Your Bond location pilgrimages.

RichardTheBruce

Next stop, the adjoining Bar Palácio proper.


https://palacioestorilhotel.com/wp-content/uploads/Bar_Estoril_Carta.pdf


By happenstance, this stock image focuses on the table I occupied.

Also part of my plan was to read chapter one of the first Bond novel.

I ordered a Negroni. A fine experience.

And my departing photo.

RichardTheBruce

A highlight of a visit to Palácio Estoril Hotel is meeting José Diogo, a staple of the establishment and on screen presence in OHMSS handing Bond his room key.

Unfortunately not present for my experience, hopefully on board for yours.

https://www.facebook.com/PalacioEstorilHotel/photos/a.330618256951308/492328637446935/?type=3&locale=pt_PT&_rdr

RichardTheBruce

Exiting Bar Palácio and facing the front entrance, there is a corridor to the immediate left with a display case and wall photographs recalling spies, Fleming, and the filming of OHMSS.

RichardTheBruce

Palácio Fronteira
Palace of the Marquesses of Fronteira. Private residence of the Marquesses of Fronteira.
Stock photo

Less than two miles from my hotel, easy getting over there one morning. I took a tour of the interior of the residence (most of it is open to the public including the library, dining room, chapel, and some other areas), a very enjoyable guide explained history and detail. Interesting stories shared on the artists contributing portraits on display. And even more interesting the lesser artisans who inserted comic and critical content into their figures and pictorials on the azulejos/tiles (animals taking on human activity; a brass instrument played from the trumpeter's own bottom). Picture taking not allowed in most of the main residence, except from the library looking down on the garden area.

Then I circuited through the exterior grounds and garden. Familiar spots there of course, and a couple other relatable sights.

Entrance and residence exterior street view

View from the library

Tiles and Chapel

Pool adjoining the Garden

There was a single black swan present, the tour guide identified it as the only one in all of Portugal. I joked with her it was surely from New Holland, based on her explanations of historical influence in Portugal. Swans can mate for life so this was a bittersweet symbol relatable to Bond to see it on its own. Not least for the mirror image creating its spiritual mate on the structure.

Golden sculptures on site were for an exhibition held about a week after my visit. To me the ribbon-fold shape recalled the wedding ring James bought for Tracy.

Garden

Residence

Closest view shows open window of library.

RichardTheBruce

Joalharia Ferreira Marques (Jewellery), Rossio, Lisbon, Portugal.

Early in the week after business I searched out the shop, took exterior photos and the PM daylight worked well. It was late enough to be closing time and I returned later in the week.

Street view

Frontage

There was a lurker out front, I snapped a picture of that as well.

My second visit was more early afternoon. Once I buzzed in, the owner was very nice to interact with and was patient with the Bond interest. On hand were a couple poster board images of OHMSS connections. A cinema fan, he was much more enthusiastic to share his feelings on his favorite film The Dirty Dozen. I mentioned Lee Marvin and he rattled off the the cast starting with Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, and the rest.

I bought a bracelet for my wife and was free to take photos while he packaged it up and did paperwork for the customs and tax recovery. Realized I had the wedding ring replica prop in my bag, and took a couple images to represent.

Interior

OHMSS artifacts

Stock image

QBranch

Stunning courtyard at the Palácio Fronteira. I want to see Spectre Island on screen again, and for Bond to explore it - the real Bond, that is, and you could seam this location with Pinewood house to flesh it out a bit.

Is that the Q Swatch on a Spectre NATO? Nice touch there. Just on the OHMSS props, the hotel room key Diogo hands to Lazenby is a specific type - a metal fob with a ball on one end, and it's possible that exact key fob may've been reused as the sliding lever knob on the control panels at Kananga's lair entrance (which ended up in several Doctor Who episodes). It's definitely the same design key fob reused as a lever.

CommanderRoss

Just epic @RichardTheBruce ! Thank you for sharing!

RichardTheBruce

It's the Swatch ²Q (or 2Q) @QBranch. It came with a brown leather band, I wanted to change it to black then had the thought that the NATO strap would be right on time. If someone chose, the NATO strap with the red line would further draw on the red of the watch face.

Glad to share @CommanderRoss, believe it or not I have two additional significant OHMSS locations to represent.

Agent_99

No cat to pet in the garden, @RichardTheBruce? Stunning photos!

RichardTheBruce

You may have better luck on the cat @Agent_99, otherwise there are the tiles to represent.

RichardTheBruce

25 de Abril Bridge runs from Lisbon south to Almada. Originally Ponte Salazar/Salazar Bridge from 1966 after the Prime Minister initiator of the project. As of 1974 celebrating the date of revolution. Known as Ponte sobre o Tejo/Bridge over the Tagus.

