If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I have a thing for botanical gardens. In Lisbon, we visited two.
It was clear that the Lisbon university botanical garden had seen better days. But also that it had seen many. Some of the trees were enormous, it was compact and quiet. It felt like a very old, wise, forgotten corner of the city, a place to go breathe in the round, soft smells of decaying needles and leaves. And it even had a little butterfly house.
The botanic tropical garden in Belem was larger, but did not feel at all as cozy. It had it’s places, a small pool with a gazebo thoughtfully being reflected in the water’s surface, but the more open design didn’t allow for the same kind of immersion in green, protected from the bustle and heat of the outside world.
And finally, strictly speaking not a botanical garden, but in the park Jardim do Príncipo Real, we caught our breath underneath this magnificent cypress.
All in all, there is some really nice cultivated vegetation to spend time with in Lisbon. If that is something that strikes your fancy.
Katja Malmborg 