Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

There were two places of interest in Lisbon on my agenda and each required a non specific amount of time from what I had heard. It was true. The Lisbon Oceanarium is well worth the time and the price of admission. It proved to be highly educational, captivating and an emotional and spiritual experience. Throughout my life, I’ve skittered about on the surfaces of ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans without ever having an understanding of the universe in the water below. The Oceanário de Lisboa provides an excellent entrance into that world.

The Oceanário is literally an underwater aquarium divided into different ocean areas of the planet. Wednesday April 6 proved to be a fairly busy day with school groups engaged in guided tours from the very excited and totally absorbed young to the less excited be equally interested teenagers. It was fun to watch their reactions to the exhibits. For example, a very young lad was totally absorbed in watching some slow moving creature at the bottom of a display near the floor while above his head, a small puffin was rapidly swimming closer and closer to the edge above his head. The young lad became aware something was happening when he was unexpectedly splashed by the swimming bird. The look of shock and surprise on his face as he looked up to see the behind and feet of the furiously paddling puffin and he started to laugh. It was truly a comic moment!

The photos above only give a glimpse into the magic and beauty of the Oceanário de Lisboa. It is truly a memorable experience. After several hours inside and a lovely lunch in the cafeteria, it was time to explore some the local area.

And thus a busy day in Lisbon drew to a close. That evening, most of the population was focused on a football match between Benfica and Liverpool. Restaurants, cafes, bars and patios were filled with fans glued to television screens watching the Championship Series match play out in the Lisbon stadium. Liverpool won.