Windy City!

Today in Lisbon we visited the Belem Tower which was built in early 16th century it was during the age of discovery for the country which has ties with Columbus and the New world discovery age. This tower is huge, old, and everything an ancient castle tower would look like. It sits jetting out into the estuary to the Atlantic and the air is super salty! Plus it was very windy when we visited therefore salt was all over our faces and clothes. The tower has symbols all over it from the Knights Templar from the crosses to the shields carved into the stone edifice. Next to the tower is the monument of Discoveries which was also 5 Euros to go inside an insane price just to climb some stairs. This monument is pretty amazing though its a huge slab of rock in the shape of like waves\ship sails I couldn't tell. Then there are people all around the bottoms carved into it. It is supposed to celebrate the people who took part in the age of discoveries. I am going to try and get this right but I might be backwards so don't hold me too this but the part of the monument that faces away from the river has sculptures of a mathematician and a cosmologist while the other side has a sword and a conquistador. 

It was quite the stuggle to get to this area of town and I will tell you why. First we looked at a map and said "hey we can walk its like a mile" well I said that. So we started to walk and realized it was way more then a mile. Then trying to beat the rain storm heading our way we took the tram which was an obstacle in its own that lead us down two flights of escalators to the metro, then back to the top where there is a kiosk for buying tram tickets that wasn't in English, then to the tram operator who gave us to tram tickets that didn't work properly. 30 minutes after deciding to take the tram we go on it only to get off three stops early due to the smell, heat, and crowded standing areas. We walked the rest of the way in wind that was literally blowing us into each other and tripping our feet! It was crazy!

After exploring the monument and the tower we headed back to the hostel. I can't wait for new years in this town!