Lisbon -Day Four

Today I headed off to Belém, a little west of downtown Lisbon. Belém survived the 1755 earthquake virtually intact and thus a visit here is a wonderful opportunity to experience the grandeur of pre-earthquake Lisbon. I had a great ride there trundling along on one of the old trolley trams. Lisbon has a most remarkable traffic system based on cooperation that works brilliantly. Apart from the grand avenues most of the streets are quite narrow and as a result every type of vehicle uses them. Trams, buses , trollies, cars, trucks, bikes, skateboarders, you name it, all race along flatstrap following and missing each other by inches while pedestrians scamper across from one side to the other. It's quite a sight! My first stop was the National Coach Museum, which contains a dazzling collection of carriages from around 1600 until the late 19th century. There was one used by Philip 11, king of Spain and Portugal, to shuttle between Madrid and Lisbon. Another was the ornate and long Ocean Coach, with its gold figures symbolizing the Atlantic and Indian Oceans clasping hands, a reminder of Portugal's mastery of the sea. I then went to the incredible Monastery of Jerónimos, a giant, white limestone combination church and monastery that was erected by King Manuel in the 15th century and stretches 300 yards along the waterfront. One enters the church through a Manueline portal with its elaborate carved stonework and walks between slender, palm like columns up to the massive Renaissance Altar. In a side chapel is the tomb of Portugal's heroic navigator, Vasco da Gama, whose voyages of discovery brought great wealth and power to Portugal. Next to the church was the rwo storey cloister with its lacy arcades and gargoyles. In the west wing of the Monastery there is a Maritime Museum,  which contained a superb collection of models of Caravel vessels. These were the fast, easily manoeuvrable trading vessels with three triangular sails favoured by Portugal. At that time Belém was the port where the seafarers sailed out of Lisbon and the harbour was protected with a striking white Manueline tower, built between 1515 and 1520. This tower was the last sight sailors saw as they left the port and the first on their return loaded with gold and spices. In the evening I went to the Bairro Alto to listen to some Fado at a restaurant there. Fado is folk music unique to Portugal that originated in the mid-1800s and its mournfully beautiful and haunting ballads reflecting the pining for a loved one are a joy to listen to. The singer, usually a woman, is accompanied by a 12 string Portuguese guitarra, a round bodied instrument similar to a mandolin.