The Jeronimos Monastery and church is a prominent example of the late gothic Manueline style of architecture, an ornate architectural style incorporating maritime elements and objects discovered during naval expeditions, carved in limestone. It was built in the early 1500's near where Vasco da Gama launched his first journey. There is a cenotaph, or empty tomb, in the church honoring him.
The nave with carved pillars supporting the fan-vaulted ceiling.
The Tower of Bellam was built between 1514
and 1520 in what was to become the Manueline style by the Portuguese architect and sculptor
Francisco de Arruda. The word Bellam means Bethlehem and is taken from a chapel dedicated to St. Mary of Bethlehem near the river's edge.
There was quite a line to get in, but a violinist serenaded us with magnificent music including a vigorous rendition of Happy Birthday!
View of the nave and one of the windows.
There were 93 steps up to the top. The final ones were spiral and seemed to go on forever.
View through a doorway of the drawbridge and turrets. Another view through a different opening of the shoreline.
Once outside, we crossed the street through an underground connector to get to the Monument of Discovery.
The Monument of Discovery symbolizes a caravel and celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery. It is located along the Tagus River where ships departed for exploration. Among the 32 carved statues are Prince Henry the Navigator (seen at the front of the line in the bottom or left photo), King Alfonso V and Vasco da Gama.
These tasty tarts were so delicious, that I had to give them their own post. I wanted a treat for my coffee in the morning, so after dinner, we set out to look for a pastelle de nata shop. There were many pastry shops, but we did not find this lovable Lisbon treat in any of them. (Maybe they were sold out as it was close to 7 PM?)
Finally, we came across this authentic shop where the workers wore impressive uniforms. I did not know what these pastries looked like, so I was surprised they were small tarts. (Should have Googled it.)
We quickly bought four, which came in little blue boxes, adding to the allure.
Full disclosure: Did I pop one in my mouth when we returned to the apartment? I did not. I do have some willpower. But mostly, I was so filled from dinner. Plus I knew the first taste had to be tomorrow with my coffee.
PS - The next morning, the coffee from the Nespresso machine was incredible and the pastelle de nata were every bit (and more) delicious than anyone had described.
We checked out a few restaurants near the beach, but most were serving Happy Hour treats. Then we found Antartida Cerve Jaria on Praça do Comércio.
My first Lisbon sangria!
Ceramic sardines led the way to the bathrooms. Notice the symbols for Man and Woman - opposite figures. 😊
Since Lisbon has so many hills, there are four elevadors that take you to the top of the hills. Here's Elevador de Santa Justa which we passed by earlier, but after dinner, it was lit up.
I'm realizing again how nice it is to have an apartment on a higher floor as you really do have an eagle's eye view.
After a much needed nap, we set out to explore.
Mermaid fountain near Rossio Square, very close to our apartment.
The water was right down the street, so we headed there next.
The municipal buildings face the sea for another beautiful view. The green in the photo is algae. I thought it was grass!
King Jose I statue in the center of Praça do Comérci.
Lisbon Arch in Praça do Comérci.
Later, it was a beautiful night for a walk in the twilight. Some tourists asked if we could take their picture and then reciprocated for us. Behind us is a statue from 1870 dedicated to King Pedro IV. He's in bronze atop a 75-foot-tall column. Around the base of the column are four figures representing Strength, Wisdom, Justice, and Restraint.
The flight over was comfortable, and I actually slept a bit. Yay!
We had access to one of the airport lounges at JFK, so we enjoyed some treats while we waited to board our flight.
Once we got our bags, we decided to try out the subway, which is fairly simple. The Rossio stop is very close to our AirBnB. It worked out well except that many elevators were not working. Fortunately, Gates hefted the heavy suitcases.
The living room and below, the view out of the terrace doors.
After visiting the local grocery to fill the larder with fruits, veggies, cheese, crackers, yogurt, almond milk, wine, crackers, nuts, etc. this is where I collapsed for a snooze.
My son, Gates, and I are flying to Lisbon this week. He's got two weeks off, so we chose a city/country neither of us had previously visited.
When I visited Greece last spring, I used DK Top 10 Athens. It worked out really well as a source for sights but also for what to see when you were at one of them.
So for this trip, I chose the one for Lisbon, and it's been terrific for planning. I also like that it fits perfectly in the side pocket of my Travelon purse.
