Your Bond location pilgrimages.

Comments

• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 2 edited July 8 Posts: 13,579

  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 I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 3 Posts: 13,579

  
  
  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 I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 3 Posts: 13,579

  

  
  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 I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 6 Posts: 13,579

  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 I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 7 edited July 8 Posts: 13,579

  
  
  
  

  
  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 Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.

  July 7 Posts: 14,448

  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 The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  July 7 Posts: 8,164

  Just epic @RichardTheBruce ! Thank you for sharing!
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 7 Posts: 13,579

  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 enjoys a spirited ride as much as the next girl

  July 8 Posts: 3,162

  No cat to pet in the garden, @RichardTheBruce? Stunning photos!
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 8 Posts: 13,579

  You may have better luck on the cat @Agent_99, otherwise there are the tiles to represent.
  
  
  
  
  
• RichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 9 Posts: 13,579

  

  
  

  
  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 The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea

  July 10 Posts: 8,164

  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 I'm motivated by my Duty.

  July 10 edited July 19 Posts: 13,579

  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

  July 11 Posts: 5,943

  I hope you didn't make the mistake Bond made by driving on the left side of the road ;)
• MakeshiftPython “Baja?!”

  July 11 Posts: 8,128

  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 motivated by my Duty.

  July 19 Posts: 13,579

  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 Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.

  July 20 Posts: 14,448

  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?!