In Vasco's Wake

After Christmas, reading the history of Vasco de Gama's trip to India, our trip to Belem, his starting point, was much anticipated.

It was a great day. We caught an old tram to Belem. It could even have been the one that Vasco caught. It is about 6 km around the coast west of Lisbon.

Our first stop was the Belem Tower, built by the first king of Portugal as a symbol of his power. One unusual feature is the carving of a rhinocerus. The real thing was a gift to the pope but when the boat delivering the gift, sank, the body was recovered and stuffed with straw. The stone carving is the first in Europe of a rhino. The building is fabulous and sits just off the coast. Yes there are lots of stairs to climb!

We viewed the old lighthouse and the special memorial to Vasco. It depicts Vasco and his crew boarding the boat for India.

The monastery of San Jeronimus was magnificent. The church has superb fine stone work and wonderful cloisters. Inside the church we discovered the tomb of Vasco himself. The church was built with profits from the spice trade with India.

The Maritime Museum had not only models of Vasco's ships but 2 anchors recovered from Chris' Nina that he had carelessly left somewhere in the New World. The museum had a magnificent collection of barges, seaplanes and aircraft. All this and it is located in the beautiful San Jeronimus' monastery.

Before departure we also visited the Archeological Museum and the Cultural and Modern Art Museum where we saw Dali's lobster phone, works by Picasso and also Jackson Pollack. Our final stop was the Museum of the President where we failed the technology for the English audio guide. The president lives in the ex royal palace next door where presidents have resided since the departure of the royals in 1910.

As we rode the tram back, we reflected on a wonderful day..... Vasco was quite a guy.