Mosaic Monday # 38 - Lisboa/Lisbon, Portugal.

As you probably know by now the SP and I do love to travel.
Some of our happiest memories are of sun kissed beaches in Greece, European city breaks and time spent enjoying bijou B&B's in the US and France.
When we're not travelling ourselves we enjoy watching travel programmes on TV, especially if the presenter is a chef.
We often discover a new place to add to our travel wish list and sometimes rediscover somewhere we have visited previously, as recently happened when we watched Chef Rick Stein spend a long weekend in Lisbon, Portugal.

In the summer of 2008 after 10 days spent relaxing in Praia d'el Rey on Portugal's Silver Coast we drove to the Hotel Dona Maria I, Pousada Palacio de Queluz  which we had chosen as our base for exploring Lisbon and the surrounding area.
The Hotel Dona Maria I is situated across the square from the Palace in a building which once served as the Guardhouse.



In order to make the most of our 4 days there we hired a driver to take us around and show us the sights. Whilst this was an extremely good way to discover Lisbon for the first time the days were very full and quite tiring.

Here are some things you might like to know about Lisbon.

Belém is a district of Lisbon that you must visit, here you'll find fascinating museums, the famous Belém Tower and the Monument of Discoveries.

The Monument of Discoveries on the bank of the River Tagus, celebrates the Age of Discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries. The first Monument was a wooden structure created in 1940 for the World's Fair. It was replaced in 1960 by the 52 metre tall concrete monument which now dominates the shoreline.

Jeronimos Monastery owes it's existence to the wealth and prosperity brought to Lisbon through trade with Portuguese colonies founded by early explorers such as Vasco de Gama.
The Catholic monks who lived in the Monastery were also responsible for creating the famous sweet custard tarts known as Pastéis de Belém.

the SP enjoying his first taste of Pastéis de Belém.

Our guide introduced us to these delicious tarts at the famous bakery next door to the Monastery, click here to learn the history of how it all began in 1837.
Watching Rick Stein strolling through downtown Lisbon inspired us to start planning a more leisurely return trip maybe later this year and prompted me to bake some Pastéis de Belem which turned out quite well for a first attempt.

Pastéis de Belém, home made by me.

We also enjoyed seeing the National Coach Museum in the Old Royal Riding School and the Maritime Museum, click here for a complete up to date guide to visiting Lisbon.

Postscript.
Pat has asked for the recipe for the pasteis, the one I used was from olive magazine, you'll find it on my Pinterest board  "Bake", or follow the link here.

Mosaic Monday

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