The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany started on June 9th when Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in Munich. That was the first Group A match; all of the 32 teams were divided into eight groups and the top two teams would go on. Germany ended up beating everyone in their group to reserve a spot in the brackets along with Ecuador. As for the action in Group B, England and Sweden dominated and when it came time for the face-off it ended up going 2-2, England had more goals so they got the top in the group and would play the second place in Group A. In Group C Argentina was obviously the best team but when it came time to play the Netherlands both teams didn’t play their best players, so the score came out 0-0. Now we’ve come to Group D, one of the most exciting groups except for maybe E. On June 11th Portugal played Angola, Pauleta scored in the 5th minute off an assist from Figo. The rest of the game and scoreless, though C. Ronaldo had a bunch of good opportunities; the game ended 1-0. The same day Mexico beat Iran 3-1. For the next Group D match-up on the 16th Angola surprised Mexico with an end score of 0-0. The next day Portugal beat Iran 2-0 off a great shot by Deco, later Figo got fouled in the box and C. Ronaldo hit in the penalty. The last Portugal game, on the 21st we went to see at a park in Aveiro where they had a big screen TV set up. This was the most exciting one: in the middle of the first half Maniche scored on a great kick, but Mexico answered back with a header from Fonseca at the end of the half. Next goal was by Simao on a penalty after a hand ball in the box. Later Portugal fouled Mexico in the box so Mexico got a penalty kick; it went over the crossbar. We had to wait another nerve-racking 30 minutes until finally the ref blew the final whistle. So Portugal would go on to play the Netherlands and Mexico would play Argentina. In Group E Czech Republic started out with a confident world ranking, 2nd. And just a confidentially the best the United States 3-0 and Italia beat Ghana 2-0. Italia’s next game came to a 1-1 tie to the USA, but Czech Republic weren’t as lucky as they suffered a 2-0 lose against Ghana. Czech continued to lose with a 2-0 loss to Italia, Ghana beat the States 2-1. Obviously in Group F Brasil were the dominators over any competition. In Group G Switzerland surprisingly came out on top over France. And in Group H, Espana ruled with Ukraine coming behind them. In the round of 16 Germany beat Sweden confidently 2-0, and Argentina defeated Mexico 2-1 after a great goal by Maxi Rodriguez in overtime. England beat Ecuador 1-0 off a Beckham goal and Portugal narrowly defeated the Netherlands with another Maniche shot past Van der Saar. Ukraine upset Switzerland in penalties and Italia defeated Australia 1-0. Brasil easily swept Ghana 3-0 with Ronaldo making the records with the most goals in the FIFA World Cup history. France got a lucky win over Espana 3-1. Now in the quarter-finals Argentina and Germany tied after 120 minutes of play and Germany barely won in penalties. The Portugal-England game was much closer. Although both teams had tons of opportunities to score nobody could seem to get the ball in. Soon it came to penalties. Ricardo was amazing, blocking a record three shots, even one from Frank Lampard. Eventually it came to Cristiano Ronaldo to win it; and he did with a goal to the right side. Portugal won. Though later we found out that Brasil lost to France 1-0 so that dimmed our spirits a bit. Germany and Italia were tied 0-0 until Grosso scored off of a great pass from Andrea Pirlo in the 119 minute, only one minute before it went to penalties. About 30 seconds later Del Piero scored on a breakaway, this had to be a record, two goals scored in the last minute and a half of play. In the Portugal-France game Portugal was obviously the better team but France got really lucky with a cheap penalty in the box that Zidane scored. So the final was Italia vs. France in Berlin. In the 9th minute France got lucky again with a cheap penalty once again in the box, Zidane scored once again. At the end of the half Pirlo assisted Materazzi from a corner kick for a header into the goal past Barthez. The rest of the game was scoreless so eventually it came to penalties.

