Museums in Belem

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We did not discover whether Mexican food in Portugal is authentic - that will have to wait for another day. We did, however, have a lovely day filled with beautiful sites. The day ended a bit earlier than usual, but as I type this and look out the window of our hotel I see rain start to spread down the coastline, so an early day was probably a good idea. Matthew woke up with a bit of a cough this morning and needed vitamins and my feet were killing me, so “taking it easy” might be a good idea for now. (Of course our version of “taking it easy” involved walking somewhere between six and eight miles (easier than yesterday!) and seeing multiple museums - we blame this compulsive need to constantly “be productive” on our upbringing.)

This morning on our walk to the train station, Matthew found the home that he wants, for sale by Portugal Sotheby’s. It's beautiful - nicer that the bricked up, ramshackle home that is right next to our hotel (which I think should be someone's project, like in Under the Tuscan Sun, because it's so large and has several acres of lush, overgrown tropical plants). It is not, however, anything like the house on a hill that is directly opposite the window of our hotel room - like an overgrown Victorian mansion with a perfect view of the Estoril coast. The weather here seems to take quite a toll on the houses in the area. Even Matthew's “Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a house in Estoril” home shows a teensy bit of wear and paint chips at the bottom, near the road. As we take the train in to the city we pass by many apartments and homes that look like they haven't seen a coat of paint in years and are much the worse for wear. It is quite sad. Between the run-down apartments (each with laundry hanging out the window, even if the apartment does not have a balcony from which to hang laundry) and the few beggars we've seen on the streets it started me wondering what kind of government safety nets Portugal provides for its poor and disadvantaged. What are the options for when one is disabled or out of work? It is a question that will have to wait until I return home and have a better internet connection.

Today we did not go into Lisbon proper. Instead, we made our way to Belem because it has some good museums that are free on Sundays until 2PM. Belem is pronounced “bell-I'm” as far as I can tell and figure out. I wish that I had a pronunciation guide while here! I am inclined to pronounce words as if they were Spanish, especially since a number of the words are so similar, but that is not accurate. Portuguese is a beautiful language, and while it retains many similarities with Spanish, it is most definitely distinct. I hadn't been around Portuguese for any length of time before this trip, so I did not have a chance to really absorb the sound of the language. It sounds something like a cross between Spanish, French, and something else - maybe Dutch? Matthew says Italian, but I don't think so. (Or maybe I just need to spend more time listening to Italian?) There are a number of words pronounced like French words, but then there are also a lot of “sh” sounds in the language. Like Caxias, a stop between Estoril and Lisbon, is pronounced “Cash-I-sh.” So it's not as harsh as Spanish, not as nasally as French, just very soothing.

In Belem the primary language, at least today, was not Portuguese. Being a tourist hot-spot and a day in which most museums are free for at least a few hours, Belem was packed and a dozen languages (or more) filled the air. We arrived in Belem around 10AM, when the museums first open, and headed straight for the Museum of Coaches. In 1905, the last queen of Portugal realized that some new-fangled contraption called an automobile might eventually replace all of her beautiful coaches. She started a museum for her coaches and it now contains incredible sights. The oldest coach in the collection is 400 years old, and it was amazing to look at something and think that this carried kings and queens hundreds of years ago. It was very plain compared to the elaborate coaches of the 18th century. One coach, made by a king of Portugal for Pope Clement XI (I believe), had huge statues painted in gold on the outside and the interior, covered in velvet and brocade, looked as if it would seat at least eight people comfortably. This was only one of the coaches that Portugal made for the pope. What did the pope do with all of these coaches? And no wonder the Vatican is wealthy! Another coach was an example of just how well these vehicles were made because it was in use for at least 100 years - it was a coach built for the royal family and eventually used by the local cardinals. We also saw some sedan chairs (tiny boxes in which one person would ride while being hoisted along by four servants), and several small open carriages (including one for children that could be pulled by sheep. Sheep! Not just for sweaters and eating anymore, kids). The most interesting carriage was the open carriage in the front, near the entrance. It was apparently part of a big exhibit in 2008 because it was in this carriage in 1908 that the king and the heir to the throne were assassinated. The bullet holes in the side were clearly visible! But one of the most fascinating aspects of this exhibit was that here was a carriage from 1908 - and when we walked out of the museum and down the road we saw a replica of a plane that flew from Portugal to Brazil in 1922 (years before Lindberg's cross-Atlantic flight). That means that in a mere 14 years the world went from carriages to the ability to fly across great distances. Amazing!

