If you're staying within the historic center of Lisbon you'll forget that there is also another side to Lisbon besides cobble stone roads, beautiful old houses covered in old tiles. After almost a month living in Mouraria it was time to see the modern side of the city. We walked down to Praca Martim Moniz and took the green line, switching at Alamedo to the red line and took it to Oriente, to be more specific Gare do Oriente.
We arrived under ground and the higher up the escalators took us the lower our jaws dropped. This station is not suitable for trains, it's suitable for spaceships. We're no strangers to Calatrava's architectural style since we live in his hometown, where he got a whole chunk of the city to get nuts on: The City of Arts and Sciences. I absolutely love walking or biking through it but the horrendes maintaining costs of it makes me dizzy every time I think about it.
The train station just screams Calatrava from every corner and we recognize some of the elements he used at Gare do Oriente.
The above image could have been easily shot at the City of Arts and Sciences. But what I like about the train station is that it's actually being used by the Lisboans. It's a place to take the train, connect from the Metro to the commuter trains .... getting from one place to the other and I bet the average commuter switching trains here very day don't see the beauty of the building anymore, they're used to it.
The one sad thing about Calatrava's creations, they need to be maintained and that's very expensive. If you look closely the station shows some massive wear, rusty and ugly spots but who has millions to waste on renovations if they only last maybe a decade.
Location of the Gare do Oriente on our Lisbon Map
Some more pictures:
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You can read our full article which in includes more info and more photos on our Lisbon Travel Blog.