Saturday 26th March 2011

Due to the problems of last night we moved Bella to a pitch further away from the road, it’s a bit of a pinch, we’ve had to go at a diagonal, but it’s safe from idiots! I informed the young women in reception of what had happened and she said it was very bad and did I know who they were! I gave up!

 Caught the bus down to the ferry (more expensive than similar distance in Spain) and then the ferry across the river to Belem. The ferry was very reasonable, under 8 euros for three returns, but it lacked a little Health & Safety! No gangplank to board it, nor anyone to assist you, but it was a nice crossing and a good way to see Lisbon from the water.

Once on dry land we walked along the seafront which is very modern and is a popular walking, jogging and cycling spot. It’s lined with smart restaurants and small marinas containing mostly sailing boats. We saw a lot of teenagers launching their racing dinghy’s and heading off into the river. As we walked along it we came to the “Monument to the Discoveries” built in 1960 to mark the 500^th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator, who taught the sea captains and financed their voyages, discovering trade routes to Brazil and India. Inlaid in the pavement by the statue is a huge map of the world, which shows these routes and the date of their discovery.

Further along is the “Torre de Belem, a small fortress built in1521 in the middle of the Tagus river, now due to land reclamation its on the shore line! It’s very ornate and has a statue on the river side of “Our Lady of Safe homecoming” who is said to watch over the departing sailors.

Had lunch in a riverside restaurant with great views and very good pizzas! Then we walked back along the coast towards the city but a little inland. That way we past the “Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (Sounds like it should be in Texas!), which is a huge building containing a large monastery. It was built in the early 1500s and was a monument to the wealth of Portugal’s “Age of Discovery”, paid for from the tax on spices, gold and precious stones brought back from the new found lands. A little further along we past the Presidential Palace, which Sarah liked as it had ceremonial guards (Not as imposing as ours!) and was painted pink. It looked like a very nice lakeside mansion with ornate gardens to its front. When it was first built it would have had wonderful views over the river, now it looked over the busy roads and railway line which runs along the coast.

We caught the ferry back and decided to walk to the camp (only about a mile or so), after going for a few minutes and seeing the bus go past we noticed the grey clouds getting darker and then, yep it started raining! By the time we got back to the camp we were a little wet but had had a good day.