famous tradition of Nazare is the traditional female outfits that include seven skirts dressed simultaneously.
After lunch at Nazare, a stop is made at Fatima. Fatima is the famous pilgrimage site, well known for its Roman Catholic Shrine and Basilica. Fatima is recognized by the Vatican as a site where the Virgin Mary was seen by three little shepherds.
The Rotary convention was loaded with inspiring speakers which included the Liberian born 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, and many musical groups like the Tuna Academia, a group of university students in traditional dress who play guitar and sing serenades traditional to Spain and Portugal.
On the entertainment list was the record-breaking classical crossover quartet II Divo who drew standing ovation with every number rendered.
Other groups included Orquestra Metropolitan de Lisboa, Fernando Varela, Hayley Westenra, 2 Cellos and the St. Dominic’s Gospel Choir.
