Belem is a western neighborhood in Lisbon, but it has so much going on that we decided to give it its own day. We started at ’Quake’, an immersive museum experience about the earthquake of 1755. Mixing traditional museum displays, alot of CGI, and a bit of a carnival ride, you sit in ’church’ (the earthquake happened on All Saints Day, and the Portuguese being Catholic were all at church) and the earthquake is simulated. They did a great job of teaching about the historical facts, as well as teaching modern day preparations, as Portugal is a seismically active region, and earthquakes are still quite common.
After Quake, we had lunch of duck rice (delicious) at a little, upscale restaurant, then we walked the main boulevard down to the Geronimo Monastery, where explorer Vasco de Gama is buried. The interior is supposed to be amazing, but the line was much too long to wait. We moved down to the river to see the Monument of the Discoverers. For such a small country, Portugal produced quite a number of maritime explorers that have made history.
As usual, we were running out of time and there were still so many things to see. We also needed to get a few practical errands done, such as visit a chandlery. Luckily, our walks were taking us directly past marinas, and we found a chandlery without going to far. Trip picked up everything he needed, and then it was back to Cascais for a cocktail (or two) with John, the local OCC port officer.
Recent Comments