Travels in the 2nd half

Today I went to Belém, a neighborhood along the Tagus River. Belém has many reasons to visit, both old and new. Belém is the area from which many exploratory ships left Lisbon. It sits near the mouth of Tagus River. For that reason King Manuel I built the Mostiero dos Jerónimos (Hieronymous Monastery) in 1501. The Monastery is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was meant to impress all those who were arriving in Lisbon by boat. The church at the monastery contains the tomb of Vasco de Gama along with some beautiful stained glass.  In addition to wanting to impress visitors, King Manuel I also understood the need to impress vistors and sailors so he built towers on both side of the river welcome sailors back with goods from colonies and trade around the world. The Torre de Belém has survived. It sits over-looking the river.  Belem Tower April 25th Bridge from Belem Tower Up close at the tower The area also includes many museums (s...

What do you do when you land in a city where you have never been and don’t know anyone and it is 6 in the morning? Well for me that is a signal to slow down, because you are not going to be able to rush through anything. My flight left Newark Airport 1 hour late after de-icing (don’t ask about the weather in NYC this winter).   I will say this for TAP Portugal Airlines. They moved that plane across the ocean. They had a nice selection of movies, and their Airbus 330 had this cool camera in the nose so you could watch the takeoff and landing from that point of view.   I really like the Airbus wide bodies. They are much more comfortable than the Boeings. My flight landed at 6 AM and even taking my time I was still through passport control and customs before 7. You have to love the EU – 2 lines at customs – “something to declare” and “nothing to declare.”   The later just takes you right out to waiting crowds looking for their family. So I got some Euros and sat...