#25 de Abril Bridge

[rabbitcruiser]

With the signing of the Treaty of Zamora, King Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognised Portugal as a Kingdom on October 5, 1143.

[themoreiclick]

click

[diogenesz2020portugal]

Kilátás a hídra

📌 Cais do Gingal - Almada - Lisboa

[soniarbcastanheira]

Margem sul, Lisboa, Portugal

- IPhone 12 Pro

[monstersinthecosmos]

September 24, 1973

The guy working at the desk at his hotel only speaks a little English, but they communicate well enough for him to write down the address of the train station on a piece of paper. Daniel rubs at the back of his neck, twitchy and impatient, even though the sun is up.

Slept a little bit. Kept some food down, but he’s uncomfortably bloated now. He shifts his weight as he waits for the concierge to call him a taxi, and can’t remember when was the last time he fucking took a shit.

Hates his fucking body all of a sudden.

A few minutes later he’s outside, lighting a cigarette and leaning against the wall of the hotel as he waits for the taxi. Closing his eyes against the sun, feeling the warmth on his face. It feels good, even though he’s beginning to resent it. Feels safe. He could fall asleep, just like this, standing up.

He digs Lestat’s watch out of his pocket again, flips it open. Ornate thing. Antique. He tries to wind it but nothing happens, and he can’t help wondering when it stopped. It’s stuck on 3:59. 

Maybe if things calm down, if he thinks he can stay in one place for a few days, he can get someone to fix it.

Lestat is still down there, Daniel thinks. He pictures it, wonders if Lestat sleeps curled up like a person, on flat on his back like a corpse. He thinks of that fucked up house and all those books, and has so many questions to ask. 

The taxi driver speaks even less English than the concierge, but Daniel is able to show him the note. Friendly as he nods, and gestures towards the trunk, but Daniel keeps his bag with him, in his lap in the back seat, hugging it as they pull out. 

He slumps against the door, his temple leaning into the window. The driver has talk radio on and Daniel can’t make out a word of it, which is… relaxing. Sun beats down through the glass, baking him. Feels safe. Moving, in the sun. Warm now.

Eyes close. Too tired to be scared. He’s not sure how far away the train station is, but maybe it’s okay to sleep for the car ride.

Armand knew that Louis would kill all those other vampires. They’re people, Daniel wants to scream. He can imagine himself down there, beneath the theatre, holding the yellow dress. They’re still people. The image of the theater is so vivid now, knowing what Armand looks like. Shorter than he imagined, but he holds the entire room hostage with his presence.

Daniel doesn’t understand why Louis stayed with him.

He killed your wife. She was your daughter.

The taxi hits a bump and Daniel gasps awake.

Unsure where he is, can’t remember anything except he’s got to get away, keep moving moving moving. The sky is too open through the window, and he can see water, and the cables of a suspension bridge blurring by. He sits up, rubbing at his chest, feeling his heart racing through his t-shirt.

He’s back in San Francisco. On the Golden Gate. Louis’s voice spills from the car radio.

Daniel shouts. He tells the driver to stop, but the man just glances at him in the rearview, perplexed. No English. Daniel’s hand leaves a smudge on the window and he considers throwing himself out of the car.

“They’ll find me here,” he shouts. “I left California, Louis will know. They’ll find me, they’ll know!!”

The driver slows. Not to stop, but to adjust to the flow of traffic. He snaps at Daniel in Portuguese, and his ears ring.

Armand is gonna fucking kill me.

He’s sweating, reaching for the door handle, but as the car slows he gets a better look at the outside.

Red bridge but… it’s not San Francisco. It’s not. It’s not.

He turns around in the seat, looking out the back window. Doesn’t see the skyline. His stomach cramps and his vision doubles.

“Sorry,” he mumbles. Lip quivering. He twists back to sit correctly. Hugs his bag to his chest. The driver narrows his eyes, and Daniel holds up his hands in apology. “Sorry,” he says again. He doesn’t know any Portuguese but he attempts a quick “Lo siento,” just in case. 

Their eyes stay locked for a moment. Finally the driver nods. He shrugs, mutters to himself. Looks back to the road.

Daniel tilts his head against the glass, trying to see up to the top. 

Just a red bridge. He’s in Lisbon. He remembers that. He flew to Lisbon.

He’ll take a train next. Just take off into Europe and see what happens. Trains don’t seem safer but he wonders if he should try take one overnight. That way he can keep moving. Won’t have to stop. 

That guy told him about the Midnight Sun one time. It’s almost winter, though, it’s not going to work. In fact, it would be the opposite soon. Dangerous.

Anyway. That guy got locked up, he was crazy. 

Daniel isn’t crazy. 

[previous day] | [next day]

[smidge-j]

your top five bridges

The Otira Gorge Viaduct in Arthur's Pass, New Zealand

Ponte 25 de Abril in Lisbon, Portugal

Tower Bridge in London, England

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA

Bonus: The Memorial Avenue Overbridge in Christchurch, New Zealand

[counteraesthetic]

Cacilhas, Almada, Portugal

February 23rd 2020

[sakuhina]

"Salazar Bridge" is renamed as "25 de Abril Bridge".

Lisbon, 1975.

[tamurakafkaposts]

25 de Abril Bridge....

Lisbon

[atotaltaitaitale]

.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

On our way to Monteiro dos Jerónimos we stop by the Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos). It’s a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus river estuary, near the Belem Tower. Located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or "Age of Exploration") during the 15th and 16th centuries.

On the background there is the Jerónimos Monastery. You can also see the Ponte 25 de Abril, a striking Golden Gate-style suspension bridge which links Lisbon with Almada and Cristo Rei, which reminds me of Cristo Redentor in Rio.

[30-before-30-but-im-27]

Lisbon Itinerary

Day 1

Graca Viewpoint - FREE

Castelo de S. Jorge - £13

Lisbon Cathedral - FREE

Alfama Neighbourhood - FREE

Praca do Comercio - FREE

Rua Cor de Rosa (Pink Street) - FREE

Doca de Alcantara (marine dock) - FREE

Monument of the Discoveries - FREE

MAAT Museum 

Ponte 25 de Abril (cool bridge) - FREE

Belem Tower

Jeronimos Monastery  - £9

Fado Bar in the evening for live Portuguese music

Day 2

Praça Dom Pedro IV - FREE

Santa Justa Lift - £2

National Tile Museum - £5

Santa Cruz neighbourhood - FREE

Ponte Vasco da Gama - longest bridge in Europe (FREE)

Telecabine Lisbon (Cable Car) - £6

LxFactory

[rabbitcruiser]

The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon, on May 28, 1588, heading for the English Channel.

[themoreiclick]

click

[mesatop]

25 de Abril Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal ‘23

[soniarbcastanheira]

📍 Belém, Lisboa, Portugal

- iPhone 12 Pro

[bastard-pyro]

Deleted all drafts of a longass twitter thread because I know my followers are W E A K lings who wouldn't be capable of hearing my thoughts on the ranking of Lisbon bridges.

Vasco da Gama is obviously superior if looking just at characteristics of driving through it. Real smooth, less traffic, can be fast, a more minimalist and modern style and 13 kilometres. Sure gets windy sometimes but you can go so fast.

BUT 25 de Abril has a cool name, a cool history (named after a dictator, renamed after the revolution's date), a cool design (smol Golden Gate), 2.7km with train line beneath but goddamn I hate driving it. Fucking metal grid and bumpy ground.

Vasco da Gama is costlier tho, 2,9€ compared to 1,8€