Belem - Lisbon Day 3

I eluded to these little treasures in my last post...we heard from some reliable sources that we had to get a Pastel de Nata from Pasteis de Belem (a cafe in the middle of Belem, a neighboring area just outside of downtown Lisbon). We knew we were at the right place when we saw the line of people at the counter. Luckily, we had an inside tip -- you can bypass the line if you want to sit down inside the cafe. You just walk in an grab a spot in one of the big rooms in back! Greatest piece of advice all trip!

The cafe was charming. Big open rooms with a lot of light and happy people. Sweets and a nice latte can make even the weary traveler a happy camper.

We peered into the kitchen where thousands of pasteis are made everyday. It's quite the production feeding the endless stream of hungry customers.

I had no idea at this point what I was in for - had I know, my smile would have been twice as big ;)

They have perfected the art of making these custard pastries at Pasteis de Belem - the flaky crust is crispy but not dry and the custard is rich but not sugary or gooey. They are simply perfect.

Which is why we went back for more and even ordered a box of takeout for dessert later that night haha

When not stuffing our faces with custards and lattes, we hit a few of the popular sightseeing spots in Belem. Below is the absolutely studding Jeronimos Monetary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The monastery was built in the 16th century. King Manuel I selected monks to live in and run the compound. The monks' role was also to pray for the King's eternal soul - an insurance policy I guess.

Inside the cathedral is tomb of Vasco de Gama, a famous Portuguese explorer.

The interior of the main chapel was incredible, carved to look like the ceiling was held up by trees.

Our next mission was to find the Tower of Belem. This structure looked large so we headed towards it thinking it was the Tower.....

This giant slab of concrete, however, is the Monument to the Discoveries and was constructed only in 1960 to commemorate 500th anniversary of the deal of Henry the Navigator.

Hiding in the shade of yet another statue...

We felt right at home when we looked across the river and saw this familiar looking bridge ;)

We then finally found the "tower" though we think it is a bit of a stretch to call it a tower. After an initial moment of disappointment because of its small stature we decided that we were in fact very excited about our find.....clearly Conley was excited by it......

We tried more time than I care to admit to get a picture of us with the Tower in the background - this is the best you'll get. By the way, this picture really highlights how pale my skin is -- I seriously looked albino compared to the Portuguese. I'm pretty sure some people were worried about my pallor hahahaha

Back in Lisbon we wrapped up the evening with dinner al fresco and a fado performance. Fado is a sad, melodic music style from the 1820's. I have a video I will try to get up soon.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to pack and get ready for the beach leg of our journey. We were so excited to just relax ocean-side, and we weren't disappointed!