We have some small grocery stores in our neighborhood but when taking the elevator up to the castle we discovered a good size market right next to the elevator. We decided to go see what it had to offer. We were a bit disappointed because although larger it did not have some of things we've been wanting since we left Amsterdam. Oh well. They did have lots of fish and dried cod.
After dropping off some groceries we walked over to Rossio Square and saw the Yellow Bus Tour - a hop on and off tour of the city. Well, there are 4 tours, Lisbon is a big city with lots of attractions. We selected one which would take us out to the Belem District.
This is Ave. Da Liberdale - 8 lanes of traffic. It connects the downtown of Lisbon with the northern districts. The street is lined with trees and fountains and is decorated with statues and a large monument dedicated to WWI soldiers. More on the street in a later blog.
The tall column ahead honors the Marquis of Pombal who rebuilt the city after the earthquake of 1755. 
A large Jewish synagogue in Lisbon. The history of the Jews in Portugal is similar to that of many countries. They contributed much to the culture and wealth of the city, they were isolated by mandate, and persecuted. In 2013, the Portuguese Parliament enacted legislatioin entitling descendants of Jews who left Portugal duriing the Inquisition period Portuguese citizenship.A prison.
The aqueduct.Interesting tile work on buildings we were passing by on our Yellow bus.
The April 25th bridge. Completed in 1966 and originally named after the dictator Salazar, this suspension bridge across the Tagus River changed its name after the revolution of April 25, 1974.
It is a spectacular sight from any direction, with an overall length of 1.5 miles and the longest central span in Europe, longer than San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge which it resembles. Its foundations also hold the world record by going 262 fet below the riverbed to stand on basalt rock
This magnificent building is the Monastery of Jeronimos. King Manuel ( who ruled from 1495) erected this giant, white limestone church and monastery which stretches 300 yards along the Lisbon waterfront - as a "thank you" for the discoveries made by early Portuguese explorers. It wasfinanced in part with "pepper money" a 5 percent tax on spices brought back from India. The church was built on a site of a humble chapel where sailors spent their last night ashore in prayer before embarking onfrightening voyages.
We did not go in the church or cloisters today but plan on going back to go inside and will then go into more detail about the sculptures on the building. They do employ an electronic zapping system to keep the pigons away.
This is Manueline architecture ( architecture practiced in the territory of present day Portugal since before the foundation of the country in the 12th century) at its finest! It's described as the "exuberant Portuguese version of late Gothic.
We walked across the street to some lovey gardens and a beautiful fountain.
Here we are infront of the fountain. We were waiting for it to do something but nothing happened so we finally left and had some lunch. As we were waiting for the bus that's when it started. We ran from the bus stop to catch a few pictures. e determined it must "go off" on the hour.
We had been told that the best pasteis de nam were made in Belem and are called Pasteis de Belem. They are supposed to have a very secret recipe. Others say they just sell so many, over 20,000 a day in the summer that when you order them they are fresh and warm and that's what makes them better then others. I will say the crust was so flakey and the custard very light. Yes, I could eat a number of these everyday. I'm so glad we don't live close. When you are served the desserts they provide you with a shaker of powdered sugar and one of cinnamon to sprinkle on the tart.
From here we hopped on the bus and went over to the Torre de Belem. Jutting out onto the Rio Tejo, the World Heritage-listed fortress of Torre de Belem epitomizes the Age of Discoveries. Francisco de Arruda designed the pearly-grey chess piece in 1515 to defend Lisbon's harbor. The Manueline show-of flaunts filigree stonework, meringue like cupolas and - just below the western tower- a stone rhinoceros. 
This area served as a political prison. I hope the "inmates" weren't as tall as Sharon.
The control for the draw bridge. 
The building in the background is the international health agency.
This spiderman was playing the guitar, not climbing the tower. At least while we were there and I didn't see any news reports that evening regarding spiderman and the tower.
Next to the tower is a miitary museum and monument.
We were a bit tired at this point so we hopped on the bus and decided to just ride it back to our neighborhood. It was cold and windy up on the top.
When we got back I decided I'd just like to walk around a bit. Like I didn't walk enough already. Anyway Sharon stayed in and I went out to explore. Scary going out alone without my navigator. I stayed pretty close to home but saw some cute area and also heard some music on Rua Augusta and stood arund and listenend to that for awhile. Finally decided I shoud go home and see what we were going to do for dinner.
Look at these tile sidewalks. Amazing what you can do with "free labor".We decided an evening in woud be good so we made a pot of chili and just relaxed.
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