Lisbon Day 2: Belem Tower, Monument of Discoveries, and Jeronimo’s Monastery

We feel justified having ice cream everyday if we walk as much as we did yesterday. Although our original plan was to walk to Belem Tower, Monument to the Discoveries, and Jeronimo’s Monastery, we discovered the beauty of our Eurail pass. Yes, it sadly took us until yesterday to take realize that we could just walk to any train station and be on our way to the next site. Nonetheless, we spent about 9 hours walking through the streets of Lisbon and Belem. Our morning started as always with Nutella and fresh rolls and as we meandered down the road towards the train station, we stopped for a quick cappuccino and admired the artwork down Rua Augusta—the bustling main street, which snakes its way through downtown Lisbon, called Baixa (BYE-juh). The streets in Lisbon are spectacular. Instead of concrete slabs that buckle under chronic pressure of growing tree roots, Lisbon’s sidewalks are lined with millions of 2 x 2 inch black and white tiles—the newest of which are 250 years old. In 1755, an earthquake destroyed the majority of Lisbon, save the old quarter, called Alfama. The city was rebuilt with parallel, flat roads, which are completely unlike the windy, steep paths in Alfama. (More about Alfama to come!) Even the crosswalk lines are “painted” in white tiles to contrast the black tiles on the sidewalks. Fancy hotels spell out their name with tiles written in cursive on the sidewalk and squiggly designs line the ground of the City Center.

Once we hopped on the train towards Belem, we thumbed through our map as a triad of high school-aged guys played accordion and harmonica for the train-goers and passed around their tambourine for tips as the train approached its first stop. We soon realized that the train had passed our stop, so after backtracking for a mile or so, we came upon our first stop of the day—Belem Tower. As we rounded the corner of the road, to approach the Tower, we saw a huge triangle-pyramid sort of structure, sitting in a pool of crystal water, surrounded by two guards. This peculiar, yet beautiful structure happened to be “aos Combatentes do Ultramar”, which I think represents the triangle of fortress’s established to protect Lisbon.

We walked down the short path towards the water, where Belem Tower stood majestically against the bright, cloudy sky. Even though we missed exploring the inside of the Tower due to long lines and limited patience, Brent and I had fun taking all sorts of pictures from the perimeter of this magnificent structure. Belem Tower was built as a means of defense for the city of Lisbon in the early 16^th century.

Our second stop of the day was the Monument to the Discoveries, which happened to be conveniently within walking distance of the previous site. On either side of a massive white edifice that jutted out into the waters stood about a dozen carved statues that peered out into the water to greet arriving sailors and bid good riddance to departing boats. The Monument celebrates the travels of sailors during the 15^th and 16^th centuries during the Age of Discovery when sailors led the coast often in search of unknown destinations.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed across the street and over a bridge to Jeronimo’s Monastery. Both of us were blown away from the outside and when we decided to risk the shock of entrance fee prices, we were happy to discover that our investment in an International Student ID Card paid off as we walked in for free. Once inside the building, every turn of the corner lead us to an even more thrilling piece of architecture to admire. “Just one more picture” went on for a couple hours as we tried to take in every nook and cranny and leave time in the day for other sites. The design work and marble staircases kept us searching for new angles to capture “an even better picture” for the majority of the afternoon.

My favorite part of the Monastery was discovering the upper balcony, where the choir sat during mass. The wooden, adjoined row of majestic chairs made for an excellent picture with the sun shining through a small stained glass window at the peak of the church walls.

Happy that we had finally had time to discover some of the most famous sites in Portugal, Brent and I headed back towards the train station with a few hundred pictures and farmer tans. But we couldn’t leave Belem without trying the famous Pasteis de Belem!...