From the middle of July (about the 20th) until the end of our trip, retreating to the Costa Nova for ferrias (holidays) has been essential for the entire populace of Ilhavo, us included. Almost every day we visited the Costa Nova until it turned dark. Usually arriving around noon we would park near Ana and Henrique’s home near the beach. All of our family would always go to the same spot so every day we knew where to find them. Of course Joao and Joana would come with Henrique and Ana, and also Anabela and Guilherme with Tiago and Bernardo. Our other cousins, Nuno, Pedro, Rita and their parents Nai and Jorge, came down from Coimbra. At the very ended of July, our other cousins from Brussels flew down: Zezinha and Joao, and their kids Joao Guilherme (Gigo), Ines, and Catarina. Every day we would play in the surf; never could we go out far because the riptide was dangerous. In the beginning a futebol jogo (soccer game) was popular with the parents and kids. One time when the tide was out far, we were able to play on a smooth island, usually we just played on the beach. Into August penalties were more favorable than jogos (games). Sometimes we would play volleyball with the net set up there though usually the volleyballs were used for futebol. After a long day an ice cream was much enjoyed at Posto 4, the on-beach snack dealer. If we left early, we would sometimes go to Nuno or Tiago and Bernardo’s houses. Nuno’s house is on the main boulevard on the Ria (gulf) and is probably the smallest house in all of Costa Nova. It belongs to Tio Jorge but his son Jorge and his family stay there with Tio Jorge during the month of August. Just around the corner and up some stairs is the Yellow House, where Anabella and Guilherme stay with Joao and Zezinha. It was funny because before we knew where these houses were and who they belonged to, we had taken pictures of both houses. On the main road on the Ria just down from Ana and Henrique’s house is a mini futebol field with turf, also nearby are two tennis courts. Costa Nova was a great place to hang out with our primas that lived in Costa Nova during the summer. It was fun to be able to connect with them for the first time. It’s funny because Costa Nova has been part of life in Ilhavo for a long time now, passed down from generation to generation because the kids remembered how much fun they had and want to share it with their kids.

Behind the library we discovered a new building that housed a teen center or Juventude. In the following week, named Semana Jovem, there was going to be many events sponsored by the Camara Municipal de Ilhavo. We signed up for the tennis tournament and 3-on-3 basketball with Tiago and Bernardo. The first event was the tennis tournament, and we learned that there were only two other people in the bracket with Paul and me. I won the first game 8-0 against Hugo and Paul won his first game 8-5 against Carlos. At first we thought that Paul and I would play for the championship, but we were wrong. I beat Paul 8-1, and then Paul went into the loser’s bracket to play the winner of Hugo and Carlos. Carlos won and went on to play Paul who beat him 6-1, so both Carlos and Hugo were out. So it was destined for Paul and I to play for the championship after all, and I ended up winning 8-3. I got a first place medal and Paul got a second place medal. The next event for Paul and me in Semana Jovem was 3-on-3 basketball with Tiago and Bernardo in Barra in front of the lighthouse. Our team, DX, was in Group H, but there were several other divisions and a group from Spain that looked like professionals that had come to participate in this event. With a total of 3 teams in our group, we would play the two other teams and the overall winner would be based on your team’s win-lose record. Our first wasn’t that hard and DX ended up winning. In the beginning of the second game, Tiago got hurt so we were playing with no substitutes. Although it was a close game, we still ended up winning first place. So I walked away from Semana Jovem with two first place medals.

Starting off the day we dropped my grandparents off on a train bound to Lisbon to start off their Mediterranean cruise from Roma. From the Aveiro train station we stopped at our usual café in a nearby praca where we had our breakfast. Next we found ourselves in the Forum where we visited a sports store to get some shorts that I needed. Soon the shorts were found and we went to lunch on a roadside café for pescada frita (fried fish and tomato rice). After eating at a café we drove just out of Aveiro to the SmartCar dealership. That was really cool to see and we actually got to test drive one of the cars. Later that day we set up the party in the jardim and soon all of our cousins arrived one by one. After about 30 minutes the sky started to get dark and everyone thought it was going to rain so we had to relocate to Ana’s house. At Ana’s house everyone started to play basketball and futebol in their yard so we had a great time. Along with the pizza and the cake we had bought it turned out that Rosa had also brought a cake too. It never ended up raining so our fun never had a damper on it.

