Lovely Lisboa on a Leisurely Sunday

Today we took a long walk along the Tagus River. Yesterday, along with the thousands of girls waiting for a concert, there were thousands of people walking around with flags of all nations like superhero capes. My optimism had me believing Lisbon was a peace loving capital city accepting all nations with open arms, encouraging everyone to proudly where their country’s flag. Maybe that is true, but, all those people were here for Eurovision. This is a singing competition that can be compared to the World Cup where the fans are involved. It is hosted by the prior year’s winner’s country’s capital city each year. The fínale was last night and Israel’s singer Netta was the winner. This morning, although we saw no more superhero-flag capes, we passed the Eurovision village by the river and many people wearing Eurovision t-shirts.We walked by, around and under the Elevador de Santa Justa on our way to the river. It is a crazy looking elevator to an observation point as well as an easy way to get from the Baixa area to the neighborhood of Largo do Carmo. Along the bike path/pedestrian walk we watched sailboats, road racers and bicyclists all enjoying a great morning. The MAAT (Museum, Art, Architecture and Technology) is housed in a new structure and a former power plant. They have made great use of the space. We had fun with an interactive light and shadow exhibit. Just past the MAAT is the Monument to the Discoveries. The monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries. There are many Portugese explorers represented including Vasco De Gama and Magellan.We continued further up the river to Belém. Here we stopped first at the Belém Tower. The Tower was commissioned to be partly a defense system and also a gateway to Lisbon.Next we went to the Pasteis de Belém. This bakery takes ownership of the pastel de nata calling it Pasteis de Belém. The recipe is a secret passed from the nearby Monastery of Jerónimo. Even as a take-away item, the delicious tarts are warm. There was a long line, but it moved very quickly and the delicious custard tarts were yummy.The walk back to Lisbon was filled with more tourists and locals enjoying the great day. There was cool graffiti on the cleats to tie up boats. This was my favorite. Also, some enterprising artist was creating and painting cairns with river rocks. I am not sure if it was a display or if he was selling them. We did watch a man practically crawl into his kiosk to sell orange juice and smoothies. We skipped that and went straight to the wine and beer at a café by the river. Another day well spent. Thank you Lisbon. Sunday funday.