Park of Nations by the Tagus river

We took the bus from Porto to Lisbon, reaching the Oriente train station. Beside the train station is a shopping mall called Centro Vasco Da Gama. Going through the shopping mall, we reach Parque das Nações (Park of Nations) on the bank of the Tagus river

Parque das Nações is a modern park built in 1998 for the World Fair (whatever that is :P ). Anyway, it is an interesting place to visit, and it is a little out of the Lisbon city center, so we decided to visit it before going to our hotel.

Before exploring the park on the riverside, we left our luggage in a locker in the train station. Despite having done my research on where the lockers were (someone said it was hard to find, “in a corner of the mezzanine level where the ticket offices are”), it still took some time for me to find them. I even left my mother waiting somewhere with both of our bags, so that I could move faster while I went here and there looking for the lockers.

In case you wanna know how it works:

If I remember correctly, we had to use the large one for our two bags.

With that done, we went exploring. The weather was great with lovely blue skies.

looking out from the commercial center

Meo Arena, used for events

looking back at the commercial center

closer look, so that you can see "Vasco da Gama" written on the building

flags lining the path to the riverside

Psst...I actually thought it was the seaside. But looking back at the article (linked above) and the map, it seems like this is the end of the Tagus river, where it becomes very wide. But there's still land across it, so I guess it's still a river.

later on I walked all the way to the riverside, and snapped this photo looking back

But first, we actually turned right at the cat, to go south (going to the left of the photo above).

There are multiple artworks around (you already say the tree-like thing earlier).

ugly cat, everyone was taking photos with it :P

flags and cable car

I think this picture is notable because we had walked far enough to see the end of the part with trees (whatever that is...)

this is the long stretch on which we were walking

Pavilhão do Conhecimento, the “Knowledge Pavilion” which is a science museum

Then there was this area of greenery with water which looks quite nice.

stones making paths across the water

it seems like they call it the water gardens?

At the end, there is the start of the cable car, which takes us along the river for a scenic view. Just like in Porto, we didn't take the cable car.

cable cars with the Vasco da Gama tower and the Vasco da Gama bridge (the longest in Europe) in the background

wider view to include the Meo Arena

the oceanarium with its mascot

they even threw the mascot into the water...as a publicity stunt? Haha...

probably the clearest view of the Meo Arena, the Vasco da Gama tower, and the Vasco da Gama bridge in one photo

But I kinda prefer this other view with the pathway (the one that we were walking along at the beginning) and the trees. The tower is a little blocked though.

a mascot welcoming us by the river (this was at the end of the path with the flags)

view along the riverbank, looking north

I walked further north (my mother was tired and decided to sit down for a break), and there was a nice path under the trees, with benches here and there. But the view didn't get better; probably because the landmarks were getting closer. I remember I didn't walk all the way up to the tower. 

After that, we made our way to Lisbon center. We had a late lunch, then went to our hotel and had a good rest before exploring the city the next day.