Since my aunt had just arrived in Portugal for two weeks we decided now was the time to drive down to Fatima, Batalha and Leiria. Our first destination was Fatima where on May 13, BLANK Nossa Senhora de Fatima appeared in BLANK in front of three children: Francisco, Lucia and BLANK. Lucia died only a couple years back while Francisco and BLANK died while they were about ten years old, in the 1920s. First we came to an exhibit of part of the Berlin wall. Walking along the path we came to the praca bigger then Piazza di San Pietro, Praca de Fatima. At the end in the Igreja de Fatima which is quite small with a tall tower protruding from the middle of the church. Extending is a San Pietro-like start of a colonnade though doesn’t encircle the praca like Bernini’s. Now with a large pavilion covering over it the small 10ft x 10ft “igreja” where Nossa Senhora de Fatima first appeared to the children, of course now it has been remodeled. After having mass in the pavilion we walked across the praca and into the igreja. Like I said before the igreja is quite small and after visited the tombs of the three children we left to go traditionally light a candle near the pavilion. Soon we left to go eat lunch in the actual town of Fatima before making the decision about Batalha and Leiria. Eventually Grandma and my aunt voted on instead of going to Batalha and Leiria to go to the Tomar, once head of the Knights Templar in Europe. Since we will probably go to Leiria and Batalha another time we let Grandma and my aunt decide on where to go. Tomar was not far off so we arrived soon though we still only had one hour to see the whole thing before it closed. Starting off to the left we circled around a balcony looking down on a courtyard where the monks washed there clothes. Now heading past the entryway we started to enter more of the castle area. It is truly amazing just how big Convento do Cristo is, tons of rooms, corridors, and stairways. Standing on one of the highest vantage points in the place we could see the big stable/racetrack where the members of the Knights Templar parked their faithful steeds. Soon the hour was up and the place started to close, we had barely finished walking around when we were ushered out. Convento do Cristo was a place where one could stay for hours just exploring the place.

From Santa Maria da Feira we headed up north of Porto towards the Braga area where Bom Jesus was located. Up a small hill Bom Jesus was located, a large church on top of a famous staircase. After visiting the cathedral we continued up the hill to Nossa Senhora de Semeiro. We took our lunch in the restaurant near the church and then continued in the cathedral. Beneath the church I walked down a set of stairs that led into a large gathering room. Continuing outside we entered near a room where Pope John Paul II addressed a gathering while visiting Portugal. Tracing our steps back we came back through the church just as they had started mass. Now entering the actual town of Braga Fernandinha had just remembered that Braga had its own Festa de Sao Joao, a parade. So we decided to wait for the parade in one of the main squares. Heading down a street we tried to find room to sit on the crowded edges. Eventually the parade started and out came the marches of mainly kids dressed up to be all of the different saints. After about 45 minutes the line of saints ended and we walked back the car after a very long two days. 

