4 December ’05, Sunday.
Sundays can be a little long wait for the bus. Today, we waited through at least 5 buses and 45 minutes before we decided to…“just take the next one no matter were it goes”. Well, it did go just about were we wanted, but this time Louise jumped too soon and we got off about a mile too early…I kept my mouth shut. Our destination today was the fourth part of Lisbon called Belém. We were grateful that we took the umbrella as just as we stepped off the bus we were getting wet. Fortunately, we only needed it a couple of times throughout the day. First things first, Louise had read in Ricks book about this little eatery that all the locals and every tourist that is lucky enough to know about this place, makes it a “must stop”. There is a special cream tart (pastel de nata, but here they are called pastel de Belém) that we have been sampling every since we arrived in Portugal. Not only has this place got the recipe down pat (I think they invented it..), but they serve them warm right from the oven. The people standing around the counter were 3 to 4 deep (all day long), and then they had at least 3 dining areas that were filled too. We went back twice and I even brought 6 more home for a special occasion (tomorrow). One site that I’ve wanted to see was the “Belém Tower” which was built in 1515 and sat at that time in the middle of the Tejo River. It is kind of like a fortified castle, but pretty small. It was used as a look out tower originally, and it was the last thing a sailor would see as he pulled out into the Atlantic Ocean and headed for points unknown (such as the “Americas”). We also took in another “tower” on the river front. This tower is the “Monument to the Discoveries” and was built in 1960. It is to honor the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the “Navigator”. To finish up our “menu” for the day, we saw the Monastery of Jerónimos and the palace were the president of Portugal resides. Then it was time to call it quits for the day…a short day, but a good one. Tomorrow we are catching a train and heading to Sintra.
Sundays can be a little long wait for the bus. Today, we waited through at least 5 buses and 45 minutes before we decided to…“just take the next one no matter were it goes”. Well, it did go just about were we wanted, but this time Louise jumped too soon and we got off about a mile too early…I kept my mouth shut. Our destination today was the fourth part of Lisbon called Belém. We were grateful that we took the umbrella as just as we stepped off the bus we were getting wet. Fortunately, we only needed it a couple of times throughout the day. First things first, Louise had read in Ricks book about this little eatery that all the locals and every tourist that is lucky enough to know about this place, makes it a “must stop”. There is a special cream tart (pastel de nata, but here they are called pastel de Belém) that we have been sampling every since we arrived in Portugal. Not only has this place got the recipe down pat (I think they invented it..), but they serve them warm right from the oven. The people standing around the counter were 3 to 4 deep (all day long), and then they had at least 3 dining areas that were filled too. We went back twice and I even brought 6 more home for a special occasion (tomorrow). One site that I’ve wanted to see was the “Belém Tower” which was built in 1515 and sat at that time in the middle of the Tejo River. It is kind of like a fortified castle, but pretty small. It was used as a look out tower originally, and it was the last thing a sailor would see as he pulled out into the Atlantic Ocean and headed for points unknown (such as the “Americas”). We also took in another “tower” on the river front. This tower is the “Monument to the Discoveries” and was built in 1960. It is to honor the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the “Navigator”. To finish up our “menu” for the day, we saw the Monastery of Jerónimos and the palace were the president of Portugal resides. Then it was time to call it quits for the day…a short day, but a good one. Tomorrow we are catching a train and heading to Sintra.