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Sunday, 2 April. It was not a good morning. First, the train had no running water when we got
up. Then we were given a horrible breakfast to eat in our couchettes. All of us were glad when
the train finally got to Lisbon at 09:40.
The group was bused to the Hotel Eduardo VII, where we retrieved our luggage and finally had a chance to clean up. We also changed some money at the hotel ($1.00 = 26 escudos). We were able to attend Mass before the 11:45 bus tour of the city began. The tour started with a ride through the modern city. We then went to the very pink Presidential Palace, arriving just in time to miss the changing of the guard. We rode through the Praca do Commercio (a beautiful square), down the Avenida da Liberdade, and visited the "new" Cathedral (1640).
The bus then took us to the Belem District of Lisbon where we visited the St. Jerome (Jeronimos) Monastery and cloister (1550). It was absolutely fantastic, with the most lavish style (manueline) of decoration we had ever seen.
Next we went to the Belem Tower, built about the same time and in the same style as the Monastery. to commemorate the voyages of Vasco de Gama to India. Nearby we visited the Monument of the Discoveries, built in 1960 for the 500th anniversary celebration of the birth of Prince Henry the Navigator.
We drove by the aqueduct and stopped at the old Se Cathedral (built 1147 on the site of a much older mosque) with its beautiful cloister.
Afterward we had some free time to walk in the adjacent Alfama district. It was
fascinating, but we didn't have anywhere near enough time. [Alfama
pictures are on the next page.] Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
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