We had a slow start for the second day, but we decided to check out a few of the iconic scenic sites. We felt mostly pretty energetic, but didn’t want to press our luck too much. Initially we spent some time working out the various options for using the metro. We ended up getting a “Lisbon Card” that covered metro usage and some admission fees for tourist sites.
First destination was to head to the Belém Tower, a medieval defensive tower listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It overlooks the harbor and offers stunning views of the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge. The bridge may look quite familiar as it was designed by the architect of the Golden Gate bridge and is pretty-much a direct adaptation to suit the local terrain. Also visible from the area is a view of Sanctuary of Christ the King, a statue inspired by Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue. It was lovely hanging out by the shore and climbing the tower (everything in Lisbon and Porto seems to involve climbing!) The stairs to the top were an amazing tight circular staircase where the footing was quite tricky. Taking it slow is required.
Next, we walked along the river till we got to the Jerónimos Monastery, an example of sixteenth century architecture. It’s very ornate and yet another UNESCO World Heritage site. We spent some time wandering around the interior, taking in all the detail. In many ways the flourishes of the natural world are quite reminiscent of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Also, similar to a lot of buildings throughout Portugal, there were a lot of ornate tiles decorating many areas.
At this point it was around 4pm, so we jumped on a tram to head over to Commerce Square and the Arco da Rua Augusta in the city center. We actually got off a stop early to stop into the TimeOut food court in the big city market. We checked out all the food stalls, which looked really great, and got gianduja ice cream (chocolate & hazelnut) and three fruit flavors of sorbetto (mango, lemon, strawberry).
After that, we wandered along the shore till we finally arrived at Commerce Square. Lots of lovely views were seen. For dinner we stopped at one of the restaurants along the edge of the square and took note of the beer museum across the way. Sadly, we didn’t go, but went to a very cool art exhibition instead. On the way back to our apartment we passed a sardine store (Sardines are a really big thing in Portugal. I’m not sure I’ll adapt 🙂)
Now I need to Google April 25 😉