It has been exactly one month since we last landed (disembarked) in Lisbon.  How wild. It doesn’t seem like it has been that long, and then again, it seems like forever!  It is another gorgeous day, still a bit windy, but sunny and cool.  Our plans today are to visit the Jeronimios Monastery in Belem, one of the few things on our touring list from our previous visit that we missed.

We choose to pull the H Card and get escorted down to the gangway, but in typical discombobulated fashion, the Haven escort is bungled and we aren’t out as soon as the ship is cleared, which means we miss the first bus that will take us to the Monastery. Sigh.  You know, we should have known better, but….oh well.

The next bus isn’t for 30 minutes and even though we are way early for the Monastery opening, we don’t relish wasting our time just sitting on the bus bench.  It is too far to walk, well over an hour and a half, and while all flat, we’d rather take the bus and then maybe walk a part of the way back.  I’m looking at my Lisbon transport app, trying to figure out an alternative, when another bus pulls up.  It is going to Cais do Sodre, one of the main transportation hubs, so we hop on, pay our 2 euros and off we go. As it turns out, we really could have walked here just as easily, it isn’t that far from the port, and trying to find another bus we can transfer to proves difficult.  We can use the E15 tram though, and it is coming in 10 minutes, so we go for it – even though it will probably cost us more, I don’t think we can use our bus tickets for a transfer.

The tram comes, we jump on and sure enough, the driver is sealed off from the passengers and it is all automatic ticketing.  We didn’t find the ticket machine until well into the ride (even though the signs were everywhere – we were being so oblivious!), so we just decided we got the tram ride free as a transfer (even if that wasn’t exactly correct – we still don’t know!).  Just to be safe though, we jump off a few stops before the monastery and walk the rest of the way.  As it turns out, we are on the same street where we had lunch on our Monday touring day when we were here last, so we know exactly where we are.  We located the restaurant where we lunched, but this being Sunday they aren’t open, but the café next door is, so we sit down for a cappuccino before continuing on to the Monastery.

As we head down the street, we pass the Presidential Palace and stumble upon the changing of the guards.  Had no idea they did this here!  What a neat surprise. Certainly not quite the spectacle as in Athens, there are only 4 guards total, but it is still fun to watch them march and switch positions.  Even better though, across the street is a little shop that sells Beer Cake – Pasteis de Cerveja.  No way!  We are definitely stopping there on the way back into town.  That is definitely a must try!

Onward to the Monastery, we get in line only to find that we are in the entrance line and need to go buy the tickets at the museum, which is the next door down.  We obviously missed that sign, as do a bunch of other people who troop down the sidewalk with us to purchase tickets, and then troop back.  It’s well worth the confusion and extra effort though!  This monastery was built in the 16^th Century and is a beautiful example of Portuguese architecture of the time.  It is  massive, the façade stretching almost 1,000 feet and filled with carvings of saints such as St. Michael the Archangel (Portugal’s patron saint) and Our Lady of Belém (or Our Lady of Reis).  Inside the Monastery grounds, the magnificence continues.  Gorgeous arched columns run the length of the portico that surrounds a beautiful garden area, chapels and rooms shooting off the portico are cavernous with intricate tiled ceilings and richly painted religious portraits. 

In one room, there are gorgeous tile artwork depicting the Miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (don’t ask, the placard there says it is New Testament).  The same placard explains that “on the side walls are scenes from the life of Joseph in Egypt (Old Testament).”  So there you go.  Whatever they are depicting, they are amazing tile works which fascinate me, as do the huge carved stone ropes that border the tiles and circle the room.

The upper and lower porticos also sport carved arches, separate from the structure, that add to the middle ages look.  Plus these great animal shaped gargoyles, which aren’t really gargoyles, but I can’t quite remember exactly what they are called, adorn the bottom of the upper floor railings giving a really eerie feel to the whole thing.

We explore all the nooks and crannies we can find in the Monastery.  It is just such a lovely place, and such great architecture. I think somewhere I read it was Manueline, which I don’t know if we’ve ever seen before, but we must have with all the cathedrals and religious places we have visited.

Downstairs, the garden level is just as awe-inspiring. We can hear Sunday Mass from the cathedral next door, and actually can peep into the service through a little key hole in a door at the end of one of the porticos.  We also find confessionals which are little rooms cut into the portico, with the screen opening where the priest sits to hear the confessor. 

A little more wandering and picture taking finds us exiting out onto the plaza in front of the Monastery to take our final pictures of the exterior and be on our way.

Our way includes going back to the café we saw earlier for the beer cakes, but unfortunately they are all sold out.  Bummer!  I think the lady there says there will be more in 45 minutes, but we won’t be here by then, so that just goes on the list for one of our next visits (we’ll back here twice as well!).

So, decision time.  It is too early for lunch and way too early to go back to the ship, so we decide to just walk through the park across from the Monastery and head down toward the Belem Tower, where we can cross the road through an underpass and get to take awesome perfectly lit shots of the cool monument to maritime explorers.

