We left the this morning around 10 am and caught a tram right less than a hundred yards from the ship that took us to the main square downtown. There we bought two day "hop-on, hop-off" passes for a bus service that has two major lines around Lisbon.
Our next hop off was in the Belem region of the city west of downtown. There we strolled along the river and visited prominent nearby sites. The first was the Discovers monument, which honors Henry the Navigator and all the others who lead the age of European "discovery."
We also saw the Belem Tower, which was an important part of the defense system of the ancient port here.
We strolled past the Geronimos Monastery which features this gorgeous door.
We enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk café in Belem. There we began to realize how much Lisbon felt like Buenos Aires to us. Of course, the broad avenues, which are such a contrast with the narrow streets of London, Heidelberg, Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges, had already set us up for that feeling. It was the café that brought it home. Lunch took nearly two hours! We realized we were no longer on northern European time, but the slower paces of the Iberian Peninsula and southern Europe. More than anything else it was the people we observed: loud, passionate, animated, demonstrative. They reminded us so much of the portenos of Buenos Aires. Barry's grilled meats were also reminiscent of Argentine cuisine.
After lunch we hopped back on the bus which dropped us off near the ship. We took a walk on the hillside just above our dock and saw some narrow allies with some lovely blossoms and tiles, for which Portugal is famous.
We had dinner on the ship and the evening was absolutely gorgeous as the sun set over the harbor.
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