Lisbon day 3 - Swimming in the Ocean(arium)
On the last day we took the subway to the east and got off at Oriente station, one of the main stations in Lisbon. Here we found a big fancy mall, called Centro Vasco da Gama. We took a walk on the seafront heading to Ponte Vasco da Gama. This bridge has the status of the longest bridge in Europe, with a length of 17km. It is one of the two bridges, next to Ponte 25 de Abril, which crosses the Tagus River in Lisbon. It was built to filter traffic on Ponte 25 de Abril and to connect the north with the south of the country, avoiding the center of the capital. The construction of the bridge was completed in 1998 and celebrated 500 years since the discovery by Vasco da Gama of the sea route from Europe to India.
The Oceanarium is perhaps the most important tourist attraction in Lisbon. That's why we have dedicated our last day in Lisbon to it. Oceanario de Lisboa is the largest indoor aquarium in Europe and, at the same time, one of the largest in the world. The price of a ticket was 19 euros, BUT all this money goes to help conserve species in the oceans, clean the oceans and protect the environment. Every cent was worth the experience we were going to have here.
The Oceanarium has in the center a huge tank of 1,000 square meters and 5,000,000 liters in it. It has 4 large main acrylic windows, almost 50 square meters, but also smaller windows strategically placed to see various angles of the show happening in there. In this tank you will see a lot of marine species - fish, sharks, sea cats, starfish, sunfish, all kinds of corals and caves, and besides them, you can also add species that have their habitats above the tank - otters, penguins, seabirds.
If in the center of the Oceanarium we have this tank, on the sides we have a lot of smaller aquariums that contain other wonders: more and more colorful corals, seahorses, DRAGONS (leafy seadragons), jellyfish, axolotls, octopuses, crabs, frogs, etc.
On the upper floor, in addition to these aquariums, there are also exits to various habitats where you can admire penguins, otters and seabirds that play just a few inches from you. Should I also mention that I really witnesed an otter playing with a ball? Oh yeah, and then he took a snail in his little hands and tried to break the shell by hitting it hard against a rock 😂. We found it extremely funny and overly cute to witness these things. Not to mention, there is a poster showing all the penguins' names 😄 Sooo cute!
At the end of the Oceanarium there is an exhibition section in which various artists have created statues of species from waste found in the oceans. As I mentioned earlier in other posts, portuguese people put a lot of value on the environment and are very active in this field. Also here is a section for children where it teaches them how to recycle, how to save water and many other interactive games that will develop their minds in this noble direction.
I'm not done yet! Before leaving, you can watch a mini documentary about ocean life that stretches across a huge wall, with images distributed by 5 projectors. It is really emotional and gave me goosebumps.
The Oceanarium is an experience that you simply must not miss. Even if you are in Lisbon for one day, my personal opinion is that it is worth dedicating it to this wonder. It makes you feel constantly in another universe, to see things that you didn't even know existed or that you didn't imagine it'd look like that in reality. Moreover, it makes you realize how small you are and how grand this world really is 💙.
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