On our way to the next museum, which was actually an old church and monastery built 400 years ago as a thank-you to God for the success of Portugal's explorers (and it is here that Vasco de Gama's tomb can be seen), we passed guards outside the prime minister's palace and some governmental museum. This is right next to the police station, so maybe that is why they were a bit lax. It was funny because while the guards wore very tall hats reminiscent of the Buckingham Palace guards, these guards were by no means stoic - they were chatting back and forth. No need to be too concerned about security here!

Since it was Sunday, we decided to forego the view of the church because the line was huge and tourists were only allowed in to walk about when mass was not in session. Tourists were welcome to attend mass, but that didn't sound too appealing to me. Perhaps another day we will be able to make it back and see Vasco de Gama's tomb, which is in the church itself. For today, we contented ourselves with the cloisters, which is the area that usually charges visitors. The grounds and building were beautiful, and perhaps even more striking because they seem to extend forever, old Manueline architecture against modern apartment buildings and restaurants.

We walked to the Museum of the Discoveries, but we did not walk inside. This place was not free, even on Sundays. That was okay because the outside is what I wanted to see - large sculptures of people who helped in Portugal's golden age of exploration, headed by Henry the Navigator. The sculpture is impressive and perfectly placed at the edge of the river. Crowds of people gathered around for pictures, which is probably why the Peruvian band was playing in that location. (Well, there and another Peruvian band was at the Belem Tower.) Matthew and I had a good laugh about this. Last year we were with Thu and her family in Seattle and while there we saw a Peruvian band (the actually name of that type of music escapes me at the moment). Terry made a comment that no matter where you go, you will always see these bands playing instruments and selling their music. (And I do enjoy the music, although I have never purchased a CD.) I had never paid much attention to that before, but sure enough it is true - we've seen these small groups in Munich, Amsterdam, and now Belem ever since Terry mentioned it.

The Folk Art Museum seems closed for the time being (renovations?), so we continued on to the Belem Tower. Hundreds of years ago this tower stood as guard for the port in Lisbon. The Rick Steves' guidebook we have recommended making the trek up its 120-something stairs to the top for a spectacular view. Of course that sounded like a great idea! After all, that climb didn't sound too bad. What the book failed to mention is that the steps were steep, shaped like triangles (since they wrapped around a tower like a spiral staircase), and barely bigger than the size of my foot. And since the tower was so busy because it was free today, there was a constant line of people going up and vying for space on the stairs with people trying to come back down again. It was a harrowing experience, but we escaped with our lives - and the view was magnificent.

My plan for the day was to see the museums and then walk the couple miles to two different gardens (the botanical gardens, planted nearly 300 years ago, and some royal gardens that are nearly as old), and then go find the Mexican restaurant that I read about in one of my books. Sadly, my feet had other ideas. Every year I think that I need to get Dr. Scholls for my shoes because the cobblestones are really painful, and every year I forget. Today I was wearing my boots, which are good for a few miles of walking but get painful after more than that. I should have brought flip flops to wear because those are the most comfortable walking shoes, but because it's supposed to be winter I didn't even think about that. My feet would've been happier! As it was, we walked the couple miles to find the royal gardens and were unsuccessful. Rather than traipsing up and down streets to find the gardens, we decided to take the train back one stop to Belem and get lunch there at a pizzeria we found on the waterfront. By this time the pizzeria was crowded, but we didn't have to wait too long. And the food was worth the wait. We had lovely garlic cheese flatbread and a tomato & mushroom thin crust pizza, which was very good. After a sit-down meal my feet felt much better, so we trekked back to the train station without too much difficulty and then journeyed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow the forecast is heavy rains, and while I hope that the forecast is wrong, we are making plans just in case. Tomorrow's plan? Buy a day pass for the public transportation system (buses, trolleys, funiculars, and metros) and travel out as far as we can in every direction to see what there is to see.

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Photos

A coach and an assassination
The king and heir were killed in this coach in 1908.

Modernity reaches Portugal
This is a replica of the plane used to fly from Portugal to Brazil years before the famous Lindberg crossing.

The Tower in Belem
This tower used to guard the entry to Lisbon's port.

Lunch in Belem
This was a lovely little Italian restaurant -- good pizza and a great view!

Dear Santa...
...Matthew would like this house for Christmas. He's been a very good boy this year!