Lisbon: Day Four

Now experts at the metro we catch one for the Fundacao  Calouste Gulbenkian, which turns out to be housed in a beautiful garden. The collection is wonderfully displayed, a little at a time, giving you place to admire the porcelains, silver, oriental rugs, Lalique sculptures, etc. We have lunch in the downstairs cafeteria, which draws quite a crowd for an inexpensive and quite tasty meal. I spot an older gentleman in a panama hat and wearing a crisp cream-colored UPenn polo shirt. When I ask him he confirms he graduated from Wharton - and wishes Victor good luck.
We return to the metro for the last stop on the red line, which will take us to the Parque das Nacoes, built in 1998 for the Expo, and where we will see the aquarium. The metro stations turn out to be a lot more creative than my initial gray impression. Each station seems to have been done by a different artist and the Olaias station is a positive riot of colors. Emerging from the metro we are amazed by the incredible architecture surrounding us, soaring roofs, inclined white pillars, glass...all shines brightly in the high sun. We walk though busy Vasco da Gama shopping and step out on the other side to see the river in the distance before us behind a line of flapping flags. Down to the right is the 'Oceanario de Lisboa' and on our way there we observe the rather large fish and really big jellyfish floating in the water surrounding the aquarium. First thing to see inside is a huge central tank where a massive 'peixe lua' (sunfish) greets us, followed by several kinds of gliding sharks and rays. Every now and again one steps into a different climate: cool arctic rocks for the penguins and otters, tropical humidity and heat for the coral ponds filled with colorful fish. The penguins are lifting their beaks to the sky and really scream - we wonder why - it's like a chorus of lament. At the bottom level Oswaldo befriends a Leopard Ray, which comes quite close to the class and checks him out with his little yellow alligator eyes with a black slit down the middle like a cat. We understand why when we see the educational movie. The fish are fed by hand and the rays are served big scoops of shrimp every single one of which they expertly catch in their open mouths. The ray was looking for food...
We are drawn to the cable cars which endlessly travel along the expanse of the waterfront. We are concerned when the wind picks up and the car sways rather close to the posts - but we get to the other end with no problems and head for the Metro.
This evening we decide we must got to the Pavilhao Chines and the Pap Acorda restaurant. We also agree we will not go with Pedro, the cheating driver! We are not disappointed. The bar is a charming mess of collections of all kinds of trivia shelved and lit behind glass door. We order variants of Dry Vodka Martinis - Oswaldo's is Rose de Varsovie and has an almond taste, whereas mine, Tunes, has lemon juice. The we walk to the restaurant and have a splendid meal of fresh asparagus with butter sauce, shrimp cooked in rice, deliciously flavored as are most casseroles here, and finally Oswaldo has a big scoop of chocolate mousse after the owner tells him it is the best in Lisbon, all washed down with Vinho Verde. We chat a bit to two guys sitting next to us, one is our 2nd Philadelphian of the day and a wine-expert, the other a retired medical doctor from San Diego. They met and became friends in the Peace Corps and now occasionally travel together, maybe 35-40 year later. Nice to think of lasting friendship like that. They turns out to stay at our hotel - again: small world.
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