Thursday, August 24, 2006
Places I've been (Part 2).....
Belém (district of Lisbon, Portugal)
Torre de Belém (Belém Tower)
Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries)
Pasteis de Nata
Across the street from both of these spectacular monuments are *the* best pastries in the entire world. The pastries of Belém are found in a quaint bakery where you can get these pastries, a beautiful glass of Port wine (see the bottles behind the counter) and/or an expresso (uma bica). The pastries come warm and they powder them generously with cinnamon or powdered sugar. This is one of my most favorite spots in the world...and I have officially made myself incredibly hungry. I would teleport there in an instant *right now* if I could!!!!
The only other thing to mention is that the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (Monastery of Jeronimos) is *right* around the corner. The monks were the original makers of the pastries and their secret has apparently been preserved. I strongly recomment looking into the Monastery, it is incredibly breathtaking. I have offically run out of room for this entry.
Belém (district of Lisbon, Portugal)
Torre de Belém (Belém Tower)
Built in the Age of Discoveries and constructed between 1515-1520.
The tower stood on an island in the middle of the River Tagus until the course of the river was diverted by an earthquake in 1777; the tower had previously survived the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
The tower was a departure point for explorers.
Unfortunately, I've never been in this building and until I started looking for specific information about it for this blog, I didn't even know you could go into it.
Huh.
The tower stood on an island in the middle of the River Tagus until the course of the river was diverted by an earthquake in 1777; the tower had previously survived the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
The tower was a departure point for explorers.
Unfortunately, I've never been in this building and until I started looking for specific information about it for this blog, I didn't even know you could go into it.
Huh.
Padrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries)
The Monument to the Discoveries was inaugurated in 1960 during celebrations of the 500 year anniversary of the death of the Infant D. Henrique (Henry the Navigator). It evoques the maritime expansion and is designed in the shape of a caravel, showing Henry the Navigator at the prow holding a small caravel, as well as many relevant heroes of Portuguese history (Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral - discoverer of Brazil - Fernão Magalhães - who crossed the Pacific in1520 -, the writer Camões (called the Portuguese Shakespeare) and many others).
Pasteis de Nata
Across the street from both of these spectacular monuments are *the* best pastries in the entire world. The pastries of Belém are found in a quaint bakery where you can get these pastries, a beautiful glass of Port wine (see the bottles behind the counter) and/or an expresso (uma bica). The pastries come warm and they powder them generously with cinnamon or powdered sugar. This is one of my most favorite spots in the world...and I have officially made myself incredibly hungry. I would teleport there in an instant *right now* if I could!!!!
The only other thing to mention is that the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (Monastery of Jeronimos) is *right* around the corner. The monks were the original makers of the pastries and their secret has apparently been preserved. I strongly recomment looking into the Monastery, it is incredibly breathtaking. I have offically run out of room for this entry.
