A Wonderful Trip

 In celebration of a wonderful 15 years, the Larsons spent three weeks in Portugal.  What a country!  Our first stop was Lisbon.

Lisbon

The Jeronimos Monastery was built in 1502.  The magnificent complex was financed by the spice trade.  Here sailors prayed for a safe journey and thanked God for a safe return.  

 

The tomb Vasco de Gama is at the entrance. He was the first explorer to link India to Europe by sea propelling Portugal into a world power.

Calouste Gulbenkain, a wealthy Armenian businessman and philanthropist, was educated at King's College in London.  Tithed 10% of his annual wealth to art and gifted his amazing collection  to a museum that bears his name.  The collection, although smaller, rivals The Louve in quality.  Among the Monets and Rembrandts and the magnificent Lalique jewelry collection are amazing gold and silver pieces.

The buildings of Lisbon are spectacularly tiles.  Mostly in blue and yellow because yellow repels evil and blue keeps flies away!

And the food!  We ate and wined our way through all of Portugal.

The octopus we had was tender and delicious.  A favorite was octopus salad.

Some of the preparations were interesting. 

Reportedly this is the fanciest McDonalds in the world.

The Coach Museum which houses the finest collection of royal carriages in the world.

We stand in front of the coach of King Joao (John) V whose coach was considered superior to that of Louis XIV of France.  And, yes, that is real gold.

The oldest coaches are from the 15th Century.  

This royal child's carriage was pulled by a pony rather than a matched set of 8 horses.

An artistic Portugese guitar which is played in Faldo which is a mournful traditional music.

A game of chess anyone?

We picked up our rental car on the fourth day and headed south for the Algarve.  That will be our next blog!