17 Aug - Lisbon

Our day started with a quick bus ride to Belem to have breakfast at Palais de Belem, which is famous for its small custard pastries.  When we went past yesterday in the bus, there was a queue of 50+ people outside on the street waiting their turn to be served.  When we arrived this morning around 8:30, there was no one there and we were able to get a seat immediately.

Breakfast started out with delicious ham and cheese toasted sandwiches, made with their own homemade bread, which was washed down with orange juice and coffee. And then it was time for the little custard pastries of deliciousness!!!  It's hard to describe them.  The pastry they use is really light and flakey, a little like puff pastry I guess, and the custard that fills the little pastry cup is nothing like we've ever had.

We learn that that these like parcels of deliciousness are commonly referred to as pasteis de nata, but this is in fact not correct and the correct name is pasteis de belem.  Pasteis de nata was a copy from the original pasteis de Belem, of which the recipe has been kept secret!  So they may taste similar, but they aren't the same

Our waitress advised us to get two each, which turned out to be excellent advice. With the the first one, she said to eat it just as it was served - delicious!!  And the second she said, sprinkle it with cinnamon and icing sugar.  Wow, what a difference. It was just way too delicious to describe!!!  Needless to say, even after the huge toastie, we still managed to polish off our two pasteis de Belem each.  What a great way to start the day!

We then headed down to the waterfront to walk off some of the calories we had just consumed.  Belem is home to some impressive monuments and architecture.  It would be very easy to spend a day or two exploring just this small area of Lisbon, let alone the rest of the city.

Built in 1960, the impressive Monument to the Discoveries is a short five minute walk.  At the head of the monument is Prince Henry the navigator.  He wasn't actually an explorer himself, but he did promote and fund exploration around the globe.   A further five minutes along the waterfront and we were alongside the very impressive Tower of Belem, built  between 1515 - 1521 and designed to protect the city.  Originally there was another Tower on the opposite side of the river, but this was not maintained and sadly did not survive.  

Since we were only going to be here for such a short time we decided that to make the best use of our time, we would hop on one of the sight seeing tour buses.  This is such a great way to see as much of a city as possible if you're limited for time.  We jumped on one at the Tower of Belem and then went on a tour that lasted around 90 minutes taking in some amazing sites.  We followed that up later in the afternoon with a second bus tour, also around 90 minutes, which took in the western part of the city.  Both bus trips were brilliant and with the audio guide, there's so much to take in!

In between the bus trips, we spent a good 2-3 hours wandering around the central city streets.  Lisbon is a very hilly city - and quite exhausting the midsummer heat!  

I wouldn't say I've fallen in live with the city, but we are definitely VERY good  friends.  Given a bit more time together, we could have gone places!! 

It's stunning!  Seriously damaged when it was hit by a massive earthquake in 1755, which was also followed up by a Tidal wave and then fire, it has rebuilt itself superbly.  The architecture is just beautiful and the narrow cobbled streets are a delight to walk through.  Some of the streets are so narrow, pedestrians need to walk single file to avoid being hit by the oncoming traffic.  

The majority of the inner city pavements (and beyond) have been tiled and are absolutely beautiful in their deign.  There are artistic designs built into the tiles, some purely decorative and others perhaps reflecting something of significance, like a date a building was constructed.  The down side of the tiles is that they're bloody slippery, even when dry.  I can't imagine how awful it would be to walk on them if they were wet!

After our two bus trips, broken up by our walk in between, we walked down to Praca do Comercio, the main and stunning square of Lisbon located on the waterfront at the bottom of main streets, for some dinner.  Praca do Comercio is home to one of Lisbons finest sculptures, the equestrian statue of Dom Jose and a wonderful place to eat dinner and do a spot of people watching - one of our favourite pastimes.

Dinner consisted of tapas and a couple of wines & beers respectively and was a perfect end to an awesome day.  I really do like Lisbon a lot!!!  Sadly I we don't have unlimited time, so it was back to the campground for the night and get ready to head north tomorrow.