Belém

Just a short drive out of the center of Lisbon and we found ourselves in Belém (still inside Lisbon). We had heard from our friend Dennis Bray and others that we were not to leave Lisbon until we had seen and tasted what the Belém harbor had to offer.
After driving by, making an illegal u-turn, and getting yelled at by two Portuguese men from their cars on each side of me, we finally made it to our first stop - The Monument of Discoveries.

Erected in 1960, the Monument of Discoveries honors Henry the Navigator,
Vasco da Gama, and the like.

This is where we are.

This is where you most likely are.

Then we moved further down the road to the Torre de Belém, built in 1514 to defend the harbor. Once again we did not want to pay the money to look inside. But the outside was beautiful.

Lastly we went to the famous Pasteis de Belém for lunch and pasteis de nata. We have heard tales of older women downing plate-fulls of this famous Portuguese pastry in one sitting. We were a little nervous so we only ordered four. Gui and Leah told us that they had knocked back six like it was nothing. Sarah didn't really like them so I had to man up and eat her second one. I was really glad she didn't like them.

As I drove South over the bridge, Sarah snapped a few photos of the Cristo-Rei. We waved good-bye to Lisbon and Jesus and headed towards the Southern Coast.