Then we just keep heading down the seaside promenade for a little walk, crossing back over into the city proper on the MAAT bridge that we managed to find on our last visit. 

Once back in “town,” we decide that none of museums near here interest us much, so we just follow the road that parallels the main motorway of Avenue da India/Avenue Brasilia back toward the main city center.  We need a bathroom break, and head to the little café on the corner before the Carris museum we had checked out on our last visit.  But, it is jam packed with people who are obviously attending some event at the Center of Congresses (either a convention center or political center – were  not sure which, but there are a lot of people milling around). After sitting at a table with no waiter in sight, we end up just moving on after using the facilities. 

The route takes us past the Carris Museum, and on through town, where we find an Art Deco museum which looks really interesting, but only opens for guided tours.  There is an English tour later in the afternoon, but we’re not going to hang around or come back for that, so on the list for next time!  But as we are reconnoitering by the museum, Ed finds the LX Factory, a “hippie” complex (description on the internet, not ours!!!) with crafts and restaurants and artwork, and it is only about a block away.  We’re game.

Turns out to be a series of restaurants with crafts vendors occupying the sides of the streets – not really sidewalks, but just set up around the roadway (which is an active roadway where you really have to watch for the cars while you are perusing the handicrafts).  Totally fun atmosphere, great artwork in the form of murals and repurposed materials and some nice crafts (none that we needed or wanted, but still interesting).  Plus the restaurant selection was great – everything from Asian to American to Mexican to Portuguese – perfect for us. 

After milling around for a bit, perusing all the menus, we settle on Restaurante A Praca, a cool little place with tons of interesting dishes and tapa.  Sitting outside on the patio, listening to music, we dig into some excellent bread and olives – Ed is even enjoying the Spanish and Portuguese olives!  So now we are going to have to see if we can find them at home – which is probably a tall order, but who knows?  Our main meal consists of a goat cheese gratinado (baked goat cheese with honey, balsamic vinegar and walnuts), mixed grilled veggies and an octopus plate for Ed which is absolutely monstrous!  It is all so yummy and filling – and really reasonable when it comes to portions.  The bread and olives are a cover charge, but they also automatically charge for a bottle of water on the table, which we didn’t realize, so that was kind of a bummer, but we just took it with us for the walk – so no harm, no foul. 

Now that we are stuffed to the gills, we decide we might as well walk all the way back to the port.  We’re already maybe 1/3 of the way, so what the heck? A little more walking is not going to hurt us!  And off we go.  It is an easy walk, literally down one road with decent sidewalks, interesting things to see along the way, like the huge cat made of repurposed materials on the side of a building, the burned out façade with all the tagging and the weird looking alien type creatures in a square on the way.  Oh, and of course all the electric scooters, abandoned along the sidewalk, in the middle of the sidewalk, up against walls….it’s like mechanical litter!  Lookout Asheville, this is what will happen when you let these e-bike and e-scooter companies in.

As we approach the main part of the old city, we pass the Timeout Markets, one of the first food stall places we ever visited and distinctly didn’t like as all the vendors there are overpriced and we can find better food on the street in our opinion.  But as we are passing it, on the exterior is a little café that has Ginja (that great cherry liqueur from Obidos) and Belem tarts, and we figure, well, what the heck, we’ll stop. 

What a great little find this is!  Totally unassuming with a lovely woman at the counter, excellent tarts and really reasonable (and good) beer and wine.  We splurge (calorie wise) and order a tart and a shot of Ginja along with our beverages and it is only 6 Euro 50.  Crazy!  But perfect interlude during our 3 mile walk.

Then we are off again, passing Cais do Sodre and on into Praca do Commercial, which is crazy busy on a Sunday afternoon.  We want to make another refreshment stop, but don’t want to fight the crowds here, so we carry on and stop at Koa Bar, one of the restaurants that line the little square across from the Campo das Cebolas park.  We’ve walked past here dozens of times, but never stopped.  And we probably wouldn’t normally, because it is a juice bar or something like it, but they also have beer and wine, so we plop down for a rest before heading back to the port.  

And that was our day in Lisbon.  We are enjoying this city more and more as we spend time here.  We are really glad we will be back again, sooner rather than later.

Back aboard, we do our norm, then watch the sun set as we sail away past the Cristo Rei statue up on the hill…

…and out into the Tagus river on our way to Ponta Delgada…..oops!…. or not!  The captain tells us, as we are leaving, there is a large storm brewing off the coast and in order to be safe we will miss Ponta Delgada and take a more southerly route.  Bummer!  Not only were we looking forward to going there, but that means an extra sea day. Well, we made the right move with the suite – that’s all we can say!

On with our evening, gym, dinner and then the theater for an Illusionist who is very good and keeps us occupied and happy.  Then it is back to the cabin to prepare for, gulp, 9 days at sea (yes, I’m counting Miami as a sea day, because, really, what else is it if we aren’t allowed off the ship?).