Lisbon is surely the fascinating and attractive beauty of Portugal, famous with its unimaginably huge shopping centers full of renowned designers’ brands, classic opera-houses and astonishing museums surprisingly affluent with rich collections of art values and luxurious hotels. It is blessed with wonderful tourist attractions and extravagant restaurants serving dainty traditional and international dishes and subtle drinks from all over the world. If you happen to visit picturesque Lisbon make sure to see the largest aquarium of Europe called “Ocenarium” and explore the magic world of the ocean.
One of the most visited aquariums of Europe covers four Olympic-sized swimming pools and includes more than 16.000 fishes, mammals and seabirds. This is the world’s second biggest aquarium (the first one is in Japan). There are special marine animals in this aquarium; from different types of sharks to various penguins and fishes. A journey in this amazing aquatic place is very enjoyable, but visitors should know that afternoons are usually crowded, so visiting marine animals in the morning would be a better choice.
If visitors want to examine ocean life and its creatures they have to be part of a tour held by a marine educator. These tours are called “Backstage tours” and they last about 45 minutes. These tours give a great opportunity to visit the places which the public in general doesn’t get to see. Youwill be shown how the inhabitants of the aquarium get their “meal” and many other educational and entertaining things sure to interest both adults and kids.
Do you want to see sharks face to face? In the central tank of this “small ocean” you will get acquainted with various sharks and also tropical fishes and tunas, to name but a few. This unique “marine exhibition” is a very pleasant place to go with kids and show them colorful fishes, marine plants and other interesting creatures.
The Oceanarium consists of four large parts each of which presents a continent. The thickness of the glass is 12cm and taking photos is not a good idea because afterwards you will have a “foggy” image. In some parts of the ocean it’s not even allowed to take photos not to scare the marine animals. There is a 98 meter long tunnel from where you can admire the beauty of the ocean exploring the marine creatures’ lifestyle. You will also enjoy the movies about how the specialists work in different aquarium and how they act with marine animals (not all of them are very hospitable and warm to everyone).
Lisbon aquarium is a pleasant place to relax and explore at the same time. It seems you are in a mysterious fairytale of the ocean. Even the most dangerous marine creatures seem so warm and lovely towards everyone that you wish to return again and again. The aquarium is open all year around.
