Saturday 11/2/2024

 

 

We are now totally in synch with our sidereal clocks.  Paul was up early; Shirley was up at her regular time.  We ate another tasty breakfast and queued up for the bus by 9:30. Jorge and Rafael (found out it was pronounced Ccchafella) were there with their smiles and “let’s have fun today” attitudes. We were on the way to Belem in a trice.

 

On the way we saw some cool street art – tiles mostly and some junk art (which was quite nice – but we don’t have a picture as the bus was on a roll). Belem is Portuguese for Bethlehem.  It was where the early explorers (Diaz, Da Gama, Magellan et al) spent the night after the fanfare of leaving Lisbon to pray at the Monastery of Saint Jerome. The Church there was dedicated to Our Lady of Safe Journey.  

 

We queued up to enter the Cloister while Jorge held forth on the History angle.  Lots to absorb, but Shirley took good notes. (Someone has to keep Paul straight and factual  ).  The Cloister was beautifully ornate as befits the period it was made – unique in all the world.

 

 

The Cloister

 

A separate queue let us in the Church where King Emmanuel, his son and their two wives were entombed.  Also there were Da Gama and the most famous literary luminary of Portugal, Luis de Camoes.

 

At the entrance to the Church

 

 

 

 

Inside

 

When we came out, our guides were amazed at the long lines to enter both venues.  They took pictures and reported to their agency.

 

 

A side perk of this visit was to do a taste test of the famous Portuguese custard pies.  The secret recipe was developed by the monk in the 1500’s and is now in the procession of a family.  There are copy-cats however – some very good.  Rafaela purchased some originals while Jorge purchased the best copy.  We sat in the park and did the taste test.  Some preferred the original, others the copy. It was a case of good and better.

 

 

We got back in the mini-bus and travelled to the Belem Tower. Here was one of 3 defensive forts protecting Lisbon from attack by sea. It was really neat. Again there was a large queue to enter.  We just took a couple of pictures and headed back to the bus.

 

 

Our next stop was the one Paul had been waiting for.  The spiel regarding the great age of discovery. To mark it, a large monument was constructed with 8 statues of discovery people (navigators, pilots, nobles, a queen and shipwrights etc.) with Prince Henry the Navigator at the head of the line looking out to sea.

 

 

 

Side view of the monument

 

 

Monument from the World Map

 

One highlight of this area was the compass and world map given to Portugal by South Africa.  It laid out in marble the world and the dates of significant Portuguese discoveries. Very cool.  It was not roped off so, pictures had to include shadows.   

 

 

We left Jorge and Rafaella at Sud Lisboa after some heartfelt goodbyes, hugs and promises of 5 star ratings on Yelp.

 

 

The group bookended by Jorge and Rafaella

 

At 1:30 we started lunch at Sud Lisboa, a waterfront establishment with a unique way of catering to a large group.  courses were delivered on three very large platters and served family style.  We left at 4:30 very much satisfied. In fact we were so satisfied that we decided to cancel our dinner reservation for the night.

 

 

 

 

We were back at the hotel by 5 PM and had a bit of a rest before hopping on the mini-bus to a private tour of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

We met Enrique and our driver at 6 PM and drove to the Foundation.  There we met our docent, Carlos ______.  Carlos gave us the history of Mr. 5%.  The 5% came from the fact that he owned 5% of the world’s oil from the early days to 1953 when he passed away.  He collected a lat ot of art.  When Stalin was hard up for cash in the 30’s, he sold a ton of art from the Hermitage which Calouste Gulbenkian picked up. He liked Lisbon and was “stuck” in the area during world war II, and decided to stay and locate his Foundation here in Lisbon.

 

And then Carlos took us on an in depth examination of one artifact per room. Carlos knew his stuff. At one point some of our group wandered (surprise) and Carlos had to put on his elementary school teacher hat and voice and demand respect. Most came around. The art and artifacts were absolutely first class.  We took some pictures … well, we took a lot of pictures.  Here is just one that he started with: A Middle Kingdom Pharoh done in Obsidian that merited a 15 minute spiel by a very knowledgeable scholar.

 

 

 

A middle kingdom Pharoah

 

We were back at the Hotel by 9:30. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Lisboa. The bus will be here at 8.