Bon Voyage- Last Post from Lisbon

Friday October 20 was warm and a mix of sun and cloud, with only a few drops of rain.  High was 21C.  It was the last full day of our trip.

After breakfast, we stopped at Café A Brasileira for a coffee at the bar. The art deco interior is wonderful.  When it opened in 1905, it only served coffee from Brazil, hence its name.

Last coffee at the bar of Café A Brasileira

Our destination was Belém, the district to the west of central Lisbon, which contains a number of architectural and historic sights.  It is located on the Tagus River and was once a major maritime port.  It was about a 90 minute walk from our apartment.  We walked along the river.  

More street art

Tiled fountains

New art

Inside a University building- beautiful tiles

We walked past the amazing Ponte 25 de Abril bridge.

April 25 bridge- commemorating the date of the 1974 revolution

We finally got to Belém and passed by the official residence of the President of the Republic.

Outside the Presidential residence

More street art on a small street off the main Rua Belém

We stopped for a quick bite and then headed to the famous Pasteis de Belém which has (some say) the best pasteis de nata (egg custard tarts) in Lisbon.  The original recipe is used, purchased by the first owners of the pastry shop in the 1830s from the monks of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery) who first sold the pastries as a way to raise money.  There are a number of indoor dining rooms with beautiful tiles.  We had our treats outside.

Alain and Grace with their pasteis

They were very good-- very creamy inside.  Definitely #1 or #2 on our trip.

Tiles in one of the inside rooms

Wheeling the hot pastries out of the kitchen

The pastry shop is next door to the Jerónimos Monastery.  It is one of a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Belém and a wonderful example of Manueline architecture, a Portuguese style from the 16th century with Gothic tones.  It is also the site where many early Portuguese explorers sought shelter, either before or after a trip.  It is where Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail to India. On the left side in the picture is the Museu Nacional de Arqueológia.

Outside of the Monastery and Archeological Museum

Another view

We then crossed the road to the river.  

View from river back at the Monastery 

There is a large marina with lots of sailboats.

We looked across the river and had a gorgeous view of the large Cristo Re, (Christ the King) statue that sands on the southern bank of the Tagus River.  From the high pedestal, the statue of Christ has his arms out-stretched as if in a motion of blessing Lisbon.  It was built in 1959, according to my guide book "to give thanks to God for having spared Portugal during WWII".  It was inspired by the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

View from Belém across the river

Cristo Rei

One of the major landmarks by the river is the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) built in 1960 during the Salazar dictatorship.  It marked the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator.   It pays tribute to 33 prominent figures in Portugal's age of discoveries, including Henry the Navigator, Manuel I, the king who reigned from 1495-1521 (the Portuguese architectural sytle Manueline is named after him) and the poet Luis Vaz de Camoes.  It is imposing and clearly the intent is nationalist.   It represents the prow of a ship and the three curving forms symbolizes billowing sits.

Padrao dos Descobrimentos

Grace and I in front of the statue

View from the other side

We walked further to see the Centro Cultural de Belém, known as he CCB.  It was build in 1992 and is one of the largest cultural centres in Europe.  It houses the Museu Colecao Berardo.  There are number of small shops in the Cultural Centre with beautiful jewelry and Portuguese goods.

One view of the outside of the CCB

Outside of the Museum section

There was a beautiful Henry Moore sculpture in one of the terraces just outside the Museum.

Henry Moore (1898-1986) Reclining Figure: Arched Leg, 4/6, 1969-70

From the terrace, we saw a huge cat graffiti.

We decided to take the tram back to downtown Lisbon.  A bit hair-raising as we couldn't figure out the ticketing machine, which swallowed a few of our eruos.  We gave up and luckily were not asked for any tickets. We walked up to the apartment, passing a lovely store, Icon, where Grace bought a beautiful pair of earrings from a Portuguese jeweller.  I had bought an interesting ring there earlier in the week.

Grace with her new earrings 

We had a short rest before heading to dinner at Páteo, one of the four restaurants at Barirro do Avillez, just a five minute walk from our apartment.  It is owned by celebrity chef José Avillez.  There is Taberna, serving amazing meats; Beco (internationally-inspired menu); Cantina Peruana, a Peruvian restaurant, and Páteo, the mainly fish restaurant where we had dinner.  We walked through Taberna to get to Páteo.

Taberna

Wall at Taberna

We could only get a reservation for 7:00 p.m. when the restaurant opens.  That was fine with us, as we still had to pack and get to bed early.  By the time we left at 9:00 p.m., the restaurant was hopping.

Páteo- lovely airy setting

The dinner was excellent, though prices are higher than elsewhere.  Traditional fish dishes with a modern spin.  I had the traditional dish Bacalhau a Brás (salt cod with eggs and potatoes).  It was delicious- served with "exploding olives" that seemed to melt when one touched them.

Bacalhau a Brás

Alain had roasted cod with a delicious crust and potatoes

Grace had the grilled squid in a beautiful inky sauce

Grace and Alain shared an interesting hazelnut dessert and I had a bowl of fresh fruit with mint.
It was a memorable last dinner in Lisbon.

Cheers!  Last dinner in Lisbon

We headed back to the apartment to pack. On Saturday October 21, we were ready at 5:00 a.m. for the driver our host had organized to pick us up.  He did not show up.  Alain called and woke him up, but he was not coming.  Alain ran to the next street (ours was quiet and there were no cars at that hour) and hailed a cab.  We got to the airport in plenty of time for our 7:15 a.m. Lufthansa flight.  Our route took us west to Frankfurt ( a 2 1/2 hour flight), where we had a two hour lay-over, and finally an eight hour flight back to Toronto.   I managed to see three films on the trip.  The best was Night Train to Lisbon, a 2013 film, shot mainly in Lisbon that had many flashbacks to life under Salazar.  Very fitting film to end our trip.

We arrived in Toronto a few minutes early at about 4:15 p.m.

It was a great trip.  Paris was wonderful-still Alain's favourite city, and one of mine.  Porto is definitely worth visiting.  Lisbon had really changed since our last visit about eight years ago.  The tourists can be a bit overwhelming, but the history and food are well worth exploring.