Bridges across the Tagus, Lisbon

Ever since our first trip to Oriente to visit the Lisbon Oceanarium, the Oldies have been returning to the Parque das Nações every chance they can get. I’m not sure what the main attraction is for them. I suspect it might be the warm pasteis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts) in the Vasco da Gama Shopping Centre cafés. I am the first to admit that the trip to Oriente is worth it for those alone.

For me, however, the main attraction is the Vasco da Gama Bridge. I was already impressed the first time I saw it, far away in the distance. Well, who wouldn’t be impressed by the second longest bridge in Europe? But up close, it is simply beak-droppingly spectacular.

The Oldies have discovered a very pleasant walkway along the bank of the Tagus in the Parque das Nações which leads directly to the bridge. Standing at the foot its of its huge pillars brings home just what an incredible feat of engineering this is. Over 17 km long, it carries six lanes of traffic across the Tagus to the Setubal Peninsula. It is designed to withstand high winds and strong earthquakes into the bargain. I remember hearing somewhere that London Bridge is falling down, but this Lisbon bridge is definitely built to last. Incredibly, the construction of the Vasco da Gama Bridge was completed – just in time for the World Trade Fair, EXPO ’98 – in a mere 37 months.

In spite of its size, I find that there is a certain elegance to this gigantic structure. The symmetry of its cable towers, the gentle rise in the central viaduct, its graceful lines as it curves away and disappears on the horizon. Beautiful!

At just 2.3km long, Ponte de 25 Abril, The 25th April Bridge, is positively tiny in comparison. Or so I thought, until Her Ladyship dragged His Lordship and me along to the Pillar 7 Bridge Experience. This interpretive centre, which was opened in 2017, is a fantastic way to get up-close and personal with Vasco da Gama Bridge’s more famous little brother.

The 25^thApril Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in Europe, was opened 1966. Originally Salazar Bridge, its name was changed in 1974 in commemoration of the Carnation Revolution. Which took place on … Ok, ok. You’ve guessed it. Anyway, that’s all water under the bridge now.

As if I didn’t feel small enough already, standing directly under Pillar 7 sure cut me down to size. And this sample section of one of the cables certainly put the scale of this bridge into perspective. The bridge’s vital statistics nearly blew my little bird brain away, to be honest. But a few figures stuck with me nonetheless. There are over 11,000 steel wire cables in each of the main cables, for example. And the two main sets of cables are made up of over 54,000 km of steel wire cables. I just hope the engineers didn’t get their wires crossed!

Once we were inside the pillar, I was itching to get up to the bridge itself. I paused long enough to take a look at the scale model of the bridge, however, and I have to say that the information on bridge’s history was quite fascinating. Would you believe that that it was over 100 years in the planning? It might have got off to a very slow start, but once work commenced it was completed in double-quick time. Like the Vasco da Gama Bridge, it also only took about three years to complete. With a workforce of over 3,000, it must certainly have been a case of ‘all hands on deck’.

I was surprised that the lift inside the pillar only took us up a short way. But then I realised that we had stopped outside the two ‘cable mooring rooms’, where the many cables which make up the two main cables are, well, moored. I hope they never slip their moorings!

The room on the next floor was another surprise. With mirrors on both the ceiling and walls, it is designed to create the feeling of vertigo you might experience when climbing up the bridge. It definitely worked in Her Ladyship’s case. She had a bad dose of vertigo alright. It was hilarious to watch her staggering around dizzily on the mirrored floor. Alfred Hitchcock, eat your heart out!

Another external elevator took us to the 26^th floor and the highlight of the visit – the glass-floored viewing platform. Just like when we were in Sears Tower in Chicago , Her Ladyship was decidedly nervous about stepping out onto the glass. ‘Sure, the view is just as good from here’, she said, sticking rigidly to what she thought was more solid ground. In actual fact, a large portion of this deck is also suspended over, well, nothingness. But, shhh… that will be our little secret!

Whatever else His Lordship might suffer from, it is certainly not vertigo. He was practically dancing jigs out there, the big show-off! When he finally stopped his shenanigans I got to have a proper look myself. The views were incredible. The noise was incredible too.The lower deck carries a double track railway and the upper deck a six-lane road. If that wasn’t noisy enough, the two inner lanes have a metal surface which make a weird – and extremely loud – humming sound. No. In spite of the great views, I definitely wouldn’t build a nest up here!

When we finally left, our minds – and Her Ladyship’s hair – were in a whirl. What’s more, the Oldies were stunned to realise that we had spent over two hours in the ‘P7’. That called for some refreshments, of course. His Lordship made a beeline for the nearby Village Underground which he had spotted earlier. This turned out to be a funky bar/restaurant complex made out of old shipping containers and double-decker buses. Cool! So was the beer, and it disappeared fierce fast. The grub was great too.

That’s another hazard of hanging out with a pair of Oldies: having meals on wheels.