Vita Sotto il Sole: Bairro Alto, Chiado, and Belem

Yesterday, despite the weird stuff I saw, was pretty awesome. I spent most of the day on one of the hill neighborhoods of Bairro Alto & Chiado. This area is known for its Fado bars and Bohemian vibe. Its also got one of my new favorite places, ever. . . the Port Wine Institute. Its got about 300 different types of port for you to try. I only got through 150 of them. I really didn’t know if I was a fan of port, UNTIL NOW!!! Loved the stuff I tried. I also kept running into the same couple, first at the Port Wine Institute, then the convent ruins, and finally at this funky old café. They were using the Rick Steves book, too. Knowing they were probably Americans, I asked them where they were from. No doubt, Sarah was from D.C. and Mike was from Arlington. We had some drinks, shared info on the places we’d been, and went on our separate ways. Sarah left for home today; I may run into Mike next week on the Algarve. I had dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Fado, Portugal’s version of the blues. I didn’t understand a damn thing they sang about (most of it’s about loss at sea and shit like that), but the music was beautiful!

Elevador da Gloria. . . thank god for these funiculars!!!!

view towards the river

view over Lisbon

Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara, Bairro Alto

Port Wine Institute

Port, Port, Port!!!!

Largo do Carmo, outside the convent ruins

Convento do Carmo, ruined in the earthquake and never rebuilt. Its gorgeous!

Lisbon's cathedral. . .pretty much the only church that didn't crumble during the earthquake/tsunami/fire

Canto de Camoes restaurante for Fado, where I ate a traditional dish of pork chunks & clams. Odd, but pretty good!

Today I went to Belem, a suburb about 3 miles down the river from Lisbon. It’s the place that the royalty fled to after the earthquake/tsunami/fire of 1755. Word on the street has it, the first earthquake conscious building took place here; the royalty built wooden palaces instead of stone. It's really cute and has an AMAZING monastery, tower, and pastry shop. The only downside. . . it rained like crazy later in the afternoon. Not good when you don’t have an umbrella and are wearing a white shirt. I got my lunch for free ;-) Oh, and I saw a Starbucks. I realize that I’m not in Italy or France, but seriously?????

very cool south entrance to the monastery

inside the Monastery with the tomb of Vasco de Gama

black and white photo of the monastery

"faces of the new world" conquered by the Portuguese; these were carved around a confessional door.

awesome cloisters

Monkey gargoyle

Monk gargoyle

Kitty cat gargoyle

self portrait of me meditating in the cloisters. . . ha!

Cloisters

Monastary of Jeronimos

Monastery of Jeronimos

South Africa gave the Portuguese a giant marble map in the sidewalk to commemorate their taking over of the world. This is a sea monster the Portuguese explorers believed lived around the Cape of Good Hope.

part of the marble map honoring the winds the Portuguese DIDN'T think existed around the coast of Western Africa. They also thought the sun would burn the ships up. Ok. . .

another part of the map showing a Portuguese ship sailing towards more foreign lands they intend to colonize

25th of April Bridge and Lisbon's Christ Rei. The locals are more likely to call it Jesus about to jump in the river. Nice!

The Monument to the Discoveries. . . the Portuguese are not letting go of their Age of Exploration easily. Shame they couldn't hold onto those colonies and fortune.

Prince Henry the Navigator and some ass-kisser hanger on. . .oh sorry, I got him confused with all the Michael Jackson coverage on BBC World.

King Manuel I with his ever famous armillary

Tower of Belem. . . used to be in the middle of the river. It was the last thing sailors saw before an expedition and the first thing they saw if they made it back. . . awesome!