Lisbon

Yesterday we travelled from Fatima to Lisbon. On the way we stopped at Santarem to visit 'The Church of the Holy Miracle' to see the 13th century Venerated Relic of the Bleeding Host! Enough said about that!!!!!
Next we stopped at the sea resort of Cascais. The sun was hot and shining and I sat by the ocean and had a delicious mozzarella salad with a cool and refreshing Sangria! I am really liking a 'glass of something' with my lunch! After lunch it was time for a quick gelato before heading into the capital city of Lisbon. In Lisbon we saw The Belem Tower and Jeronimos Monastery. The Monastery was amazing!!!! Back in the day....I would have picked becoming a monk! It is unbelievable but lucky that this place survived the 1755 earthquake, mainly due to the design of the building and also because being so close to the water the soil is sandy. While we were here we also saw the tomb of Vasco Da Gama the great Portuguese explorer.

Today we headed back into Lisbon for a closer look at the city. We went to the Alfama, El Chiado and La Baixa districts. We saw medieval alleys and outstanding views. We stopped at the Basilica of St Anthony of Padua who was born in Lisbon and we also went to Lisbon's cathedral which was built in the 12th century. We spent the rest of the day in Baixa (downtown). We stopped at a restaurant and had a long relaxing lunch (and drink), we wandered the shops, took photos, ate gelato, wandered the shops, took more photos, stopped for a coffee and of course....a portuguese tart!!!! Well I am in Portugal afterall!!! The university students here wear black outfits and black capes. We were told it was like a uniform, that today is optional, but many choose to wear it. They once wore it to show that there was no division between rich or poor, that anyone could attend university no matter their social status or financial background. We also noticed that many had a brooch that looked like a spoon. I'm not sure of the spoons significance...I'm going to have to google that! This afternoon we noticed groups of them in the streets and they would break into song. We didn't know the significance of why they were doing it, but soon worked out that they wanted money. Next thing you know, a group of students were kneeling in front of us singing, we were laughing so much and we just ran to get away from them, but they followed us. The police nearby just laughed at us...it was a funny moment in our day! We have had an awesome day! Tomorrow we head back into Spain to Cordoba. I am really having a fabulous time and enjoying the company of great people!