DAY 33 5 July - Lisbon

Our tour of Lisbon this morning took us along the spacious avenues of the Lower Town and beneath the hilltop Bairro Alto to the Terreiro do Paco, the finest square in the city. A highlight was visiting the Belém Quarter from where sailing ships once set forth to discover unknown lands. Here we saw the modern Monument to the Discoveries and the Belém Tower. This fortress was originally set in the middle of the river, but is now left high and dry on the riverbank.  

The Belem tower.

There is also the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Jerónimos Monastery with its beautiful Manueline architecture.  Vasco De Gama is buried there.

We did sample the traditional patisserie that has managed to hold on to the secret recipe of Portugal's finest pastry for almost 200 years and enjoy a taste of the famous Pastéis de Belém.

We left our tour group at this point and visited the Maritime Museum that was very good. Established in 1863 it had a wide range of exhibits. 

 This figurehead was from Vasco Da Gama's brother's ship and survived shipwreck.

The Royal Barge.

We walked back to Lisbon’s city centre. A walk that according to Google maps was 3 km but possibly a lot longer! Along the way we saw the President’s Palace with his guards out the front.  There was also the impressive statue of King Josef I who was responsible for rebuilding Lisbon after the earthquake in 1755.

The Military Museum was very good. Established in 1842 at the Royal Army Arsenal, in 1851 it became a museum. Some of the rooms were so elaborately decorated that at times it was like Versailles “Lite”.

 We jumped into a taxi and went to Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. It is owned by a billionaire who only believes in the best. It was very eclectic and did have some very impressive artwork; Rubens, Rembrandt, Renoir, Monet, Sargent and Degas. Some beautiful object d’art.

It was a productive day - three monuments, a church and three museums.