Today started with a tour of Jeronimos Monastery & Belem Walking Tour with River Cruise. To get to the meeting point I needed to take a tram and a bus. I was there with plenty of time to spare as our guide was late. I did find people in our group who were from the US and one was from WI and his daughter is starting at UW Madison in the fall. Always seem to find someone from WI on my travels. đ
First we walked to the famous pastry shop by Jeronimos Monistery, Pastéis de Belém to get the original Pastéis. When the monastery was closed in 1833, the monks began making and selling their pastries at the general store next to the monastery. This store eventually became the bakery and the recipe is patented so no one else can exactly replicate it. The cream is much richer as is the pastry itself than the ones that are served for breakfast at the hotel.
We then queued up to into the Monastery. Our guide filled us with historical information about the monastery as we walked around. The monastery began being built in 1501 and wasnât finished for 100 years. The monks role was to pray for the King’s eternal soul and to provide spiritual assistance to navigators and sailors who departed from the port of Restelo to discover lands around the world. They did this until 1833 when religious orders were dissolved and the monastery was abandoned.
After leaving the monastery, we walked over to the Monument of Discoveries. Built between November 1958 and January 1960 and located along the Tagus river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or “Age of Exploration”) during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Our next stop was Belém Tower which is a 16th-century fortification that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. Normally we would have gone inside the tower, but there was scaffolding all around it so we were not allowed in.
After Belém Tower, our guide took us to the boat where we traveled back to Lisbon city on the Tagus River.
I stopped back at the hotel before heading out to OceanĂĄrio de Lisboa, which is one of the largest aquariums in Europe. It is a little out of the city so I had to take a 30 minute bus ride, but the aquarium was the highlight of the day! There is a huge central exhibit and then smaller exhibits along the sides. There were sea otters which are much bigger than our river otters and also penguins. They werenât very stinky which was surprising. The main exhibit was amazing. There were two levels so you could see the inhabitants from many views.
There were also smaller side windows where you could get different views of different fish. Before heading down to the first floor (you start on the 2nd floor), there was an amazing light show that took over the entire room!
On the first floor I sat on the floor in front of the main exhibit taking in the sharks, rays and many variations of fish that swam by.
After leaving the aquarium, I headed back to the city center on the bus to look for a good place to eat. I have seen a lot of solo travelers eating at various restaurants, so this trip I havenât minded eating by myself.
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