Some friends and I were visiting Lisbon for the first time, so one morning we headed over to one of the top tourist attractions, its aquarium, one of the largest in Europe. TripAdvisor says Oceanário de Lisboa has been elected three times the top aquarium in the world.

I can see why.  While it is defined by it main central tank, with large glass walls allowing viewers to feel enveloped, there are many micro-environments visible through the glass walls of separate, smaller viewing stations.

One follows the flow nearly in the dark – most of the built space is colored black, except signage, to highlight the watery worlds without reflections on the thick glass.  Along the way one finds an endless succession of environments, along with smaller tanks and four themed outdoor habitats, such as a tropical rain forest and an Antarctic landscape cooled to make the penguins at home.

We had a rollicking fun time, along with many other kids.  The crowds were rarely oppressive, making it a surprisingly intimate, and educational, experience.  [please hover over images for captions]

Full disclosure: the Oceanário de Lisboa was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, lead architect Peter Chermayeff, who is my dear step-dad and one of the world’s foremost aquarium architects. I was kindly invited to the aquarium’s 1998 opening, but due to work commitments in Latin America was unable to attend.  This was my overdue first visit.