TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
The recent wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, gave us a glimpse into the lavish world and ornate items that are commonplace for royal families.
If you find yourself in Portugal, take a trip to Lisbon where you can immerse yourself in royal excesses of yesteryear.
Lisbon is a treasure trove of national museums and monuments, with two of the most impressive being the National Coach Museum (Museo Nacional dos Coches) and the Ajuda National Palace, both in the Belém district of the city and within a 20-minute walk of each other. (Tip: Go to the palace first, then your walk will be all downhill.)
The National Coach Museum is located in a former riding ring of the presidential palace and houses what is said to be the world's largest collection of royal and aristrocratic coaches, carriages, sedans, litters and buggies. It was founded in 1905 under the auspices of Queen Amelia.
The eclectic collection showcases the way royal families and aristocrats travelled from the 1600s to the mid-1950s. Among the exhibits is a coach last used when a young Queen Elizabeth II visited Portugal in 1957, and the landau that the royal family was travelling in when Portugal's King Carlos was assassinated on February 1 1908. The bullet holes are still visible on the body of the carriage.
When visitors enter the building, awestruck might be a good way to describe the feeling it evokes. The main hall is decorated in the style of Louis XVI and the vehicles immediately impress with their incredible workmanship and, considering their age, remarkable condition.
Only after the initial viewing of the carriages do you finally take time to look up and admire the frescoed ceiling, a work that started in 1791 and continued through to 1828. The panels are mostly of the equestrian arts, and include a knight symbolic of Portugal, a female figure wearing the crown of abundance and an allegorical medallion of war.
In addition to the incredible display of coaches, the museum houses various displays of attire worn by those in service to the royal family.
Especially impressive are several coaches that were part of an entourage to the Vatican during the time of Pope Clement XI. The carving and artwork that adorn the coaches is beyond belief in this age of mass production.
Staff is on site but unless you are part of a tour group, your information will come from the multilingual cards near each display. Taking photos is permitted, but no flash can be used and should you fail to remember this, the staff will remind you quite quickly.
The Ajuda National Palace (Palácio Nacional da Ajuda)is about a 20-minute walk from the carriage museum, all uphill by the way, or a 10-minute bus ride on a city bus.
The palace is a neo-classical building. Construction began in 1795 and was never really finished. It houses a walk-through museum, offering visitors a sense of the royal lifestyle enjoyed by kings and queens. More that 40 rooms in the palace are open to the public
The palace became the permanent residence of the royal family during the reign of King Louis 1 (after 1861) and his wife, the Italian princess Maria Pia of Savoy. Anticipating her arrival, rugs, bedroom suites, wallpaper and monogrammed pieces were ordered and hang today in their original orientation which gives visitors the feeling that the family is just out for a bit and will be right back.
The architect, Possidónio da Silva, introduced many aesthetic changes and turned one of the side façades into the main façade. After the death of her husband, Queen Maria Pia continued to live in the palace until a military coup overthrew the monarchy in 1910. It opened to the public as a museum in 1968.
The palace interior is filled with exquisite furniture and statues, rich tapestries, and extravagant decorative arts, the result of Portugal's unprecedented wealth in the 18th Century, when diamonds were discovered in the then Portuguese colony of Brazil.
You can visit the drawing rooms, the king and queen's bedrooms, offices and the throne room, as well as the formal dining room, which is still used on occasion by the president of the republic during state ceremonies.
The Rose room is especially impressive as all the furniture and decorations were gifts from the King of Sajonia (now part of Colombia) and the ornamentation is Meissen porcelain.
Queen Maria Pia was known for her extravagance and kept up with the fashions of the times introducing a Winter Room with a ceiling that was a gift from the Viceroy of Egypt and a family sitting room that was revolutionary for its time.
Saving the best for last, the Throne Room takes up the entire south wing, and the dining room with its crystal chandeliers, silk-covered chairs, and a frescoe of the birth of King João VI on the ceiling are a fitting end to the tour. As well, the collection of clocks throughout the palace and the dinner service that is one of the few European royal services to remain completely intact are on display.
Like at the Coach Museum, palace staff will remind you to not use a flash but taking photos is permitted. Background information is displayed on multilingual cards in each room.
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* National Coach Museum (Museo Nacional dos Coches): The museum is located at Praca Afonso de Albuquerque 1300-044 Lisbon and can be reached by buses 28, 714, 729, 743, 749 and 751, depending on where you start from. It is also accessible byo Tram 15 and the Cascais train line to the Belém station.
The museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is 5 euros ($7 Cdn.), a bargain compared to many museums throughout Europe. Admission is included, however, with the purchase of the Lisbon card, which admits the holder to dozens of museums and monuments and offers discounts to many other attractions, as well as free city bus, tram and electric train travel in the city. It can be purchased for one to three days and costs E17.50 ($24.50), E29.50 ($41.30) and E36.00 ($50.40), respectively.
* Ajuda National Palace: The palace is located at Museo Largo da Ajuda,1349-021 Lisbon and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entry at 4:30 p.m.) daily, but is closed on Wednesday. Admission is 5 euros ($7 Cdn.). It can be reached by Buses 60, 729 and 742, or by tram 18.
* Getting to Lisbon: From the Maritimes you can fly to Newark, New Jersey from either Halifax or Moncton on Continental. After a lengthy layover - which gives you time to explore Manhattan - there is a direct overnight flight (8 hours) to Lisbon.
* Accommodations: Turim Iberia Hotel, Avenue 5 de Outubro, 160, Lisbon. Five nights accommodation cost approximately $500 Cdn. in early April and was booked along with the flight. Expect to pay more as the tourist season progresses.
* The airport is only about 8 km from the city centre, so bus or taxi connections are reasonable.
* If you spend more that 60 Euros at any one store, you can get back your VAT (Valued Added Tax - their version of sales tax) at the airport when you leave. Ask the clerks for the tax free receipt for before they ring up the sale.
* You will need a plug adapter as Portugal uses 220v electric service. You will not need a converter unless you are taking a hairdryers or the like. Most electronic devices have the ability to use the local current as long as you have the adapter. We had no problem with a MacBook, iPod touch and an iPhone. If you use a phone that has a data plan, unless you want a huge bill when you get back, find out from your carrier what to turn off so you are not accessing data roaming services. Or just buy a local phone for use while in Portugal.