After having lunch Isabella and her sister Claudia arrived to take us to Santa Maria de Feira to pick up Fernandinha. Finally Fernandinha arrived from teaching in town to her apartment, allowing us to stow our stuff while we were in Porto. After getting settled in we took off for the famous city of Porto, named after the even more famous Vinho do Porto. Our main reason for being in Porto was to participate in the rowdy festa of Sao Joao do Porto. Held every year in June Sao Joao do Porto had everything from fireworks to hitting people on the head with mallets. Parking the car near the Palacia de Cristal we walked over to the library which was just around the corner. Carrying on we walked past Fernandinha’s favorite café was when she studied here in collage and visited one of Porto’s oldest bookstores. Paul purchased his mallet nearby here but I decided to wait until later in the night. We got a quick glance of the Camara Municipal before heading to the nearby train station. The train station was one of the oldest, working train stations in Portugal, complete with gigantic azulejos. Walking down towards the Rio Douro we came upon one of the main cathedrals perched on top of a hill. The inside was rigid to the Roman-Gothic architecture we have been seeing in a multitude of churches around Portugal. After the cathedral we walked through a couple of small side streets before arriving at the Rio Douro. We didn’t stay long looking at the river because we were going to come back there that night, so soon we were heading back to the car to pick up dinner. Finishing up dinner we started to follow the crowds going back towards the river to see the fireworks display. Soon I bought my mallet and started to hit people with it that walked by me. Eventually we got to the avenida that was laid out like a red carpet in front of the Camara Municipal. Now the light had started to fade so we again followed throngs of people heading down the street towards the river. Crossing the bridge over the Rio Douro we were now in large crowds, tightly packed in the road. We started to walk down the main esplanade on the Rio but everyone (except me who wanted to keep bonking people) was tired so we stopped at the Sandeman inventory drink place. We waited for about an hour and so, continuously hitting people, until the fireworks started at midnight. Complete with music and search lights, this firework display had to be one of the best I’ve seen in my life. I continued to wander through the crowds and hit people while the rest of the group sat still enjoying their beers. Eventually we had to the go, but crossing over the bridge was kind of weird. As soon as we stepped on we felt the bridge starting to sway, to the point where we couldn’t have stood, we would have fallen down if the mass of people hadn’t been so tightly packed. Stopping just for a coffee at Fernandinha’s favorite café we soon made it back to the car.

We started out our Douro trip by going to Amarante with Fernandinha and Valtar. We were going to meet Nezinha, and her friends Paula and Helena Teresa along with Ismael, Helena Teresa’s boyfriend in the Douro in Helena Teresa’s house in Sao Joao da Pesceira. We arrived in Amarante in good time and parked on a hill that lead into the main cathedral dedicated to Sao Goncalo. We walked down the cobblestone streets until we finally arrived at the Sao Goncalo. Although it looked smaller from the outside it was actually much bigger then it seemed as we walked into the church. Outside the church we entered the monasteries square and from there looped around the back of the church. Before heading across the bridge next to Sao Goncalo we stopped at a café so Fernandinha could have a café. Across the bridge we entered a famous café that had a great view of the Rio Douro.  Before continuing on we stopped in a small town but were soon starting up again. Our next visit was to the town of Peso da Regua where we stopped at the train station to see an old train that they had on show. Walking across the tracks we continued up a long hill that led to the Castelinho, one of the many makers of Vinho do Porto. We got a brief tour of the fermenting kegs and of some of the extremely old bottles of wine. It turns out that the year my mom was born was one of the all-time best years for them. From Castelinho we started into the hills of the Douro where we met up with Nezinha, Helena Teresa and Ismael. Soon we arrived in Sao Joao da Pesceira at their house. After unpacking all of the stuff we took a small walk around the town before heading into a café for a quick coffee. We started out the morning early and started a long drive to an archeological museum in the Douro area. The Coa Valley Archaeological Park contains rock art on the slate from almost 30,000 years ago, in the Paleolithic era. Out of the three different sites in the Park we decided to visit Penascosa, which in the largest rock art site in the valley. Here we can also see all of the different techniques: fine line