The Belem Monastery in Lisbon is right next to the pastry shop we went to on the first day. Belem means Bethlehem in Portuguese. It was too crowded during the weekend so we came back on a weekday.
It was a really huge building. Much longer than a normal cathedral, which makes sense because it was a monastery.
The inside was very tall and had bare rock/stone carvings for decoration, rather than ornate guilded wood. It felt more ancient…
Elora wanted to go up on “the stage” so I had to explain that we weren’t supposed to go there. Inside two famous Portuguese figures were buried. A poet and the explorer Vasco de Gama.
Elora liked all the flower arrangements at the Mary statue and asked if she could pick the flowers. Fortunately she now understands the phrase, “No those are for decoration, not for picking.”
