Plenty of Nothing

Roman Scissors

Scissors from the site of Roman Conimbriga in Portugal. Source.

Tram 28

To ride Tram 28 through the streets of Lisbon after dark, board here.

Capote e Capelo

These humungous hoods and capes were worn by women in the Azores until the 1930s. Source.

Gaspar Corte Real

Corte Real sailed to Newfoundland in 1501 in search of wealth, which he found in the form of humans, whom he kidnapped to sell as slaves. His statue, near the Newfoundland legislature, might not be around for long. Source.

Fagundes

Portuguese navigator João Álvares Fagundes explored the Atlantic coast of Canada in 1520. This statue stands in his home town of Viana do Castelo in northern Portugal. Source.

Portuguese Sardine Cans

Source.

Magellan

A ceramic muarl in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, commemorating Fernanando de Magallanes and Juan Sebastian Elcano, who between them captained the first circumnavigation of the earth. The five ship fleet set sail 500 years ago today. Source.

Rossio Station

This is the front entrance of the railway station in Rossio Square, Lisbon. The style is Neo-Manuelian, modelled on early 15th-century Portuguese architecture, in the form of a pair of horseshoes. The station opened in 1891. A couple of years ago the statue of Sebastian I, between the two doors, was unluckily knocked out of its niche by a tourist trying for a selfie with the king. Source.

Columbano, Patron Saint of Brown

The Lion's Group (1885) by portrait painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro.

Spend five minutes looking at Columbano's work, and for the rest of the day your eyes will see the brown in everything.

 

The Madness of Heracles

The Madness of Heracles in mosaic form in the Villa Torre de Palma, Portugal. See here for more antiquities from Roman Lusitania.