A break in the weather gave us a very nice day trip to Belém, a district about 5 km (3 miles) west of central Lisbon, whose grand buildings did a better job of surviving the great 1755 earthquake. This is also where the current president of Portugal lives. Belém is the home of several sights including a cathedral, a monastery, a couple of museums, a monument commemorating the age of discovery, a river island tower and, perhaps most importantly, the pastry shop where the pastel de Belém are sold. These scrumptious little custard tarts, the recipe for which is a closely guarded secret, has had customers perpetually lining up out the door of the cafe since 1837. For us they made a fantastic dessert to follow a rather bland fish lunch at a nearby restaurant. Still warm from the oven, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar... We each ate four. My friend Ray had these treats some years ago during a visit to Lisbon when he became dreadfully sick for two days. Pastel de Belém were the only thing he could keep down. He says they saved his life.
The National Coach Museum – formed in 1905 from the queen's collection of royal horse-drawn carriages.
Monastery of Jerónimos, dating to around 1500.
A very strange tree.
The Monastery Cloisters
More Monastery Cloisters
Still More Monastery Cloisters
Monument to the Discoveries, commemorating Portugal's maritime explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries. Mastermind Prince Henry the Navigator stands at the front.
The pavement in front of the monument is inlaid with a marble map showing the progressive achievements of the Portuguese explorers.
Belém Tower – built in 1520 to protect Lisbon's harbor. It used to sit mid-river but now the river bank has crept quite close.
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