Beautiful day at Belem – A Portugal Adventure
10:50 AM
Summer is probably just around the corner, I can feel it. I honestly can, except I’m still wearing a wool jacket and a scarf to work every morning. Not sure how mother nature is working out, but I did experience a glimpse of summer back in my trip, not too long ago, in Lisbon. Today, let me share with you my fantastic adventure in Belem, a beautiful part of Lisbon, Portugal.
Kicking off with the best pastries in town for breakfast was the best idea ever. Heading to Pasteis de Belem (http://pasteisdebelem.pt/) first thing in the morning for some delicious pastel de nata. It’s made fresh every day where people line up for take out as early as 9AM in the morning. Plus there’s 400 seats in this pastry store. Believe me when I say it’s THE BEST. This was definitely the best pastel de nata I had in the entire Portugal. Nothing compared to this from any other place.
After a delicious breakfast, I made my way over to Mosteiro Dos Jeronimos, which is only about a 5 minute walk away from Pasteis de Belem. You can actually see it as you enter the pastry store, because it’s literally right beside it. A very convenient location indeed for tourist.
Here, you will find three tourist attraction: (1) the church, (2) the mosterio, and (3) the national museum of archaeology. And yes, I went to all three of them, so here I will tell you what I like the most and probably won’t go to if I knew better.
1. The Church of Jeronimos
The church was located on the very right side of the building, and it does look quite stunning on the outside (not as stunning as the Sagrada de Familia in Barcelona though).
The interior of the church is similar to other gothic style churches, but it is a lot brighter than most. Not to mention there’s no gory looking things found in this catholic church, so I actually enjoyed walking around and just seeing all the different unique things found in this church, including the elephants sculptures at the front of the church. Do you see them?
While it is often for your focus to be at the front of the church. Don’t forget to look behind you as well! At the back of the church, you will see the choir room (that being the balcony).
And of course, you have to appreciate the arches of this church, it’s quite stunning, and it is definitely different from other churches I’ve visited in Lisbon.
2. The Mosterio dos Jeronimos
This is the place where I spent most of my morning in this beautiful court yard on a sunny day.
There were two floors, and you can go up to the second one and people watch, if that’s your hobby. I just enjoyed the cool breeze and the quietness of the second floor. It has comparatively less people than the ground level.
And you get to take amazing pictures without people’s heads photo bombing!
And these arches, look really cool.
3. The National Museum of Archaeology
I am not much of a museum person, and I guess archaeology doesn’t really impress me here in Portugal as opposed to other museums in Europe. I’ve only got a one picture at this place, and actually made my way through the museum quite quickly.
The outside view was much better, to be brutally honest.
4. Padra dos Descobrimentos
Next stop was at this giant momument, Padra dos Descobrimentos, which is right beside the Tagus River. It was a little windy, but it had a great view of the river and Ponte 25 de Abril.
And if you are interested in some memorable touristy thing with your love one, there’s the following too!
Then I made my way to the Darwin’s Cafe by walking along the Tagus River. Where I saw these cool stuff. First I saw this cool architecture. Turns out this was a hotel in the Belem area! Super classy.
5. Aos Combatentes do Ultramar
Next, I saw this beside the Belem Tower, Aos Combatentes do Ultramar. And I even saw the guards marching!
6. Darwin's Cafe
Finally I made it to Darwin’s Cafe! And the building was amazing! Exterior was super modern…
… the interior was even better, with a contemporary touch of white, black and red…
… there were also quotes by Darwin all on the walls of the restaurant.
And the food, was amazing! I had an grilled octopus dish with mash sweet potatoes! And it was fantastic!
To wrap it all up, the bill came in a book! Pretty cool, right?
7. Belem Tower
Finally made it to the main tourist attraction of Belem, Torre de Belem, also known as the Belem Tower. It was stunning, and I even got to go check out this tower!
This was the open area of the tower, where I waited to go to the top to see the view around…
And the view was not a disappointment.The Tagus River actually flows toward the Atlantic Ocean, and while it was windy, it was also spectacular!
Heading back to downtown Lisbon now, but I did go back to Pasteis de Belem for some yummy snacks and take out!
8. Elevado san Justina
Elevado san Justina is in the heart of downtown Lisbon. According to my research, this was the most famous construction/tower in Europe before the Eiffel Tower. This structure / building / elevator is found in between the narrow streets of Lisbon which is quite unique to me, unlike anything I’ve seen before.
Heading up to the top of the elevator now. This elevator is controlled by a elevator man who opens the gates and press some buttons for it to go up and down. A traditional elevator, if you’d ask me. Nothing similar of those found in the 21st century!
As I got off the elevator, I saw this church or what was remaining of the building. It doesn’t seem like it is being used anymore, and it looked really different on the exterior compared to some other churches in Lisbon I’ve seen so far.
Climbing some more stairs, I was able to see the Castle de Sao Jorge from afar!
Turning at a 90 degree angle, you will see the Rossio Square!
Then if you turn around, you will see rows and rows of orange rooftops, where it stretches out all the way to Arco da Rua Augusta and to the Tagus River.
And while I was at the highest point of downtown Lisbon, here’s a mandatory panorama photo!
To end the night, I had a delicious meal at Restaurante Sacramento before experiencing the night life in Lisbon! Here’s the night view of Rossio Square! And the rest, was all a blur.
Stay tuned for my last day of Lisbon and the foods I’ve tried out here, before I travel on to Oporto!
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