incision, pecking, abrasion and scraping. Soon we had driven into the site and the guide showed us the first piece of slate. After a couple of different slates we started to become more proficient in identifying the animals and different techniques. On most of the slates we could see horses, aurochs, goats and deer. I thought that it was cool that they hadn’t taken the slate out of it originally position and then dumped it in a museum; it was interesting to look and it in a natural setting. After finishing up in the Park we headed to a small café where we could watch the Portugal v. Iran game. In the middle of the game Deco scored, and then C. Ronaldo kicked in a penalty after Figo got fouled in the box. Portugal beat Iran 2-0, though at the end of the game C. Ronaldo had another good opportunity but was barely off sides. Eventually we started to long trip back to Sao Joao da Pesceira after stopping for lunch at a road-side restaurant. In Sao Joao da Pesceira Paul and I played futebol for a bit before every started to walk around the town. Today was the sad day when we finally had to leave the magnificent Douro area. Our days in the Douro had been wonderful and I really enjoyed the Vinho do Porto wineries. On the last morning we got up early to walk the 2.5k hike to Sao Salvador do Mondo. Vovo had decided he wanted to come to so it became a lot of fun with him on the walk, especially when we had to cross a mud pond. Soon Vovo got tired and we waited for him to rest but Paul, Grandma and Dad went on ahead of us. When we started up again they were out of sight so we continued down the trail. Walking for about another 3k without seeing them we finally came upon a dead end, a Vinho do Porto wine grower. We arrived at his farm and asked him to give us directions of Sao Salvador do Mondo, apparently we had gotten way off course. He said to wait a bit and he would take us there by car. So after sampling a bit of his Vinho do Porto, we took off and soon came upon Paul, Grandma and Dad walking the wrong way on the road. After a couple of minutes we all arrived safely and were met by the rest of the gang who hadn’t gone. The view from Sao Salvador do Mondo of the Douro was amazing and we visited all of the churches on the high hill.

We started off the day with the arrival of Fernandinha and Volta to take us to Coimbra. After a short half-hour drive down the auto Estrada we arrived in Portugal dos Pequeninos. This park shows the history of Portugal, from the golden age of discovery to the typical houses from different areas in Portugal. As we entered we fist visited houses of the different colonies of Portugal. Each house was typical to that part of the world and housed artwork and tools found in that country or region. After going through all the different colonies we started on very detailed work of the major monuments in all of Portugal, down-sized of course. It was amazing how many things we had yet to see, of course we recognized the monuments of Lisboa but we hadn’t seen so many. After passing through a minimized version of the University of Coimbra we walked out into a maze of about 50 houses, all from different areas in Portugal. Unfortunately there were no houses with the Costa Nova traditional strips but there was some from the Aveiro area. After visiting all the houses we finally decided that it was time to head up in Coimbra. We stopped at the river that ran along the boarder of Coimbra to eat a snack before driving up to the foot of the hill on which Coimbra sat. Winding up the cobblestone roads we soon came upon the start of the old town. At the main cathedral and square area, about three quarters up the hill, there was a drama group performing a medieval fair. There was tons of set up little shops selling baked goods, others that a fires going with meat cooking on them. In the middle of the square a group was putting on a sword fighting tournament. After hanging around a bit in the fair we finally got into the main cathedral. Soon we entered back amidst the fair and fighting to make our way up to the top of the hill where the famous University of Coimbra and the bell tower stood. Recognizing it immediately from the minimized version the bell tower stood out above all off Coimbra, easily recognizable from a distance. Also, the oldest university in Portugal looked like a small castle then a modern university. From the university we started back down the long cobblestone road to where the cars were parked. Now driving away from Coimbra we headed toward the five star Palace Hotel, way, way, to much for us but hotel which was built inside a 1500s castle so it was great to look around in. All of the walls on the inside were covered in wonderful azulejos, or tiles, that depicted various scenes. Most of the inside was off-limits to non-guests but we got to look inside a bunch of different stuff. Just before it started to get dark we drove up a hill behind the Palace Hotel to Cruz Alto which offered a wonderful view of the surrounding country side.

