Discovering Lisbon
| | 18-May-2008 | Twelve hours of sleep later, we’re ready to see what else Lisbon has to offer. After noshing on some ham, cheese, pastries and coffee (finally!) in the breakfast room, we’re ready to face the day. Today we’re off to Belém to check out the Torre de Belém (an offshore watchtower) and the monastery. We got a late start for us and ended up squished on the electric trolley with over a hundred of our closest friends for the 45min trip to Belém. In 1497, Vasco da Gama left from Belém on a voyage which included his discovery of a sea route to India. The day’s tour also included the bullring and the aqueduct. In typical fashion, we were everywhere, then closed the day with some self-catered goodness and Portuguese wine. Tomorrow we’ll make our first foray onto the Portuguese highway as we’re off to the east to Elvas and Évora. |
 Mosterio dos Jerónimos. Manuel I ordered this monastery built in memory of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India. Work began in 1502 based on a Gothic design, but changed to a Renaissance flavor in 1517 after the originator’s death. This picture doesn’t show much of the architecture but it’s one of the few we have that doesn’t have about a million people in it. |
Cows are always good for a laugh – especially this duo. |
Praca de Touros (aka bull ring). Relatively new construction with a Moorish flavor. There’s a shopping mall below it. Seriously. |
Sunday in downtown Lisbon. No joke. NOTHING is open. Some (and I do mean a few) cafes are open, otherwise nada, zilch, nothing. To further the Sunday weirdness, the El Cortés department store is CLOSED on Sundays, except for the supermarket which closes at 3pm. Luckily we picked up some staples yesterday because all the local convenience stores, that are about one per block, are also closed. |
Aqueduto das Aguas Livres. Consisting of 109 stone arches, the aqueduct was built between 1728 and 1835. We round-tripped it on Sunday afternoon – another unplanned side trip. The tallest arch is about 65m height. I nterestingly, the wall along the walkway is maybe 4 feet wide, with no fence or anything. 65m high and no fence – welcome to Europe. |
Our first experience with Vinho Verde. This one is a red, accompanied by multi-grain bread, gouda and chorizo ibérico (iberian pork). Mmmm |
Super Boch! This is Portugal’s #1 beer – the pilsner needs some help; we’ll see about the Stout. Waiter! Oh wait, this is a self-catering joint. Off to the fridge . . Dad – if you remember what Ballentine tasted like circa 1977, this is its clone – only no puzzle on the inside of the cap — Jeff |