Lisboa, Calm Port

It is so relaxing to have someone else lead the way around their city. Our flight school friends, the Bayers, came to visit us in Brussels a couple weeks ago, and we were able to pop over to Lisbon and see them again before they head back to the States this summer. We’d planned to entertain ourselves, but in the end their schedule freed up and we got to party around Portugal together. This was just so fun. It helps that our kids like each other and play well together, too!

“Ooo, we’ll take you to the burnt out church!” Matt said. I said I love going to cathedrals because they’re all different! Matt and Wendy looked at each other. “We don’t love going to cathedrals because they all look the same!” Matt laughed. “But this one is different.”

The Church of Sao Domingos in downtown Lisbon dates from the 13th Century. It was damaged and repaired after major earthquakes in 1531 and 1755, but it was a massive fire that raged all night in 1959 that gives the church its current appearance. A new roof was put on in the 1990s over the blackened and scarred stone walls. Today, mass is still celebrated here in a place more beautiful, not less, because of its damage.

While we walked around I said, “You guys are so into history and architecture and traveling; I think it’s hilarious you’re meh on cathedrals.” “I mean, we try to go to one everywhere we go,” Matt said. “I just think it’s funny,” I said, “You’re obligatory church visit.” “Every Sunday…” Wendy quipped. Wendy is one of the funniest people I know. I’m still giggling about that.

Portugal’s famous salted cod and Pasteis de Nata were on the agenda for lunch. “Portugal is a poor country…” our hosts explained the salted cod’s popularity. When they ask their Portuguese friends questions about Portugal, the answer often begins with that caveat.

The Belem Tower was built in the early 1500s to protect Lisbon by guarding the mouth of the Tagus River. As the last thing sailors saw when leaving Lisbon and the first sign of the city when they returned, it quickly became a city symbol and is a UNESCO world heritage site to this day.

Just upriver from the tower is a huge monument. Further up the river you can see Lisbon’s Golden Gate Bridge look-alike and its huge Jesus statue, similar to the one in Brazil. Sailboats darted up and down the river with kids taking lessons and others out for a promenade.

“It’s a giant monument to people who have been cancelled,” Wendy deadpanned by way of describing the Monument to the Discoveries. The kids loved showing each other where they’d been on the giant stone map in the ground (I LOVE giant maps on the ground). Eloise be-bopped over to camp out by Japan.

Lisbon is different from anywhere else we’ve been. Even with the dark, Belgian-ish weather we brought with us, the city was light and colorful, adventurous and nautical. My favorite combination!