After having to get up to pack for our trip we greeted Fernandinha, Volta and Isabella who had come to pick us up to explore the mid-section of Portugal. We started driving south down the coast in the direction of Lisboa. After passing Figuera de Foz, a port town, we soon arrived in Nazare. Now Nazare is a big resort town but the Nazare lookout sits a top a high cliff over the city. Here there is the legend about a prince hunting deer. Since the day was foggy he could not see what was ahead of him as he bounded through the trees on his horse. As he continued to ride he was going unknowingly strait towards the cliff. As the horse was about to off the cliff and pummel to their deaths Nossa Senhora de Nazare appeared and stopped the horse who was already half-way over the cliff. The prince was so overjoyed that he built a small chapel to Nossa Senhora de Nazare on the edge of the cliff where he had almost died. After seeing the chapel we continued to a bigger church just across the street where there were paintings depicting the legend of the prince. We continued around to the back of the church and up some stairs till we got to the sacristy. In the sacristy there was a statue of Mary that had been buried and hidden for over 400 years by the monks living in the convent at the time to protect it from being stolen. Soon we once again had to leave, driving down to Nazare city. Arriving at the beach we set up lunch on a bench and started to eat. From Nazare we drove to the famed town of Alcobaca. Alcobaca is the home of the story about Don Pedro and Don Inez. Don Pedro was king of Portugal and married to BLANK, but Don Pedro did not love her. Soon Don Pedro fell in love in Inez del Castro, from Spain. Don Pedro immediately wanted to marry Don Inez, but other nobles in the court of Portugal were worried about Spain taking over Portugal, since a Spaniard would become queen. So the nobles set up a plan to kill Don Inez so Spain would not rule over Portugal again. Since it was supposedly a "noble" thing to do only nobles could kill other nobles, and Don Inez was considered a noble. So one day Inez was kidnapped and then killed by a couple of nobles. Historians have figured out that Don Pedro's father knew of the plan to kill Inez we are just not sure of whether Don Pedro's father ordered the kill. As soon as Don Pedro discovered that Inez had been killed he sought out the murderers and very gruesomely killed them too. After killing them he ripped out their hearts to symbolize that they were heartless in their act. When Don Pedro's other wife, the one who was queen but that he didn't love, died, he dug up Inez, dressed her up and coroneted her as queen, making all the nobles kiss her decomposed hand. Since Don Pedro made Inez queen their sons could also become king after Don Pedro died, as one of them did. After paying for the tickets we entered the monastery through a hallway on the side of the courtyard. From the hallway we could see the courtyard to the left. Completing half of the square around the courtyard we walked into a room where a guy was preparing to sing. After a couple minutes the guy started singing. His song wasn’t long so afterwards we walked to the BLANK, behind which was the freezer. At the end of the BLANK we exited through a door veering off to the left, leading into the kitchen. First we came to the river that ran through the kitchen. Just a dug out rectangle in the floor and stove bricks in it the river came through one gate and continued out the opposite gate. This made fishing extremely easy for the monks who live here. Next to the fishing spot were the sinks and cutting boards, where the monks could wash and clean the fish. After the gigantic table came the even more colossal oven. About 18ft x 8ft the oven was just basically the tile floor but had a monstrous chimney hovering above it. Mainly it was used as a rotisserie for barbequing a whole cow on a spit set up around the oven. After passing through the kitchen we went to the cafeteria and from there walked to the chapel, outside the monastery. Inside are the tombs of Don Pedro I and Don Inez de Castro. Right now their tombs feet are pointing at each other so when Judgment Day comes they will see each other first. Leaving Alcobaca we headed down the road to the famous castle-town of Obidos. Once a castle, the main part of the town is enclosed in a castle wall with a main castle and one outpost. We walked through the far gate, entering the town from the wall farthest away from the main castle. Walking through the main part of town on the cobblestone streets and passing some stores on the way we eventually came upon the main castle, now a fancy hotel. Going through a gate off to the left of the castle we were able to walk up some steps leading up to the wall going around the castle town. Since the path was only 3-4 feet wide and the other side was a straight drop-off so my mom didn’t want to go. So Paul, dad, and I continued around the entire wall; eventually coming back to the main castle. It was amazing to the walk out onto the walls and see for miles and miles of the rolling landscape, realized how well planned the castle was because of situation it. Since