Some shared associations for color and design and construction with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, both in California.

Also the Sanctuary of Christ the King monument having connections with the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

And the reverse view/return trip to Lisbon.

CommanderRoss

Ok, I'l lhave to rewatch OHMSS now only to see if I can regocnise the places I've been to. But one thing, why does the bridge have those rosters on the left lane now, and didn't hav them whilst filming? Any idea?

RichardTheBruce

Regarding the bridge: built in the 60s.

Then later in the 90s and after they added lanes. Plus installed a railway below. So some additional structure for those I expect.

Arrábida top road and Arrábida Natural Park.

I was encouraged from Lisbon to drive east and then south across the Vasco da Gama Bridge to travel clockwise for the best experience circuiting Arrábida top road (and the direction seen in the film). Good advice. Still, considering that and available time I crossed south on the Ponte 25 de Abril Bridge and drove the road both directions first east, then west.

Gerard

I hope you didn't make the mistake Bond made by driving on the left side of the road ;)

MakeshiftPython

Just learned that the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas is closed, the location James Bond stayed in during DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. I actually stayed in there on my one and only Vegas trip about a decade ago. Learned how to play the craps table at their casino, and one of my last moments before leaving for home was having a winning streak. Put in $20 and came away with $200 that very morning.

Always a pity to hear news of longstanding Vegas locations being demolished.

RichardTheBruce

I'm gonna check out what remains in December as my plan, @MakeshiftPython.

Posted this article on the previous page on the Tropicana.

Las Vegas hotel that hosted James Bond torn
down for baseball team

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/04/02/las-vegas-hotel-to-become-baseball-stadium/
Old-time dealers weep as Rat Pack and mobster hang-out the Tropicana cashes its chips after 67 years
Andrew Buncombe 2 April 2024 • 8:37pm

When it opened in 1957 at a cost of $15 million, the Tropicana was one of Las Vegas's most luxurious hotels Credit: Richard I'Anson/The Image Bank Unreleased


MORE

There was a time when everyone who was anyone wanted to be associated with Tropicana Las Vegas.

Built in 1957, making it the city’s third oldest casino, the Tropicana was once a hangout for the likes of Rat Pack stars Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, and the place for acts such as the topless Folies Bergère show and jazz great Louis Armstrong.

Even James Bond stayed there in the 1971 film Diamonds Are Forever, with Sean Connery saying: “I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable.”

Now the resort once nick-named “the Tiffany of the Strip” is being pulled down to make way for a new Major League Baseball stadium.

The casino officially closed its doors at 3am on Tuesday after regulars, staff members and curious tourists gave it a proper send-off. Many of the old-time dealers wept.

The Tropicana casino featured in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, starring Sean Connery Credit: The Kobal Collection

“It was kind of a special time,” Joe Simonetti told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, as he walked from the casino’s floor at the end of his final shift.

“We just closed the pit, had some champagne and said goodbye. Now we’re going to go to a bar and have a drink and move on with our lives.”

When it opened in April 1957 with a price tag of $15 million, the Tropicana was considered one of the most luxurious of Las Vegas’s hotels.

Guests are invited to gamble for one final time before the casino closes Credit: Brian Prahl/Splash News

It also became integral to the city’s lore, in part of because of its alleged links to Mafia-era figures such as mobster Frank Costello.

It was also the place where magicians Siegfried & Roy, known for their performances with white lions and tiger, made their Vegas debut.

In 2003, Roy – whose real name is Uwe Ludwig Horn – was attacked by a seven-year-old white tiger named Mantacore, severely hurting him and leaving him with permanent injuries.

Following the demolition that is due to start in October, around nine acres of the 35-acre piece of land will be handed to the Oakland Athletics baseball team for the construction of a 30,000-seat stadium, the resort said. It is expected that the team will relocate from California, in 2028.

The Tropicana hosted Frank Sinatra and other Rat Pack stars Credit: Screen Archives/Moviepix

In a statement, the owner of the property, Bally’s Corporation, said: “The master plan for the rest of the property will accelerate once the Athletics’ ballpark concept design is finalised. Bally’s is aligned to deliver a unique development worthy of this iconic site on the strip.”

The Tropicana underwent two major hotel expansions – the Tiffany Tower opened in 1979 with 600 rooms and was renamed the Paradise Tower. In 1986, the Island Tower opened with 800 new rooms.

‘New standard for the time’
Michael Green, professor of History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said what made the Tropicana unique when it opened was that it was “a new standard for the time”.

“It cost a record $15 million to build … with everything from a production revue that opened with Eddie Fisher, one of the biggest names of the era, as well as a gourmet room with a prominent chef and four different room designs based on various kinds of international architecture,” he added.

