Lisbon

Arriving to Lisbon was fun and ever so easy. We jumped on the Aerobus and headed to Rossio. We hopped off the bus and wondered for a moment where our hotel was, only to look right in front of us and there it was – 3 metres from the bus stop! Our hotel room overlooked Rossio, which I later found out ONLY referred to the square we were staying at rather than the whole area, which is what I had thought it was called!

This is the view of Rossio from our hotel room. Rossio is the nickname for Praça de Dom Pedro IV. The statue to the left of the image is of Dom Pedro. He was a king of Portugal.

We also had a fabulous view of Castelo de São Jorge.

The local tram.

Dom Pedro.

Fountain in front of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II.

Rua Augusta. Cobbled streets are pretty, but not so pretty to walk on! This street has a Zara store on almost every corner.

Rossio by night.

Elevador de Santa Justa is an Eiffel Tower lookalike in Baixa/Chiado. It was built at the turn of the century by the Portugal-born French architect Raoul de Mesnier du Ponsard (an apprentice of Gustave Eiffel). It’s on the to do list for next visit.

You’ll never go without food in Portugal. They love to eat, drink and be merry – especially coffee and cakes! Yum.

We caught the rickety old tram up the steep hills to Castelo de São Jorge. The trams are only small but they cram as many people on them as possible!

View of the San Francisco bridge in Lisbon from Castelo de São Jorge.

Castelo de São Jorge.

The Triumphal Arch on Rua Augusta looking out to Praça do Comércio.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Belém.

Inside the main chapel.

Belém is considered to be Lisbon’s most historical area. It was from here that many of the great Portuguese explorers embarked on their voyages of discovery including the first voyages of Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama to discover the sea route to India, and Christopher Columbus stopped here on his way back to Europe after discovering the New World. It is also where the first Portuguese Tart was served!

The monument to the Discoveries.

Torre de Belém.

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