![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.iangrandjean.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Portugal-1-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis is the Vasco da Gama<\/strong> bridge which spans the Tage river basin on which Lisbon is built. The older Western part is more important in terms of it’s size, but the Eastern edge of the basin is fast developing and the 12klm long bridge linking the two sides was opened to the public in 1998.<\/p>\n Before visiting Portugal I had seen a photograph of this bridge taken in the early morning, and it looked worthwhile to visit. I checked the time of the sunrise (6h11) and the approximate angle relative to the bridge (thank you Google Maps) and decided that it would be feasible. What I hadn’t counted on was the scale of our map of Lisbon – what I thought would be a half hour walk from our hostel was in fact an hours bus ride plus a half hour walk!<\/p>\n With WiFi available everywhere in Portugal, we checked for buses, metro, trams and sure enough there was a night bus that ran every hour – so I left the hotel (alone I might add) at 4am to walk down to the bus stop, where I caught the bus with a surprising number of other people (most of whom got off at the airport, presumably shift workers) and thanks to my bus pass, paid 1.30\u20ac for my hours trip. When I arrived at the terminus, the dawn was breaking so it wasn’t too difficult to decide which way to orient myself and I walked along the riverfront to the bridge.<\/p>\n Interestingly I was not the only photographer there that morning – there were at least 3 others. Anyway, I think it was worth it…of course, when I go back to the hotel, it was just in time for breakfast – that’s planning!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Todays image involved a little planning… This is the Vasco da Gama bridge which spans the Tage river basin on which Lisbon is built. The older Western part is more important in terms of it’s size, but the Eastern edge of the basin is fast developing and the 12klm long bridge linking the two sides … <\/p>\n