it had started to turn into sunset the red and orange glistened on the green plains. After leaving Obidos we had dinner at a restaurant and then continued to a friend of Fernandinha’s, Guida. We are going to be staying there for the weekend while we go and explore a part of Portugal. Today we had to wake up early to leave to the town of Evora. After a long drive on the auto Estrada we arrived in Evora at midday. Evora is famous for its old university, one of the oldest in Portugal, the University of Evora. First we went to café in the middle of a plaza before heading out on the town. Our first destination was the Temple of Diana, quite striking in the midst of Portugal’s castles and churches, it felt as the though we had been transported back into Italy and Greece. Built in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, now the temple had only ten or so columns still standing. From the temple we had a bite to eat at a nearby park before heading over to the main cathedral which is closer to the University area. The Cathedral was built in a clash of Roman-Gothic Architecture, sporting both styles of construction. Also here famed Navigator Vasco da Gama and his fleet were blessed before heading off to become the first person to sail the Maritime Way to India. The central alter is built with red, black, green and white marble reminding us of the Taj Mahal because of the inlaid marble on the podiums. After the Cathedral we walked over to the Chapel of Bones. Some time ago the monks living in Igreja de Sao Francisco built a chapel made out of only bones. Since back in ancient times only the nobles got buried, the Capela dos Ossos was made out of the bones of the peasants that had died in Evora over the years. The chapel was meant to demonstrate that life is finite, it will end. Walking out of the chapel we started to head back to the car because it had started to get late. From Evora we drove to BLANK, a similar city to Obidos. Also a castle town the difference between Obidos and BLANK was that in BLANK the entire town stayed inside the castle walls and did not expand like Obidos did. After walking through the town and seeing the church we came upon the stadium. With four turrets standing at each corner of the field the stadium is still used for the events of lancing. Although there isn’t much seating wise the stadium hosts a lancing event and fire display ever night at 9pm. After stopping for dinner in a nearby town we rolled into Guida’s house late at night once again. The following morning we rose early to make to Lisboa in time to see most of its great sights, though we knew we be looking at a very long day. We didn’t get to the capital of Portugal until about 10 or 11am, so we immediately walked over to Mosteiro de Geronimos BLANK. Just as we arrived mass had begun so we decided to stay and watch. Also inside the Mosteiro was buried the great Portuguese navigator and the first person to make it to India by way of the ocean, Vasco da Gama. After the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos we walked across the street to a small museum featuring things found across Portugal. From the museum we walked across the big praca over to Monumento dos Descubrimentos BLANK. Just before the monument was a gigantic map of the world built with marble on the floor of the praca in front of Descubrimentos. The monument had several navigators on it but was headed by the founder of Sagres, Prince Henrique the Navigator, holding a small boat and looking to the sea. Everyone had started to get a little hungry so we decided to walk over to a small cafeteria frequented by students. After a small lunch we walked along Rio Tejo before coming to Torre de Belem. Here at the Torre the king and queen we wave goodbye and bless all off the navigations leaving to explore the world. Paul and I got free entry so we continued past the adults into the main sections of the Torre. In reality Torre de Belem was actually more like a small castle, the castle wall in the main had niches where one could sit on the stone benches to look out on the Rio Tejo. Above the main floor was open to the air with a large square hole in the middle looking down on main floor. Now we started up the spiral staircase that wound up the side of five floors of the actually tower. Each floor was quite similar but had a different panel telling about the history of Torre de Belem. From the very top of the tower we looked out across most of central Lisboa, including Estadio de Luz. From Torre de Belem we drove to the famous castle on the hill looking over all of Lisboa, Castelo de Sao Jorge. From the castelo we could see all of the wonderful city of Lisboa as the sun was setting. Across the Rio Tejo a Rio de Janeiro-like Jesus looking over the city, arms outstretched. After exploring the castle night had started to fall so we drove to a big mall where we could get some quick food. Along the way we passed the Sporting stadium (green and yellow) and SL Benfica stadium (red). The “fast food” turned out to be just like a regular meal as we waited in line for the bowl of soup. Braving a flat tire in the middle of the auto Estrada we ended up rolling into Ilhavo at 2am.