"A warm city with warm people!" a Lisbon Travel Page by stamporama

I admit I did not know much about Lisbon compared to the other more popular European cities, as we only went here prior to our departure for home after visiting Fatima. Interestingly, thanks to the valuable tips on VT, there were enough sights worth seeing in the 2 days we allocated for it.

So we opted to go around using the 24-hour hop-on-hop-off tour bus for the first day, then visited the hilltop castle the following morning, after which we shopped in the afternoon before we flew home the next day.

Historically, Portugal is known for its explorers led by Vasco da Gama. During an age when very little was known about what was beyond the horizon of the Atlantic, he and other brave souls dared to sail forth to discover new lands and civilizations. And their journeys usually began at the harbors of Lisbon, often the Belem Tower was the last landmark they saw of Portugal.

Just across the Discoveries monument is a UNESCO world heritage site, the Jeronimos Monastery. Beside the cathedral where Vasco da Gama is entombed, the monastery is a 2-story square edifice with a central courtyard which sort of evokes an academic atmosphere. Its walls, ceilings and arches lend a wealth of intricate Gothic designs that one usually gets to see only in medieval churches.