Casino Royale

The owner of the longtime favourite, currently operated by Best Western, is planning to build a new 699ft tall resort on the plot.

In October 2017, when a gunman opened fire into a crowded country music festival from a high-rise suite at the Mandalay Bay in October 2017, the nearby Tropicana sheltered thousands of people fleeing gunfire. Sixty people were killed.

“The Tropicana welcomed them all in. They provided some first aid as needed and a safe place for them until the danger passed,” said Tennille Pereira, director of the Resiliency and Justice Centre.

Yet for all its past glories, the Tropicana struggled after the 2009 recession that led to the end of many of its most celebrated acts.

Now the only remaining casino from that era is the Sahara.

QBranch

Vegas must be running out of desert if they need to put a stadium right there.

Breaks my heart to see these iconic/historic locations disappear - is nothing sacred anymore?!

RichardTheBruce

Breaking the rules here.

I have a contemporary connection to 007. Not the novels, not the films. Or not directly on screen anyway.

Photo taken Saturday 7 September. Had to obscure some of the image to not give it away straight off.

RichardTheBruce

Okay pilgrims. This current event ends 27 October if that rings a bell.

CommanderRoss

you're in a garden?

j_w_pepper

More like on Lake Shore Drive.
https://msichicago.org/explore/whats-here/exhibits/007-science-inventing-the-world-of-james-bond

RichardTheBruce

Yeah that's what I was looking for, the comprehensive display at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Illinois.

CommanderRoss

Oh wow, never even heard of the museum. But it looks amazing and a lot of fun!

RichardTheBruce

It's a great display yes, I took a lot of pictures and can share later.

Very grateful I watched David Zaritsky's Bond Experience descriptive YouTube video for awareness of how extensive it was. I went in prepared as best as possible.


The Cars, Gadgets and Props of James Bond | 007 in Chicago! (29:58)

Agent_99

Hello folks! I'm back from my first motorcycling holiday in mainland Europe since 2019, travelling to Portugal (this was supposed to be our 2020 trip).

I had a wonderful time and managed to visit not one but two Bond locations:

The Palacio Hotel in Estoril, where we treated ourselves to a night of five-star majesty, and the nearby Guincho Beach.




Two nights in Bilbao before the ferry doing important Brosness.

Bonus: found a Bond-themed apartment in Porto (Dalton the husky is mine).

RichardTheBruce

Great to hear your successes, not least Bilbao @Agent_99.

By chance was José Diogo at the Hotel Palacio during your stay?

Agent_99 wrote: »

I have returned from a week staying with an internet friend (you might know her from Twitter as @3octaves or 007intheadirondacks) who lives in New York state, right in the heart of the action from TSWLM (novel) and not far from Saratoga Springs, which crops up in DAF.

I sampled the water at Saratoga (yuk) and had a mineral bath (mud baths are no longer available which was fine by me), and saw all the midcentury motels and diners my heart could desire. Some places Fleming visited, some he might have done, and some he definitely didn't (like the Star Trek museum). Brilliant time.

Maybe this is mentioned elsewhere, believe it's the same contact you had for your Upstate New York adventure.


https://www.booksamillion.com/p/James-Bond-Route/Frieda-Toth/9780970166463?id=9280016979237
https://www.amazon.com/James-Bond-Route-9-Me/dp/097016646X

James Bond Route 9 and Me, Frieda Toth, 2023.

Overview
Frieda Toth is an internationally recognized James Bond scholar, and arguably the world's expert on Ian Fleming's nine James Bond novel, The Spy who Loved Me. Like Bond, she's an international traveler and a certified SCUBA diver. Frieda also has danced the Rat King in the Nutcracker and sung opera since she was 9, but chances are pretty good you know her from the library.

Agent_99

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

By chance was José Diogo at the Hotel Palacio during your stay?

If he was, I missed him :(

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

Maybe this is mentioned elsewhere, believe it's the same contact you had for your Upstate New York adventure.

Yes! I haven't got my paws on this yet but I'm looking forward to it - Frieda's a very smart and funny person and quite possibly the world's leading expert in TSWLM the novel.

RichardTheBruce

I was gonna eyeball it in December.


https://www.outkick.com/culture/tropicana-hotel-implosion-video

LucknFate

Agent_99 wrote: »

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

By chance was José Diogo at the Hotel Palacio during your stay?

If he was, I missed him :(

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

Maybe this is mentioned elsewhere, believe it's the same contact you had for your Upstate New York adventure.

Yes! I haven't got my paws on this yet but I'm looking forward to it - Frieda's a very smart and funny person and quite possibly the world's leading expert in TSWLM the novel.

Very interesting, as I'm in NYC!