Today’s streetcar 15E took us to our 1st stop, Jerónimos Monastery. There we met Teny, Jesse’s badminton friend from Bintang Badminton in CA who was visiting Portugal for like 5 days with his family – crazy! What are the chances?!?
What more do I have to say, the architecture is spectacular. The Jerónimos Monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the late Portuguese Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was erected in the early 1500s near the launch point of Vasco da Gama’s first journey.
We were fascinated by all the arches throughout the monestary but esp. the small doorways. Who went in them and where they all short? We were joking how Jesse would probably lose his head if he lived there. Of course, Penny, Sue or I would have no issues getting through. 😏
Next stop, the adjoining church which required that we exit and re-enter via another line. Luckily, the line was fairly short and it passed quickly. Here too the architecture was ornate, with vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows.
The intricate tombs of Vasco Da Gama and Luis de Camoes were also interesting though a little morbid.
After visiting the monastery and church, the group needed a little break and a bite so we headed to Pastéis de Belém established 1837. Pastéis de Belém are created from an ancient recipe invented by Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. You can find this Portuguese pastry everywhere but they are called Pastel de Nata elsewhere because only the ones from this location can be called Pastéis de Belém. We compared both types but we were 50/50 on who liked which best. Personally, Pastéis de Belém was my favorite. Jesse’s was Pastel de Nata.
The last landmark stop was Belém Tower. We waited over an hour on a 82 degrees, sunny day. It was freaking hot! After all that, we all agreed it was not worth the wait as you can climb four levels but are not allowed up the top of the tower. As you can see Jesse lost his mind waiting and looks Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs in the above picture. My hat did not fit his head either.
The interiors were nothing spectacular but wanted to give you all a peek …
While the Belém Tower was nothing to write home about, it had the best view of this bridge. What does this bridge remind you of?
If you said the Golden Gate Bridge then you are right! Its official name is Ponte 25 de Abril. Both bridges have 3 things in common:
- Their color is international orange
- They are both suspension bridges
- Both bridges have been in James Bond films:
- The Ponte 25 de Abril was in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service from 1969.
- The Golden Gate was a location for A View to a Kill, a 1985 James Bond movie with Roger Moore
After returning back to the hotel, Jesse went to work while the gals rested and enjoyed the complementary cheese and wine per the name of our hotel. Don’t worry, I took up a platter to Jesse to snack on in between meetings. Spoiled!
For dinner, we kept things simple, we walk over to the Time Out Lisbon and everyone got to choose what they wanted without a long, drawn out sit-down. We were too tired to take any photos with the exception of the two donuts Jesse and I purchased and sampled back at the hotel – Lime Pie and Boston Cream (of course!).
Tomorrow is our last full day in Lisbon, so it will be an early rise then we are off to Sintra!
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